Join my p@treon for more chapters
[email protected]/Tempest_29
"Competitor Ash's Kingler is using Crabhammer, but at this distance, Crabhammer won't be able to reach Exeggutor at all!"
The commentator sounded genuinely surprised. Facing Exeggutor's Bullet Seed attack, Ash had chosen to counter it with Crabhammer.
Bullet Seed was a long-range attack, while Crabhammer was a close-range move. At this distance, there was no way Kingler could actually hit Exeggutor with it.
However, what happened next shocked everyone watching. The moment Kingler's body began to fall back down, it simultaneously brought down its raised left pincer with tremendous force.
CRASH!
An ear-splitting sound suddenly rang out as Kingler's massive pincer struck the water's surface directly. The full power of Crabhammer was channeled completely into the water arena.
The water around the pincer exploded outward like a torpedo detonating. Water splashed everywhere, and with just that single blow, enormous waves surged across the entire venue.
At the same time, as Kingler's pincer struck the water surface with devastating force, the gap between its giant claws compressed the power of the close-range attack.
BOOM!
With an explosive sound, a powerful blast of compressed air formed, launching forward from Kingler's pincer like a cannon shot.
As the air blast shot forward, the entire water surface appeared to be sliced open by an invisible blade. A visible split formed in the water, and the surrounding currents collided with each other, forming a massive whirlpool.
When the air blast collided with Exeggutor's Bullet Seed, the overwhelming force completely shattered the attack's power.
Golden seed projectiles scattered in all directions across the water's surface, while the air cannon created by Crabhammer continued flying straight forward without losing momentum.
"What?!" Seeing the turbulent arena churning with massive waves before him, Mandi's face showed clear surprise.
"Incredible! Competitor Ash's Kingler used Crabhammer to strike the water's surface, actually creating rifts and whirlpools throughout the arena!"
The commentator, who had previously thought Ash was at a disadvantage for using Crabhammer, was equally shocked by this development.
BOOM!
Before anyone could fully process what was happening, the air blast created by Crabhammer had already reached Exeggutor's position. Flying just above the water's surface, it slammed directly into the floating platform beneath Exeggutor's feet.
With a thunderous crash, the floating platform under Exeggutor completely shattered into pieces. Exeggutor was blown backward by the explosive force, and its body fell into the water without any chance to recover.
"Exeggutor!" Mandi shouted in panic after witnessing this scene.
If Exeggutor fell into the water, it would be completely in Kingler's element and at a severe disadvantage.
"Exeggutor has fallen into the water! Now Exeggutor is in serious danger!"
"It's not over yet! Exeggutor, use Confusion!" Hearing the commentary, Mandi reacted quickly and shouted his command.
He wanted to use Confusion to control the water and pull Exeggutor back up, but he quickly realized something was terribly wrong. The whirlpools formed by the waves on the water's surface continued spinning violently.
When Exeggutor fell into the water, several powerful waterspouts were already spinning rapidly beneath the surface due to the multiple whirlpools created above.
As these waterspouts rotated underwater at high speed, the moment Exeggutor plunged beneath the surface, its body kept colliding with these spinning columns of water.
Because the rotational force was so incredibly powerful, each time Exeggutor struck one of the waterspouts, it was immediately bounced away by the tremendous force, only to slam into another waterspout and be bounced back and forth repeatedly.
Under these circumstances, Exeggutor simply couldn't stabilize itself long enough to properly execute Confusion.
"The underwater whirlpools are keeping Exeggutor from moving! It can't use its Psychic-type moves!"
"Damn it!" Mandi gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, completely unsure of how to respond to this situation.
"Kingler, use Surf!" Ash called out, pressing his advantage.
Kingler's eyes flashed with focus after hearing the command. The turbulent water in front of it seemed to come under its control, and an enormous wave instantly began to rise.
But under Kingler's control, this massive wave surged toward its position, and as the wave built up, everyone suddenly noticed something.
Exeggutor was trapped within the huge wave itself, being swept up by the surging water directly toward Kingler's location.
"Now use Crabhammer!"
Surf was a move that came naturally to most water-type Pokémon. After a month of intensive training with Pikachu—who was already a master of the technique—Kingler had learned it easily.
Following Ash's command, Kingler's body launched upward once again. This time, it didn't just barely leave the floating platform like before.
Instead, as the massive wave crested and began to fall, Kingler jumped up toward the wave's peak, and the blue glow emanated from its left pincer once more.
At that moment, Exeggutor was trapped within the wave, completely unable to move or defend itself.
CRASH! BOOM!
The left pincer, containing more than 10,000 horsepower of crushing force, smashed directly toward Exeggutor. It collided with the massive wave with absolutely devastating power.
Mandi stood watching as an incredible force tore the entire wave completely in half. The massive wave collapsed, and Exeggutor's body was sent flying backward, launched out of the water like a missile.
SPLASH! CRASH!
Knocked away by the overwhelming force, Exeggutor crashed into the arena like a cannonball. It created enormous waves on impact, making the entire venue look like it was caught in a torrential downpour.
Kingler landed safely back on the floating platform, while chaos continued at the other end of the arena. The water gradually began to settle.
As the splashing water slowly calmed down, the arena became clearly visible once more. The water's surface still hadn't completely settled, but it was much calmer than the violent waves from moments before.
A figure slowly floated up from beneath the water's surface. It was Mandi's Exeggutor. At this moment, all three of its heads had swirling spirals in their eyes, and water was dribbling from each of its mouths.
Ding!
Looking at Exeggutor's condition, the large screen above soon reflected the result. Under Mandi's portrait, which showed three boxes representing his available Pokémon, one of the red boxes suddenly went dark.
"The first battle has been decided! Competitor Ash's Kingler delivered an outstanding performance and defeated competitor Mandi's Exeggutor!"
Hearing this, the commentator spoke with great excitement, and the crowd soon erupted in enthusiastic cheers and thunderous applause. In truth, Mandi's Exeggutor had barely been able to fight back at all.
But the fact that the audience was responding so enthusiastically showed just how spectacular Kingler's performance had truly been.
"Damn it... return, Exeggutor!" Mandi reluctantly pulled out his Poké Ball and recalled his defeated Pokémon.
He hadn't expected Krabby to evolve, and he'd expected even less that despite having the type advantage, he would still lose so decisively. At this point, he no longer dared to underestimate Ash. He could no longer dismiss Ash's capture of Moltres as mere luck.