Chapter 114: Point Match
Chapter 114: Point Match
"48 people have advanced. The preliminaries use a three-person point system. The winner gets three points, the loser gets zero, and a draw gives one point. As long as you win two matches, you can make it into the top 16," Rosa said while looking at the guidebook.
"I know that much, but the battle schedule won't be released until tomorrow," Ron said as he checked the computer. "Anyway, let's look at the information of the other participants first, just to have a sense of things."
"There shouldn't be any opponents worth paying attention to," Ruby said. "Actually, only Ash is. Compared to the Indigo League in Kanto, this Silver Conference's level is much lower."
"No, I might need to take this seriously," Ron said while looking at the computer. Then he moved aside so Rosa and Ruby could see the screen.
Displayed on the screen was Ash's profile, along with the Pokémon he registered for this tournament: Pikachu, Charizard, Typhlosion, Feraligatr, Meganium, Muk, Kingler, Snorlax, Heracross, Noctowl, Larvitar, Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres.
Rosa and Ruby gasped. Rosa said in shock, "What's going on? Last time we saw Ash, didn't he only have Articuno? Now he has Zapdos and Moltres too?!"
Ron shook his head and said, "No idea, maybe he just got lucky."
Though that's what he said, he suspected it was Ho-Oh's doing. Ash had already started growing quickly, and it seemed Ho-Oh was now deliberately nurturing him.
"But that's what makes it interesting," Ron said with a smile. "No matter how many legendary Pokémon he has, bring it on."
Ron was really looking forward to the day Ho-Oh became Ash's Pokémon—then he'd have the chance to beat it into the ground! Though he wasn't a match for Ho-Oh now, with the system on his side, he knew he'd achieve that goal one day!
Ding. Side mission unlocked—Slap Ho-Oh in the Face. Use your own trained legendary Pokémon to fiercely slap Ho-Oh's face and grind it into the ground for one full minute. Reward: One portion of Rebirth Fire Origin Power. Can be given to a Fire-type Pokémon to help it comprehend it, or can awaken a second origin power in a Fire-type that has already mastered one. Guaranteed comprehension, but cannot be upgraded.
"The system, you're so thoughtful," Ron said with a smile.
Ding. It is this system's duty to provide the host with room for growth.
Ron wouldn't reject this mission—after all, he was full of pent-up frustration. Plus, as for the second origin power, Ron definitely planned to give it to Charizard. He wanted to see just how powerful Charizard would become after mastering dual origin powers.
He only skimmed through the rest of the contestants' data without thinking much of it. Unless something miraculous happened, the finals of this Silver Conference would be Ron versus Ash. With the current skill level, very few trainers could stand against the three legendary birds.
After resting for a night, early the next morning, Ron and the others arrived at the hotel lobby, where the battle matchups had been posted. Ron found his name—he was in Group A. His opponents were a man and a woman. The man was named Tai, from New Bark Town, who specialized in Rock-types and preferred defensive battles. The woman was named Mizuki, from Goldenrod City, who leaned toward Grass-types and specialized in endurance battles.
Neither of them seemed to be very strong. If Ron took it seriously, he'd probably settle it in three moves. However, Ron wanted to accumulate experience and grow steadily, improving his knowledge, experience, and technique. After this Silver Conference, he wanted to ask Lorelei for a favor.
He wanted to have a real, serious battle with Lorelei—a Champion-level match to help him advance to the Elite Four tier!
Soon, the battle field arrangements were complete. There were eight battlefields, split between morning and afternoon matches, used for the first round of the three-person groups. One person would have a bye; tomorrow, they'd fight today's loser, and on the third day, the person who had a bye would fight the third member. The one with the highest points would advance.
Ron was placed in Group D's morning match. The battle was about to start. Ron casually selected three Pokémon—Dragonite, Beedrill, and Wobbuffet. All three would appear once, which would serve as good training.
After submitting the lineup, the match began quickly.
Ron stood on the battlefield, looked at his opponent Tai, and smiled, "I'll go easy on you."
"You cocky bastard, let me show you what we've got," Tai said angrily.
As the roulette on the big screen spun, the pointer landed on the red side—Ron would send out his Pokémon first. Ron smiled and said, "Dragonite, just as I promised—you go first!"
Dragonite appeared on the field, glaring fiercely at Tai. Tai swallowed hard and said, "Shuckle, I'm counting on you!"
A Shuckle appeared on the field, its yellow head staring seriously at Dragonite.
The scene shifted to the Kanto region, to Uncle Kaiser's house in the Safari Zone. Uncle Kaiser took a sip of wine and chuckled, "What a loyal little guy. Back then, it was still a tiny Dratini, and now it's grown into a Dragonite. Dragonair, what do you think of your son?"
Dragonair nodded in satisfaction, eyes full of pride as it looked at the Dragonite on TV.
Back to the battlefield, Ron looked at Tai and Shuckle and said, "You can go first."
"Shuckle, Power Split!" Tai shouted.
Shuckle immediately launched a glowing orb at Dragonite, which then returned to its body. Ron shook his head. He was expecting something impressive, but this was just a basic trick.
"Dragonite, Flamethrower," Ron said.
Dragonite nodded, opened its mouth, and fired a Flamethrower that hit the near-immobile Shuckle, knocking it out in one move.
The audience erupted in gasps. They hadn't expected Ron's Dragonite to be that powerful. A few well-informed viewers whispered, "Isn't that the champion of the Indigo League?"
"Yeah, it's him—from Pallet Town."
Tai recalled his Shuckle and said seriously, "Ron, your Dragonite is strong. Then my second Pokémon is Azumarill."
Ron returned Dragonite and, hearing Tai's voice, asked curiously, "What did you say?"
Tai was confused. What happened to Dragonite? Why did you return it? I was hoping Azumarill could be a dragonslayer for once!
Ron sent out Wobbuffet and said, "Sorry, I want my Pokémon to get more battle experience, so I'm using a different one each match."
Turning his frustration into motivation, Tai shouted, "Azumarill, Hydro Pump!"
"Wobbuffet, Mirror Coat," Ron said calmly.
Azumarill's Hydro Pump hit Wobbuffet—actually, it hit the psychic shield on Wobbuffet's surface—and was immediately reflected back, KO'ing Azumarill in one hit.
Wobbuffet took zero damage while reflecting the attack. This was a technique Ron had developed—after all, Wobbuffet was a Psychic-type Pokémon, so it made sense that it could use a detached shield. After training for a while, Wobbuffet had managed to separate the shield from its body. Though only slightly at first, it showed potential. Being able to reflect attacks without taking damage was huge—unless the shield was shattered, Wobbuffet couldn't be harmed at all.
Tai was mentally defeated. After recalling Azumarill, he sent out his final Pokémon, Donphan, but it was no match for Beedrill.
Seeing Donphan had no special moves, Ron had Beedrill finish it off with a single Poison Jab, securing his first victory in the preliminaries.