thefictionvixens Chapter 272 Water City
Chapter 272 Water City
Chapter 272 Water City
Sunlight shines on the azure ocean, where a giant dragon is riding the waves, rapidly heading in a certain direction.
These are Ash and his friends, of course.
A few days ago, based on the route Serena had found out, Ash and his friends successfully found the route to the Water Seven, Ottomare.
Although the aunt who was telling Serena gossip seemed suspicious, Ash even noticed that she hadn't properly concealed her official epaulets.
But that doesn't matter!
Anyway, Ash and his friends obediently followed the prescribed route to Scarborough Shoal, and happened to run into a large parade of lanternfish.
They helped the father and son, who were responsible for guiding the lanternfish to migrate to the sea this year, successfully resolve the problem of the collapsed road.
They obtained a map of the surrounding area from them, successfully escaped getting lost, and then bypassed Red Rock Island, the venue for the final competition, by going around the edge of the island.
While visiting Silver Rock Island, Xiaoxia even caught a very lively sun coral there.
This adorable Water-type Pokémon is right into Misty's play area. Ever since she saw Professor Elm's Corsola, she's wanted one.
As Ash and his friends progress through the Whirl Islands, they encounter more and more wild Pokémon along their route, and their strength also increases accordingly.
Ash became addicted to playing it for a while.
The battle was exhilarating!
Furthermore, during their journey, Ash and his friends happened to encounter several Team Rocket groups who were looking for something.
I just took care of them all without a second thought.
Afterwards, Ash packed everything up and gave it to Officer Jenny on a nearby island.
These Rocket Teams were unlucky, because due to the special sea conditions of the Whirlpool Islands, there were only a few safe routes, and they were all very close to each other.
This means that no matter where they return from, they are very likely to pass through the same route that Ash took.
These Team Rocket members seem to have some special connection with Ash, as they keep bumping into him, catching him completely naked. "Sigh, so many people coming to offer their help, I'm almost embarrassed."
However, to Ash's surprise, he didn't see his old acquaintances, Yamato and Saburo, among these Team Rocket members.
But it didn't matter. With Team Rocket's help, Ash's regional prestige and favorability increased by more than 2,000 points.
Professor Nanbo, who was at the underwater base, hated Ash so much that his teeth itched.
Of the several reconnaissance teams sent out, eight out of ten were defeated by Ash. This guy is simply a jinx to Team Rocket!
This delayed his search for Lugia, causing him to lose several more strands of hair from worry.
Ash, of course, didn't care about him. Now, after taking a special route to bypass all the incredibly powerful whirlpools, Water 7 finally appeared in front of Ash and his friends.
"Celebi, please restore all these Pokémon."
"Compare!"
After the green garlic cloves flew happily through the air and circled around for a while, the piles of floating corpses beside the dragon's enormous body gradually regained their spirits.
Ash then encouraged his main opponent, Blackie, who had just been in battle.
[Ding! Lugia (Little Black): Affection +2; Intimacy +2]
Dr. Kongmu's formula was truly effective; in just one month, Xiao Hei's body grew another fifty centimeters.
At this rate, it feels like Black will reach the size of an adult Lugia in a few months.
Then Ash will be able to bring Blackie to wreak havoc everywhere. I'm getting a little excited just thinking about it.
Upon arriving in Water 7, Ash put Lapras and the others into Poké Balls and hurried to the Pokémon Center to report for duty.
At this point, Ash and Misty's Whirlpool Islands tour is complete.
Thanks to Xiaozhi's tireless efforts along the way, they successfully completed the registration half an hour before the deadline.
[Ding! Congratulations on triggering a new side quest, "Who is the King of the Preliminaries!": Complete all the preliminaries with an undefeated record!]
【奖励：联盟币+4000；速度+2；攻击+2；自由属性点+2；道具「贝壳之铃」+1】
Ash and Misty breathed a sigh of relief as they left the Pokémon Center; all they had to do now was wait for the preliminary rounds to begin in the afternoon.
"This city is so beautiful!" Misty was immediately captivated by the cityscape as soon as she stepped out of the Pokémon Center.
The city of Maodorei is very similar to Venice, the water city in Ash's memory, as both are cities submerged in the sea.
However, the environment here is better, the air is very fresh, and it is a beautiful city with beautiful scenery.
"Yes, it has a very romantic feel to it, and look, ta-da!" Serena skipped and hopped quickly to Ash and the others, showing them the notebook in her hand.
"I just got the tourist guide for this place. Let's explore the city after the preliminary rounds." She had been looking forward to visiting Water City for a long time.
Especially after Serena read about the legend of the small boat in the guidebook.
"Happiness can be found by holding hands with your loved one, sitting in a small boat, and sailing around the Water City."
