149. First Round

I'm still not breaking my steak, not here or in Duolingo.

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"Now lets began, the Official Gym Battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Gym Leader Clair of the Blackthorn City Gum will be held here. A total of three Pokémon can be used in the match by each side! When all the Pokémon used lose their combat effectiveness from a single Trainer, the match will be over and the opponent will be declared as the winner!"

After resting for a night at the Blackthorn City Gym, Ash finally ushered in his last Gym Challenge in the Johto Region!

This last Gym that he has to face is a Gym where they use the powerful Dragon-type, which is perfect for him!

The battle arena at the Blackthorn City Gym is very interesting. It is in the shape of a zigzag, with a large pool in the middle. Apparently Clair's Pokémon also included many Water-type Pokémon, meaning that she is essentially a Water and Dragon-type Pokémon Traiber, and that is one if the types that Ash is most familiar with!

"Ash, go all out or else you will lose!" According to the Gym Challenge rules, the Gym Leader is the first one to send out their Pokémon, "Kingdra, go for it!"

This Kingdra is much stronger than the one Ash encountered in the Whirl Cup. Just the way it floats upright in the water is completely different, with a kind of arrogance unique to a Pokémon that has the Dragon-typing to it.

"Alright, blast them away, Blastoise!"

Ash was not polite and directly sent out the his Poké Ball. The sturdy Blastoise did not jump into the water. It has more possibilities as it is amphibious on land than on water compared to the fast and much more experienced Kingdra.

"Hey, when did Ash exchange his Blastoise from the lab?" Brock was surprised when seeing Blastoise again after some time.

"Just last night when he was talking with Grampa and then some other gir—Aunt Dalia!" Molly almost said something that she was not supposed to say.

"Oh!" Brock came back to his senses and tried to ask her about something but was instantly refused.

"Kingdra, be careful, that Blastoise is not normal at all!" Feeling the momentum that was leaking from Ash's Blastoise, Clair was also surprised by it, and then her fighting spirit burned again. This time she could fight happily!

'That is the same feeling I felt when I was fighting Lance's Gyarados! How strong is that thing?' Clair's mind was full of thoughts about her current opponent.

The battle between these two Triners was no longer just about the Gym Battle at all, it was about Clair comparing her skills against someone that even Lance said that he is not sure whether or not he could beat him!

"Kingdra's types make up for each other's weaknesses. The only true weaknesses of Kingdra are the Dragon and Fairy-types, and maybe Freeze Dry." Ash murmured softly, and his eyes suddenly lit up!

"Blastoise, let's begin our show with a Dragon Pulse!"

"Blastoise!"

Blastoise roared loudly, and the two metal cannons on his shoulder suddenly condensed with surging Dragon-type energy. This was a move he wad excited to try out!

It was a perfect opening attack. After firing, the two dragon cannons closed together and turned into a bigger and longer purple dragon, hitting Kingdra fiercely before he could even react to Clair's order!

Boom!

Kingdra was hit directly and was already injured as soon as the battle started!

"How is that possible?!" Clair was really shocked by this. She didn't expect that Ash would be able to reach his Blastoise his to learn a move like Dragon Pulse!

She doesn't know about Mega Evolution yet, let alone be able to understand Ash's Bond Evolution power!

Just then, Ash and Blastoise completed their Bind Evolution!

Blastoise began to glow with a royal blue aura surrounding his entire body. The two cannons on the back has now become a single giant metal cannon. There are also one smaller cannon on both of his arms. And in the middle back of his shell, there looked to be a strange wing design on it.

Clair was stunned to see what was going on that she couldn't even worry about her own Kingdra.

Name: Ash-Blastoise

Attribute: Water

Ability: Rain Dish (When it rains, the damage will be slowly recover.)

Mega Launcher (The power of Pulse and Aura moves will increase when this is there.)

Skills: Flash Cannon, Rapid Spin, Water Pulse, Hydro Pump, Skull Bash, Rain Dance, Dragon Pulse, Hydro Cannon, Aura Sphere…

After completing thier Bond Evolutions, Blastoise gained the Ability unique to Mega Blastoise, Mega Launcher.

