Ash and his party finally arrived at the place where the Whirl Cup competition is held at, Scarlet City on Red Rock Isle!
The place is bustling with Trainers like Ash and Misty who came here to participate in the competition.
"I will definitely win the championship in this tournament!" In this kind of tournament where you use Water-type Pokémon, Misty will never give in to Ash!
"This Whirl Cup is just right for me to become a Water Pokémon Master, this will be a stepping stone for my journey to greatness!"
Because there are so many participants, the Whirl Cup competition will conduct preliminaries in advance to eliminate most of the weaker participating trainers, as there is many trainers participating every time.
So the first thing Ash and his team have to do is go to the Pokémon Center in Scarlet City and sign up for the actual tournament!
They signed up before but that was only for the tournament hosts to get the approximate numbers of people.
Sure enough, when they got to the Pokémon Center, there was a long queue of people ready to sign up.
"There are so many people coming to sign up!" Misty and Ash decided to line up in that long line, while Brock took Molly and Pikachu to rest nearby in a restaurant.
Meganium was teleported back to the lab when they go to the Whirl Islands, thus making Molly walk on her own during the whole trip to the Whirl Islands. However, she had a great time and never complained once of being tired. The other three members of the group were used to their long journeys but they were still a little surprised that a little girl like Molly could keep up with them.
Fortunately, the registration procedure was very simple, and soon it was their turn for signing up.
"I'm Ash from Pallet Town!"
"I'm Misty from Cerulean City!"
After reporting the place of birth and name, the registration process was completed. Very simple. Nurse Joy looked at the two of them and said, "The preliminaries will be held in sixteen venues. This is a map of the venues!"
Ash had to go to Venue A for his match while Misty had her match at Venue B.
Nurse Joy introduced that the preliminaries are in the form of a knockout round, as there are only 64 places for participants to enter the main tournament.
Judging from the number of people who signed up this year, Ash only needs to defeat two opponents to qualify for the tournament.
"All in all, as long as we win two battles it will be enough for us to qualify!" Both Misty and Ash looked very relaxed at this.
After completing the registration process, Ash took their group to eat and rest up.
After all, many businesses have taken a fancy to business opportunities in such a large-scale competition. On this triennial day, whether it was snacks or specialty products, they will all be concentrated here from different places.
"Big Brother, I want to eat that takoyaki!" Molly pointed at the fragrant octopus balls opposite and drooled.
Misty also stared at it, "Yeah, it looks really delicious!"
Ash bought five portions, one for each of the human and one for Pikachu, and while walking and eating, the group met a little boy.
"Are you one of the trainer who wants to participate in the Whirl Cup?"
After receiving the affirmative answer, the little boy immediately showed a pleading expression, "Please, would you battle with my Remoraid just once?"
They could, but the preliminaries will be held tomorrow, so it would be better to let the Pokémon take a rest.
"Why are you looking for someone to battle you right now?" Misty asked with concern.
"I want my Remoraid to evolve into an Octillery!" So it turned out that this boy wants to evolve his Pokémon so that he can participate in the next competition with a stronger and more complete attitude.
After hearing this, Misty agreed, "Okay, let me be your opponent!"
This young guy seemed to know the details of this Whirl Cup tournament very well, and took the group to the coast. There were several stone pillars standing on the sea here, which were probably the battleground used during the competition.
In order to get familiar with the venue, and the newly caught Corsola also needed to get used to it, Misty agreed to this battle with him.
However, she did not use all her strength, and almost immediately the boy and Remoraid turned defeat into victory.
His Remoraid also evolved into an Octillery smoothly.
After evolution, Octillery can adapt to both water and land battles, and has more means to deal with situations in different battlefields.
When Ash catches a Water-type Pokémon, he usually chooses this type of them, the ones that can fight both in water and on land.
The moon was dark, Molly had already gone to bed, Ash and the other three were in the square outside of the Pokémon Center, watching the moon together.
"Tomorrow is the preliminaries of the Whirl Cup! Pikachu, just stay by Molly's side and watch the battle and please make sure that she's safe!"
"Togepi, you stay with Pikachu and Brock too, okay?!" Togepi, in Misty's arms, said something happily several times.
"Ash, I'm ready for this, you have to work hard too so we could battle in the finals!"
When Misty said this, Ash nodded and thought of something else, "By the way, Misty, your Staryu has evolved into Starmie. I know that in this competition, it will definitely become your Ace Pokémon!"
