Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile!

Chapter 260 Advances to the Round of 16! Next opponent: Kaoping!

Hiro's Barbican started with Tailwind, aiming to gain an early speed advantage, but Ash's approach was much more straightforward. With a complete level advantage, he didn't need to worry about fancy moves.

A significant level advantage is enough for Butterfree to ignore the opponent's speed boost of 100%, so Ash chooses to attack directly!

"Butterfly, use acrobatics!"

"Whoosh~" Butterfly flew and spun in the air, as if it were dancing. Then it swayed from side to side, making it almost impossible to catch its shadow.

After Barbican used Tailwind, Ash's Butterfree arrived in front of the opponent and then flapped its wings fiercely, creating a whooshing sound in the air.

"Babby, get out of the way!" Ah Hong's voice rang out just in time. Bobby flapped his wings, and a powerful gust of wind propelled his figure from behind, making his movements even faster, even surpassing the speed of a typical professional.

This speed allowed Bobby to barely dodge Butterfly's acrobatic attacks, but before Bobby could even breathe a sigh of relief, he felt a sense of danger coming from behind him.

"Bang!!" The acrobatic strike hit Bobby in the back, sending him flying to the ground.

While Butterfree's movements are indeed fast after Tailwind, they are only about the same as Butterfree's. Ash's Butterfree has Compound Eyes, which makes the opponent's movements slower and easier to predict in his vision.

Therefore, he was able to anticipate some of the space where the opponent could dodge, and he had already seen through Bobby's movements.

In the instant his opponent dodged, he adjusted his attack stance, ensuring that the acrobatic move would hit Bobby after he had dodged.

Although acrobatics is not a powerful skill, it is advantageous because the movements are light and easy to change. When changing moves, it is easier to mobilize one's body and hit the opponent's vital points.

Seeing Bobby get hit by a skill that countered his abilities, Ahong's face showed worry: "Bobby, are you alright?!"

"Whoosh..." A faint cry came from the smoke rising from the ground. Bobby's figure flew out of the smoke. Judging from the speed, he should still be able to fight.

But anyone familiar with Pokémon battles could tell that Bobby wasn't in good shape. Compared to before, his movements were much stiffer, and it seemed he was in a lot of pain.

After all, acrobatics is a skill that counters Barbican, and Ash's Butterfree was also a whole level above its opponent. However, this big level difference wasn't as significant as that between Pikachu and Charizard, otherwise, this attack should have taken Barbican out of the game.

Even so, Bobby's strength is now almost gone.

Just one Tailwind spell took half of Barbican's life, so the rest of the battle was basically over. Ash's three Pokémon were still at full strength, while Hiro only had one Butterfree left, barely hanging on, and he had no idea how to fight it!
But judging from Ah Hong's eyes and expression, he hasn't given up yet!

"Babby, use Air Blade!" Not only did he not give up, but he also chose to take the initiative to attack!

With a soft cry, Bobby flapped its wings, and a dozen white air blades burst forth from its body, raining down on Butterfly like raindrops.

"Acrobatics!" Ash used the same acrobatic move as before, but this time it was used to dodge the opponent's attack.

Butterfly danced gracefully amidst the dozen or so air blades, dodging them all with extremely elegant movements.

While dodging, Butterfly was also approaching Bobby at an extremely fast speed. In just a few seconds, it arrived in front of Bobby.

"Insect chirping!" Seeing that the Big Butterfly had arrived in front of him, Ah Hong quickly gave the command for the next move.

