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"Okay, it's almost time for me to make my entrance!"
After putting away the admission tickets, Daisy stood in the dressing room, changed into her performance costume, and prepared to go on stage.
"Wait a moment, Miss Daisy!"
Just as Daisy was about to appear, Ash and Brock rushed into the room. Brock called out to Daisy with obvious concern in his voice.
At this time, Ash and Brock entered carrying portable oxygen masks in their hands. These masks weren't as bulky as full diving equipment with oxygen tanks, but they could only be used in relatively shallow water.
"Miss Violet and Miss Lily aren't here!" Brock looked around worriedly, but couldn't find Violet or Lily anywhere.
"What are you talking about? Didn't Violet and Lily show up for the performance?" Daisy had arrived late and didn't know what had happened.
"No... the people out there right now are..."
BANG BANG BANG!
Before Brock could finish speaking, they heard a commotion, and sudden sounds came from the wardrobe nearby. The three were slightly startled after hearing the noise, and Brock stepped forward to open the wardrobe door.
"Ah!"
Two figures tumbled out simultaneously, falling to the ground in a confused heap. Daisy was also shocked when she witnessed this scene.
"Violet, Lily?! How could you..."
"It was those Team Rocket members who did this!"
At this moment, both Violet and Lily were bound with ropes, and their mouths were taped so they couldn't make any sounds. Brock quickly began untying their restraints while Daisy hurried forward to help.
"I'm going out there now!"
Ash declared as he removed his hat and jacket, bit down on the oxygen mask, and ran outside. Pikachu also gripped an oxygen mask and followed Ash's lead.
When Ash took off his hat, he also left Jigglypuff, who had been resting on his head, on the ground along with his clothes.
"You can't come with me! You won't be able to sink!" Ash explained as he departed with Pikachu.
"Jiggly..."
The abandoned Jigglypuff watched Ash leave and suddenly puffed out its cheeks in frustration.
It wasn't that Ash didn't want to bring Jigglypuff along—the main issue was that its body was filled with air, making it impossible to sink underwater at all.
Ash rushed outside with Pikachu and reached the diving platform above the swimming pool.
"At this moment, the prince of justice appears!"
The narrator adapted to the situation perfectly. Daisy was originally supposed to make her entrance, but now it had become Ash's moment.
At that time, an opening appeared in the ceiling above. Meowth waited on top of their hot air balloon for Jessie and James to capture the Pokemon. Ash chose to ignore this for now.
SPLASH!
He ran forward with Pikachu and jumped in without hesitation. Although he had never practiced competitive diving, Ash's physical condition had become quite impressive over the years.
This height posed no problem at all. He plunged into the water and then dove underwater, where he could clearly see what was happening at the bottom.
At this moment, James was pulling a large net that had trapped all the other Cerulean Gym's Pokemon. Only Misty's Horsea and the gym's Seel had managed to escape capture.
On the other side, Jessie was battling Misty using her Arbok.
Arbok wasn't sluggish in the water at all. Instead, it moved very swiftly, seemingly unaffected by the aquatic environment.
In fact, even among non-Pokemon animals, most snakes are naturally good swimmers—even those that aren't water snakes or sea snakes—so this wasn't particularly surprising.
"Horsea, use Bubble Beam!"
Misty could only rely on Horsea at this point and had no other options. In order to rescue the other Pokemon, she had to depend on Horsea for battle.
After hearing the command, Horsea released blue bubbles from its tubular snout toward Arbok.
"Arbok, deflect it!" Jessie saw this and gave her order, and Arbok responded immediately.
Underwater, Arbok swung its massive tail, and the tail's movement created a powerful current. When the Bubble Beam struck, the water flow directly swept away all the bubbles from the attack.
After defending against Horsea's assault, Arbok rushed toward the small seahorse Pokemon, and Misty's expression changed instantly when she saw this.
"Horsea, use Smokescreen!"
Witnessing this scene, Misty had no other choice but to use Smokescreen to create a diversion. Although it wasn't a particularly powerful move, it could affect the opponent's vision.
However!
Arbok was temporarily blocked by the dark cloud in front of it, but it swung its tail forcefully through the murky water. Horsea remained behind the smokescreen and didn't react to Arbok's offensive maneuver, getting struck directly by Arbok's powerful tail.
Horsea cried out in pain and was sent reeling uncontrollably. Seeing this, Misty quickly swam forward and embraced the injured seahorse Pokemon.
"I'm sorry! You've only just recovered your health!" Misty looked distressed as she held Horsea. Originally, there hadn't been proper conditions for Horsea to swim and exercise.
She had only been back for one day and had just begun to regain her strength. It really wasn't suitable for battling, but with the other Pokemon captured, she didn't know what else to do.
"Now let this little girl experience Arbok's true power with Poison Sting!"
After hearing the command, Arbok opened its mouth, and thin purple needles above its fangs were released like a torrential downpour, heading directly toward Misty and Horsea.
At this time, the surrounding audience still didn't realize anything was wrong. They assumed it was all part of the performance and remained enthusiastic and engaged. Misty's genuine panic registered in their eyes as simply dramatic acting.
"Squirtle, use Rapid Spin!"
At that moment, a voice called out from behind, and a figure moved through the water as fast as a torpedo, leaving behind a trail of streaming bubbles.
It was Squirtle—not particularly fast on land, but Squirtle's speed in water was truly remarkable.
Squirtle rushed in front of Misty and Horsea, withdrew into its shell, and began rotating rapidly.
CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!
The Poison Sting attack struck Squirtle while it was in its Rapid Spin state, and the poisonous needles were directly deflected by the rotational force. Ash and Pikachu also swam to Misty's side.
"Are you alright?" With these oxygen masks, conversation underwater was possible—a remarkable invention from this time period.
"I'm fine, thank you, Ash!"
Misty breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Ash appear. Her cheeks turned slightly pink when she remembered the narrator mentioning that a prince had arrived to save the day.