Outside the field, no matter how much Ash called out, Squirtle showed no signs of waking up. Seeing this, the referee decisively raised his flag, announcing the result of the first bout.
Recalling Squirtle, Ash hurriedly tried to think of a counter-strategy. However, before he could even decide which Pokémon to send out, Pikachu had already charged forward on all fours, launching an attack on Butterfree!
Faced with Pikachu's Quick Attack, Butterfree had no time to dodge and was hit squarely. Seeing it try to fly into the air, Pikachu grabbed one of its legs and immediately used Thunderbolt, zapping the Butterfree to a crisp!
Although Pikachu had acted on its own, it was thanks to it that the score was now even.
However, its condition was extremely worrying. It seemed to have exhausted a great deal of stamina before even arriving at the stadium. Now, it was covered in sweat, and its movements had become sluggish, as if it had reached its limit!
Seeing it in this state, even Koharu in the stands, who didn't know much about battling, could tell something was wrong.
"Is Ash's Pikachu okay? Why does it look so exhausted?"
Natsui nodded. "Remember what I said before? Just watch. In this battle, dwindling stamina and a disobedient Pokémon are the biggest challenges Ash will face!"
After the score became one-to-one, Ritchie didn't hesitate and immediately sent out a Charmander.
Charmander continuously spat flames, forcing Pikachu to keep moving to dodge, which completely drained the last of its stamina. Finally, with a single tackle, Charmander knocked Pikachu out of bounds.
When the spectators realized that after waiting for so long, all they got was such a boring battle, even more of them began to boo in dissatisfaction.
"What is this? Is this really a match between Top 16 trainers?"
"Exactly! This childish battle is worse than a street circus performance!"
"Hmph, they should make these two watch the last round's battle on the Ice Field. Gyarados's imposing figure and the massive pillar of water from the two colliding Thunderbolts are still fresh in my mind!"
As his traveling companions, Misty and Brock sat up straight, embarrassed by the surrounding comments.
Even if they wanted to argue, they had no ground to stand on.
After all, Pikachu's condition was indeed terrible, Ash wasn't skilled at creating grand spectacles, and the standard field for the fifth round was too plain to allow for any surprises or unexpected turns.
However, these criticisms were too far away to reach Ash's ears.
Seeing Pikachu defeated, Ash had no other choice but to send out Charizard.
But when Charizard entered the field and saw that its opponent was its own pre-evolved form, it couldn't muster even a shred of interest.
Facing the lazily standing Charizard, Ritchie's Charmander attacked first. But when its Ember grazed past Charizard, the provocation seemed to only enrage it.
Charizard opened its mouth and spewed a massive fireball, forcing the small Charmander to flee all over the field.
Helpless, Ritchie had to recall his Charmander and instead sent out his final Pokémon, a Pikachu with a tuft of hair on its head!
But just as Ritchie sent out Pikachu, Charizard, as if disdainful of fighting such a small Pokémon, lay down on the ground and began to feign sleep!
No matter how much Ash pleaded or begged, Charizard remained motionless.
The crowd was in an uproar!
This was an extremely rare situation in the history of the Indigo Conference!
Seeing that Charizard had completely lost its will to fight, the referee waited a while. After confirming that Ash was unable to command his Charizard, he raised his flag and announced the result of the match.
"Charizard has forfeited the will to battle! Trainer Ritchie is the winner!"
Ash took a dejected step back.
Though his heart was filled with unwillingness, he composed himself, put on a smile, and walked onto the field to shake Ritchie's hand.
However, compared to his sportsmanship, the audience was clearly not satisfied.
Even several seconds later, the crowd, including the announcer, still hadn't recovered from the shock.
What just happened!?
Not only was the performance from both trainers lackluster, but the match also ended so abruptly!?
One could only imagine that the online public opinion would be extremely unfavorable for Ash right now!
Fortunately, Ash never used electronic devices, which meant the impact of this incident on him would be close to zero.
However, Natsui was actually quite disappointed with this outcome. He had already reminded Ash before to communicate more with his Charizard, but it seemed nothing had changed.
Around Natsui and the others, some spectators were already leaving the stadium, grumbling curses.
Seeing this, they didn't dare to linger either. They quickly got up and went to the contestant exit to wait for Ash.
A few minutes later, Ash, holding Pikachu, walked out of the tunnel with a look of disappointment.
He scanned the area and, seeing so many people who cared about him, shook his head with a wry smile.
"Sorry, everyone. I let you down."
Seeing him like this, Delia, Professor Oak, Misty, and Brock all came forward to comfort him with words of encouragement.
After their guidance, Ash's mood visibly improved. He rubbed his nose and finally turned his head to Natsui.
"Natsui, I lost. It's all up to you now!"
Natsui patted his shoulder.
"It's okay, young man! Don't be too discouraged, and don't feel down. You need to know, you still have a long road ahead of you. This won't be the only time you fail. Sooner or later, you'll get used to it!"
Ash: ...
Is he really trying to comfort me?
No matter how I hear it, it sounds more like some kind of curse!
Due to the delay of Ash's match, the start time for Natsui's match was also pushed back significantly.
By the time his battle began, the sky was already nearing dusk, but the audience was still filled with immense enthusiasm!
As a popular competitor with both looks and skill, the cheers for him were overwhelming, a world of difference compared to the atmosphere during Ash's battle just before!
Natsui and Yoshiki stood on opposite sides of the field.
When the referee signaled the start of the match, the first Pokémon Natsui sent out was his Venusaur, while Yoshiki sent out a Persian!
In terms of typing, neither Pokémon had an advantage over the other, but this didn't affect Venusaur's performance in the slightest.
Once the battle began, Natsui showed Yoshiki exactly why he had eliminated so many top contenders and become the most popular trainer!
Facing the Persian, which relied mainly on close-range combat, Venusaur gave it no openings whatsoever.
It used Razor Leaf for long-range attacks, Vine Whip for restraint, followed up with Sleep Powder and Growth, and finally, with a fully charged Solar Beam, it not only brought a brief moment of brightness to the darkening stadium but also completely depleted Persian's stamina!
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