Haruka's First...Battle

Chapter 355 Haruka's First Time...Battle

And so, Ash led May and the others in a close pursuit of the giant serpentine bear, searching for the perfect opportunity to engage it in battle.

Then they saw the snake-skinned bear suddenly stand up, peel off its "skin," and turn into a green-haired boy.

"Sigh, can a serpent bear really transform into a human?"

"Silly sister, this is a human being, just wearing a mascot costume!"

"Look."

Xiao Sheng, that brat, acts without any restraint. He brazenly ran up to this person and forcibly turned his face so that Xiao Yao could get a good look.

"It really is a human."

"What are you doing?!"

The innocent boy was bewildered by the sudden appearance of the Xiaoyao siblings, who were acting on their own, and for a moment he forgot his original goal.

Just then, a real serpentine bear in front of him was frightened away by the noise, and the boy was immediately distraught.

"Oh dear, you've ruined my plan to capture the snake bear again! How are you going to compensate me?!"

Just as the boy was about to lose his temper, he suddenly glanced at Xiaosheng and Xiaoyao's exposed knees and immediately beamed with joy.

"Shorts, shorts, showing off your knees looks so great and beautiful!"

"Excuse me, who are you?"

Seeing the boy in front of her getting angry and excited all at once, Xiaoyao felt a little scared and quickly hid next to Xiaozhi.

"Yeah, why would you wear a snake-patterned bear plush toy in the forest?"

And it was made so realistically that even the movements of the snake-patterned bear were imitated perfectly.

Ash didn't even notice it until the waveguide sensor was turned on, which made him excited for nothing.

"Alright, since you want to know my name, I'll tell you: 'Sometimes I'm a serpentine bear walking in the forest, sometimes I'm a stinging jellyfish drifting in the ocean, and sometimes I'm a beautiful flower dancing a beautiful dance—'"

The boy kept changing his doll costume, his movements so practiced that it was clear he had practiced at least a hundred times.

"But my real identity is—Archie, the boy in shorts, as everyone calls me!"

"The boy in shorts?"

"Archie?"

"It's a good thing you managed to bring so many leather cases on your solo trip."

"It must be really tough usually—but that's not important! Those two trainers who expose their knees to connect with nature, they truly love nature!"

Archie threw Ash aside and slid down to his knees in an exaggerated manner in front of Max and May, making Ash's mouth twitch.

Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng pointed to themselves, completely bewildered.

"us?"

"Yes, you, I am your comrade!" He looked at Haruka and Masaru's knees and couldn't help but burst into tears.

"If you don't mind, please tell me your names as well!"

Faced with this strange person who suddenly became hot-blooded, Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng simultaneously took two steps back without making a sound.

But since Archie didn't seem like a bad guy, everyone eventually told him their names.

"Um, I'm Haruka from Orange Blossom City."

"I am her younger brother, Xiaosheng."

"I'm Ash from Pallet Town, nice to meet you."

"Hmm, Haruka and the brat—"

"Great name, it's perfect for a boy in shorts!" Archie actually ignored Ash.

"Hey, I'm a bug-catching boy with a black caterpillar on his head, are you sure you want to ignore me?"

However, before Ash could finish his complaints, May couldn't stand Chase anymore.

"Shorts boy? Please, these aren't shorts, they're thongs!" (Ash: Is there really that much of a difference?)

"Me too, I'm not a brat." (Ash: No, you are.)

"I know, I know—we're both kids in shorts, let's get along well!"

"You have no idea!"

Completely ignoring Xiaoyao and Xiaosheng's complaints, Archie laughed loudly to himself, making everyone's faces turn black.

"By the way, why are you wearing a mascot costume?"

"Isn't it cool? I put on the plush costume and disguised myself as a Pokémon so that I could better understand how Pokémon feel and then study their behavioral patterns—"

"In short, everything is for the purpose of better catching Pokémon!"

"To capture Pokémon." Ash was slightly surprised, but it was indeed a good way to communicate with Pokémon.

"That's right. In order to challenge the Petalburg Gym, I want to catch the Zigzagoon here to gain experience first."

"Really? So you've collected all four badges yet?"

"Four badges? No, I only recently got Mudkip and started traveling."

"What?"

Unexpectedly, Archie was also a newcomer. Ash immediately explained the challenge rules of Petalburg Gym to him, and he was immediately shocked.

"Oh, how could this happen? Well, there's nothing we can do about it."

"My goal of challenging the Petalburg Gym remains unchanged. Let's go catch Zigzagoon and the other badges first!"

Although he is a free spirit, he is not easily discouraged, which makes him an interesting person.

Suddenly, Ash had an idea.

