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Chapter 196: ‘The Ultimate Showdown’
🕑 Added 2025-03-01 13:56:27 +0000 UTCChapter 196: ‘The Ultimate Showdown’
Outside Stonetown, a unique battle was unfolding.
On one side—Psyduck, gripping its head, frowning intensely, as if concentrating on an immense power.
On the other—Slowpoke, lying flat, appearing dazed yet secretly analyzing Psyduck for weaknesses.
The two faced off in an unexpectedly tense standoff—so intense it surpassed even Gengar vs. Starmie.
Everyone watched with bated breath.
Silver, in particular, was intrigued.
Having witnessed Slowpoke’s grueling training firsthand, he figured that any Pokémon able to match its intensity must also be quite strong.
And then—
Psyduck made the first move.
“Psy!”
It used Taunt.
“Slow~”
Slowpoke accepted the challenge.
Then Psyduck lunged forward, claws glowing menacingly.
Seeing this, Misty’s eyes widened.
Is Psyduck actually going to be useful for once?!
That thought barely had time to settle before—
Psyduck’s foot slipped on a small rock.
Its body tilted—
And with a loud plop, it crashed face-first into the ground, skidding several meters.
“.....”
Silver, who had been expecting an intense battle, suddenly felt secondhand embarrassment.
Misty slowly covered her face.
Was it too late to distance herself from Psyduck?
She was dying of embarrassment.
On the battlefield, Slowpoke stared blankly at the scene before it.
It was truly stunned.
Never in its wildest dreams did it expect that its so-called "formidable rival," Psyduck, would trip over a tiny pebble.
Was this… a trap?
Slowpoke remained on high alert, watching for a sneak attack from Psyduck.
But after waiting a while, all Psyduck did was sit on the ground, blowing on its injured foot.
“…..”
Sensing something was off, Slowpoke decided to test Psyduck.
Its eyes glowed blue—
Confusion!
Thud!
A rock flew through the air, landing squarely on Psyduck’s head.
A large lump formed almost instantly.
At first, Psyduck didn’t react. Then, it curiously touched the swelling.
“Psy—!!”
As soon as its fingers made contact, pain surged through its skull, and tears welled up in its eyes.
Slowpoke: “…..”
Watching Psyduck’s dumbfounded expression, Slowpoke finally confirmed—Psyduck wasn’t faking it.
But if it wasn’t an act… then this was even worse.
Had it really been taking this idiot seriously all this time?
Would Asahi cook it into soup for this?
Slowpoke cautiously glanced back at Asahi—
And saw him smiling at it.
Instantly, its heart clenched.
No! I need to end this quickly!
Its eyes glowed once more—this time, pouring all its strength into Confusion!
Misty had no time to worry about her own embarrassment. She called out urgently, “Psyduck, use Confusion too!”
To Psyduck’s credit, it was excellent at following commands.
The moment Misty spoke, it clutched its head tightly, staring at Slowpoke with all its might—
Trying to unleash Confusion!
However… nothing happened.
Confusion doesn’t work just because you want it to~
Misty could only watch helplessly as Slowpoke lifted Psyduck into the air—
And then slammed it into the ground.
Psyduck’s head was now firmly planted into the dirt, leaving only half of its body sticking out.
Misty was utterly defeated.
She looked up at Asahi’s Slowpoke.
They’re both dopey-looking Pokémon… so why is there such a huge difference?!
At this point, she had completely given up hope of passing the Gym reevaluation.
She was just about to tell Asahi that she wanted to forfeit when—
Asahi’s expression suddenly changed.
He looked up.
A smoke bomb dropped from the sky, instantly engulfing the battlefield in thick smoke.
“Cough, cough—what’s going on?!” Ash coughed violently.
Hearing his question, Asahi twitched.
Why does this feel so familiar…?
And sure enough—
The moment Ash spoke, a hot air balloon descended rapidly from above.
At the same time, a very familiar voice rang out:
“Since you’re sincerely asking…”
“We’ll graciously tell you!”
…
Of course, it’s them.
Hearing those all-too-familiar lines and looking up at Team Rocket’s trio, Asahi finally felt like something was right.
No wonder something had felt off whenever he ran into Ash—
Without Team Rocket’s antics, Ash was like instant noodles without seasoning… or fries without ketchup.
“Asahi, that’s Team Rocket! They steal people’s Pokémon!” Ash shouted.
Asahi obviously knew who they were.
He had even gotten two St. Anne tickets from them back in Vermilion City—though he never ended up using them.
But…
He glanced at himself, then at Mewtwo and Green.
None of them were in disguise.
Which led to an important question—
Did these three not recognize him?!
Or were they just this bold?
Up in the balloon, Team Rocket remained blissfully unaware.
They were too busy celebrating their brilliant ambush.
“We’ll be taking this powerful Slowpoke and the twerp’s Pikachu, meow!”
Meowth grinned as it pressed a button, activating the mechanical arms.
The first claw shot down, grabbing Pikachu right off Ash’s shoulder.
“Team Rocket, let go of Pikachu!”
Ash tried to grab Pikachu back but failed.
“Pika…!”
Pikachu struggled but couldn’t break free.
The second claw reached for Slowpoke—
But just as it was about to grab hold, it suddenly… stopped.
Meowth tilted its head. “Huh? Did the arm jam, meow?”
Jesse shoved Meowth aside. “Ugh, useless! Let me do it!”
She yanked on the controls—
But the claw refused to budge.
Down below, Asahi chuckled. “I have to admire your bravery sometimes.”
Hearing this, the trio finally turned their attention to him.
“Who are you? Are you messing with us?!” Jesse demanded.
James squinted at Asahi, frowning. “He looks kind of familiar…”
Meowth had the best memory. “I got it! He’s the guy who tricked us in Vermilion City!”
Back then, when they were handing out cruise tickets, this guy and his girlfriend had given them a hard time.
And worse—
They even pinched Meowth’s face!
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