"Tch."
Upon witnessing this, Paul clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. This situation should have happened to Elekid, but he didn't expect that Ash still hadn't let Pikachu use Thunderbolt, but instead utilized Elekid's Thunderbolt.
"Protect!"
Although the current situation was not what Paul wanted, it was barely still within his control. As long as he blocked the Thunder Punch first, there would still be a chance to counterattack later.
"Keep using Thunderbolt like that!"
"Huh?!"
Again, unexpectedly, even though the time he issued the Protect command was already very late, Ash seemed to have anticipated his actions in advance, and said Thunderbolt almost at the same time that he said Protect.
"Pika~chu!!"
A bolt of lightning struck the green barrier that Elekid had put up before the Thunder Punch. The Protect, which could only defend against one attack, instantly turned into light spots and shattered on the spot after being hit by Thunderbolt.
Under Elekid's incredulous gaze, Pikachu had already arrived in front of it, and the Thunder Punch that had been strengthened by its Thunderbolt hit its body head-on without reservation.
"Ele!"
After a scream, Elekid's body flew out under the impact of the Thunder Punch. However, Ash also knew that a single Thunder Punch was not enough to end the battle, so he immediately planned to press the attack.
"Charge up and use Thunderbolt!"
Although Thunderbolt was a long-range attack, Ash, for some reason, had Pikachu chase after the position where Elekid was flying. Was it because he wanted to maximize the damage by using Thunderbolt at close range?
"...Light Screen!"
After a brief hesitation, Paul still decided to have Elekid use Light Screen. Originally, the Light Screen skill should have been Elekid's trump card, used as a surprise attack, but now, under the great pressure of battling against Ash, he still decided to let Elekid use Light Screen to tide over the situation first. After all, if he couldn't make it through this round, there would be no next round.
This kind of forced choice was the situation that Paul hated the most in battles, because once he made such a choice, it meant that he had no way to go, and that was what Ash wanted to see.
After seeing the distance between Pikachu and Elekid getting closer and closer, and most of the power of Pikachu's Thunderbolt being blocked by Light Screen, Ash finally spoke again: "Quick Attack, then use Iron Tail!"
"?! Brick Break!"
"Pika~chu!"
"Ele?"
The side that falls into a passive position in a battle is often one step slower than the opponent in action, and that's the case right now.
Although Paul barely reacted to Ash's command and kept up, Elekid, who had been in a passive state, was unable to continue to complete Paul's command. Light Screen itself was activated in an emergency situation, and Elekid hadn't even been able to stabilize its body yet.
At the moment when Pikachu approached instantly with Quick Attack and then dropped Iron Tail, although Elekid had subconsciously raised its right arm to block it, the power of Iron Tail was doubled with the blessing of Quick Attack. Iron Tail landed on Elekid's raised right arm, and then, without any pause, it bounced its arm away, and then hit Elekid's head.
"Ele!"
The Iron Tail with the blessing of Quick Attack made Elekid completely unable to defend. After letting out a scream, Elekid fell straight to the ground, and had no ability to get up again.
"..."
Paul looked at the fallen Elekid in silence for a moment, and then closed his eyes and took it back.
"Still a little short, huh."
Paul murmured like this, looking at the Poké Ball in his hand, seemingly without any regret for losing the match.
"Good job, Pikachu."
Ash also came to Pikachu's side, squatted down, and encouraged it by stroking its head.
Looking at Ash and Pikachu's interaction, Paul didn't sneer like before, but his tone wasn't much better than before.
"I admit, your command ability is very strong, but the key to deciding this battle is still the quality of the Pokémon. Compared to Elekid, your Pikachu is much faster in responding to commands. This is a difference in experience. The person who wins the next battle will be me."
Paul's calm tone seemed to be just stating a fact, but in Dawn's opinion, this was just stubbornness. However, since Ash had already won, and Ash himself only shrugged his shoulders at Paul's statement to indicate that he had heard it, Dawn naturally wouldn't say anything more, but just stood behind Ash and looked at him triumphantly, as if she was the one who won the match.
The battle ended here. After seeing Professor Rowan and the others walking towards this side, Paul left directly without even saying hello, and it was unknown what he was thinking in his heart.
"Is it over? It seems that you won this battle."
Professor Rowan looked at Paul, who left without saying a word, and Dawn, who had a happy face, and probably guessed the outcome of the match.
"Although Paul's personality is very cold, it has to be said that he does have an extraordinary talent in Pokémon battles. Since you two are going to participate in this League Competition, you should become very good rivals."
How is that possible? These two people's personalities are completely incompatible.
Dawn complained silently in her heart. Dawn didn't dare to say these words in front of Professor Rowan. Although Professor Rowan noticed that Dawn's expression was a bit strange, he didn't ask any further. Anyway, it wasn't the first day that his personality didn't get along with young people, Professor Rowan was very self-aware in this regard.
"Well, also, it's not early today, so stay here for the night. As a thank you for your help, I'll have the person in charge of cooking treat you well tonight."
"Really?!"
"Great!"
"I'm really looking forward to it..."
Hearing that there would be a big meal again tonight, Ash and the others' moods also became high.
Especially Dawn, she seemed to have forgotten the bad mood that Paul had given her before. Right now, she was only thinking about what delicious food Professor Rowan would prepare for them tonight.
"Well, let's go then."
After Professor Rowan finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the lab. Ash and the others looked at each other and followed one after another. With the fall of night, Ash and Dawn's first day of travel in the Sinnoh region came to a perfect end.
....