"That sounds amazing!" Xiaoxia was also quite interested in this kind of thing.
But in Xiao Zhi's opinion, this was clearly just an unreliable little story deliberately released by the boatmen of those small boats for marketing purposes.
It's simply a tactic to attract more business for myself.
But seeing how much they were looking forward to it, Xiaozhi didn't care anymore.
"Whatever makes you happy."
It's true that it's easiest to make money off couples.
Xiao Zhi is now wondering if he should launch some kind of promotional activity for his air taxi business, such as a romantic air trip.
If they get people to make up some love-related legends, they might make a lot of money.
Because of the large number of participants in the Whirlpool Tournament, the preliminary rounds of Clean Gloss were very tightly scheduled, with a competition held almost every half day.
So, right after noon, Ash and his friends went to the Pokémon Center again to draw lots.
Xiaoxia was the first to draw, and she immediately drew field number 9, while Xiaozhi drew field number 1.
This is also good news, as the different venues mean that Misty won't run into Ash in the preliminaries.
Each participant needs to win three consecutive matches to pass the preliminary round.
Soon the first preliminary match of the afternoon began. After drawing lots, Ash and his friends immediately went to the arena in the central stadium of Water City to prepare for the battle.
The competition order starts from field number one, and then the next field starts every half hour. Ash's match is the first match in field number one.
The Whirlpool Islands Tour is a grand event for the entire archipelago, so the stadium was packed with people, filling all the surrounding stands.
Misty and Serena, who were brought in by the contestants, can sit in the family section, which is Ash's coaching section, to watch the game up close.
The entire battlefield is a water platform. In the center of the field is a large pool of water, and in each half of the field, there are several large pillars with their tops protruding about 20 centimeters above the water surface to serve as platforms.
Ash and his rival quickly took their positions on either side of the field.
The opponent was a girl with red hair wearing a white painter's beret; her hairstyle was a little unusual, but she was very cute.
Her eyes were fixed on Xiaozhi, and her expression was very serious.
However, for some reason, Ash suddenly sensed that there seemed to be two more gazes in the sky.
But when he looked up, the two gazes vanished instantly, and there was nothing in the sky.
"strangeness----"
Although puzzled, Ash saw no malice in the gaze, so he didn't bother to investigate further with his Aura Sense and decided to focus on the battle first.
Finally, the referee arrived on the battlefield.
"The competition rules are two-on-two, and the other side wins when all of one side's Pokémon are unable to battle!"
"So, Ash from Pallet Town versus Canon from Water Seven, the match officially begins!"
"So the girl across from me is called Kanon." And she's a local.
On the water field, both sides immediately sent out their respective Pokémon, with Ash's first Pokémon being Feraligatr.
On the other side, Kanon released a giant flying fish.
"The opponent is also a powerful individual who has completed the archipelago tour. The Giant Winged Flying Fish should not underestimate him."
That being said, Canon is also confident in his abilities.
Even with her grandfather urging her to come back quickly to entertain important guests, she still managed to complete the pilgrimage.
"What? This is an important duty of our clan to protect the Water City—" Kanon still thinks his grandfather is long-winded when he thinks about it now.
Although those two guests were indeed very important, and I quite liked them, I still felt I had to pursue my dreams to feel satisfied.
Yesterday, the younger sister of the two guests said she wanted to come watch my match, but I don't know if she came or not. Thinking this, Kanon looked up at the sky and around.
Unfortunately, the opponent had the ability to become invisible, and Canon couldn't find it. The competition was still the priority.
"Giant Flying Fish, use the Seed Machine Gun!"
This move was specifically taught to Manta Ray by Kanon in order to gain a type advantage in tournaments dominated by Water-type Pokémon.
After a lot of training, the Giant Flying Fish Seed Machine Gun fired with considerable power, creating several high splashes on the water's surface.
Hitting the crocodile will make it feel some pain.
"The opponent is really strong." Xiaoxia didn't expect that Xiaozhi's first opponent would be such a strong player.
This Whirlpool Tournament attracted a large number of Water-type Pokémon Trainers, making it a truly formidable competition. Misty was already starting to feel nervous about her upcoming battles.
Of course, Ash's Feraligatr is no pushover either; it was one of the animals Ash focused on training during this period.
The progress Feraligatr has made is evident from the mountains of wild Pokémon "corpses" piled up along the flight path.
"The crocodile leaped from the terrace into the water, dodging the subsequent barrage of seed machine gun fire!"
"Even if we jump into the water, my giant flying fish won't lose. Let's dive down and use our ramming attack."
Upon hearing Ash's command, Feraligatr immediately slid to the bottom of the arena, followed closely by Manta Ray.
