The trainer named Drake is a young man wearing a jacket and vest, who looks to be in his early twenties. The fact that he can become the top trainer at this age shows that he is also a genius trainer.
When Drake ran up to Ash and the others, he only panted slightly before returning to normal. Judging from the muscles bulging on his body, he must be someone who exercises regularly.
However, some people's physical qualities cannot be discerned from their appearance. For example, if you take off Ash's clothes, you can only see that he has a relatively strong body, with abs and muscles, but compared to those muscular men, he doesn't look like he's in the same league at all.
But if Ash were to arm wrestle with them, then...
They were so badly hurt they questioned the meaning of life.
"You must be Ash? I've heard so much about you! I'm Drake, the chief trainer of the Orange Islands!" Drake extended his hand to greet Ash.
"Um, well, I am not that Popular. I'm not that good. I'm Ash, a trainer from Pallet Town. I've come here for a battle at your invitation. Nice to meet you!" Ash scratched his head sheepishly, said modestly for a moment, and then replied with a serious expression.
After a friendly handshake, Drake said with emotion, "I was quite surprised when I heard that you had come to the Orange Islands, Ash. I never expected you to come here. My first thought at that time was that I wanted to battle you."
"Although theoretically only those who have collected the Southern Cross Badge can challenge me, this situation is a bit special. You are not the challenger; I am."
The security guard, who didn't recognize Ash, revealed a smile.
The extremely strange expression on his face made the head trainer of Orange Island say such a thing. Just who is this child? Could he be one of the Elite Four or something? That's even more illogical!
However... after becoming the Chief Trainer, Drake has never lost a single time. Facing a wide variety of challengers, no one has been able to defeat him. It can be said that Drake is the strongest Chief Trainer in the history of the Orange Islands.
It's absurd that a trainer of this caliber would want to challenge a child. Just how strong is this child?
"Then let's set the battle time for 10:00 AM tomorrow, is that alright?"
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Drake and Ash agreed on the battle time for tomorrow. As for the battle location, it goes without saying that it would be the Citrus Arena right in front of them.
Ash nodded and said, "Okay, I'll definitely be there on time tomorrow!"
"I have some things to do next. You guys can explore Orange Island on your own. This island is considered the central island of the Orange Islands, and its cities are more prosperous than those on other islands. However, since you come from big cities, there shouldn't be anything particularly special about it."
"Oh, not at all! Every island in the Orange Islands has its own unique customs and culture, which has broadened our horizons!" Misty waved her hand behind Ash.
"That would be perfect. Well then, everyone, see you tomorrow." Drake waved and turned to leave.
The news of Ash and Drake's battle spread throughout Citrus Island in no time. Some people might not know who Ash is, but there is definitely no one who doesn't know who Drake is.
On Citrus Island, Drake's name is practically a household name, as is Ash's popularity in Kanto.
While the island is quite famous as a tourist destination, Citrus Island isn't really considered a tourist hotspot, and relatively few people visit it.
The area is mostly inhabited by locals, and they don't know much about Ash. Only a few people know about Ash's past. So when the locals heard that Ash and Drake were going to battle tomorrow, their first thought was that it was yet another person who had passed the Southern Cross Trial who was coming to challenge Drake.
However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Drake will still be the victor this time, simply because Drake has never lost since becoming the chief trainer. Not only has he never lost, but for a long time now, no one has been able to force Drake to bring out his last Pokémon.
Everyone on Citrus Island knows that Drake's last Pokémon is also his strongest trump card, and it's not on the same level as any of the other Pokémon.
If even Drake's last Pokémon couldn't be forced out, then it means the challenger is only halfway to defeat Drake.
The fact that they couldn't even force out the true strength of the challengers shows just how low their skill level really is.
No, that's not quite right. The challenger is definitely not weak, being able to pass the Southern Cross test. It's just that Drake is too strong.
So this battle was actually not much of a surprise; Ash Ketchum was someone I'd never even heard of.
But soon, a new piece of news emerged: this time, the challenger wasn't a challenger at all. What does this mean?
This means that this time, their chief trainer, Drake, is the challenger, and the one named Ash is being challenged by Drake.
What's going on? Why did their head trainer become a challenger?
After nearly a night of investigation, the locals on the island finally learned about Ash.
Within six months of his debut, he won the fiercely competitive Indigo League.
He is the champion of the Grand Fighting Prix and has a history of fighting against the Elite Four multiple times. Moreover, the Elite Four he fought were not just ordinary Elite Four, but the Kanto Four Elite Four who had the strength of champions.
In two battles against Lorelei, they were narrowly defeated by Lorelei's second team of Pokémon in the first battle, but in the second battle, they defeated two of Lorelei's main Pokémon, one of which was Lugia, the sea god worshipped by the Orange Islands!
No wonder Drake became a challenger, good heavens, this isn't just a little boy, he's a complete freak!
After learning about Ash's information, everyone knew that this challenge was different from the past and would likely be a fierce and exciting battle, making ticket acquisition very important.
In the past, Drake's matches against the challengers have always been held at Citrus Stadium, and tickets are almost always sold out.
However, generally speaking, after the announcement on the day of the match, there are still some tickets available the next morning, until shortly before the start of the game they were sold out.
But this time was different. After learning about Ash's information, the people on Citrus Island rushed to grab tickets. Almost before midnight, all the tickets for the battle were sold out.
