By the time they entered Arena B, where Ash and his two companions were, the battle had already begun.
Gary and Caitlin quietly took seats in the back.
"Who do you think will win?" Caitlin asked, watching the battle with little interest.
Ash's Totodile was chasing down his opponent's Slugma.
"Ash will win," Young Master Mao said casually.
"You're that sure? From what I've seen of Ash... he doesn't seem particularly calculating..." Caitlin chose her words carefully.
"You can just say he's brainless." Young Master Mao spread his hands. "Not every rookie is like me. Ash still lacks a little tactical thinking right now. He relies more on improvising.
"But just because Ash is brainless doesn't mean Brock is~"
Sure enough, the situation on the field changed the next second. With his Fire-type Slugma being suppressed by Ash's Water-type Pokémon, his opponent decisively switched in Electabuzz.
The balance of offense and defense reversed.
The next second, Ash calmly recalled Totodile and sent out his Ground-type Phanpy.
The situation reversed again!
"Well, well, I didn't expect a rookie to know how to play like this." Caitlin laughed.
"After all, nobody who makes it into the Silver Conference preliminaries is a pushover. But Ash should have this in the bag now." Young Master Mao raised his eyebrows, making a grasping gesture with his right hand.
But Ash generally couldn't be judged by ordinary standards.
To Gary, it was a guaranteed win from the picks and bans alone, with the coaching staff already crushing the opposition. Yet Ash somehow turned it into an evenly matched marathon that tested everyone's bladders...
In the end, he scraped through with a narrow 3-2 victory...
"Phew..." Gary exhaled. "You really are fucking impossible to predict, Ash..."
"Pfft!" Caitlin covered her mouth and snickered.
Young Master Mao had