novelraw Chapter 245 Is the Trumpet Bud the Trumpet? Plants Know Kung Fu, So Does the Great Sage?
Chapter 245 Is the Trumpet Bud the Trumpet? Plants Know Kung Fu, So Does the Great Sage?
Chapter 245 Is the Trumpet Bud the Trumpet? Plants Know Kung Fu, Even the Great Sage Couldn't Stop Them!
"Come back, Butterfree, thank you for your hard work." Ash recalled Butterfree and took out a second Poké Ball.
"I choose you, Muk!" Ash's second Pokémon was Muk, and this was Muk's first time on the competition stage.
In terms of rank, Muk has already reached the peak of Elite. If it can win this battle, it might be able to directly advance to Pro rank.
Ash has trained his stats to the limit for his current level, and he can level up at any time as long as he has enough experience.
Furthermore, Muk's poison type is quite effective against Scyther. Scyther has Bug and Flying types, both of which are weak against poison attacks. In addition, the two are roughly the same level, with the only difference being their mobility.
Ash has always used high-speed attacks to defeat his opponents. He plays mostly speed-type characters, so it's rare for him to play a slow-to-fast matchup.
"Mulphur... It's really rare to find someone who owns a Pokémon like that. How do you manage to stand the stench on Muk?" When Kaoru saw Muk, her first thought wasn't how strong Muk was, but rather how Ash managed to tolerate its stench.
"As long as you treat Muk well, it won't give you an unbearable stench, and you'll get used to its normal smell," Ash said with a shrug, looking nonchalant.
At first, Ash wasn't used to Muk's smell, but after spending more time with Muk, he discovered that Muk would unconsciously suppress its smell when it was with people it was close to. This is why Professor Oak was able to easily accept Muk's smell.
Although he was Muk's trainer, he spent very little time with Muk. It wasn't until later, after he trained and spent time with Muk together, that Muk's impression of him gradually diminished, and now it's almost nonexistent.
"I don't understand, but I support you. However, I won't back down in this battle. Scyther, use Quick Attack!"
"Cha!" The flying mantis touched the ground with its toes, and its figure transformed into a green lightning bolt, darting across the entire grass.
Dazzling shadows appeared and disappeared across the field. Scyther, enhanced by Quick Attack, was indeed very fast, and in a way that Muk couldn't handle at all.
"Ignore him, use Melt." When a slow Pokémon is dealing with a fast Pokémon, the best approach is to remain still and wait for the right moment to strike.
No matter how fast you are, as long as you attack, they will eventually get close, and that will be the best time to counterattack.
While the opponent is maneuvering, you can't just wait for them to come over. Instead, you should use amplification skills to enhance yourself, which will naturally make the opponent anxious.
"Use Double Slash!!" Sure enough, after seeing Muk boost its power, Kaoru couldn't hold back any longer, and she immediately sent Scyther to attack.
The Muk on the field flattened its entire body as it used the Melt move to boost its defense. After circling around the field and accelerating, Scyther finally seized the opportunity to appear behind Muk and slashed down with its sharp scythes!
"Pfft!" Scyther's scythe slashed directly into Muk's body, seemingly causing considerable damage.
But when Kaoru saw this scene, her expression changed drastically!
"Scyther, get out of here!!"
"Too late, Muk, Trash Shot!" Ash immediately issued the command.
Mud's upper body did a bizarre 180-degree spin. Since he was a lump of mud, his body was incredibly flexible, so even a 360-degree spin was no problem for him.
Scyther desperately pulled at its twin blades, but found that they seemed to be glued in place, stuck firmly inside Grimer's body, and it was impossible to pull them out.
From the very beginning, Ash planned to have Muk take the first hit from Scyther with its bare body and then restrain it, otherwise it would be quite troublesome if the opponent started to move and maneuver.
Ash was somewhat surprised that Kaoru fell for the trick so easily. What kind of skill level is that? How did she make it to the fourth match of the preliminaries?
