Ash, with his invincible physical body, wants to become a Pokémon Master.

Chapter 284 Wow, there's still a moment to stop!

Chapter 284 Wow, there's still a moment to stop!

Two days later, with the help of all parties, the damaged area was quickly repaired, and everything seemed to have returned to the way it was before the disaster.

Of course, there are some differences as well. For example, new statues of Latios and Latias have been erected in the city square.

At the same time, a strange statue of a muscular man with long hair was also erected.

"Is this me?"

Before Ash and his friends left Water 7, Bengle took them to visit these statues.

The statue looks like it was Ash when he entered Super Rookie 3.

"That's right, this is a statue erected by the citizens to thank you for your contributions during the crisis."

"Isn't he cool!" Bengre proudly introduced to Ash.

The statue is ten meters tall, and the carving is quite good, especially the face, which perfectly captures Ash's handsome features.

"It's just that there's obviously a lot of artistic embellishment." Xiaoxia waved her hand, gesturing for Latias, who was admiring his own statue, to fly to the side.

"Although you can still tell that the statue's features are Ash, it's at least three degrees more handsome." In Xiaoxia's eyes, Ash's face can be described as upright and sunny, and if you look at it for a long time, you will feel his resolute handsomeness.

But it's quite different from the traditional handsome man, and why is the statue entirely made of gold?

"Is that so? Ash looks like that, right?" In Serena's mind, Ash was about that handsome.

Seeing Serena's innocent expression, Xiaoxia decided she didn't want to talk to her anymore.

"But why is there only Black next to my statue?" Ash was quite satisfied with the statue.

I'm just a little confused. Suicune and Entei were also present at the time, so why didn't I see them?

Unexpectedly, Ben Gray touched his bald head and said helplessly.

"That—although the statue was built with donations from the residents, the bulk of the funding actually came from the Temple of Lugia in the Water City."

"They felt that having Lugia on the statue was enough; the other two legendary Pokémon weren't that important."

"Okay, I understand."

In an instant, Ash sensed the filthy struggle between the Celestials and immediately stopped asking.

After visiting the statue, Ash and his friends prepared to leave. Bengle had already arranged for them to take a ship to Red Rock Island.

When they left, he personally led the way to see Ash and his friends off.

At this moment, Canon finally arrived, panting heavily, clearly having rushed over in a great hurry.

"Give."

As soon as he arrived, Kanon handed Ash the drawing he was holding, and the drawing depicted Ash and Pikachu.

"It's very well drawn." This was the first time Xiaozhi had seen Kanon's painting.

"Thank you, Canon. I will keep it safe."

Unexpectedly, Latias flew over and transformed into Canon. It pulled the real Canon along and kissed Ash on both cheeks.

Then Latias quickly ran back into the Poké Ball.

"Oh dear, this is—" Ben Gray shook his head helplessly.

The ship was about to depart.

"See you later, Ash!" Kanon waved goodbye to Ash, her face flushed.

"Yes, we'll definitely meet again."

Ash will meet Canon again; he has already made Water Seven the headquarters of his company in the southeast of the Johto region.

He also left behind a spatial teleportation device, so he would come back from time to time.

The Tornado Ship quickly took Ash and his friends to their destination, Red Rock Island, the final venue for the Whirlpool Tournament.

During the journey, Ash also released Snowball to help it find its habitat.

But as expected, they still couldn't find any trace of Little White's mother, and in the end, they still had to go to Silver Rock Island.

Upon arriving at Red Rock Island, Ash and his friends immediately headed to the Pokémon Center to register for the competition.

[Ding! Congratulations on triggering a new side quest, "Hero of the Sea": Win the Whirlpool Islands Tournament!]

[Rewards: Alliance Coins +5000; Stamina +2; Attack +2; Free Attribute Points +3; Title "Hero of the Sea"]

]

[Hero of the Sea: Reduces the power of water-type skills taken by 10%]

"This is the arena for the next battle."

The ancient arena that emerged from the sea is the stage for this Whirlpool Tournament.

