Outside the field, no matter how Ash called out, Squirtle showed no sign of waking. Seeing this, the referee decisively raised his flag and announced the result of the first bout.
After recalling Squirtle, Ash hurried to think of a countermeasure. But before he could decide which Pokémon to send out, Pikachu was already running on all fours, launching a move and charging at Butterfree!
Butterfree had no time to dodge Pikachu's Quick Attack and took a direct hit. When Pikachu saw Butterfree still trying to fly into the air, he grabbed one of Butterfree's feet, then used Thunderbolt, shocking Butterfree into a roasted moth!
Although Pikachu had acted on his own, it was thanks to him that the situation was even again.
But his condition was truly worrying. It looked as though he had used up a great deal of stamina before reaching the stadium. Now he was drenched in sweat, and his movements had become quite sluggish. He seemed to have reached his limit!
Seeing him like this, even Chloe, who knew little about battling, noticed something was wrong from her seat in the stands.
"Is Ash's Pikachu going to be all right? Why does he look completely exhausted?"
Xia You nodded. "Remember what I said earlier? Just watch. In this battle, dwindling stamina and Pokémon refusing to follow orders will be Ash's greatest challenges!"
Once the score became one to one, Ritchie sent out Charmander without hesitation.
Charmander kept spitting flames, forcing Pikachu to keep moving to dodge and wearing down all his remaining stamina. Finally, a charging attack knocked Pikachu out of bounds.
But when the spectators realized that the battle they had waited so long for was this dull, more of them began booing in dissatisfaction.
"What is this? Is this really a match between