"It's quite a coincidence that the father of these two siblings is the trainer at Petalburg Gym."

"Dad? What a coincidence to run into people from the Petalburg Gym! That's great! Come and fight me!"

"You are the children of gym leaders, so you must have undergone very strict training. I want to experience it for myself and see just how strong you really are."

"Ah, that—strength—"

Xiaoyao shrinks back whenever this is mentioned. From childhood to adulthood, she has never been strict with anyone, let alone trained.

But then Ash pushed her forward from behind.

"This is a great opportunity, May. You're both trainers who have only recently started your journey, making you the perfect person to hone your skills."

"Yes, sister, let's show him the strength of the Petalburg Gym Leader's daughter!"

"ah?"

"It's decided then. Let's start the Pokémon battle right away. The location is the plaza ahead."

"Let's go!" Archie waved his hand and started leading the way on his own.

But Haruka still hesitated, "Wait a minute, I'm only good at fighting—"

"What's wrong? Are you scared?"

Upon hearing this, Haruka immediately switched to a serious expression, making the same hand gesture as Vegeta, "I understand, in that case, I accept your challenge!"

Xiaoyao is surprisingly good at being provoked.

The group quickly arrived at the Trainer Plaza not far ahead, where May and Archie stood on opposite sides of the battlefield, each taking out their Poké Balls and preparing to attack.

The referee was Xiao Sheng.

"It's finally starting, my first battle to remember —" Haruka nervously watched her opponent cheer herself on.

But when Archie held up the Poké Ball and struck a funny pose, she couldn't help but sigh.

"Ah, I wish my opponent was a little better looking."

"Haruka, be serious! Remember to stay calm during this battle!"

"Yes, that's right, like Ash Ketchum."

Seeing that May was still in a daze even though the battle had already started, Ash had no choice but to walk over and tap her on the head.

"Don't get distracted during the battle, May! Your opponent has already sent out their Pokémon!"

"what?"

Only then did Xiaoyao hurriedly and clumsily throw the Poké Ball onto the battlefield.

"Let's go, Torchicken."

"Chama!"

A cute little yellow chick has arrived!

Meanwhile, Archie on the other side also sent out his Pokémon.

"Pokémon - Transformation!" Archie turned around and changed into a Mudkip costume, showing that he was also a powerful figure with a four-dimensional chrysanthemum.

The Pokémon he sent out was Mudkip, of course.

"Mutant, let's fight with all our might!"

"Crack~"

"Oh dear, this attribute is quite disadvantageous." Xiao Sheng began to worry about his sister.

"It's alright, even with unfavorable attributes, we can still turn the tide with tactics!"

"Really?"

Ash, the master of type reversal, said so, but Max expressed his doubt.

At this point, both sides' Pokémon were in position, and the battle officially began.

Archie clearly had more combat experience and launched a fierce attack first.

"Mutant, use the water gun!"

Seeing this, Haruka quickly went to meet the challenge.

"Turkey, attack!"

"Chama?"

The turkey stared at Haruka with its innocent, big eyes.

"May, let Torchic use a move!"

"Oh right, I forgot, Torchic uses Ember!"

With Ash's prompting, May finally got Torchic to successfully launch a counterattack.

Unfortunately, Torchic's weak Ember Attack couldn't even last a second against Mudkip's Water Gun; it was blown away almost instantly.

The water gun attack hit the Torchic with pinpoint accuracy, proving to be an extremely effective move.

"Chama~"

"The type disadvantage is too great." Max was a little embarrassed to watch, but Ash was still loudly supporting May.

"Don't give up on Haruka, you can do it! Show your spirit!"

"knew!"

[Ding! Xiaoyao: Affection +1]

"The turkey uses a peck attack!"

"Mumpfish, keep up the momentum! Let's use the water gun one more time!"

"Chama~!"

"Kara!"

May's Torchic charged with its eyes closed when using its peck attack, and naturally, Mudkip easily dodged it.

The water gun was then immediately fired at the turkey's body.

"Ah, turkey, get out of the way!"

Unfortunately, May lacked experience, and so did Torchic. It failed to dodge the water gun and was hit precisely, losing its ability to fight.

"Cha, Chama—"

"I lost." Haruka dejectedly recalled her Torchic.

Archie was much more smug at this point.

"Haha, victory! The Gym Leader's kid is only this weak. It seems Petalburg Gym is nothing special after all."

"I'll acquire these gym badges later."

"Damn it, I'm so angry! How dare he say that about Petalburg Gym—"

Xiaoyao clenched her fists, and anger appeared on her usually smiling face.

"That's enough, Haruka. You've only just begun. Every experience is valuable. Remember how you felt when you lost this battle, and you must work hard in the future."