At first glance, it looks like the Colosseum in ancient Rome, but in the middle is a water battle arena connected to the sea. Shortly after Ash and his friends registered, they came here for the opening ceremony of the tournament.

The contestants rode in classic boats, drifting in the middle of the arena's waters.

The Whirlpool Tournament is the most prestigious event in the archipelago, so it's broadcast live in its entirety, and the commentators are already excitedly talking non-stop.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these powerful trainers are the ones who passed the preliminaries and have come here aiming to become the heroes of the sea!"

"Since ancient times, the Whirl Islands have possessed their own unique civilization and culture, worshipping Water-type Pokémon and coexisting with them to this day —"

As the host introduced the history of the event, an elegant woman with long purple hair and wearing a gorgeous robe appeared on the central platform of the arena.

Everyone's tired of hearing the same old pre-match declarations, but the appearance of a beautiful woman makes all the difference.

Everyone present instantly perked up.

"What a beautiful person."

She held a magnificent scepter inlaid with blue gemstones and exuded the aura of the sea, making Xiaoxia blush when she saw her.

Everyone around her was amazed by her appearance, but Xiaozhi always felt that she looked familiar.

"Isn't that Athena!"

This familiar appearance and outfit is practically a counterpart in the Pokémon world; be careful, Saint Seiya might sue for plagiarism!

And is her surname Shiroto?

By this time, the commentator's pre-match announcement was coming to an end, and it was time to introduce the prizes.

"—The winner of the triennial tournament will receive a year's worth of Pokémon food, a title of honor, and the rare item Mystic Drop as a prize!"

Upon hearing about the rare item, Ash immediately searched for it in the system.

[Mysterious Water Drop: When equipped, it increases the power of Pokémon's Water-type moves by 20%]

"It seems pretty good."

It costs 500,000 to buy in the system store, and Xiao Zhi felt he couldn't miss it.

"Now, let's have our Sea Priestess Maya from the Whirlpool Islands offer her blessings to the contestants!"

The long and tedious project finally came to an end, but unfortunately the priest's name wasn't Saori, which left Ash slightly disappointed.

After saying a few words of blessing, the priestess raised her scepter, which she called the Sea Soul.

The round gem on the scepter faced the sun, casting azure light that illuminated the entire venue.

"Contestants aspiring to be warriors of the sea, please accept the blessing bestowed by the spirit of the sea!"

[Ding! Congratulations on receiving "Sea Soul's Blessing": During the Whirlpool Tournament, all participating Water-type Pokémon will gain 10% more to all stats!]

"What?! The blessing is actually real!" Ash thought that the opening ceremony was just a formality, but he didn't expect there to be something real inside.

Soon, Priestess Maya returned to her magnificent spectator seat, and the competition officially began.

This official match adopted a one-on-one single-game format to determine the winner.

Through a draw, Ash was placed in the sixth match and Misty in the ninth. Unexpectedly, Ash was still placed ahead in the official match.

The contestants prepared their Pokémon and began battling one by one. Since Serena couldn't participate, she stayed in the audience with Pikachu and Togepi as a cheerleader.

She also specially prepared cute clothes and small fans for Pikachu and Togepi to wear so they could cheer for Ash and Misty together.

Ash officially debuted in the previous battle after defeating Wartortle with Bubble Beam against Amarrella.

"The sixth match will be between Ash and Tori!"

Ash's opponent was a bespectacled man wearing a green baseball cap, who stylishly raised his fishing rod and cast it.

"My strongest partners, let's bring them out and secure a glorious victory in this battle!"

The Poké Ball on the hook opened, releasing his Pokémon, a rare evolution of Seadra, Kingdra.

"Damn, this guy is so creative." Ash just casually took out a Poké Ball and threw it.

Looks like I'll have to come up with a cooler throwing style next time, otherwise my momentum will be completely overwhelmed by the opponent, and that won't do.

"Please, Mighty Crocodile!"

In the first match of the Whirlpool Tournament, Ash chose to send Feraligatr to scout ahead.

