20demayo Chapter 128 Ash's Request: A 3-on-3 Elite Four Battle! The entire league is in an uproar!
Chapter 128 Ash's Request: A 3-on-3 Elite Four Battle! The entire league is in an uproar!
Chapter 128 Ash's Request: A 3-on-3 Elite Four Battle! The entire league is in an uproar!
"What I just said, if you've been traveling for two months and have four gym badges, I can take you in. Actually, this is a rule set by my brother, and it's displayed right at the entrance of the Fuchsia Gym."
Aya's words startled Xiaozhi, and then his expression became extremely strange.
After traveling for two months, he has accumulated four gym badges. Besides him, Ash only knows one other person, Gary, who has achieved this level of achievement.
These rules seem to be designed specifically for the two of them, don't they?
"Why set such a rule in the first place?"
"Because my brother guessed that you might come to the Fuchsia Gym to challenge him, but as you saw, the Fuchsia Gym is in a bad state. If you were to challenge normally, you might not be able to get in even after waiting for three days. So he set this rule so that people who meet this condition can cut in line early."
This isn't a rule for both individuals, but solely for Ash.
"Your reputation has reached the ears of all the gym leaders. I also want to see what kind of person you are, to have obtained five badges in two months and even defeated the Goldenrod Gym Leader."
As Aya spoke, she looked Xiaozhi up and down.
As for his appearance, aside from being somewhat handsome, he's otherwise quite ordinary. The Pikachu on him looks harmless and doesn't have the demeanor of a strong person at all. How could someone like this really defeat the Goldenrod Gym?
"Hehe, I didn't expect I'd become so famous. Even Mr. A-Ju has heard of me." Xiao Zhi chuckled, wiping the tip of his nose.
Becoming famous at a young age and gaining attention is one of the things he wanted to do after starting his trip.
Unexpectedly, in just two months, he has become almost famous in Guandu!
"Let's go, I'll take you to find my brother first." Aya waved her hand and led Ash and the others through the back door of the Fuchsia Gym.
"Fluffy, dodge to the left, then use a ramming attack!"
In the dojo's open-air arena, A-Ju, dressed in a ninja outfit, directed her Pokémon to dodge the opponent's Sandshrew's attack, and then finished it off with a single slam.
The challenger's attempt ended in failure.
However, A-Ju still handed the badge to the other party. In battles between gyms, it is not necessary for the challenger to defeat the gym leader in order to obtain the badge.
Otherwise, if you are facing a Champion Trainer like Aki, unless your strength is a whole level higher than Aki's Pokémon, you basically have no chance of defeating Aki.
Therefore, as long as you perform well in your battles against A-Ge, A-Ge will give you a gym badge.
And regardless of winning or losing, Aju will give you some guidance after the competition. Those who line up to challenge are here for this post-competition guidance!
After evaluating the opponent's strengths and weaknesses in combat, A-Ju had the staff escort the person away.
He then placed the Poké Ball on a portable Pokémon therapy machine to the side.
With this machine, plus the dozen or so Pokémon he has to deal with ordinary challengers, he can fight for more than twelve hours a day in shifts!
Originally, Aju only had a few hours a day to deal with challengers, and occasionally Aya would be asked to deal with the challengers to cultivate Aya's combat experience.
After all, once he goes to Johto to become the King, this dojo will be adopted by Aya. Even if he's not there, the reputation of the Crimson Dojo cannot be ruined.
However, recently, he has been standing guard for much longer periods, and he has been handling the challenges almost entirely on his own, all in order to build momentum for his upcoming appointment as a superstar.
Besides strength, reputation is also very important for trainers in the Celestial Land region.
For example, if an unknown trainer suddenly becomes a top player, how would outsiders view the League?
Therefore, in addition to meeting the required level of ability, fame is also very important to become a Heavenly King. This is why the position of alternate Heavenly King exists, in order to give the outside world time to accept the change of Heavenly King.
If a Champion were to suddenly appear out of nowhere, it would be absolutely unacceptable for the trainers in that region. Every Champion has their own fans, and it would be heartbreaking to see their favorite Champion suddenly replaced by someone else.