Canon's giant flying fish was incredibly fast, clearly having been carefully trained for speed, and it relentlessly pursued the Mighty Crocodile.
But what Ash wanted was for Feraligatr to use Aqua Tail to stir up the whole pool right now!
The crocodile's tail instantly became entangled in the swirling water, and then it used its tail and arms as stirring rods, frantically churning the entire pool.
Relying on its already powerful strength, and with the added boost from the Force ability and the 60% power increase from the Life Orb, the entire arena instantly transformed into a giant vortex centered on the location of Feraligatr.
The swirling water currents engulfed the giant flying fish, rendering it completely immobile.
"My God, what incredible power! The entire arena is awestruck by the power of the Crocodile!" The commentator was also shocked by the Crocodile's astonishing strength.
"Come on, giant flying fish! Break free quickly, use your jump and let's fly into the sky!"
"Too late! Crocodile pulls its opponent close and uses Crunch!"
Because the giant flying fish's attributes are water and flight, it has the ability to fly for short periods of time, but no matter how much it struggles, it can never escape the huge suction force brought by the water flow.
Drifting around in the raging waves, they soon arrived at the mouth of the giant crocodile.
The bite hit successfully, the vortex subsided, and the giant flying fish was torn apart and thrown onto the platform of the arena by the crocodile.
"Mighty Crocodile, Freeze Punch!"
"Oh no, giant flying fish! Get out of the way!" Canon was sweating profusely.
But the mighty crocodile, leaping high out of the water, swiftly slammed its gleaming left arm into the giant flying fish's head.
The attack was extremely powerful, creating a chip in the platform. A thin layer of ice immediately formed where the crocodile struck, and with a bang, the ice covering the giant flying fish shattered.
"Giant Flying Fish, incapacitated!"
Both sides' Pokémon displayed formidable strength, prompting enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Despite losing the first round, Canon was not discouraged and quickly sent out her second Pokémon, Tentacruel.
"Tentacled jellyfish, use your stinger!"
The Pokémon on the other side maintained Canon's usual high speed, and its Poison Sting was released very quickly. It was also a very well-trained Pokémon.
Ash's weakness is his speed. Although he was on guard, he was still accidentally pricked in the arm by several poison needles.
The crocodile was immediately poisoned.
Seeing this, Kanon was overjoyed. "Perfect opportunity! The Tentacruel will use its venom blast!"
When the target is poisoned, the Venom Impact becomes twice as powerful as usual!
If he could hit the crocodile, he would definitely inflict considerable damage on it, and in that case, Kanon felt he might still have a chance of winning.
Unfortunately for her, she was facing Ash's "Feraligatr, Earthquake!"
Faced with the venomous impact that the stinging jellyfish was about to launch, the crocodile didn't even try to dodge; it simply stomped its foot on the platform.
The entire arena immediately began to shake violently, interrupting the jellyfish's attack.
The powerful attack, with its remarkable effect, immediately plunged the stinging jellyfish into immense pain, until finally its head lolled to the side.
"Tentacled jellyfish is unable to battle; Ash is the winner of this match!"
"Well done, Feraligatr!" Ash won the first round beautifully and celebrated with Feraligatr by throwing a punch together.
The muscular man's shirt was soaked by water splashed from the battlefield, revealing the perfect contours of his muscles, which resembled a marble sculpted slab, under the sunlight.
Coupled with his confident and masculine smile and the charm he exuded at all times, Canon was momentarily stunned.
The two players came to the center of the field for a post-match handshake. Although Canon was a little unwilling to accept defeat, he still unconsciously shook hands with Ash a little longer.
"His hands are so big and strong—" Canon blushed slightly.
"Is this girl suffering from heatstroke?" Xiao Zhi asked, somewhat puzzled.
"Is this the intensity of the Whirlpool Tournament?!" Misty had already sat up straight. Only now did she realize how gentle Ash was when he battled her.
Xiaoxia's initial restlessness caused by her rapid improvement in strength during this period vanished instantly.
Immediately begin thinking about tactics and preparing for your upcoming battles.
Soon, it was Misty's turn to compete, and Ash and Serena came to watch as well.
"Is Xiaoxia alright?"
"Of course! My Pokémon have gotten so much stronger along the way, I choose to believe in them!"
Although Xiaoxia was nervous, she did not lose her desire to win.
Despite the thrilling nature of her first match, she ultimately won the first preliminary round thanks to the outstanding performance of her Politoed Frog.
On the night Ash and his friends arrived in Water 7, another group of uninvited guests also arrived at the city library.
Two women, one blonde and one silver, easily infiltrated the library with their agile movements.
"Finally found my sister, this is it!"