Ash then came to May's side and patted her on the shoulder.

"Although the turkey lost, it fought hard for you, so remember to praise it afterwards."

Ash then immediately threw a healing potion at Archie.

"Archie, you probably weren't satisfied with your match against Haruka, so how about you try a match against me next?"

"Yes, of course! Ash, although you're not exactly a short-short guy, you seem like a pretty good trainer. I won't refuse a battle!"

"Hahahaha————"

He had just defeated the child of a famous Petalburg Gym Leader and was brimming with confidence. He didn't take Ash seriously at all and casually agreed to the battle.

Then, his Mudkip was completely defeated by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

"Wait a minute, that doesn't count. It must be that my Mudkip's stamina hasn't recovered yet. Let's recover and have another round."

"Of course, prepare whatever you like."

Seeing Archie frantically applying healing medicine to Mudkip, Ash just let him be.

The second round began quickly, and Mudkip was easily defeated by Pikachu's Thunderbolt.

"The wind must be blowing wrong. Let's have another round, Ash!"

"They are quite tenacious, of course they can."

Ash didn't bully his opponent this time, and replaced Pikachu with Taillow, which he had just caught.

Upon seeing Aoguyan, Archie's confidence returned.

"This proud swallow doesn't look like it's high-level. I'm sure I'll win this time."

"Mumpfish is unable to fight, Tailwing wins!"

[Ding! Aogu Yan: Favorability +1; Intimacy +1]

[Ding! Congratulations, host, you have achieved the achievement "Enemy of Mudkip": successfully defeated Mudkip ten times!]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +2000, Free Attribute Points +2, Pikachu Cute Plush Toy Suit +1]

"Ah, how can they be so strong? I've been completely and utterly defeated—"

Archie knelt on the ground, his entire body turning ashen.

Ash could have argued that losing to Pikachu in the first two rounds was due to type disadvantage and experience difference, but it's not honorable for Ash to win against a new Pokémon with an old one, nor is it the act of a hero.

But in the following eight games, Archie lost to Aoguyan in a row, leaving him with no excuses.

Even during those eight battles, Ash kept throwing healing items to Archie.

As for his own proud swallow, he never recovered his strength even once from the relentless battle.

Even under these circumstances, he and Mudkip were still completely defeated.

Despite enduring so many water gun attacks, the proud swallow remained standing in the air like a war god, crushing the morale of Archie and Mudkip.

Now, whenever Mudkip hears Spasba's voice, it wants to lie down and expose its belly to surrender.

"Mutant, are you alright?"

Archie, who had lost his tenth match, quickly carried the unconscious Mudkip off the battlefield.

"Don't worry, it's just a minor injury; it'll be fine after a rest."

"However, Archie, you were wrong to say that the Petalburg Gym was not good enough."

"Because even I couldn't defeat the trainers at Petalburg Gym."

Although the battle was interrupted halfway through, Qianli's strength was undeniable.

Upon hearing that even Ash hadn't beaten the Petalburg Gym Leader, Archie's eyes immediately filled with shock.

"What? Even a powerful trainer like Ash can't handle this? -- It seems the Petalburg Gym is quite a challenge."

"Yes, not counting my sister, my dad is really impressive!"

"I'm so sorry, Xiaosheng!"

"Ah~"

With Ash standing up for the Petalburg Gym, the siblings felt a sense of relief.

"I understand. I will work even harder to improve my skills in order to obtain the Orange Blossom Badge!"

"I must catch both the Zigzagoon and the Treecko in the Good Forest!"

"Okay, good that you understand—wait, Treecko!"

Ash was nodding with relief when he saw Archie suddenly realize his mistake, but then he caught the word Treecko.

In an instant, Ash appeared in front of Archie and lifted him up from the ground.

"Yes, yes."

Archie was startled when he saw Ash suddenly transform into a completely different person the moment he touched a Pokémon, and hurriedly said in a panic.

"I came to Petalburg Woods because when I stayed at the Pokémon Center, I heard that there seemed to be a group of Treecko living under big trees deep in this forest, so I came to explore."

"Wow, wild starter Pokémon are quite rare! Ash, let's go to the forest together to find Treecko!"

"Of course, how could Treekia miss it?"

"Ah~, I want to go to the city as soon as possible and breathe in the air there." Haruka is a city girl, after all.

Unfortunately, Ash showed absolutely no mercy when it came to such matters.

"This is no time for Haruka to be talking about this!"

"Yes, sister, that's a gecko! A gecko!"

May's weak objections were completely ineffective, and Ash and Max immediately decided to head deeper into the forest first.

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