The popularity of this battle far exceeds that of previous battles. In fact, in this battle, they may even see Drake use his full strength for the first time in a long time, bringing out his ace Pokémon that he hasn't used in a long time.
The next day, Ash and Drake arrived at the center of Citrus Stadium. Misty and Serena had a special spot there, which was the seats where the players sat during halftime.
Battles at Citrus Stadium are six-on-six matches. A halftime break occurs when three Pokémon on one side are unable to battle, and the arena is then used for a rematch.
Because of the change, there were designated rest areas for the athletes behind their positions, where Misty and Serena sat.
"Welcome to the Orange Stadium, everyone! Our two competitors are Drake, the top trainer of the Orange Islands, and Ash, the Indigo League champion from Pallet Town in the Kanto region!"
"This battle was initiated by our chief trainer. He used to be the one being challenged, but now he is the one challenging in his own home arena. It is quite incredible, but compared to Ash's experience, this situation seems to make sense."
"Ash has been a professional player for six months now, boasting a record of defeating the current Johto Elite Four member, Koga, and a 2-on-2 victory over Kanto Elite Four member, Lorelei. Furthermore, Ash seems to possess a Sea God Pokemon Lugia, something most people couldn't achieve in a lifetime, yet Ash accomplished all of these in just over six months."
"Today's match is sure to be a very exciting one, so viewers should keep their eyes peeled and not miss a single detail!"
As the host of the Citrus Sports Field, Alex began to regulate the atmosphere, and his shouts significantly amplified the cheers from the crowd.
"This battle is a six-on-six duel. Both sides have the right to freely exchange Pokémon. If one side loses three Pokémon first, there will be a halftime break, during which the fields will be switched. The first side to lose six Pokémon will be the loser. Now, let the battle begin!"
At the referee's signal, both players simultaneously threw a Poké Ball onto the field.
With a flash of light, Ash sent out his newly captured Pokémon from the Orange Islands—Lapras!
On Drake's side, there was a pink, slime-like Pokémon named Ditto!
"Ash has sent out Lapras, a very rare Pokémon that has never appeared in Ash's hands before. Could this be Ash's new trump card? Meanwhile, Drake has sent out his ever-victorious Ditto!"
"Of the recent ten challengers, almost half of them couldn't even get past Drake's Ditto. Even if they managed to defeat Ditto, their Pokémon were almost all gone. I wonder how Ash will deal with Ditto?!"
Ditto is an extremely strange Pokémon. It can transform into the appearance of various Pokémon and even synchronize their stats.
That's right, this means that even when facing a relatively strong opponent, Ditto can still synchronize their stats.
However, this synchronization isn't limitless. Ditto can only synchronize its abilities across two ranks at most.
The higher the level, the fewer ranks it can synchronize across.
For example, if Ditto is a beginner Elite Four member and its opponent is a beginner Champion member, then Ditto...
Even if one transforms into a monster, one can only barely reach the opponent's level.
However, if the opponent is a Champion Intermediate, then even Ditto cannot fully synchronize its stats.
In addition, Ditto's stamina does not keep pace with the opponent's stamina; it only has its own stamina. This means that if Ditto wants to transform into a more advanced enemy form, its stamina consumption will not keep up.
The opponent can use skills without restraint, while Ditto's stamina might be depleted after just two skills.
Furthermore, to use Ditto effectively, you need to make the right judgment about the other Pokémon's skills and the moves they might learn.
If the opponent's Pokémon doesn't know how to use a move, but you call it out, it will cause Ditto to freeze, which will become a weakness in the battle.
So Ditto seems really powerful, It can transform into any spirit, even possessing their stats and skills, but in reality, it is a spirit that is extremely difficult to use.
Drake's ability to achieve such results with this Pokémon is truly remarkable for a trainer.
After Ditto appeared on the field, it immediately began to change form. In less than a second, Ditto became exactly the same as Ash's Lapras.
The two look almost identical. To an outsider, if the two Pokémon spun around twice, they probably wouldn't know which one was which. But in Ash's observation, his Lapras and the other's were completely different.
Putting everything else aside, each Pokémon has a different aura, so Ash couldn't possibly make a mistake just by looking at their auras.
When Lapras was first subdued, Lapras was still a little guy who was seriously injured, and his level was only at the initial stage of advancement, which was equivalent to just starting out.
After training with Ash and enduring long journeys every day, her level has significantly improved, and she has now reached the beginner level of elite.
This level is equivalent to the main Pokémon of a typical Gym Leader. The fact that it could grow to this level in such a short time is not only due to Ash's cooking skills, but also because Lapras trained very hard and had high talent.
That's why they jumped a major level in less than a month!
Ash had already used his Insight Eye to see that the opponent's Ditto was at the very beginning; its level was elite Peak.
In terms of rank, Ditto is much higher than Lapras, but now that it has used its transformation ability, its rank is only about the same as Lapras's.
This is also one of Ditto's drawbacks. When facing a high-level opponent, it can raise its stats to the opponent's level, but when facing a low-level opponent, its stats can only be on par with theirs.
When facing lower-level opponents, the only advantage is that one's own stamina is relatively high.
"Lapras, use Ice Beam!"
"We'll also use the Ice Beam!"
The battle began without warning. Both sides commanded their Pokémon to use Ice Beam almost simultaneously. The icy blue light converged in the air, and a chilling aura instantly spread across the field.
The venue was a rock and water area with a large pool in the center. However, at the moment the frozen light collided, the overflowing cold air instantly caused the pool in the center to freeze over!