Nearly two hours passed, starting from 8:30 AM. Ash waited until almost 10:30 AM, and finally, it was his turn to go to the battle hall to challenge the gym.
Under the guidance of the staff, Ash arrived at the gate of the battle hall. Thinking of Giovanni, whom he was about to face, Ash took a deep breath, a little nervously.
Of course, Ash was also very clear that all this was his own problem. Giovanni must not know that he knew his true identity, but there was also a hidden danger.
Ash didn't know if Giovanni knew that he was the trainer who sabotaged Team Rocket's affairs at Silph Co. If he did, what would happen?
"Are you okay? Is there anything wrong?" Seeing Ash in a daze at the door, the staff member asked quickly.
Pikachu also felt a little strange about Ash's condition and sensed that Ash seemed to have something on his mind these past two days.
"No, it's nothing." Ash came back to his senses. It was useless to think about these things now; he just had to go in and face them.
After seeing that Ash was fine, the staff member opened the door, and the empty battle hall came into view.
The battlefield was a very formal and ordinary one. There was no terrain design, and there were auditoriums on both sides. At this time, the auditoriums were full of trainers. The number seemed to be two or three hundred, which was really surprising.
Giovanni stood at the gym leader's position, watching Ash step by step into the battle hall, a touch of unfathomable gloom flashing in his eyes.
When he saw Ash's information, he immediately recognized that this Ash was the trainer who destroyed their plan at Silph Co.
Although the Alliance concealed Ash's identity as much as possible, there were still some traces to be found. With the spies he had arranged in the Alliance, it wasn't difficult to obtain Ash's information.
"In his first year of debut, in the past few months, he has reached this level..." Giovanni was very interested in Ash. Although Ash destroyed his plan, it also allowed Giovanni to see Ash's potential.
There was no doubt that Ash was a talented trainer, and his ceiling was definitely not a Great Ball or Ultra Ball trainer, but a higher, Master Ball, or even Elite Four, champion!
If he could regain Ash and make him his subordinate, even if Ash had once destroyed the plan, Ash was enough to make up for the loss in this regard.
Thinking of this, a gentle smile appeared on Giovanni's face, making himself look approachable.
But in Ash's eyes, Giovanni's smile was so hypocritical. Through the surface, Ash could even see his darkness, like an abyss.
"Ash, can I call you that...?" After Ash stood on the challenger's position, Giovanni suddenly spoke. This surprised the audience slightly.
"Yes." Ash had no way to refuse, so he nodded slightly.
"I have read your profile, you are very good, and I am very optimistic about your future." Giovanni praised Ash without hesitation in front of three hundred people. He wanted to deepen his reputation in Ash's mind through this behavior.
"Wow..." The audience burst into an uproar, looking at Ash in disbelief, wondering how this young man could be so praised by Giovanni.
"Thank you." Ash said calmly.
But Ash's expression made Giovanni appreciate Ash even more. In front of so many people, being praised by a strong man, not only was he not proud, but he even remained calm. Ash's excellence was beyond his imagination.
"Let's not talk about the unnecessary things now. After the challenge is over, I want to chat with you." Giovanni didn't want to waste time here, and this wasn't the place to talk.
The audience looked at Ash with envy and jealousy, and really couldn't figure out why Giovanni was so optimistic about a trainer, which was unprecedented.
Ash didn't answer and remained silent because he didn't know how to respond, but this made Giovanni misunderstand again, thinking that Ash was very calm, and Ash's evaluation in his mind grew higher and higher.
"Ash is really amazing, even Mr. Giovanni thinks highly of him!" In the audience, after hearing Giovanni's words, Misty's face was full of joy. Ash was praised, and she felt happier than receiving the praise herself.
"Ash is indeed outstanding, and it is only natural that Mr. Giovanni would recognize him!" Brock also nodded proudly, with a satisfied smile on his face.
"What will be held now is the gym challenge between Mr. Giovanni and Ash. Both parties can use three Pokémon. The challenger can substitute Pokémon in battle. When one party loses three Pokémon, the match is over!" The referee appeared and began to read the rules.
"Please send the first Pokémon to battle!"
"My first one is this." Giovanni took out the Poké Ball, with a smile on his face, "~ Rhydon, I leave it to you!
With the white light spreading across the battlefield, Rhydon appeared in everyone's sight.
This is a dinosaur-like Pokémon with a gray body and a sharp drill cone on its forehead.
Rhydon is about two meters in height. It has a large body with a thick and short neck. Its body appears to be divided into sections.
Rhydon
Attribute: Ground, Rock
Category: Drill Pokémon
Ability: Lightning Rod or Rock Head
Hidden Ability: Reckless
Rock Head: Pokémon with this ability will not be damaged by the recoil of their own moves.
Strength: Silver
"A Silver stage Rhydon...does he want to test my strength?" Seeing that the Rhydon sent by Giovanni was an elite one, Ash was a little apprehensive.
Because his current Trainer level was still only Poké Ball level. Normally, it should be capped at the elite level, but Giovanni made an exception and used a higher-level elite Pokémon.
There were also some insightful people in the audience, and their eyes could see Rhydon's strength. Because they knew that Ash was a Poké Ball-level trainer, they couldn't help being surprised after seeing the Silver-level Rhydon.
"Do you mind if I use Silver-level Pokémon to fight? I have read your profile and know that your real strength is not limited to the Poké Ball level." Giovanni explained with a smile at this time.
Ash took a deep look at Giovanni. The other party had already released the Pokémon before explaining, it was accurate, and he wouldn't refuse it in front of so many people...
However, Ash didn't want to refuse. Compared to facing lower-level Pokémon, he preferred to face Silver-level Pokémon because that was the meaning of the challenge!
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