"Croak!"
"Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!"
Shuriken after shuriken flew through the air.
In the next moment—
SWISH!
Frogadier suddenly dashed forward like an arrow.
Gripping the final earthen shuriken in its hand like a short dagger, it slashed across Raichu's body in one clean motion.
"Raichu!!"
Across the field, the Thunderstorm Brothers cried out anxiously.
Two meters behind Raichu, Frogadier stood frozen in its finishing stance, its arm extended like a blade that had just completed its strike.
Raichu's body trembled.
Sweat formed on its forehead, and its expression twisted in pain.
It stood stiffly for a moment—
Then its legs suddenly gave way.
With a heavy thud, Raichu collapsed onto the battlefield.
It had lost the ability to fight.
The referee began silently counting to ten.
When Raichu failed to rise again, he raised his flag and announced loudly:
"Raichu has lost the ability to battle!"
"With both Pokémon on the blue side defeated, the winner of this match is the red team—Ash and Clarissa!"
…
"Wooooo—!!!"
"Unbelievable! Truly unbelievable!"
The commentator's voice rang with excitement.
"Ash has won!"
"He actually defeated Electric-type Pokémon with a Water-type Pokémon!"
"And earlier, Frogadier took Raichu's Thunderbolt and Thunder head-on without suffering any damage!"
"Ash is truly a trainer who creates miracles!"
"Ash!!!"
"Ash!!!"
"Ash!!!"
The commentator's words had barely ended when the crowd erupted into a thunderous wave of cheers.
Ash and Clarissa looked at each other and smiled.
Their faces were filled with the joy of victory.
However, on the opposite side of the battlefield, the defeated Thunderstorm Brothers looked completely unwilling to accept the outcome.
If they had simply lost to stronger Pokémon, they would have accepted defeat.
But what they had just witnessed—
A Water-type Pokémon taking Electric-type attacks head-on and remaining unharmed—
Was something they simply could not understand.
"Impossible… absolutely impossible!"
"Wait!"
The Thunderstorm Brothers suddenly raised their hands and addressed the referee.
"Referee, we would like to question the result of this match."
"Trainer Ash's Frogadier is clearly very well-trained, and we respect him as a trainer."
"But as everyone knows, Frogadier is the second-stage evolution of the Kalos region's Water-type starter Pokémon."
"It is a pure Water-type Pokémon, and Water-types are weak to Electric-type attacks."
"Yet in the battle just now, Frogadier was able to completely ignore Raichu's Electric-type attacks."
"For that reason, we need an explanation."
"Otherwise, we cannot accept this result."
The Thunderstorm Brothers spoke with clear frustration.
Of course, they weren't fools.
They didn't immediately accuse Ash of cheating.
Instead, they first praised Frogadier's training and expressed respect toward Ash.
After all, judging from the cheers in the arena, nearly eighty to ninety percent of the spectators were Ash's fans.
If they had openly accused Ash of cheating, they would have been torn apart by the crowd.
By speaking politely first and then raising their doubts, the reaction from the audience remained relatively calm.
Besides—
The spectators themselves were also extremely curious.
Why could Frogadier ignore Electric attacks?
The commentator turned awkwardly toward Ash.
"Trainer Ash… would you mind explaining?"
"Frogadier's Hidden Ability."
Ash didn't show any anger at their questioning.
But he also didn't waste time explaining further.
He simply pointed out the key factor.
"Hidden Ability?"
The commentator blinked in surprise.
He quickly spoke into his headset, contacting the arena staff.
Within seconds, the research team had already provided a detailed explanation.
"Ahem—!"
The commentator cleared his throat and addressed the crowd.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just confirmed Trainer Ash's explanation with our staff."
"Frogadier's Hidden Ability is called Protean."
"When Frogadier uses a move, its type temporarily changes to match the type of that move."
"In the battle earlier, Frogadier repeatedly used the Ground-type move Spikes."
"As a result, its Hidden Ability activated, changing its body's type from Water to Ground-type."
"And since Ground-types are immune to Electric-type moves…"
"Frogadier was completely unaffected by Raichu's Electric attacks."
"I see!"
"So that's how it works!"
"Protean… what an amazing ability!"
The audience finally understood.
Many spectators were amazed by the concept of an ability that allowed a Pokémon to change its own type depending on the move it used.
Meanwhile, the Thunderstorm Brothers' earlier frustration and doubts instantly vanished.
Realizing that they had questioned Ash unfairly, the two brothers looked slightly embarrassed.
After a brief hesitation, they bowed toward Ash across the battlefield.
"Ash… we're sorry."
"We wrongly suspected you of cheating earlier."
"Please accept our sincere apology."
Ash waved his hand casually.
"It's fine."
Through his Aura Perception, he could sense that their apology was genuine.
Besides—
"Frogadier is a Pokémon from the Kalos region."
"And the ability Protean only appears in the Kalos Water-type starters and the Hoenn Pokémon Kecleon."
"If you didn't know about it, that's completely understandable."
"So don't worry about it."
Ash's tone was relaxed and generous.
Just as the misunderstanding was resolved—
A familiar voice suddenly rang out in Ash's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations, Host! You defeated Magneton (LV.30). Experience +420.]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You defeated Raichu (LV.29). Experience +400.]
Ash smiled faintly.
But the third system notification made his expression instantly change.
[Ding! Frogadier has gained enough experience to evolve!]
[Frogadier is beginning its evolution!!!]
Ash's eyes widened in excitement.
At that exact moment—
The Frogadier standing silently on the battlefield suddenly began to glow.
"SHHHHH!"
A brilliant white light burst forth from its body.
Just as the system had announced—
Frogadier had begun evolving.
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T/N:
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