Pikachu jumped to the battlefield and as soon as it began, Pikachu moved without Ash telling him to. N found this fascinating with Ash and Pikachu. He could see the tight bond of trust between each other – Pikachu's trust in Ash to tell him if something's awry and Ash's trust in Pikachu to defend himself in the battlefield.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu immediately released electricity from the pouches of his cheeks but Trip ordered Frillish to use Protect and followed by Night Shade. Ash ordered Pikachu to use Quick Attack to dodge but the attack still hit. Trip followed this up with Water Pulse which caught Pikachu in a vortex.
"Not so strong of a Pikachu now, huh?"
Gritting his teeth, Ash told Pikachu to shake the water off and that it's appeal time. Pikachu's eyes shone with understanding while the spectators speculated what Ash meant by that.
"Appeal time?" repeated Iris and N, confused. Cilan and Daniel looked over to Misty, with Misty shrugging, "I know just as much as you do. I don't have all the answers when it comes to Ash Ketchum."
They looked at each other dubiously. Somehow, they didn't believe Misty.
"Alright, Pikachu! Quick Attack!"
"What?!" exclaimed everyone. Iris shouted, "Did you already forget Frillish's Cursed Body?!"
Trip smirked, "You're a fool making the same mistake twice. Works for me, makes my job easier! Take the hit Frillish!"
Ash raised an eyebrow, questioningly. "Who told you the Quick Attack's for Frillish?"
Everyone raised their eyebrows in curiosity, surprise, and irritation.
"Quick Attack, Pikachu, then combine it with Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu executed a Quick Attack combined with Thunderbolt, running in circles with speed that isn't visible to the eye – the yellow crackles and sparks of the electricity slowly formed into a large ring of electricity that made everyone gape in awe. The ring was still getting bigger and Pikachu released it.
"It's a combination attack!" gasped Cilan. Hearing this, Trip ordered, "Frillish, use Protect!"
"Now, Iron Tail and cut them up!"
As if on cue, Pikachu had already charged up and Iron Tail and swiftly cut the ring into ten smaller rings before Ash said, "Let it rip!"
"Pika!" You bet!
Pikachu sent the rings flying towards Frillish and panicked, Frillish dropped the Protect without prompting from his trainer who was also equally shocked.
"Now, you'll see why I call this move – Fireworks!"
The rings bounced upon each other but once a ring hit the unassuming Frillish, it set up a chain of tiny explosions akin to fireworks which were super effective to Frillish. Frillish dropped to the ground like a puppet cut off its strings and flopped.
Everyone gaped at the pretty sight of the move exploding, it was like they were watching a performance rather than a battle.
"Get up, Frillish!" said Trip but Frillish couldn't move.
"It's been paralyzed!" gaped Daniel.
"Go Pikachu, finish it off with Volt Tackle and Iron Tail!"
Despite both attacks being physical moves, no one had reacted because if Pikachu managed to land a critical and clean hit, he wouldn't have to worry about his disabled moves because Frillish would have fainted thus leaving Trip his last Pokemon.
The move hit and Frillish succumbed to Pikachu's moves.
"Yes, we did it Pikachu!"
"Pikapi pikaka pika!" Was there any doubt?
Ash laughed. "Alright, last one!"
Trip was scowling now, his camcorder recording and capturing the moment. He sent out his last Pokemon – Timburr. Ash returned Pikachu and called out a Rufflet. Trip saw the glint in Rufflet's eye as the bird immediately fixated on Timburr and he got a sinking feeling what the outcome of this battle was.
Thoroughly defeated and embarrassed, Trip didn't stay longer to watch Misty and Daniel's battle. Ash made a beeline to talk to the trainer after depositing his tired Pokemon to Nurse Joy and Audino's care. N made a move to follow Ash and hid himself to avoid being seen.
"Hey, Trip! That was a great battle!" greeted Ash.
Trip scoffed, his hands formed in fists.
"Great battle? You completely wiped the floor while I made such a disgraceful show!"
Ash placated gently, "Doesn't mean it's not a great battle. Seriously, your Pokemon performed admirably well!"
"They're weak, that's what they are," Trip simply said.
N can hear Zorua softly growling as he himself gritted his teeth and was about to come to the Pokemon's defense but he noticed the chill in the air as the atmosphere changed. Ash's whole demeanor had turned cold as he regarded Trip. Trip felt like he was being choked despite Ash just staring straight at him, unblinking.
"Those Pokemon fought hard for you, the least you could do is acknowledge they did well. If you think your Pokemon are weak, that says much about who you are as a Trainer than it does the Pokemon. I've been a Trainer for almost five years now, and I can tell you – no Pokemon are weak."
Just as fast as that happened, the atmosphere vanished. N felt like he could breathe again but he couldn't get off his mind how entrancing and compelling Ash was with the conviction he held and repeated to Trip. It was as if he was a… hero.
Ash gave Trip a small smile. "See you around, Trip. Take good care of your Pokemon. And let's have a battle rematch soon."
Trip stood there dumbfounded at the whiplash of emotions that he had received from Ash Ketchum. He watched as Ash turned around to go back to the battlefield to watch Misty's battle with Daniel. N followed Ash inside.
"Oh, there you are! You're just in time for the second match. Misty and Daniel agreed to a three-on-three battle," said Cilan as Ash and N made their way to their seats.
"Where the heck have you two been? You missed how Misty's Corsola thoroughly defeated Daniel's Lampent," said Iris, turning her head towards their direction for a split second before bringing it back to watch Daniel call for his Samurott.
"Indeed, Misty is an absolutely refreshing delight in battling, like a cold lemonade in the sweltering summer heat!" concluded Cilan.
