Froakie itself was already on the verge of evolution,
But Ash didn't let Froakie evolve so quickly in order to make his foundation more solid.
Otherwise, with the number of battles Froakie had fought,
And with the help of dietary therapy and Froakie's rapid growth,
Froakie would have already evolved by now!
Evolving too quickly is not necessarily a good thing.
Now, Froakie's evolution was completely within Ash's expectations.
After evolving, Frogadier's strength had reached the advanced level.
Ash estimated that he would soon be able to reach the elite level.
With the help of various entries,
Frogadier should be able to fight opponents one level higher.
"Misty, it's time to send out your next Pokémon."
"Huh? Oh, right—come back, Staryu!"
After Ash's reminder, Misty quickly recalled Staryu.
It was rare to witness another Trainer's Pokémon evolve right before her eyes,
So Misty was momentarily stunned.
Not only Misty, but Lily, Sakura, and the others were all left speechless.
The amazement in their eyes could not be described in words.
The evolution of Pokémon was truly a miracle of nature!
"Go, my Trump Card—Starmie!"
Misty pulled out her second Poké Ball and released her Trump Card Pokémon, Starmie!
After this period of training, Misty's Starmie had reached the advanced intermediate level,
With faint signs of breaking through to the advanced level.
This was largely thanks to the training methods Ash had developed for her,
Along with the battles and cooking effects they had experienced during their journey.
"Frogadier, this one's yours. Defeat it in one go!"
Ash had no intention of switching Pokémon this time.
Before, he had used Pidgeotto with a type disadvantage against Brock.
That was only to teach Misty a lesson.
But now, Frogadier had just evolved and was full of fighting spirit, eager to continue!
Ash also wanted to test Frogadier's new fighting style.
"Starmie, use Thunderbolt!"
Although Starmie was a Water-type Pokémon,
It could also learn the Electric-type move Thunderbolt.
Misty had never used this move in front of Ash before.
She was hoping to catch him off guard!
Result…
"Frogadier, dodge it!"
Frogadier sprang from the floating platform, swiftly avoiding the golden lightning.
The golden current struck the float, scorching it black.
"So fast!"
Misty exclaimed.
Her Starmie's Thunderbolt was already extremely quick,
Yet the speed of Ash's Frogadier was several times faster than when it was Froakie!
Ash was also surprised by Frogadier's incredible speed.
Although speed generally increased after evolution, it shouldn't have improved this much.
Then he noticed that the weights on Frogadier's wrists and ankles were gone.
He immediately understood the reason.
During evolution, the training weights had fallen off naturally.
Combined with the boost from evolution itself,
That was why Frogadier's speed had become so terrifying!
Its current speed wasn't much slower than an average elite-level Pokémon.
After the battle, Ash decided he would customize new weights for Frogadier.
Without pausing, he called out, "Frogadier, use Cut!"
Cut was one of the new skills Frogadier could now use after evolution!
"Ka-la!"
Frogadier placed his palm at his waist, and instantly, a white blade of light extended from his hand down past his hip!
Then, Frogadier vanished in the blink of an eye.
The next moment, he reappeared right in front of Starmie!
The shining blade in his hand came slashing down hard!
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
Explosions echoed through the gym as Starmie was sent flying, spraying water across the pool!
It slammed into the edge of the arena, cracking the wall at the pool's side.
The evolved Frogadier was far stronger than before.
Now, its body structure had developed fully, making it perfectly suited for close combat.
When it was still Froakie, its short limbs made such combat impossible.
"Starmie!"
Misty called out anxiously, but her Pokémon didn't respond.
At that moment, Starmie's eyes spun with stars—completely dizzy!
"It's over. Frogadier, use Water Pulse!"
"Ka-la!"
Frogadier quickly formed a spinning blue orb of water between his palms,
Then hurled it forward with great force!
The spinning sphere turned into a powerful torrent, blasting the still-dizzy Starmie backward!
When the impact faded, Starmie lay on the edge of the pool, unable to move.
"Starmie has lost the ability to fight. Uh… Frogadier wins!"
Sakura announced the result, nearly stumbling over Frogadier's name.
If Ash hadn't just called it out, she might not have known what to say.
Misty returned Starmie to its Poké Ball, her expression filled with disappointment.
In both battles, she had lost without any real chance to fight back.
The gap between her and Ash was much larger than she had imagined.
Sakura stood silently for a moment, then walked up to Misty and gently patted her head.
"That's enough, Misty. You did great. If we were facing Ash, we'd probably be too shocked to even command our Pokémon properly."
When she saw Froakie step on Swift and then evolve into Frogadier,
Yet Misty still managed to stay calm and keep battling,
That alone showed her professionalism was far better than that of her three sisters.
Misty stared blankly at her sister's gentle gesture.
Since childhood, she couldn't remember Sakura ever speaking to her so kindly…
Before Misty could fully enjoy this rare head pat,
Sakura withdrew her hand and turned toward Ash, who was walking over.
From her pocket, she took out a teardrop-shaped badge and handed it to him.
"This is the Cascade Badge. Please accept it."
"Thanks."
Ash took the water-drop badge without hesitation and pinned it to his chest.
Then, his attention turned to the entry that had dropped after his battle with Starmie.
Once again, he had gotten a great reward!
When he defeated Staryu, it had dropped only an ordinary blue item.
But this time, after defeating Starmie, a red entry appeared — [Turbulent Waves]!
[Turbulent Waves (Red): Attacks flow continuously like waves, surging and unending! Consecutive use of any Water-type move will gradually increase its power. Using it twice in a row increases power by 10%, three times by 20%, stacking up to a maximum of 70%.]
(End of the chapter)