In the Black World—
With a thunderous boom, the battlefield was engulfed in smoke. On the other side of that smoke stood Brock, his face filled with shock!
Even his perpetually squinted eyes seemed to have opened a little wider!
A few seconds later, Pikachu stood proudly in the center of the arena, arms crossed.
The ground beneath him had been blasted into a massive crater—at the bottom lay a fainted Geodude, completely unable to battle.
One hit—instant knockout!
Iron Tail. That was Ash's countermeasure!
Before setting off, Ash had already unlocked a host of Pikachu's potential moves.
Knowing that Ground-type Pokémon countered Electric-types, he naturally needed to prepare accordingly.
And since Brock's Pokémon also carried Rock-type traits, Iron Tail had become Ash's "secret weapon" against him!
Brock stood in silence for several seconds before quietly recalling Geodude into its Poké Ball.
"My apologies… I underestimated you. I didn't think your Pikachu could even learn a Steel-type move."
So that was it—Ash hadn't recklessly chosen an Electric-type out of arrogance. He had planned this from the start!
[Ami: Whoa! Iron Tail?! Pikachu can even learn a Steel-type move?]
[Yan Kai: Theoretically, yes. As long as a Pokémon has an affinity with Steel-type energy, it can learn Steel-type techniques. Each Pokémon's physiology is different, so Pikachu can potentially master Iron Tail.]
[Steven: But Steel-type moves require raw, overwhelming power. Pikachu's body isn't exactly built for that kind of brute strength—it would mostly just give it more coverage.]
[Steven: Of course, that's true for a normal Pikachu. The average Pikachu's strength ranks among the weakest of all Pokémon, unless it evolves into Raichu.]
[Steven: But… Ash's Pikachu from the "White World Ash" timeline aside, this Black World Ash's Pikachu—there's nothing frail about it! That monstrous strength… what kind of training did it go through?!]
Black World Ash's Pikachu radiated an aura of raw power completely at odds with its small, adorable body.
Much like its Trainer…
In the Dark Curtain World—
Brock sent out his second Pokémon—Onix!
Compared to Geodude, Onix's size and strength were on a whole different level.
"Even if your Pikachu knows Iron Tail, you won't take down my Onix that easily!"
"Heh, is that so? Then come at me~"
Ash waved Brock forward with a taunting gesture, not the slightest bit intimidated.
Even mild-mannered Brock couldn't help but flare up.
"Fine then! I'll show you the true power of my Onix! Onix, use Bind!"
"Raaahhh!"
At Brock's command, Onix roared and lunged forward.
Despite its massive body, its serpentine movement made it surprisingly fast!
Then—
The video froze, and several lines of text appeared on-screen.
[Question: Why did Black World Ash provoke Brock?]
He had the upper hand and wanted to taunt his opponent.
B. Just youthful pride—after gaining such an advantage in his first Gym battle, he couldn't resist showing off.
C. To lure Brock's Onix into charging so Pikachu could counter with Iron Tail.
D. To lure Brock's Onix into charging so Pikachu could use Grass Knot and deal massive damage.
Answer time: 15 seconds. Timer start!
The sudden quiz caught everyone off guard.
They'd been fully absorbed in the battle—who expected a pop quiz mid-fight?
Only now did many realize… Black World Ash had been provoking Brock!
His motion had been so smooth, so natural, that no one thought it was intentional.
But… if it was Black World Ash, then…
[Time's up. Answering participants: Ash, Cynthia, Steven, Bruno.]
Ash and Bruno once again relied on lightning-fast reflexes to grab answering slots.
[All four selected C. Fastest responder: Bruno. The remaining three were randomly assigned to other options.]
[Cynthia → A, Steven → B, Ash → D.]
[Bruno: Hahaha! Knew it! When it comes to reflexes, I'm the champ! Seems like everyone agrees—Black World Ash is baiting Onix for an Iron Tail counter!]
[Cynthia: Naturally. From what we've seen, Ash rarely acts arrogant or reckless—he's calm and calculated. Provoking Brock must be part of a setup.]
[Steven: Right. If this were White World Ash, I'd have picked A. But since it's Black World Ash… it's definitely C or D. Still… D? No way he'd make Pikachu learn Grass Knot, right? That'd be insane.]
If Pikachu hadn't already shown off Iron Tail, both C and D could've been possibilities.
But since it had used such a heavy Steel-type move, the idea that it could also use Grass Knot, a complete opposite in style, seemed absurd.
[Ash: Even though Mr. Steven's reasoning is sound… ouch, that kinda hurts to hear!]
Indeed, compared to his darker counterpart, the real Ash still had much to learn—especially in his early days.
[Brock: Looks like Bruno wins this one!]
The next moment, text flashed across the black screen.
[Congratulations to Ash for answering correctly! Reward: Ancient Charizard Training Method!]
The audience: ???
Wait, what??
Ash answered correctly??
He was auto-assigned to D…
Which means—Grass Knot?!
So Black World Ash really did teach Pikachu Grass Knot!?
Anyone with even basic Pokémon knowledge knew how hard it was to teach Pokémon moves outside their type—except for Normal-type ones.
And yet… Ash had not only done that, he'd given Pikachu two non-Electric-type moves—Steel and Grass—right at the start of his journey!
Just what kind of training did Black World Ash's Pikachu go through?!
Author's Notes:
When I checked the Pokémon database, I almost missed Iron Tail! Its icon color was gray like Normal-type moves, so I nearly overlooked it!
In earlier generations, Pikachu could only learn Iron Tail via TM. From Gen 8 onward, it can learn it naturally through leveling.
PS2: Ami is the Gym Leader of Olivine City in the Johto Region, specializing in Steel-types.
Some of these minor characters might be unfamiliar, so I'll add brief notes like this for context.
If you'd prefer I include the title before the name (like "Hoenn Champion Steven"), I can do that too—but I'll only use it once per character.
PS3: Huge thanks to "Jade Emperor", "Heavenfire Dragon Emperor@?^O^", "Merged Server Guy", "Chivalric Gentleman", "GameWindX", "Lord of Kobe", and "Starry Brocade" for your monthly votes!
Massive gratitude to "Weather" and "PhantomLoveXiu" for the tips,
and to "Chivalric Gentleman" again for urging me to update!
Seriously—thank you all so much!
Didn't expect the stats to explode overnight.
Your little author will work hard to keep the updates coming—aiming for a big release soon!
(Also, a quick note: all pre-launch donors and supporters will still be listed here, but once the paid chapters go up, I'll stop including donation credits at the end. Hope you all understand!)