"I don't care if he's a magician or not," Ash said, taking a large bite of his cold treat. "I'm going to beat him and break through to the next round!"
At that moment, the TV hanging on the wall was still broadcasting matches from the other fields.
The announcer's voice suddenly grew louder. The group looked at the TV and saw that on the Ice Field, Gary had also easily defeated his opponent 3-0.
And as a top contender for the championship, the Gary on screen was being interviewed by several TV stations after the match.
"Gary from Pallet Town has achieved a truly memorable victory," a female reporter in a pink professional suit first said to the audience, recapping the recent battle, before holding the microphone up to Gary. "Competitor Gary, what are your thoughts right now?"
"The first match is very important, and I'm very happy to have won." Gary crossed his arms, looking triumphant. "Of course, this battle went completely as I expected. I'm relieved to have successfully advanced to the next round."
Hearing his words, Ash subconsciously clenched his fists.
Natsui has already advanced, and now even Gary has advanced?
This means I have to win even more!!
At noon, perhaps spurred on by this, Misty and Brock accompanied Ash to the Pokémon Center to think about strategy and, while they were at it, switch out the Pokémon for the battle. Meanwhile, Natsui, Koharu, and the bikers arrived early at the Water Field and chose good seats.
Items like cola, popcorn, and cheering sticks were, of course, essential. Natsui and Koharu sat down in the stands, and while waiting idly, they had already eaten half a bucket of popcorn before the match even began.
Suddenly, he felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and saw that there were several new messages in his messaging app that he hadn't noticed before!
He first looked at the latest one, which was from Sabrina.
Just a while ago, while Natsui was battling Damian, Sabrina was also in the middle of a Gym battle. By the time she successfully defended her Gym, Natsui's match was already over. She had no choice but to watch the replay, which was why her congratulatory message was sent so late.
The few messages before that were from friends he had met on his journey, such as Erika, Mr. Silph, and Looker.
And among them, the earliest message had been sent the moment he had defeated Damian's third Pokémon, even before the referee had announced the result.
Judging by the cute profile picture, it was from the young girl far away in the Kalos region.
Considering the time difference, it must be late at night over there, right?
For a girl who usually sleeps and wakes up early to stay up late to watch a match, that's really something.
Natsui quickly replied to the message. Beside him, Koharu took a quick glance, but unfortunately, Natsui typed so fast that she couldn't see anything.
Time passed bit by bit. After a long wait, just before the match, the audience finally welcomed the entrance of Ash and Mandi.
However, compared to Mandi's overflowing confidence, Ash's steps were a bit stiff as he entered the field. It was hard to tell if it was due to excitement or excessive nervousness.
Unlike the grassy terrain of the Grass Field, the Water Field consisted of a large circular swimming pool with numerous small platforms inside.
When the match began, just as in the anime, Mandi was the first to send out Exeggutor, while Ash used his underdeveloped Krabby.
Of these two Pokémon, one had the Water-type advantage of the Water Field, while the other, being part Grass-type, could resist half of the damage from Water-type attacks.
It could be said that both sides made good use of the field.
Koharu looked around and remarked, "Wow, there seem to be more spectators at this match than the last one!"
"There are a lot more people, about a third more, I'd say," Natsui nodded.
The number of people sitting here was indeed much greater than during his own match.
And the reason it was receiving so much attention was naturally all thanks to Mandi.
In reality, during the preliminary stages, for unknown trainers like Natsui and Ash, apart from their own friends and family, no one had high expectations for them. On the other hand, competitors like Mandi and Gary, who already had a following, would naturally be in the public eye.
However, as the match progressed, the audience began to realize that things weren't going as they expected.
Although Exeggutor initially caused a lot of trouble for Krabby with its psychic powers, and Ash was even on the verge of switching his Pokémon, Krabby eventually seized an opportunity, got in close from the water, and ended the battle with a combo of moves.
Ash wasn't the only one surprised. Seeing this, the audience broke into discussion. They really hadn't expected the famous Mandi to lose the first round to a little kid.
Even more, after defeating Exeggutor, Krabby evolved into Kingler!
For Mandi, being defeated by a child was already humiliating enough, and this sudden evolution made him even more embarrassed.
Thinking that Ash's win was just a fluke, he stubbornly sent out Seadra.
But the result was still a victory for Ash. This time, not only could Mandi no longer keep his composure, but even the audience became interested and began to support Ash, sending cheers and applause his way.
"This kid is amazing, isn't he?"
"I remember he's also from Pallet Town, right? That top contender, Gary, seems to be from the same place."
In the third battle, Ash didn't switch out Kingler but pressed his advantage, defeating Mandi's Golbat and winning the match.
"He's won the match!" The announcer's voice was also filled with disbelief. "Competitor Ash has won!! I can't believe it! He didn't switch his Pokémon but won the entire match with just his Kingler alone!"
And just as the announcer said, defeating three opponents with one Pokémon was a real eye-opener for the audience.
After the referee announced the result, Mandi fell to his knees, his face turning deathly pale.
It was safe to believe that after losing to a child, he would never be as confident as he was before the match.
Natsui, Koharu, and the bikers all banged their cheering sticks together.
The sound echoed in a continuous rhythm.
And Ash's victory meant that both he and Natsui had stood out from the 256 competitors and successfully advanced to the next round of the competition.
And the day after tomorrow, the remaining 128 competitors would be halved once again.
These brutal rules forced the competitors to give it their all to fight for the precious spots.
After leaving the stadium, Natsui's group met up with Ash's trio and had dinner together.
After the meal, they didn't go to watch any other matches.
After all, due to the large number of participants, the schedule for the Indigo League was packed to the brim. Although the matches were held simultaneously on four different fields, each field still needed to host 32 battles to fully decide the contestants for the next round.
And with so many battles, it was simply impossible for them to watch them all with their limited energy.
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