His fans would be furious!
Then the alliance will be criticized, etc. - This era is still an era of democracy, at least on the surface.
Therefore, Ah Ju is now building momentum for becoming a superstar soon. Otherwise, why would he be so bored as to accept challenges and instruct those challengers without limit?
He works so hard at his job, all for the sake of having a good reputation after becoming a superstar.
After instructing the challenger, A-Ju waved her hand, signaling the staff to let in another challenger.
Just then, a sweet voice rang out: "Brother, wait a minute!"
Along with the sound came Aya's figure.
"Aya? Where did you go just now?"
"I went out for a stroll, but that's not important. Look who I brought!"
Following Aya's gaze, Aju saw three figures emerge from the gym building. When she saw the leader, Aju's expression clearly froze: "You are—Ash?"
"Yes, Mr. Akira, I've long admired your reputation as one of the four great gymnasts of Kanto. Ash from Pallet Town has come here specifically to challenge you!"
Xiao Zhi cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, but the gesture was rather awkward and the smile on his face looked rather forced.
Because Aya forced him to do it—in Aya's words, since she had already given him special treatment and given him preferential treatment to come and challenge her.
Therefore, the proper etiquette should still be observed.
Before we came in, Aya taught us the actions to take when facing a challenge, the sentence structure to use, and the facial expressions we should maintain.
Ash was initially very resistant, since his main motto was to do whatever he wanted. But when you're under someone's roof, you have to bow your head. Those who get in through connections have to listen to others, so Ash did as Aya said.
However, the movements he made looked very forced.
"Hehe, I've heard so much about you lately. As a rookie trainer, you've not only earned five gym badges, but one of them is a golden badge—the golden badge that Sabrina earned when she was the gym leader! Just how strong have you become?" A-Ju said meaningfully.
"It was just good luck. The Pokémon that defeated Sabrina wasn't one I trained. I just captured it using special methods. As for my strength, Mr. Kikkoman, why don't you have a match with me and you'll know?" Ash waved his hand modestly.
He's not wrong. Gengar was caught through a real-life battle, not through normal capture, especially without using Gengar.
His abilities are not enough to rival those of a superstar.
"Brother, didn't you set a rule in front of the gym? As long as you've been a member for about two months and have more than four gym badges, you can challenge the gym directly without waiting in line. That's why I brought him here." Aya chimed in, explaining why she brought Ash and the others along.
Since the gym battle was held outdoors, many trainers and onlookers watched the battle from the surrounding buildings.
In addition, the battles of the past few days have been broadcast live via on-site cameras.
Therefore, Aya had to explain why she brought Xiaozhi and the others here. Otherwise, cutting in line for no reason would inevitably cause public outrage and even result in being heavily criticized online.
However, after Aya said this, many people realized that the rule that Aya had set was probably specially made for Ash.
After all, a trainer who gets four badges in two months after debuting is extremely rare, if not unique. It's not like someone just happens to appear after the rules are set up.
As for why A-Ju specifically set this rule for Ash, perhaps A-Ju anticipated that Ash would come to challenge him, and he also wanted to test his skills against Ash, so he set this rule without prior knowledge.
And now, Ash has indeed arrived at the Fuchsia Gym.
"That's right, I set the rules, and Ash meets those rules, so you can come and challenge directly. So, Ash, what level of gym battle do you want to challenge? Elite, professional, gym, or—Elite One?"
Upon hearing this, Ash pondered for a moment before slowly saying, "Then let's go with the Elite Four difficulty."
"Hmm, Elite Four, that's a good choice—what did you say?!" A-Ju nodded subconsciously, but immediately realized what Ash had said, her eyes widened instantly, and a dumbfounded expression appeared on her face.
"Ash is probably joking, but your brother is asking you very seriously. This is not the time for jokes, Ash." Aya stepped in to smooth things over. She didn't believe Ash was serious when he said he wanted to choose the Elite Four difficulty level.
Even if Ash defeats Sabrina of the Goldenrod City Gym, it doesn't mean he has the strength of an Elite Four member. You have to know that battles in the Fuchsia City Gym are three-on-three. If Ash chooses the Elite Four difficulty, it means he has to defeat three Elite Four Pokémon.
