At Cerulean City's Cerulean Gym, the time for the public assessment had arrived, and large numbers of Pokémon League staff were maintaining order. Since Sandstorm King Gongping had chosen to assess the Cerulean Gym publicly, the three core requirements among the dozen or so provisions proposed by the Pokémon League had also been posted.
First, having four people serve simultaneously as the Cerulean Gym's long-term Gym Leader was not normal. The Cerulean Gym was therefore ordered to submit the identity of its official Gym Leader to the Pokémon League within six months.
Second, the excessively high pass rate for Rookie Trainers had led the Pokémon League to question the abilities of the gym's trainers. All Pokémon registered to the Cerulean Gym would therefore be sent to a Pokémon Center in the Johto Region for testing and evaluation, to analyze each Pokémon's strength and potential.
Third, the gym trainers' on-site command and judgment also needed to be reassessed and recorded. Sandstorm King Gongping would therefore preside over the Cerulean Gym's Gym Leader assessment battle that day.
The posting of these three provisions caused an uproar online, and local trainers in Cerulean City were indignant. The Cerulean Gym was only allowed one trainer? Did that mean the Cerulean Sisters had to become a thing of the past?
So far, the Cerulean Gym had shown little sign of any response, merely announcing that Misty would take part in the battle on the day of the assessment.
This passive attitude made many trainers feel even sorrier for the Cerulean Sisters, and the online abuse directed at Gongping continued unabated.
Compared with the outrage of Cerulean City's local trainers, other internet users were much more rational. Many even sided with Gongping, criticizing the Cerulean Gym for enjoying special treatment for so many years and saying it was about time it was brought into line.
Participation in the Kanto Region tournament required eight Gym Badges. The existence of a group of negligent gyms led by Cerulean City meant that ordinary people could easily start preparing for the Regional Conference after collecting just four or five Badges.
The prospects for the Kanto Region's trainers were therefore worrying!
In the Cerulean Gym's internal lounge, Misty was organizing her Poké Balls while waiting for that king to arrive. The Johto Regional Conference was not far from Cerulean City; getting there by airship took only a few hours.
"I really can't wait to see that Sandstorm King."
At Ash's thoughtless remark, Misty snorted and shot her companion a fierce glare. Meanwhile, Sakura and her two sisters sat around a plate of snacks, leisurely enjoying themselves.
"The Pokémon League's king has arrived. Please get ready, Misty. Here's the list of Pokémon he'll be sending into battle. The first is Sandslash, and the second is-"
Before the speaker could finish, Misty waved a hand. "I don't want to know anything about my opponent in advance. I'll give this battle everything I've got."
Her answer only made the senior local officials from Cerulean City look at her with greater concern. The Cerulean Sisters' training abilities were indeed poor, but could sending out a little girl like this really get them through the Sandstorm King's assessment?
Rumor had it that the man was an eccentric who was unexpectedly harsh on girls.
"Ah, Gongping's here! Let's go take a look!"
The Cerulean Sisters looked like a bunch of fangirls, making Misty's face twitch. Did her sisters even understand the situation? Didn't they know this was a matter of life and death for the Cerulean Gym?
"Is this really all right? Making Misty shoulder all of this alone?"
After walking out the door and heading toward the spectator stands on either side of the arena, Ayame asked quietly. Sakura smiled and shook her head. "It's fine. I believe Misty can become an excellent Gym Leader in our place."
On one side of the stage, Sandstorm King Gongping wore a pale blue coat paired with a red scarf. Against the somewhat bitter winter chill, his clothing seemed a little thin, but he looked healthy and full of energy.
After his arrival in Cerulean City, the local senior officials had contacted him several times, hoping he would go easy on them during the assessment battle. Although Gongping was strict, he had taken Cerulean City's actual circumstances into account and provided some appropriate information, such as giving the Pokémon League the list of Pokémon he would use.
A moment later, Misty slowly walked onto the stage in a formal dress, immediately prompting a wave of discussion.
"So it's a yellow-haired girl. I thought it'd be a mature woman."