"Sorry, I just said my goodbyes to Trip," said Ash before turning to N. "Where were you, N? I didn't notice you were outside."
N waved him off, "I went to use the restroom."
Ash shrugged but Pikachu narrowed his eyes in suspicion.
Misty hadn't felt this kind of thrill in such a long time. She has faced countless trainers before, of course, but most of them were beginning trainers and she rarely got the chance to go toe-to-toe with more advanced trainers. Despite that, she had trained her Pokemon as well as the Gym Pokemon together to keep them in shape.
Corsola's stats have been boosted after she defeated Lampent with two AncientPower, thus Samurott had a hard time what with Corsola's Tackle and BubbleBeam.
Daniel ordered, "Hit it with Razor Shell!"
"Dodge it, Corsola!"
Corsola managed to gracefully pivot out of the way, avoiding the hit.
"Again!"
Daniel called the order which had Samurott hitting Corsola squarely. A grin stretched his cheeks, "Yes!" But it soon fell when she saw Misty smirk.
"As a Water-type specialist, I have to give it to you for training your Samurott well but I trained mine better. Corsola, Recover!"
The damage Corsola took was undone by the use of Recover and Daniel stomped his foot in annoyance. "That's handy for you, pesky for your opponents," he remarked.
"Thanks! I try my best," called out Misty. "Corsola, AncientPower!"
Rocks floated again to the direction of Samurott, and Misty was confident that the hit would damage Samurott to the point of exhaustion. However, she saw that Daniel didn't falter as the rocks hit Samurott.
Calmly, Daniel ordered: "Revenge."
Misty's eyes widened as she ordered Corsola to dodge but it came out too late, Samurott hit Corsola sending it flying to the wall, creating a dent. Corsola fainted. Misty returned Corsola with a smile, "You did great, Corsola. Thanks for a good battle."
Misty noticed that Samurott was not for long and heavily damaged, she called out her next Pokemon. "Psyduck, go my steady!"
A yellow duck materialized in front of everyone to which Don George, N, and Cilan took an interest just as the they did Corsola. Psyduck tilted his head, before realizing he was sent out to battle. Ash and Pikachu cheered for Psyduck and Psyduck nodded at their direction.
"Begin!"
"Psyduck, Hydro Pump!"
"Samurott, Razor Shell!"
The barrage of water hit Samurott's Razor Shell, cancelling both moves out but Misty followed the order: "Use Psychic on the water, Psyduck!"
Psyduck did what Misty ordered and used the water to trap Samurott in a vortex. Once Samurott was imprisoned in the vortex, Misty ordered a Confusion which hit Samurott squarely. Psyduck canceled the move and Samurott dropped harshly on the field.
"Samurott, are you okay?"
Samurott barked. Never better.
"Alright, use Razor Shell!"
"Psyduck, move!"
Psyduck made an attempt to dodge but Daniel called out: "Aqua Tail!"
Samurott quickly depowered the Razor Shell and wrapped his tail with water, slapping the tail towards Psyduck, sending him flying to the ground.
"Razor Shell, while Psyduck is on the ground!"
Samurott dove to hit Psyduck with the shell but Misty ordered: "Use Water Gun to propel yourself backwards!"
Samurott's attack only hit the ground as Psyduck managed to follow Misty's orders. The trainers shouted: "Let's finish this! Psyduck, Hydro Pump!" "Let's finish this! Samurott, Aqua Jet!"
Samurott engulfed himself in water and propelled himself forwards to Psyduck's direction, meeting the barrage of the damaging Hydro Pump the duck was producing. The two managed to hold of an attrition battle for a moment but Samurott managed to hit Psyduck squarely.
As the dust settled, Samurott and Psyduck were out for the count – the former lying on Psyduck's small form.
The last match was between Misty's Gyarados and Daniel's Lilligant. Daniel's Lilligant made a better showing here than she did against Ash's Pidgeot despite the opposing disadvantages. For one, Lilligant managed to hit Gyarados with Petal Dance twice, boosted by her Quiver Dance.
"You're tricky with your speed, Lilligant. And Gyarados is taking hit points off the Petal Dance, but… Gyarados use Hydro Pump at the opposite direction."
Gyarados fired a barrage of water to the direction Misty was pointing which threw everyone off, including Lilligant, whom Misty correctly predicted her next position would be the direction she was pointing at. Grabbing the chance, Misty ordered Gyarados to use Crunch and keep Lilligant there.
A glint in Misty's eyes made Daniel know he was done for.
"Flamethrower."
"That was a great battle, Daniel! Thank you!" said Misty as she shook Daniel's hand.
"No, no. Thank you! I learned a lot today watching you and Ash!" Daniel replied. N was surprised to hear this comment. Did people learn about others and Pokemon through battling? That was a novel idea to him.
"No problem! Where are you next?" asked Ash.
"Well, just going around the region. Meet new Pokemon, things like that, might continue my gym circuit," said Daniel cheerily, before his face turned serious. "Oh, and another thing! Please be wary of this evil team going around stealing other's Pokemon."
"What?!" cried everyone in alarm. The group's mind went to the familiar faces of Jessie, James, and Meowth.
"Yeah, I battled two of them in Wellspring Cave while the other two fought those strong trainers – Hilbert and Cheren. If you meet them, tell them I said thanks for helping me recover the little girl's Deerling! The little girl was absolutely heartbroken and so was the Deerling but it turned alright in the end."
"They don't happen to have a motto and talking Meowth, did they?" asked Misty, hedging.
Daniel looked blankly at Misty, before shaking his head, "No. I don't think so. They didn't have a talking Meowth, although they did have this absolutely ridiculous notion that they would liberate the Pokemon and separate them from humans in the name of Team Plasma."
N's breath hitched as the world spun around him.