Unlike the Air Blade, the Insect Chirp is a group attack with no gaps. No matter how skillfully Butterfly dances, it's impossible for her to dodge this attack!
"Keep using the acrobatic moves!" Unfortunately, Ash didn't intend for Butterfree to dodge, because if this acrobatic attack hit, the battle would be over!
A piercing cry rang out from Bobby's mouth, and visible green sound waves spread through the air. The sound waves collided with Butterfly's body, causing Butterfly's body to stiffen slightly for a moment, and even a look of pain appeared on her face!
But before Ah Hong could show a joyful expression, Butterfly suddenly flapped its wings and rushed out at an even faster speed. With its last wing, it slammed into Bobby, blasting him down once again!
A dull thud echoed as something collided with the ground, raising a cloud of dust once more. However, this time the dust was minimal, and the surrounding spectators were still focused on checking the situation inside the arena.

The situation is... Bobby has stopped moving and seems unable to stand up.

"Butterfly is unable to battle. Since all three of Aruhiro's Pokémon are unable to battle, the winner of this match is—Ash!!"

On the electronic display screen, Ash's image appeared, along with the word 'win', which meant that Ash had entered the top 16!

Ash won the match without any suspense. The only surprise was that everyone thought Hiro would at least put up a fight in the top 32.

After all, in the battles before the top 32, although Ash didn't lose any of his Pokémon in any of his matches, he didn't have an easy time. Now that he's in the top 32, facing Hiro, who is much stronger than the previous contestants, he should at least be able to make one of Ash's Pokémon lose its battle ability.

The final result was such a crushing defeat. Compared to the power of the Pokémon that Ash had shown before, it was nothing. They were simply not on the same level.

Ah Hong gritted his teeth, but finally let go and took Bobby back.

In that final collision, he originally intended to use the insect chirping to affect Butterfree, preventing it from successfully using his skills, and then use the speed boost from Tailwind to widen the gap between them.

However, to stop Butterfree from moving, you can't use a move that's too weak. Bug Buzz is Butterfree's STAB move, and with Butterfree's ability Tinted Glasses, the weak effect of Bug Buzz can be turned into a normal effect. It's already the most powerful move Butterfree can use.

If this can't stop the opponent, then there's really no way to survive, and the idea of ​​using Butterfly Dance to push the team is just wishful thinking.

As it turns out, that 'what if' really happened. Bobby's chirping couldn't stop the opponent's Butterfree attack, and he was defeated in one move.

This defeat was somewhat expected. Although the process was a bit beyond Ahong's expectations, it was something he already knew halfway through, so Ahong wasn't too upset.

Unfortunately, he ultimately failed to defeat any of Ash's Pokémon. Compared to the top trainers at the Indigo League, he was still far behind! After the match, Hiro and Ash shook hands amicably, and Hiro said goodbye to Ash and went to the Pokémon Center. He had quite a few injured Pokémon and didn't have Ash's healing abilities, so of course he had to go to the Pokémon Center.

Actually, Ash held back somewhat. He didn't use Pikachu's Partner Form, nor did he use Charizard's Sacred Flame. If he had used those two powers, Aru's Pokémon would have suffered much more than just minor injuries.

After defeating Ahong, the next round of 16 matches will advance to a six-on-six format.

Strangely enough, apart from the Quartz Conference, all other tournaments started with six-on-six matches in the round of 32. Only the Quartz Conference still uses the three-on-three format in the round of 32.

However, this might be related to the fact that the Indigo League is a tournament for novice trainers, since a six-on-six match is more difficult than a three-on-three match.

Six-on-six and three-on-three are completely different levels of competition. Six-on-six not only takes into account the strength of both sides' Pokémon, but also their ability to rotate and their tactical coordination.

Therefore, some formal large-scale competitions will directly use six-on-six duels in the round of 32, while in competitions like the Quartz Conference, which are basically for novices, the round of 32 is still three-on-three, in order to reduce the gap in experience among the players.

However, this preferential treatment for newcomers only lasts until the top 32. Once it reaches the top 16, it becomes a six-on-six competition where everyone is equal, and that's when the contestants are truly put to the test.

With Ash's match over, the seventh match was Gary's turn. Reaching the top 32, everyone was a formidable opponent. Even Gary had to unleash all his trump cards except for Mega Evolution to barely manage a narrow victory.

