"Frogadier—Golem knows Explosion. Do NOT get close. Keep your distance and focus it down with ranged attacks!"
Seeing Frogadier tense up, clearly itching to rush in, Ash immediately warned him.
"Gua—!"
Frogadier skidded to a halt at once.
"Frogadier, use continuous Water Shuriken!"
"Golem, use Rock Throw!"
The brief lull on the battlefield shattered as the clash reignited.
On Ash's side, Frogadier danced across the field with agile footwork. Moisture condensed rapidly in his palms, forming spinning blades of water that shot forward one after another.
On the other side, Golem—its body still smeared with sticky Frubbles, its strongest combo of Defense Curl + Rollout completely neutralized—spread its arms and roared. Massive chunks of rock tore free from the ground and hurled themselves downward.
"Frogadier, dodge—!" Ash shouted.
"Golem, evade!" Harlan roared back.
Stone rained from above.
Frogadier crouched and sprang backward in a clean, powerful leap, narrowly slipping past the crashing rocks.
Golem, however, was in trouble.
With Frubbles coating both the ground and its own body, it couldn't even find proper footing—let alone move fast enough to dodge.
That moment of hesitation cost it dearly.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!!
The Water Shuriken struck in rapid succession.
Though Water Shuriken hadn't been upgraded yet and each blade only carried a base power of 15, Golem was a Rock/Ground-type Pokémon.
Fourfold weakness.
Each hit dealt 60 damage.
Four shuriken—devastating cumulative damage.
Before anyone realized it, Golem was already heavily injured.
Four-times effectiveness… terrifying indeed.
"Golem—!!" Harlan shouted hoarsely, panic creeping into his voice as Golem let out a bone-grinding howl of pain.
"Keep it up, Frogadier. Continue with Water Shuriken," Ash said calmly.
Seeing how effective it was under fourfold weakness, Ash didn't even bother switching to Water Pulse.
"Gua—!"
Remembering Ash's warning, Frogadier stayed well out of range, never once closing the distance.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—!
Water blades kept forming, flying relentlessly toward Golem.
Thud!
"ROOO—!"
Thud!
"ROO—!"
Harlan's Golem wasn't weak—but against Frogadier, who was treating Water Shuriken like basic attacks, it was being utterly suppressed.
Each blade carved deep, amplified brutally by the type disadvantage.
"Golem! Show some backbone! Charge and use Take Down!!"
Cornered and desperate, Harlan finally snapped, ordering an all-out counterattack.
"ROAAH—!"
Unable to roll anymore, Golem stomped forward on its short legs, foam splattering as it ran. The momentum of Take Down began to build, raw force gathering around its massive body.
"Frogadier, fall back. Maintain distance—wait for my signal," Ash said, his tone steady and composed.
Thud—thud—thud—!
At 105 kg, Golem's charge made the entire battlefield tremble.
Its speed climbed steadily.
Harlan frowned. After losing two rounds in a row, Ash's sudden pause made him deeply uneasy.
Thud—thud—thud—!
When Golem finally reached its peak speed—
"Now. Frogadier—use Grass Knot."
"Gua—!"
Frogadier slammed his foot into the ground.
Snap—!!
A flexible vine burst from the earth and whipped taut, stretched like a tripwire across Golem's path.
CRASH!!
Grass Knot dealt no direct attack damage—but against a Pokémon weighing 105 kg, charging at full speed…
The impact was equivalent to being crushed by a Pokémon of equal weight using Body Slam.
"Golem—!!" Harlan shouted in horror.
"Finish it," Ash said decisively.
"Frogadier—Water Pulse!"
"Gua—!!"
Frogadier lowered his stance, knees bent, hands drawn back at his waist—like a martial artist charging a finishing strike.
A pale-blue sphere of swirling water condensed instantly.
BOOM—!
The Water Pulse fired straight at Golem.
Already battered by repeated Water Shuriken and smashed flat by Grass Knot, Golem barely managed to lift its head. It tried to move—but its body simply wouldn't respond.
Base power 60.
Fourfold effectiveness.
60 × 4 = 240.
BAM—!!
The blow hit like a miniature detonation.
Golem didn't even have time to scream before its massive body went limp, crashing into the ground in total defeat.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have defeated LV.26 Golem.
Experience gained: +420]
"Golem has lost the ability to battle! This round goes to Contestant Ash—victory for Frogadier!"
"All three of Contestant Harlan's Pokémon have been defeated.
The final winner of this 3V3 match is—Contestant Ash!"
The system notification echoed in Ash's mind just as the referee declared the final result.
"Ash——!!"
"Ash——!!"
The arena erupted into thunderous cheers.
From Ash's own perspective, Harlan wasn't particularly strong—honestly, he was pretty mediocre.
But to the audience, it wasn't that Harlan was weak.
It was that Ash was overwhelmingly strong.
A Trainer who had received his starter Pokémon barely a month ago.
His first-ever match at the Urban Arena.
And he delivered a flawless, dominant performance.
Today's battle won Ash far more than just victory.
It won him fans.
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T/N:
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