Ashley's kanto adventure

Final round

In the fifth round of the Indigo Pokémon League, Ashley and Richie are matched up against each other in a battle that puts their friendship to the test.

Overnight, Ashley researches Ritchie to gain some insight into his battling style, and is surprised to see that he did not lose any Pokémon during the previous four rounds of competition.

Ashley notes that she is in trouble because of Ritchie's Pokémon type diversity. However, Machop is unfazed by his trainer's comments and remains confident in her abilities.

The following day, Ashley goes to pick up her Poké Balls and encounters Ritchie along the way. Like Ashley, he is also a little shaken from the prospect of going up against a friend.

Nurse Joy points out that Ashley is lucky that she gets to battle a friend, and she and Ritchie vow to make it their best battle.

At the stadium, as Ritchie makes his entrance onto the Indigo Plateau battlefield, Ashley confronts him and tells him not to go easy on her.

The battle between Ashley and Ritchie begins, with Ashley sending out Ivysaur and Ritchie using his Butterfree, Happy.

The two Pokémon attack each other, then Happy uses Sleep Power. However, Ivysaur doesn't fall asleep since he is immune to it.

Ivysaur wins after using a combination of Take Down and Leech Seed.

Ritchie sends out Zippo, who uses multiple Flamethrowers that Ivysaur dodges narrowly.

Ashley sees she cannot use Ivysaur against Ritchie's Charmander, so she recalled him back and sends out Squirtle.

Squirtle uses Withdraw to absorb Zippo's Tackle.

"Squirtle, let's use Hydro Pump!" Ashley ordered as Squirtle retreats into its shell and flies like a frisbee towards the Fire Lizard Pokémon, hitting it with water.

Ritchie recalls Zippo, which immediately eliminates it from further usage, before sending out Sparky.

Squirtle was able to use Withdraw in time to evade most of Sparky's Thunderbolt, but it was paralyzed.

"Squirtle, return!" Ashley said as she recalled her Water-type back into its Poké Ball and praised it.

Knowing this is her only hope, Ashley sends out Charizard.

Ashley warns Charizard that it is tougher than it looks.

Charizard uses Weather Ball, causing Sparky to dodge the damage-dealing attack.

"Air Slash, Charizard!" Ashley ordered as her Charizard flaps his wings, releasing multiple transparent blades of air from them at the Mouse Pokémon, pushing Sparky back to the other side of the field.

"Hang in there, sparky! You can do it!" Ritchie said as Sparky charges, but stops as Charizard stares at it and drops its defenses.

The Flame Pokémon easily defeated the Electric-type with a Dragon Rage. The referee eliminates Sparky giving Ashley the victory.

Though he is left upset by this loss, Ritchie suppresses his feelings and congratulates Ashley.

Later, Ashley stands alone in the empty stadium, knowing that regardless of her win, she still learned a lot.