The power of Pulse and Aura moves will increase significantly when using them, so Ash has his Blastoise learn Dragon Pulse to deal with pesky Dragon-types, and this really caught Claire off guard today!

Even though Blastoise does not have the Dragon-type, his Dragon-type moves are still very effective against even Kingdra!

"Ash, you are really powerful!" Clair assessed Kingdra's current situation, "Kingdra, use your strongest Twister!"

The Twister in the water set off a water hurricane, and the huge whirlpool came towards Blastoise with an astonishing momentum. This is an attack that combined with both the Water and Dragon-tile, and it can be regarded as a specialty skill of Clair's Kingdra!

However, neither Ash nor his Blastoise seemed fazed by it, Blastoise even took out his signature black glasses from somewhere and put it on to look even more coller, "Destroy it, Flash Cannon!"

Because of the two metal cannons on his arms and one large one on his back, Blastoise can learn many cannon-related skills.

Flash Cannon and Hydro Cannon are just two of them.

Flash Cannon is a powerful Steel-type move, while Hydro Cannon is an exclusive move that belongs to the Water-type Starters. It is a real special move. It took Ash a lot of effort to teach his Blastoise how to use it.

Even now, his Feraligatr has not been able to use it proficiently.

Of course, how to use such a move also depends on the Trainer's strategy and their command.

Blastoise roared and blasted out a cannon, and the Steel-type's blow a huge chunk of the whirlpool away!

"Kingdra, use Hydro Pump!"

Taking advantage of the moment when Blastoise had just launched his attack, Clair launched a counterattack just in time. Hydro Pump directly hit Blastoise, but that really did not do any damage to the absolute tank that was Blastoise.

"Skull Bash!"

Ash completely ignored Hydro Pump's minimal damage. With an order, Blastoise used his strong hind legs to support his body upright. With astonishing momentum, he pushed himself towards Kingdra at a speed not visible to the naked eye.

"Get out of the way!"

From now on, the two Pokémon were standing still and firing their skills. Now that Blastoise has moved, Kingdra must also move or else he will lose.

Kingdra moved very fast in the water, seemingly teleporting. He moved to the side and avoided Blastoise's Skull Bash just by a little!

Blastoise fell into the water and was right in front of Kingdra like a fish in water!

"Kingdra, get out of the way from the cannon!" Seeing this, Clair quickly screamed, but it was already too late!

Ahs clenched his fist and said, "Nice one, Dragon Pulse!"

This move was launched very quickly. As soon as Ash finished speaking, the powerful Twin Cannon had already hit Kingdra head-on with the two Dragon Pulse's!

"Kingdra! Are you okay?!"

After the smoke cleared up, it should be said that it was indeed worthy of being a Dragon-type Pokémon. Kingdra resisted this attack and was able to fight without losing his ability to fight!

Kingdra used his Agility at the last second to dodge from most of the damage but still got hit hard.

"Very well, Kingdra, use Agility to distance yourself again!"

Clair's Kingdra is obviously not good at melee combat. All of its offensive moves are either ranged attacks or auxiliary skills, so staying so close to Blastoise is obviously very disadvantageous for him!

"Don't even think about running away, give it the last one!" Ash clenched his fist tightly, confident of winning, "Waterfall!"

The giant turtle transformed into a waterfall, and then bit Kingdra's body with astonishing speed!

"Kingdra loses the ability to fight, Blastoise wins this round!"

Mr. Kaburagi, who served as the referee, announced Blastoise's victory. He turned to look at Clair, "Miss, Ash's Blastoise is really powerful. You must be more careful or things will only get worse from here on!"

Clair nodded, "Ash, you are really powerful, but at the risk of my dignity as a Dragon Pokémon Trainer, I will fight you with all my strength!"

"Come back, Kingdra! Uou did well." She took back the Kingdra, then threw another Poké Ball, "Go, Gyarados!"

"GAY!"

Looking at the roaring Gyarados, Ash also took his Blastoise back to rest.

"Bite them hard, Feraligatr!"