"Do you want your Poliwhirl to evolve too?"
Misty's Starmie was evolved by the Water Stone that Ash's exchanged from the System he has. In fact, she had a Starmie before, but she didn't use it much and he was not feeling well. So Misty left it at the Cerulean Gym when she came to Johto Region for helping out the Gym there.
As for Poliwhirl, Ash remembers that he won a Kings Rock when he won the Pokémon Sumo Contest Soem time ago with his Snorlax!
"Let my Poliwhirl evolve?"
Ash nodded, "There are two Evolutions of Poliwhirl that you could chose from. The Poliwrath we saw many times is evolved with the help of the Water Stone and has two types: Water-type and Fighting-type, so it is more powerful in the Physical Attacking department." Ash said to Misty with a very serious voice.
"But if you use this here!"
Ash took out the Kings Rock he had and said, "Using this Kings Rock to evolve into Politoed. It will stay a the Water-type. He will be a very powerful Pokémon in the Special Attacking department after his evolution into a Politoed. I, personally, believe that it would be better if your Poliwhirl evolved into a Politoed because he is more suitable for you than Poliwrath!"
With Politoed and the evolved Starmie, Misty's strength will increase a lot from before. Just like the little boy from before, she can be more confident about the next battle and strive for better results with a new more powerful member on her team.
But in the end, whether to let Poliwhirl evolve into a Politoed or a Poliwrath still depends on Misty's decision as his trainer and Poliwhirl himself.
Ash said this, handed the Kings Rock to Misty, and turned to leave.
The Whirl Cup will start tomorrow, he needs his rest to be ready for his battle.
There were a large number of people participating in the preliminaries, and it was in full swing as soon as it started.
As the fireworks took off, the battles in all of the 16 venues began at the same time.
"Stand by for battle, Lapras. This is your first battle, so do your best!" Ash sent out the young Lapras. After this period of journey, it can finally battle with other Pokémon.
He has been anticipating for this for so long and now he can finally battle like the rest of his friends, so he is very excited.
"Come on, Seel!"
Lapras' opponent in this round is a Seel with a low level.
Seel is a mono Water-type Pokémon. After their evolution, they became a Dewgong and they then have the dual type of Water and Ice just like Lapras.
But it is normal for them to learn some Ice-type moves, "Use Ice Beam!"
"Dodge and then use Sing!"
Lapras dived into the water to avoid the Ice Beam, then popped his head out of the water and sang a sleepy lullaby!
Seel quickly fell asleep after hearing it.
"Now, use the Water Gun!"
The Water Gun was successful and was hit by multiple times again after that. Seel soon lost his combat ability in his sleep, and Lapras won the first battle he ever participated in!
Misty's battle also went smoothly. The opponent she faced for the first time turned out to be Magikarp, and Corsola defeated them with just one single Tackle attack!
In the second battle, Ash still sent out his Lapras to deal with a Shellder on the opposite side.
It is true that there are too many Trainers coming to participate in the preliminaries, and the possibility of facing a strong opponent was not high but still possible to get them. Ash is also willing to take the opportunity to let Lapras slowly adapt to the atmosphere of the battle if he knows that his opponents are not strong.
"Come on, Lapras, Sparkling Aria!"
The Whirl Cup competition officially begins the real thing, and the ancient water battle ground that appears from the sea makes people marvel at the wisdom of ancient people and how they built them!
When the sea water slowly receded, the battle site of the Whirl Cup tournament finally appeared in front of everyone!
"Starting now, the opening ceremony of the Whirl Cup tournament will be held!"
With cheers and applause, this ancient battlefield was filled with spectators who came to watch the battle from many places.
Ash and Misty stood on the boat with all the other 62 people who passed the preliminaries, accepting everyone's applause and cheers!
Everyone's that made it here is bound to be stronger than the opponents they faced earlier in the plenaries!
This will definitely be a good tournament! Ash is already on fire!
"Viewers, take a look at these contestants, these are the people who have passed the preliminaries and aim to become the Brave Hero of the Sea!"
"Teh Whirl Islands has had its own civilization and culture since ancient times, worshiping Water-type Pokémon and coexisting with them until now!"
"This culture has not yet disappeared, but is continued by Miss Maya, the Priestess of the Sea who abides by the ancient traditions created by our ancestors!"
This Miss Maya has long purple hair, wears a gauze skirt, and holds a blue staff. That is the legendary Great Sea Spirit Sapphire!