"She looks really young. Is she going to be all right?"
Faced with all these doubts, Misty restrained her temper and stared coldly at the Sandstorm King opposite her, a Poké Ball spinning rapidly in her hand. "Go, Starmie!"
As Starmie appeared, Gongping also threw his Poké Ball. "I'll be using Sandslash!"
Misty sneered. A Ground-type, just as expected. Did this man really think being a king made him strong enough to ignore every type disadvantage?
The Cerulean Gym had a water battlefield. Most of the area was water, with only a few small floating platforms for non-Water-type Pokémon to move around on. In terms of the battlefield environment, Sandstorm King Gongping was at an absolute disadvantage.
As the Poké Ball's light gradually faded, Misty quickly issued an order. "Starmie, use Bubble Beam!"
"Use Ice Ball!"
Countless bubbles shot out at tremendous speed toward Gongping's Sandslash, but Sandslash rapidly retreated, gathering a small ball of ice in its hands and swiftly launching it into the Cerulean Gym's pool.
As water splashed up, the chill produced by the Ice Ball formed a distinctive defensive wall of ice, deftly blocking the first wave of Bubble Beam.
Sandslash could use Ice Ball?
On the livestreaming platform, many people raised that question. Some even called Professor Oak to ask about Sandslash being able to use Ice Ball.
"There's something wrong with this Sandslash's coloring!"
Brock, who also had some knowledge of Ground-types, soon noticed the appearance of the Sandslash on the field. Its entire body carried a trace of icy frost, as though it had been frozen.
Its completely different appearance made many of those present notice what was unusual about this Sandslash. Gongping did not beat around the bush, directly answering their questions. "This is Sandslash's form from the Alola Region. It's Ice-type and Steel-type."
"This guy is really sneaky. He only told us his first Pokémon would be Sandslash, but never said it was a Regional Form from somewhere else."
The senior local officials from Cerulean City gritted their teeth. This man really was becoming more and more irritating!
It was a regional variant, but to Misty, it was an entirely new and unknown Pokémon. While she was distracted, waves churned on the water again, and the Ice Ball that had rolled into the pool resurfaced, hurtling toward Starmie!
Faced with the danger, Starmie swiftly shot out a Water Gun to propel itself backward. Yet the moment the stream touched the rapidly rolling Ice Ball, it began to freeze. Struck head-on by the Ice Ball, Starmie was knocked back a step.
As the Ice Ball landed on the water again, a trace of ice began to form across the surface, and the surrounding temperature gradually fell.
Ice Ball doubled in power with each use. After two uses, the icy energy it produced had begun to affect the Cerulean Gym's entire water battlefield. Many areas slowly began to freeze, and Sandslash, whose movement had originally been restricted, stepped onto the frozen patches one after another.
"Use Hyper Beam!"
As the frozen area spread faster across the water, Misty directed Starmie to unleash a powerful beam straight toward Sandslash's position. Yet just as Sandslash, now with room to move, prepared to dodge, it unexpectedly discovered that Hyper Beam was aimed at a frozen patch off to one side.
Was she trying to shatter the frozen area and drop Sandslash into the water?
Misty's battle skills were quite good, but his Sandslash was not so easy to deal with. A mere Hyper Beam was no problem at all!
With a crash, just as the ice cracked apart, the Ice Ball burst out of the water once again. An even stronger chill erupted into an icy mist in midair, and when it struck another part of the water, it caused freezing on an even larger scale.
A few seconds later, most of the water's surface had frozen solid. Even the spot Hyper Beam had just swept across had merely lost a portion of its ice to the blast.
Sandslash's control over Ice Ball had reached a terrifying level, and its ability to keep growing stronger until it reached this point had also exceeded Misty's expectations.
A cold light flashed. The launched Ice Ball struck the slightly sluggish Starmie from an extremely tricky angle. The instant it touched Starmie's body, Starmie suffered severe freezing, while the terrifying explosive force of the Ice Ball blasted it bodily away.
"Starmie is unable to battle!"
PS: I got home very late today. I write these on the spot, so there's only one update.
Before you continue