"Oh dear, oh dear~"

When the powerful crocodile first appeared, it clapped its hands and tap-danced on the platform on the water with a smile, appearing harmless, which made the opposing Dori relax its guard immediately.

"Giant Crocodile vs. Kingdra!"

The referee simultaneously raised two flags, one red and one green.

"The match begins!"

The opposing Kingdra has a speed advantage, so Kingdra gets the first attack.

"King Thorn Dragon, dive down immediately!"

However, Dori is clearly not a passionate trainer, and did not choose to send Kingdra to attack immediately.

Instead, he commanded the Pokémon to dive underwater to confuse Ash's Feraligatr.

"He seems to be good at strategizing. How will Ash deal with him?" Serena was a little worried.

Although the crocodile is amphibious, which seems to give it an advantage in terms of terrain selection, it also means that it will be slower in both water and land.

It's impossible to accurately attack an opponent underwater from the platform, but once the player goes underwater, they may be immediately attacked by the opponent.

"Pokémon battles are so troublesome." Serena felt that she might not be suited to be a trainer.

Ash's choice, naturally, was to immediately send Feraligatr into the water without hesitation.

The Dragon Pulse from the other side immediately attacked head-on, but Ash wasn't completely unprepared.

The crocodile's instantaneous reaction speed was honed by his punches.

She immediately used high-speed movement, dodging the attack with agile ballet-like spins.

It's not without its advantages that Crocodile likes to dance, but we should also give credit to the organizers of the Whirlpool Tournament.

Even in the underwater battle, their cameras can capture the Pokémon battling with crystal clarity.

It's even more advanced than the Kanto League Tournament back then; no wonder it's the official organizer of the Water-type Pokémon Tournament.

In the water, the speed of the crocodile has been greatly enhanced by high-speed movement, and it has already surpassed that of the Kingdra.

"Mighty Crocodile, use Crunch!"

Now it was Ash and his friends' turn to fight back. The distance between Feraligatr and Kingdra was rapidly closing, and its powerful jaws were about to bite Kingdra's tail.

But at this moment, as the evolved form of the black seahorse, Kingdra used the inherent skill of their blue seahorse family, spewing out a large amount of black mist, making it impossible to see its figure in the entire water.

The crocodile's crushing attack missed, and it was instead hit by the opponent's bubble beam. The attack struck a vital point and had considerable power.

The crocodile, whose face was hit by the bubble beam, felt a little dizzy, but it quickly recovered after shaking its head.

"Even if it hits a vital point, Bubble Beam still has this kind of power—" Ash thought for a moment. It seemed that the opponent's Kingdra's ability was Sniper.

"Wow, Duli has shown the experience of a seasoned Water-type trainer. This black mist is a unique technique of the Kingdra family; it won't easily dissipate in the sea!"

"Finding an opponent in this situation won't be easy. How will Ash manage to overcome this?"

Despite the seemingly unfavorable situation, Xiaozhi remained calm and composed.

"How to solve this? Of course, we won't look for it! The Mighty Crocodile will use its Water Tail!"

Sending the powerful crocodile to chase after the Dragon King's figure and launch an attack under such circumstances is a complete misdirection of its strengths and weaknesses.

Ash chose to simply turn the entire field into a blender, just like before.

Suddenly, the water on the crocodile's tail began to swirl, and its powerful paws started to wave, instantly creating a large whirlpool in the arena.

The thick sea fog was also diluted by this disturbance.

"Such powerful strength." Duli immediately noticed something was wrong.

"King Thorn Dragon, use Tornado!"

The blue giant seahorse immediately began to spin on its own to resist the suction force from Ash's Feraligatr stirring up the ocean.

It also created a huge whirlpool on the water's surface, and the two whirlpools collided violently on the field, a battle between forces.

However, trying to outdo Ash's Pokémon in strength is undoubtedly a very unwise decision.

"Oh my god!"

The powerful crocodile bulged its strong muscles and churned once more, instantly engulfing King Thorn Dragon's vortex in a vortex centered on it.

