"I really didn't want to fight you until you paid me back for my bike, but I have no choice now."
"If you want the blue badge, you have to defeat me first!"
Xiao Xia was full of fighting spirit, but it was the drive to prevent Ash from getting the blue badge.
"If you want to fight, then let's fight! Pikachu, let her see our power!"
"Pika~↓"
Ash was very excited; he couldn't wait to get the blue badge, so he didn't notice that Pikachu's condition was a bit strange.
Pikachu seemed very reluctant, but unfortunately, Ash's mind was completely focused on the blue badge.
"Alright! What about the number of Pokémon?"
"How about a two-on-two match?"
Although Ash was already quite familiar with the challenge process, he still had to ask Xiao Xia about the rules.
"No problem! Then, the first contestant is Pikachu!"
Ash picked up Pikachu next to him and was about to throw him onto the field.
This action made the Shiny Kirlia, who was watching her blue badge in her hand become more and more beautiful, couldn't help but look at him with admiration. She had thought this kid only used Electric-type Pokémon against Ground-type, but she didn't expect him to use an Electric-type against a Water-type!
Pikachu didn't follow Ash's wishes, clinging tightly to Ash's finger and refusing to let go.
"Pikachu, what's wrong? Hurry up and go!"
"Pika! Pika."
Ash was very angry about Pikachu's reluctance to fight, but he saw Pikachu pointing at the opponent with a reluctant expression, seemingly trying to say something.
"What's wrong? Just because the opponent is Xiao Xia, you don't want to fight?"
"Pikachu."
Ash looked at the nodding Pikachu, feeling a bit troubled. He never thought such a thing would happen after developing feelings.
"Pikachu! Good boy!"
Xiao Xia was very happy, after all, if it wasn't an Electric-type Pokémon, her chances of winning would be much higher, and Pikachu also cheered up when he heard Xiao Xia's encouragement.
In this situation, Ash didn't have much of a choice. What else could he do with his Pokémon? He could only spoil them.
Then came the stage of Ash and Xiao Xia's clumsy battle. Butterfree's Sleep Powder and paralyzing powder were swept away by Staryu's Water Gun.
Pikachu also clapped happily, but then Ash asked him a deadly question: "Who exactly are you supporting?"
"Xiao Xia really has a knack for it."
"That's right, it's true that when you lose a bit of beauty, you gain a bit of talent."
Meanwhile, the Cerulean Gym sisters watching from the shore shared their opinions.
Butterfree's situation on the field was very bad. Staryu's attacks were very fierce, aiming to make him enter the water.
And for Staryu, you can succeed countless times, but you can only fail once. A Butterfree in the water is like a grasshopper in autumn.
The best defense is offense, as they say. Butterfree was still directly knocked into the water by Staryu and was constantly thrashing.
Ash decisively recalled Butterfree and sent out Pidgeotto, while Xiao Xia also sent out Starmie, starting a new round of clumsy battling.
Starmie flew up from the water and was fanned down by Pidgeotto's wing, flying up only to be fanned back down by a wing.
Just as Ash was about to finish off Starmie, the wall of the Cerulean Gym was suddenly destroyed, and a strange-looking machine drove out from the middle of the wall.
"How can this be? How annoying!"
"What exactly is that thing!"
Sakura and Ayame were certainly very angry about the destruction of the Cerulean Gym, as it was their home! Ash and Xiao Xia also ended their battle and quickly came to their side.
Shiny Kirlia also found a place to store the blue badge, to prevent it from being damaged in the upcoming battle.
"Since you all are so humble as to ask."
"We will mercifully tell you."
Jessie and James slowly rose from the center of the machine, uttering their classic lines... "Water Pokémon get stronger when they touch water."
"So, if we drain the water."
"There will be many Pokémon whose abilities are greatly reduced."
"Suck up all the water! Meow!"
The Team Rockets trio kindly explained their objective to Ash and his companions.
"What did you say?"
Sakura found it somewhat unbelievable after hearing this. Did these people know what they were saying? They wanted to drain the water from their Cerulean Gym with that strange-looking machine? What a joke!
Before they could wonder how they would do it, a thick pipe suddenly extended from the back of the machine, plunged straight into the water, and began vigorously sucking up the water from the battle arena.
"A large engine plus an extra-thick pipe, that stolen shop! No wonder they stole these two things."
Ash looked at a very familiar part of the machine and suddenly realized, wasn't this the shop they saw being robbed that morning!
"The water has been... Stop it quickly!"
"Stop it, do you hear me!"
Xiao Xia and her sisters weren't worried about any destruction; they were heartbroken over the water in their battle arena. The loss of this water was much higher than the cost of that wall.
"Watch my reverse jet attack, Meow!"
Meowth seemed speechless at their threat, pulled down a lever, and the water that had been sucked in immediately turned into a thick Water Gun, spraying towards Ash and his companions.
"Ah, the beauty is getting wet!"
Even as Xiao Xia was washed away by the water, she still maintained the demeanor of a beauty.
"Don't steal the beauty's lines!"
Her sister, Ayame, gave her no face at all, refuting her sister even as she was swept away by the water.
"Alright! Suck it all up now! Meow."
Meowth saw that it was almost done and pushed the lever back. The spraying pipe began to suck up the water from the field again, along with a Seel that was caught in the middle.
Pikachu, who was lucky enough not to fall into the pond, was also hit by a sudden wave and knocked into the water.
"Kirlia! (My badge!)"
Shiny Kirlia noticed a sparkling badge in the water being sucked into the machine, immediately felt a bad premonition, and when she touched herself, the badge had been swept away by the sudden current.
"That's right, water conducts electricity."
Suddenly, Ash's mumble echoed beside Shiny Kirlia. Shiny Kirlia's pupils constricted, and she looked at Ash in shock.
When did this kid get so smart? No, my badge is still in there!
Just as Shiny Kirlia was about to stop him, Ash shouted: "Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"
Pikachu, hearing Ash's words, also perked up and instantly unleashed Thunderbolt. Golden electricity spread along the water to Team Rockets' strange machine.
Giving them the latest smoky eye makeup.
"Sting... sting... stung to death!"
The Team Rockets trio, having been electrocuted, fell directly into the water and were sucked towards the center by their machine.