The elf isn't particularly outstanding, and its command ability is just average. Could it be that it's just lucky?
While Ash was wondering about this, Muk began to spew out a cloud of garbage containing deadly poison gas.
The dark purple light, tinged with black, struck the Scyther almost at point-blank range. The Scyther let out a painful howl and struggled even more fiercely with its paws.
After being continuously bombarded by the trash cans for nearly ten seconds, he finally broke free and was sent flying backward by the force of the trash cans. He rolled and tumbled on the lawn more than ten times before finally coming to a stop.
"Scyther!!" Kaoru's worried voice rang out on the field. This time, Scyther did not lose its ability to battle like Beedrill before, but the damage it suffered was also quite severe.
After all, it's a point-blank shot, a Poison-type STAB move. At such close range, even if a squishy creature like Scyther doesn't lose its ability to battle, it will be left with only a sliver of health.
"Press your advantage and use Sludge Wave!" When you're down, you're down. Ash doesn't know the meaning of "show mercy" in battle; he just wants to win as quickly as possible!
"Stinky~~" Muk turned its upper body back, then suddenly spun around again, and countless sludge particles shot out from its body, spreading and dripping onto the entire field!
The grass on the ground was instantly corroded and killed upon contact with the mud, while the mantis that had just gotten up also hurriedly began to dodge under Xunzi's command.
However, the range of the mud wave was too large, and Scyther had just suffered a heavy blow and its body had not yet recovered. Its hasty dodge was very limited, and in the end, Scyther could not escape the coverage of the mud wave and was hit by the scattered mud.
A deafening roar echoed across the arena, and unsurprisingly, Scyther was rendered unable to fight.
"Scyther is unable to battle, Muk wins!" Ash also won the second battle. The process was slightly longer than the first battle, but the result was the same.
Butterfree instantly defeated its opponent in the first match, while Muk fought back and then defeated its opponent with almost no effort in the second match.
Speed-type Pokémon are supposed to be Muk's nemesis, and if Scyther had played well, Muk would have been in trouble. However, the trainer's command was really poor, so the speed-type Scyther was countered by Muk instead.
Once a speed-type Pokémon is caught, its weak defense becomes its biggest weakness.
Given Muk's considerable attack power, it's quite normal for it to be defeated in two moves.
At this point, Kaoru was truly driven to the brink of despair. She had only one Pokémon left, and if this Pokémon failed, she would have to say goodbye to this Indigo League.
"Come back, Scyther... You've worked hard." Kaoru gently comforted Scyther in the Poké Ball, then retrieved it and took out the last Poké Ball.
"This is the last one, go, my ace! Trumpet Sprout!!"
With a flash of light, a petite and exquisite elf appeared on the field.
Bellsprout, the initial form of Grass-type Pokémon, looks incredibly weak, and being its first form, its strength shouldn't be that great.
But Ash's Eye of Insight revealed that this Bellsprout was actually at the beginner level of a professional!
Reaching the professional level without evolving is incredibly difficult. Even Bulbasaur evolved at the elite level, but this Bellsprout didn't evolve even at the professional level. Is it carrying an Everstone?
What's the point?!
Professional-level Pokémon are not uncommon in the Indigo League, but this is the first time Ash has seen a professional-level Pokémon in its initial form at the Indigo League!
Even Bulbasaur back then couldn't tolerate that much!
When Bulbasaur initially wanted to remain in its initial form, Ash analyzed the pros and cons for it. Ultimately, for the sake of power and to help Ash, Bulbasaur chose to evolve, and it did so in the most perfect way.
It's not that Pokémon can only become stronger by evolving, but most Pokémon need to evolve to become stronger. Their stats, potential, and rate of improvement all rely on the significant boost they receive after evolving.
If you don't evolve and rely solely on your initial form, not to mention your stats, your level will increase very slowly.
What is so special about this trumpet bud that it hasn't evolved at the professional level?
"Come back, Muk." Ash first recalled Muk, then took out his third Poké Ball: "I choose you, Infernape!!"
