"Pugu~!"
"Happiny!!"
Seeing Happiny collapse with spiral eyes, completely unable to continue battling, Clarissa covered her mouth in shock and cried out from the sidelines.
Just moments earlier, under the cover of the Haze, their side had held a clear advantage.
Yet unexpectedly, they were the first to lose a Pokémon.
However, that disadvantage did not last long.
The Thunderstorm Brothers' critically injured Magneton was quickly finished off by Frogadier.
"Magneton!!"
Following its trainer's command, Magneton—despite being severely weakened—still charged fearlessly toward Frogadier.
But it never imagined that this charge would become its final move.
Bang!
Frogadier was still in excellent condition.
Facing the incoming Magneton, it spun its body and unleashed a powerful roundhouse kick, sending the steel Pokémon flying across the battlefield.
No special move had been used.
But Frogadier's Ground-type physiology, granted through its ability, gave the attack tremendous advantage.
After crashing heavily onto the ground, Magneton looked as though it had suffered devastating damage.
Its horseshoe magnets hung limply.
It clearly had no strength left to fight.
"Magneton! Attack quickly—use Flash Cannon!"
"Ash: Frogadier—!"
Ash didn't need to say anything more.
Just calling its name was enough.
Frogadier instantly understood.
Ground-type energy surged through its webbed hands.
In the blink of an eye, eight earth-toned shuriken materialized.
"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Magneton hadn't even fired its Flash Cannon yet—
When the shuriken came spinning toward it.
Each one carried 90 points of base damage due to the quadruple weakness.
For the already battered Magneton, there was simply no way to withstand them.
At this moment, telling it to "have courage" sounded utterly meaningless.
Because under a 4× type disadvantage, every single shuriken was a blow too heavy to endure.
"Magneton!!"
After being struck by the barrage of shuriken, Magneton collapsed onto the battlefield like a pile of scrap metal.
It had lost the ability to fight.
Now both sides had lost one Pokémon.
The 2v1 double battle had instantly transformed into a 1v1 duel.
…
As the Haze gradually dispersed, the battlefield became clear again.
Electric-type moves countered Water-type Pokémon.
Even though Raichu had already taken heavy damage, to ordinary spectators who didn't know about Frogadier's Protean Ability, Ash's side appeared to be at a clear disadvantage.
Meanwhile, the Thunderstorm Brothers seemed to hold the upper hand.
"As long as we don't let it use Haze again…"
"This battle will be ours."
Even though their side had also lost a Pokémon, the Thunderstorm Brothers' fighting spirit only grew stronger.
"Raichu—use Thunderbolt!"
They immediately ordered a fast attack, hoping to prevent Frogadier from using Haze again.
"Raichu!!"
Raichu clenched its arms tightly and released the electricity stored within its cheek sacs.
A violent bolt of lightning shot forward like a raging thunder strike toward Frogadier.
But what the Thunderstorm Brothers didn't realize was—
Ash had never planned to use Haze again.
In fact—
Raichu's Thunderbolt was exactly what he had been waiting for.
The entire reason he sent Frogadier into this battle was to test its resistance against Electric-type Pokémon.
"Frogadier—don't dodge!"
"Take it head-on!"
Ash waved his hand decisively.
The command stunned everyone watching.
"What?!"
Across the field, the Thunderstorm Brothers stared in disbelief.
Ash offered no explanation.
And on the battlefield, Frogadier showed no hesitation.
Facing the incoming Thunderbolt—
It didn't dodge.
Instead, it walked forward calmly, as if strolling through a garden.
Before the crowd could even react—
The Thunderbolt struck.
CRACK—!
Electric sparks exploded across Frogadier's body as it was engulfed in lightning.
Everyone believed the battle had ended right there.
But then—
Frogadier raised both hands as if parting a curtain.
"Rip—!"
The lightning wrapped around its body was torn apart.
Frogadier stepped out of the electric storm—
completely unharmed.
"Unbelievable!!!"
The commentator's voice shook with excitement.
"A miracle!"
"Frogadier is a Water-type Pokémon!"
"Yet it took Raichu's Thunderbolt head-on and didn't suffer any damage at all!"
"What's going on here?!"
"Could the Pokédex information be wrong?"
"Is Frogadier actually a Ground-type Pokémon immune to Electric attacks?!"
"Ash!!"
"Ash!!!"
"Ash!!!!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, the audience erupted into thunderous cheers.
At the beginning of the match, when Ash sent out Frogadier, many spectators had doubted him.
But once the battle started, Ash and Frogadier had reversed the situation with Haze, silencing those doubts.
And now—
Seeing Frogadier withstand Electric attacks without a scratch ignited the crowd's enthusiasm into something almost fanatical.
However, while the audience cheered wildly, the Thunderstorm Brothers stood frozen in disbelief.
"That's impossible!"
"Impossible! How could that happen?!"
"A Water-type Pokémon taking a Thunderbolt and remaining unharmed? That's impossible!"
"Raichu! Attack again!"
"Use Thunder!"
"RAAAI—!"
With the little stamina it had left, Raichu unleashed its strongest attack.
Dark thunderclouds gathered above the battlefield.
In the next moment, a bolt of lightning as thick as a human leg roared down like a raging thunder dragon.
But Frogadier still didn't dodge.
It continued walking calmly toward Raichu.
BOOM—!!
The thunderbolt struck Frogadier directly.
The deafening crash of lightning forced many spectators to cover their ears and shut their eyes.
When the light faded—
Everyone looked back at the battlefield.
They had expected Frogadier to be completely crushed by the attack.
But the reality felt like a bucket of ice water poured over their heads.
Electric energy flowed over Frogadier's smooth skin like liquid.
Then it seeped harmlessly into the ground and disappeared.
Frogadier stood there—
perfectly fine.
Not a single injury.
"No… no way…"
"How is this possible?!"
The Thunderstorm Brothers stared in complete disbelief.
Even the audience fell silent, staring blankly at the battlefield.
Meanwhile—
Ash simply nodded in satisfaction.
"Good… very good."
No matter how shocked the others were, Ash had already obtained the answer he wanted.
Frogadier's Electric resistance test had been a complete success.
And Raichu—
The "experimental subject"—
No longer had any value.
"Frogadier," Ash said calmly.
"Finish it."
"Use Spikes."
--------------
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