The powerful force created a waterspout over ten meters high on the water's surface, and King Thorn Dragon was instantly flung into the air by the waterspout.

I spun around dozens of times, and my eyes were practically covered in mosquito coil-like irritation.

"Hold on, Kingdra! We can't give up after three years of hard training! Use Water Cannon!"

Seeing that the Dragon King was about to collapse, Duli immediately used his bond power to activate a legendary skill to hold on!

Kingdra actually woke up from its dizziness, and in order not to disappoint its trainer, it struggled to lift its tail and break free from the top of the waterspout.

"Oh my god, King Thorn Dragon has broken free!"

This spirit of never giving up made the commentators and the entire audience cheer for this moment.

As Kingdra leaped into the air, it took a deep breath, and memories of its past with its trainer flooded its mind.

At this moment, the entire water arena was turned into a huge whirlpool by the crocodile, and there was no water flow to shield the crocodile standing at the bottom of the arena.

Seizing the opportunity, Kingdra swooped down from the sky and instantly approached Crocodile, ready to unleash its water cannon, brimming with the power of bond.

"Launch, King Thorn Dragon!" At this moment, the souls of Duli and King Thorn Dragon seemed to merge into one.

But at this moment—

"Mighty Crocodile, bite its mouth!"

"What?!"

Ash knew that the opponent wanted to increase the power and accuracy of the water cannon by shortening the distance.

"But they're way too close!" Ash immediately had his Feraligatr jump and bite.

"How could your bond power possibly withstand our well-honed muscles!"

Block it! Don't let him shoot!

The powerful jaw muscles of the crocodile completely blocked the mouth of Kingdra, preventing even a drop of water from leaking out.

The water cannon attack could not be canceled, and the backflow of water caused Kingdra's entire body to inflate like a balloon.

Then, when the crocodile released its grip, Kingdra really did fly around like a deflated balloon, finally landing on the platform with a thud and losing the battle.

"What an unexpected turn of events! A water cannon attack can be neutralized like that! Ash Ketchum has won this battle beautifully!"

[Ding! Mighty Crocodile: Affection +2; Intimacy +2]

After the match, the player, Duli, walked away dejectedly with his fishing rod dangling from Kingdra, even forgetting to shake hands with Ash.

"But this scene is too weird, why not put them back into their Poké Balls?"

Moreover, no matter how Xiao Zhi looked at it, he felt that the kid's posture was like showing off his catch, as if he was mocking Xiao Zhi for coming home empty-handed.

"I didn't hit hard enough!"

Just as Ash won his first round of the Whirlpool Tournament, at an underwater base near Silver Rock Island...

After a few sudden loud bangs, things quickly returned to calm.

"Quickly, plug that leak!" Yamato frantically directed his men to plug the leak.

The large hole caused by the berserk attack from that powerful legendary Pokémon was painstakingly repaired thanks to the efforts of the Team Rocket members.

"Oh my god, it's finally over." Kosaburo was still in shock.

That was incredibly close. Lugia nearly destroyed most of the base, and it took several elite units of theirs a great deal of effort to finally put the enemy back into a deep sleep.

"Dr. Sambo, how many more experiments do we need to conduct?"

"Third time, how many times have I told you it's Nanbo, Dr. Nanbo!"

Dr. Nanbo, with his red hair, bald head, and white coat, also arrived with several of his men to take over Lugia.

However, although he was correcting others for mispronouncing his name, he didn't seem to be pronouncing other people's names correctly either.

"Okay, Dr. Nanbo, but—my name is Kosaburo." Kosaburo looked constipated.

But he dared not speak out, and the voice behind him was as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

"There's no way around it; the other side is the boss in the underwater base," Dr. Nanbo said slowly as he walked up to the sleeping Lugia and the others.

"Hehe, you don't need to worry, this kind of thing won't happen again."

"I've found what this Lugia cares about; soon it will have to obey our commands!"

He pulled out a photo that a Rockets member had accidentally taken earlier, showing White's silhouette, and gave a sly smile.

"As long as it cooperates obediently, the experiment will succeed very quickly—"