With encouragement from his trainer, Charizard felt as if his body wasn't as uncomfortable anymore, but it was obvious that continuing to battle was impossible.
Not to mention Charizard's condition, even Koga's next Pokemon is an Elite Level at full strength, and now if Charizard got touched, he'd probably faint, let alone fight.
Ash infused some Power of Viridian into Charizard, then took out a Pokeball to return Charizard.
On the other side, Koga also returned his Toxicroak, then looked at Ash with a complicated expression.
Even though he was a bit distracted just now, he was still paying attention to the situation on the field.
At the moment Charizard was about to collapse, Ash moved directly from his position to Charizard's side. With his vision, he couldn't see Ash's movement at all.
One has to know that even the actions of Elite-level Pokemon can be captured by his eyes; otherwise, how could he command Elite-level Pokemon in battle?
However, Ash's speed...
Perhaps he was just distracted just now? It couldn't be that Ash's speed was faster than Elite-level Pokemon, could it? That sounded more unlikely than him being distracted.
"Aya, turn off the machine." Koga gestured for Aya to shut down the defense mechanism, otherwise Ash wouldn't be able to come out unless he broke through the barrier.
Aya nodded, took out a remote control, and pressed a button to release Ash from the barrier.
Actually, Ash could have punched his way out, but the state of the barrier afterward would have been uncertain.
"An Elite defeated an Elite Level, I admit I underestimated you. But Ash, do you have another Pokemon that can use such miraculous power?"
Koga wasn't actually asking Ash a question but implied—if your next Pokemon doesn't have such miraculous power, you'd better just admit defeat obediently.
Ash shrugged noncommittally, "We'll know once we battle, won't we?"
This made Koga's expression darken. Ash had said the same thing when he sent out Charizard, which led to a big surprise.
But this time, he absolutely wouldn't let that happen. Elite taking down an Elite Level like this happening once was already ridiculous. If it happened again, how could he continue as an Elite?
Originally, doing a livestream was to build momentum, so he wouldn't face many obstacles when becoming the Johto Elite soon. But if he kept losing like this, the livestream might have the opposite effect!
One must know, he holds the position of Johto Elite, and Ash is from Kanto, still a Newbie Trainer.
If the future Johto Elite were defeated by a Newbie Trainer from Kanto… haha, he would have to find a place to hide!
Although Kanto and Johto might seem like one, it's actually Johto that has always been dominant, with Kanto's Elite Four also taking on Elite and Champion positions in Johto.
Frankly speaking, without Johto's help, Kanto really wouldn't have been able to hold up, not being strong either below or above.
But now, with Ash's rise, Kanto actually seems to have hope for a resurgence.
This is actually something worth celebrating, but he can't step over Johto's Elites to rise!
If that happened, where would Johto's face go?
If this match is lost, Koga's hopes of becoming a Johto Elite will likely be postponed...
So Koga absolutely couldn't afford to lose the upcoming match!
"Go, Arbok!"
In a flash of light, a Pokemon resembling a cobra appeared on the field!
The abdomen of this cobra was decorated with terrifying patterns that made one's legs weak just by looking at them.
Not only was it terrifying in appearance, but it also emanated a kind of intimidating force that could unconsciously lessen one's attack strength.
Arbok, the Cobra Pokemon, Ability—Intimidate!
Compared to the Sinnoh Region's Toxicroak, Arbok is a Pokemon well-known to the people of Kanto.
Ash was especially familiar with its pre-evolution, given his numerous encounters with Team Rocket's Jessie and her Arbok.
Recently, Jessie's Ekans had also evolved into Arbok, though her Arbok was still no match for Koga's.
Koga's Arbok had reached a high Elite Mid-Level, with all ability values above B, with attack and dual defense reaching A-level.
This indicated that it was a standout even among Elite Mid-Level Pokemon.
If Charizard faced this Arbok, it might not have been able to trigger Sacred Fire, and even if it did, given the opponent's excellent defense and the attack reduction from Intimidate, Charizard probably couldn't defeat the opponent before exhausting its stamina.
But then again, for a Newbie Trainer, if Koga used such a strong Pokemon, it'd be somewhat excessive.
According to the information Miss Joy provided, the levels of Koga's six Pokemon were two Elite Junior Levels, three Elite Mid-Levels, one Elite Advanced Level.
Sending out an Elite Mid-Level Pokemon in the second round already revealed the immense pressure Koga felt after losing the previous match.
Sending out a Pokemon of this caliber in this match represented his determination to win.
"Mr. Koga, you really think highly of me, sending out a Pokemon of such level," Ash took a deep breath and forced a smile as he spoke.