The battle between Pikachu and Regice—
between Ash and Brandon—
had been so intense, so full of reversals,
that everyone completely forgot…
They'd actually placed bets on it.
Some had gone all-in with their starting points.
Some hadn't bet at all.
Some had played it half-safe.
But one thing was beyond doubt:
The overwhelming majority of the world lost.
Only a tiny handful came out as winners:
Ash, who believed in Pikachu to the very end.
His two partners, who believed in him.
And Pikachu's most persistent, obsessed fans—
Team Rocket.
Ash received 60,000 points.
Brock and Misty each received 30,000.
Team Rocket's two human members?
A ridiculous 120,000.
In the Heavenly Tally's exchange shop,
100,000 points were enough to buy a top-tier held item.
Things like:
Mystic Water: Boosts Water-type moves by 20%.
Items like that did exist in the real world—
But the effects varied wildly.
Some gave 5%.
Some 10%.
A full 20% boost was extremely rare.
And if you tried to buy that kind of item with money…
You'd be looking at tens of millions—and that's if you could find one at all.
The value of these points…
was terrifying.
The shop even had rare ingredients, Poké Ball crafting materials, and more.
For Brock, the foodie,
this place was heaven.
Ingredients he'd never even heard of in the real world
were listed clearly in the menu.
Kobe beef.
Deepsea king shrimp.
And countless others.
Since these weren't for powering up Pokémon,
the prices were relatively low.
[Lance]: Didn't expect to lose on the very first bet…
[Professor Oak]: It's a small loss. What interests me more is—who bet on Ash?
[Ash]: Me me me!!
[Alder]: Hahaha! I knew it was you, Ash!
[Leon]: Go all-in and you get sixty thousand points…
Still not enough to buy one of the top-held items.
Is betting the only way to earn points?
[Diantha]: Ugh, there are so many beautiful outfits in this shop. The prices aren't even that high… and I can only stare at them.
[Cynthia]: …My ice cream is gone.
[Steven Stone]: Thankfully, I couldn't afford the rare stones anyway. Nothing to mourn.
The most expensive items in the shop were all for Pokémon:
Held items.
Evolution stones.
Poffins and Pokéblocks.
Rare Candies.
All outrageously priced.
But items for humans were much cheaper:
Food ingredients Brock wanted.
Clothes Diantha wanted.
Cynthia wanted ice cream.
As for Steven…
All of his "stones" were fossils and rare ores.
Of course, they cost a fortune.
As Hoenn's golden boy—
one of the region's richest heirs—
There was almost no stone money could buy that he didn't already own.
So naturally, the only ones left in the Tally shop
was "money can't buy" grade.
After the results were tallied,
new text appeared on the giant screen:
[Victorious Pokémon Pikachu will receive a special Heavenly Tally reward.]
[Reward: Pikachu-exclusive held item — Light Ball.]
[Light Ball: Pikachu-only. Doubles Pikachu's current Attack and Special Attack while held.]
The entire world: !!!
Holy—
Holy—
HOLY?!
Double Pikachu's physical and special attack—
And it's a Pikachu-only item?!
Did such a broken thing really exist?!
Before this first tally,
If you'd told anyone there was a held item
that could double Pikachu's offenses…
They would've scoffed.
"Double what?
It's a Pikachu.
Garbage times two is still garbage."
Even if the item were real,
they would've dismissed it as useless.
But placed—
Not on "a Pikachu."
On Ash's Pikachu—
That changed everything.
This was the Pikachu that one-shot Regice.
The Pikachu that could, in effect, one-shot a Champion-level Pokémon.
Give that Pikachu a Light Ball…?
Zapdos itself would have to swoop in and apologize:
"Big bro Pika, I was wrong."
Raikou would be kneeling:
"Lord Pika, please spare me."
In front of the Indigo Plateau stadium,
Ash stared blankly at the words on the screen.
Then, as he processed the item effect,
his face exploded into pure joy.
Double Pikachu's offenses?!
"This kind of thing exists?!"
"Brock, what's Attack and Special Attack?"
Brock rubbed his temples.
Compared to the Ash in the video,
the current Ash clearly still had a long way to go—
He didn't even understand basic battle stats.
After Brock patiently explained,
Ash's excitement flared again.
If Pikachu's Attack and Special Attack both increased—
That meant both Iron Tail and Thunderbolt would get a huge boost.
Like giving a tiger wings.
"Pikachu! With this Light Ball, our goal is the sea of stars!"
"Pikapi!!"
The trainer and partner were both getting a little inflated.
The footage had clearly shown that, in the future,
they would defeat a Legendary Pokémon.
And now they had a completely broken item on top of that.
In Ash's mind, his "Pikachu" had already evolved into Pika-God.
He'd go challenge Zapdos to a lightning duel—
and teach it who the real god of thunder was.
Just then, a beam of light shone above Ash—
falling like a meteor straight into Pikachu's body.
Pikachu felt its electricity surge—
a violent expansion of power from within.
At this moment—
It felt invincible.
"The twerp's Pikachu is even stronger now, meow!"
"That just means it's even more valuable once we nab it!"
"Exactly! If we give Pikachu to the Boss,
we'll get promoted, made executives—branch chiefs…
just imagining it feels so good!"
Team Rocket was already building castles in the sky.
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