With a flash of light, the spirited Infernape appeared on the field. He excitedly swung his fist, then looked at his opponent. Upon discovering that his opponent was just a thin, small Bellsprout, his face showed disappointment.
It looks so weak, can it even withstand one of his flamethrowers?
"Don't underestimate Infernape, it's stronger than you think!" Ash said, as his Aura power slowly rose within him.
Infernape has improved since just two days ago, now reaching Elite Level 1. This rapid level increase without a drop in stats is largely thanks to the foundation laid by Shinji, though Infernape's own talent also plays a crucial role.
Even though Infernape is already an elite-level Infernape, it is still far behind Bellsprout in terms of level. Don't be fooled by Bellsprout's small size and seemingly harmless appearance. In a real battle, Infernape might not even be able to use its Blaze ability before it dies.
After all, without the power of Aura, Infernape is only an elite beginner. Even with type advantages, it would be difficult to cross such a huge level. That's why Ash didn't hesitate to give it Aura at the start of the battle.
Regardless of any strangeness the other party may have, let's first bring our levels to parity.
"It's that Infernape again, Ash. It's in every single one of your battles." After Ash caught Chimchar, he sent it out to battle in three consecutive battles. Kaoru knew about the first two battles, but she never expected to face it herself.
"Since Infernape is a new addition, it lacks both teamwork and experience, which is why it needs to grow in battle. So I'll go first without hesitation! Infernape, Flame Wheel!"
The move still starts with Flame Wheel, Infernape's most proficient Fire-type move. It allows for high-speed movement while using fire, making it a very convenient move.
"Whoa!" Infernape curled up into a ball, transforming into a rolling wheel of fire that rolled towards Bellsprout.
"Push him aside." Kaoru's command was somewhat strange; it was neither dodging nor using any skill to deal with him, but rather pushing him aside.
What does "pry open" mean?
Before Ash could react, the charging Infernape was stuck to the leaf at the front of Bellsprout. With minimal contact with Infernape's flames, the Infernape was pushed backward—a feat of using minimal force to overcome great strength!
The charging Infernape rolled a few times on the ground before returning to normal. Then, looking somewhat bewildered, it turned to Bellsprout, seemingly not understanding what had just happened and how it had been pushed to the back in an instant.
"What's going on? Infernape is going again, Flame Wheel!" Even Ash didn't understand what happened just now. It looked like Bellsprout dodged Infernape's Flame Wheel, but in reality, Bellsprout shouldn't have been able to dodge it at its speed.
After all, Bellsprout's two short legs make it difficult for it to run, unless it needs assistance. But Infernape's Flame Wheel just couldn't hit Bellsprout... What exactly happened just now?
Infernape curled up into a ball again, transforming into a wheel of fire that rolled toward Bellsprout. This time, Bellsprout still slightly turned its body to the side, and then a pair of leaf hands stuck to the wheel of fire and pushed it to the ground!
"Boom!!" The Flame Wheel slammed into the ground at a very strange angle, and Infernape was also pulled out of Flame Wheel mode, its head throbbing and dizzy from the impact.
"Use continuous slams!" Kaoru's voice rang out again. After commanding Bellsprout, Kaoru's behavior was completely different from when she commanded the Pokémon before, as if Bellsprout was her true Pokémon.
Meanwhile, Bellflower, under Kaoru's command, picked up the Fire Monkey and unleashed a barrage of attacks from both sides: "Bang bang bang!!"
Infernape was thrown from the left and then from the right until it was dizzy and disoriented. Ash also felt his body being pulled and tugged around.
"Infernape, Flame Wheel!!" Ash shouted, enduring his discomfort. Infernape on the field was engulfed in flames!
The flames forced Bellsprout to release Infernape, allowing Infernape to quickly widen the gap between itself and its opponent.
The clash just now made him realize that this girl was far from being as weak as she seemed; her abilities were truly bizarre!
(End of this chapter)