She wants to make a introduction declaration for this competition!
She opened her arms, looked at Ash and others below her in the water, and shouted loudly, "Everyone, welcome to the triennial water Pokémon celebration, the Whirl Cup Tournament!" She introduced in a loud voice.
"The people that were here once were the ones who were connected to the Water-type Pokémon. They lived together on the Whirl Islands have been praised as the 'Brave Hero of the Sea' since ancient times!"
"It is said that the Brave Men and Women of the Sea will be blessed by the Great Sea Spirit Sapphire here and be granted the ability to communicate with all the Water-type Pokémon in the world!"
The Trainers here all looked at the staff she held with admiration in their eyes!
Ash just felt a little connection with that orb the priestess held at her hand.
Many Trainers come here for the title of Brave Hero of the Sea. And in addition to that, the Trainer who wins this competition, in addition to this title, will also receive the Mystic Water!
This is a carrying item that enhances the power of Water-type Pokémon's moves!
"Then everyone, please accept the blessing of Great Sea Spirit!"
In the blue light released by the Sea Orb, the Whirl Cup competition officially began!
"The fifth battle in Area A is over. Next is the sixth game. Trainer Ash will face off against Trainer Christopher!"
Finally it was Ash's turn to battle. Pikachu and Molly were sitting in the stands with Brock watching over them, both wearing red clothes, they made themselves very eye-catching and cheered for Ash!
In the first round of the competition, both sides will have only one Pokémon to use!
"It's up to you, Croconaw! Drown them all!" Ash didn't let Lapras battle this time. After all, it was an official competition, and he didn't know how strong the opponents Pokémon would be.
How can Ash of all people rely on luck to pass through such a thing? (Right guys?)
Sure enough, Ash's caution was correct. The opposition Trainer actually took out a rare Lure Ball, and what jumped out of it was a Kingdra, a dual type Pokémon belong to the Watee-type and Dragon-type!
The Pokédex introduces this Pokémon that can create a whirlpool by when moving or waking up!
Moreover, this type combination has very few weaknesses, except for the Dragon-type itself, the other one is the Dragon-type's arch nemesis, the magical Fairy-type.
Water-based skills have very little effect on Kingdras species.
It can be said that in this Water-type competition, Kingdra has a very obvious advantage over many other Water-type Pokémon's!
But is this all Ash worries about?
"Kingdra, use Twister!"
Under the command of his Trainer, Kingdra began to spin in place. This Twister is a Dragon-type move, and above the water, this move turned into an amazingly powerful circular whirlpool!
Not only that, it also forms a large vortex at the bottom of the water. If his opponent is in the water, there will be no place to hide from it!
This Kingdra seems to be still in absolute control of the battlefield. Under this condition, there is nothing he can do about it at the moment!
"Croconaw, stay out of the way!"
Ash knows very well that on his side, compared to Kingdra, Croconaw has the advantage of moving under the water and even more above the water, so he must not fall into the water easily let the battle take place above the water!
Croconaw's movements are still very agile after evolving, and he avoided the Twister's attack range in one go.
Can this Kingdra still maintain this Twister of his?
Of course no.
The moment it stopped its skills, Ash gave the order, "Now, Ice Fang!"
Croconaw's jaw force is very terrifying, and Ash's Croconaw has perfected Ice Fang, Crunch and the other biting moves to perfection under Ash and Slowking!
Before Kingdra and Christopher could react, Croconaw rushed over and bit Kingdra hard!
The Ice-type energy swept through Kingdra's body instantly, and it was quickly frozen completely!
"Ash's Croconaw moved too fast. This Ice Fang showed no mercy. Kingdra is frozen! Can he escape from this and continue this battle?"
The explanations at the commentator table were very impressive.
"Kingdra, no!" Kingdras Trainer was obviously very panicked about his Pokémon being frozen in battle!
Seeing this, Ash smiled a little, "How about I help you?"
Christopher was stunned for a moment, then heard Ash order again, "Croconaw, use Crunch!"
This time, the fangs were entangled with evil Dark-type energy, greatly strengthening the power of the bite. Croconaw bit Kingdra hard agin, the ice was shattered, and Kingdra had lost his ability to fight anymore!
"Kingdra loses the ability to fight, Croconaw wins!"
Ash successfully advanced to the second round of the real thing!
————————————————————
Power Stones please.
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