Haha, only two months into their debut, they already have a lineup capable of battling three Elite Four level Pokémon. Even if it were said by Dan Di himself...
They would probably all be considered a huge joke.
"Are you going to have a one-on-one match?" After a moment of shock and contemplation, A-Ju asked Ash.
It's unlikely to be a three-on-three match, but Ash should have the ability to win a one-on-one game.
Regardless of Ash's trainer skill level, in terms of Pokémon skill, Ash must have an Elite Four-level Pokémon, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to defeat Sabrina.
Ash also said that the Pokémon he defeated Sabrina was captured using a special method. No matter what the method is, as long as it can be captured and controlled, it is Ash's Pokémon.
So Ash now truly owns a Champion-level Pokémon and can engage in one-on-one Champion battles.
The rules of a gym are not static; the number of battles can be changed as long as the challenger and the gym leader negotiate.
Therefore, A-Ju thought that Ash might want to have a one-on-one Elite Four battle, in which case Ash would have a good chance of winning. "No, I want a three-on-three Elite Four battle." Ash shook his head and rejected A-Ju's suggestion once again.
Once again, A-Ju couldn't hold back anymore. A ridiculous expression appeared on his face, and he looked at Xiao-Zhi as if he were a monster. A-Ya and the staff next to him felt the same way.
Some trainers and spectators watching from a distance couldn't hear Ah-Ju and Xiao-Zhi's conversation very clearly, but those watching the live broadcast at home could hear it perfectly.
"This is ridiculous! A newbie dares to challenge the Elite Four level? Does he think Elite Four level Pokémon are like the trash he's challenged before?"
"Hilarious! These days, anyone can come and try to scam a superstar. This newcomer seems to be a genius, but who isn't a genius when they become a superstar? To spout such nonsense in front of a potential superstar, I'd like to see how badly this guy gets beaten up!"
"......"
Such remarks were heard throughout Kanto and even Johto.
A-Ju's live stream was announced in advance, so there were quite a few people watching on TV and in front of their computers. The largest number of viewers were from Kanto and Johto, while there were fewer viewers from other regions, but there were still some.
Therefore, Ash's "arrogant" behavior was heard by all regions, which can be considered as a form of indirect fame.
Having already obtained the Blue Smoke Gym Badge, Gary was walking down the street when his gaze inadvertently fell on the screen on the television next to him. Gary, who had already walked past, instantly pulled back and stared intently at the television screen.
He wasn't mistaken; the guy on TV was definitely Ash!
Wait, do gym challenges are still live-streamed now? I wish I'd known that Uncle Shigeru would have challenged the Fuchsia Gym too!
Regardless of winning or losing, my reputation will definitely soar!
Right now, all people outside know is that Ash from Pallet Town is a super rookie in Kanto. Nobody knows that Gary is also a peerless genius trainer who has earned seven badges in just two months since his debut!
However, after hearing Ash on TV say that he wanted to have a three-on-three Elite Four battle, Gary's lips twitched, and he immediately gave up his desire to appear on TV.
Haha, so what if he's on TV? Does he think he can challenge Kikyo to a three-on-three Elite Four match like Ash did?
What a joke! Don't even mention three, even if Ah Ju only used one Heavenly King, she could whip him like a spinning top!
He knew that Ash had a Champion-level Gastly. Even if Ash couldn't win a three-on-three battle, he could at least show some fighting power and wouldn't be completely wiped out or crushed by the opponent.
And him—ha, fight the Heavenly King? Go to sleep!
"You little rascal, you've really made a name for yourself again. I'll let you take the lead for now, but I'm going to get my revenge at the Indigo League—well, I need to make sure that guy can't use Gengar, otherwise I'll be completely outmatched."
Shigeru has already started thinking about how to make a scene at the Quartz Convention.
Furthermore, Ash's Elite Four-level Gengar must be sealed away.
Otherwise, let alone getting revenge at the Quartz Conference, he might not be able to get it back even in two years.