Mega Evolution, a key skill that can turn the tide of an entire match, is something Gary would naturally not use unless he was in dire straits. The opponents he faces later would be even more difficult to deal with. If he used Mega Evolution here, how would he win against those strong enemies later on?

If Gary couldn't even get past the top 32 without Mega Evolution, then he'd rather perish there. Ash wouldn't use Mega Evolution before Ash did; it's out of respect for Ash as the discoverer, and it's also his persistence.

However, the final result was good, and Xiao Mao successfully made it into the top 32.

As for the two players Ash is watching, Kao Ping and Shinji's match is tomorrow. All eight matches today were completed before 6 PM. There are other opponents worth watching, but they are still far behind those two.

……

The next day, the round of 16 continued, and Kaoping demonstrated his superior analytical skills. He continued to dominate his opponents, who were defeated with little resistance.

Shinji's duel was even more decisive. With Torterra's power, he almost swept his opponent. Torterra, the peak gym leader, really had no rivals in a tournament like the Indigo League.

Shinji has never encountered a trainer who can make him use his full power.

For a trainer of his caliber, participating in this kind of competition is no different from frying fish. If it weren't for formidable rivals like Kao Ping and Ash, he would almost certainly have secured the championship.

In terms of performance, Kopei and Shinji were in no way inferior to Ash. If Ash didn't have a record of battling against the Elite Four members, and even winning, then Ash would only be able to suppress the two of them in terms of age.

However, Ash has now completely outmatched Pyrrho and Shinji in terms of age, and he also has a perfect record in terms of historical battles. Regardless of what methods he used to win against Gigi, let's just say whether he won or not.

Furthermore, Ash later battled Lorelei to prove himself, and although he lost, he was still honorable. In terms of reputation, Ash still completely surpasses the other two.

However, if Ash loses to them in a battle, then all of Ash's reputation might become a stepping stone for the other side. From this point of view, having a great reputation is not necessarily a good thing.

The draw for the Round of 16 took place immediately after the Round of 32 matches.

On the main stage of the Indigo League, all the contestants stared nervously at the flashing electric display board. Although they didn't know who their next opponent would be, they knew that if they could, they would never want to be in the same group as Ash!
After all, Ash is widely recognized as the strongest in this year's Indigo League. Even if you gave the choice to Kou Ping, Shinji, and Gary, they wouldn't choose Ash to battle in the round of 16, because if he lost, they would be out of the competition.

If I lose to Ash in the semifinals, at least I still have a revival tournament to play in.

As the light display panel rotated, the portraits of all sixteen contestants eventually appeared on the panel, and they were grouped together.

Gary's opponent was a boy named Gene. When he saw that his opponent was not Ash, Gary breathed a sigh of relief. He really had no confidence in winning against Ash. He thought that he might have a one in ten thousand chance in a one-on-one battle.

But six against six... brothers who are guaranteed to die!

To enter Dragon Island, he must reach the top three in the Quartz Tournament; he can't stop here!

Ash's opponent has been confirmed; it is none other than one of the favorites of this Indigo League – Koppei!

In the round of 16, he was matched against Ash, which was something Kou Ping definitely didn't want to see. At this moment, his skinny face was as black as a pig's liver.

He's a data enthusiast, and he has a good grasp of the data of all the contestants. That's why he really doesn't want to meet Ash in the top 16!

Damn it, even if he really wins against Ash, he'll probably have revealed all his trump cards. For someone who likes to keep everything under control and always has a backup plan, this is definitely something he can't accept.

However, the draw results are already out. Unless he becomes the organizer and declares that the draw results are invalid, he will have no choice but to battle Ash in his next match.

On the other hand, Ash's face showed a hint of excitement when he saw that his opponent was Kaopin.

Finally... finally met someone who can fight me at the Quartz Conference!
(End of this chapter)