[Bonus chapter for Powerstones]
Of course, Ash knew whether that Pikachu on screen was his or not.
They were together every single day—
How could he not recognize his own partner?
Besides, whose Pikachu other than his could be this busted?
When he said "I don't know,"
He wasn't doubting Pikachu's identity—
He just didn't understand
how Pikachu had gotten this strong.
That was a divine guardian on the other side.
A literal god.
And his Pikachu—
From the previous battles, you could tell it was always a slow starter.
But now?
From the opening, he'd been completely dominating Tapu Koko!
Ash couldn't help thinking about Pikachu's "Oscar-worthy actor" title.
Was it possible—just maybe—
that in all those "slow start" battles… Pikachu was just acting?
What if "getting stronger as the fight goes on" wasn't a power-up—
But Pikachu getting so used to roleplaying
that he kept forgetting he was basically a "pseudo-legend"?
The "slow heat-up," the "sudden awakening," the "last-minute power burst"—
all fake!
The truth was—
Pikachu had been this strong from the very beginning.
He just got too into character.
Ash's brain slowly started to short-circuit…
[Steven: Lance, did you put some kind of mysterious curse on the guardian deity or something?]
[Diantha: I knew it—I told you I had a bad feeling! Lance!! Pay back my points!!]
[Alder: Easy money—always bet opposite of Mr. Lance, and you'll be chilling in a seaside villa.]
[Lance: Y-You all…!! Tapu Koko definitely hasn't gone all out yet!
It's just observing Ash's strength, that's all! Definitely!]
[Lance: Just wait! When Tapu Koko finally cuts loose, it'll slap all of you right in the face!]
Lance was breaking down. For real this time.
They were actually calling him a walking jinx.
Come on—he'd done serious, proper analysis!
On paper, comparing Kukui and Ash—
No matter how you looked at it, Kukui should've had the advantage!
So WHY—
Why was Pikachu beating down a guardian deity?!
He knew Tapu Koko wasn't going easy.
That massive electric output was almost the same
as what they'd seen in the previous recap.
It was using power appropriate for a divine guardian.
The problem wasn't Tapu Koko—
It was that Pikachu.
What kind of cursed Pikachu was this?
Was it secretly a god in disguise named "Pika-Deus" or something?!
In a direct battle, he suppressed Tapu Koko.
In a clash of electricity, he won again.
In aerial combat, Tapu Koko couldn't even keep up!
What were they supposed to do with that?!
(PS: Alola-late-stage Pikachu is basically full "Pika-God."
Even in Journeys, he's about the same level—
He 1v2'd Steven's team, and almost no-diffed two of Cynthia's Pokémon.
If not for Destiny Bond, he could've 1v3'd, easy.)
At Team Rocket HQ—
Giovanni watched the footage in silence.
None of his subordinates dared to speak.
Everyone knew—
Their boss was in a terrible mood right now.
They'd thought of betting on the island guardian deity. It
was as safe as it gets.
Tapu Koko's strength wasn't like the other legendaries—
It was on another level entirely.
But this Pikachu—what was it? A first-tier deity?
If it could beat down a god with divine status,
calling it a first-tier legend didn't even feel like an exaggeration.
Before this, Giovanni had thought—
That Pikachu was trained well, sure.
But his Beedrill absolutely wasn't inferior—
If anything, it should've been stronger.
Now, looking at this…
Nonsense.
That Pikachu wasn't a "normal" Pokémon at all.
(For reference: this Giovanni isn't the manga's "top first-tier god-tier Beedrill" Giovanni—
He's just regular Champion level,
somewhere around a weaker divine guardian / lower second-tier legendary.)
(Generic Champion ≈ second-tier legendary.
Top Champions like Cynthia, Steven, and Lance are around divine guardian level.
Cynthia & Steven with Mega Evolution ≈ weaker first-tier legendary.
Leon… we'll get to him later.)
Right now, Pikachu is way stronger
than most Champions' ace Pokémon.
Even among the current Masters Eight—
aside from the top four Champions' ace Pokémon,
The rest wouldn't even be in Pikachu's league.
Giovanni racked his brain—
How in the world
Do you raise a little electric rodent
to this level?
"B-Boss Giovanni, should we… maybe try to capture that Pikachu
before it becomes that strong?"
Apollo, one of the four Rocket Executives, suggested tentatively.
He'd investigated Ash.
Right now, that Pikachu was nowhere near this future state—
It couldn't even reliably beat standard Gym Leaders.
It was the perfect time to capture it.
Giovanni just looked at him
like he was an idiot.
"You confident you can raise that Pikachu
into what you're seeing on screen?"
"Uh… no, but we can capture it and study—"
"Idiot.
If we had time for that, we'd be better off researching legendary DNA instead."
"Besides, that Pikachu is only that strong
because of the special bond it has with that brat.
If you're going to capture something—
capture the boy."
He stared like a hawk at Ash on the screen.
For the first time, Giovanni
felt genuine interest in experimenting on a human.
In Alola—
"YEAH!! Pikachu, go for it! Ash, go for it! Beat the island god!!"
Everyone in Alola was fired up.
They'd thought the match would be completely one-sided—
They'd been worried sick for Ash.
The battle was one-sided—
Just not in the way they'd imagined.
It was Ash,
crushing Tapu Koko.
Something that should've been absolutely impossible—
But Ash and Pikachu…
made it happen.
Lillie yelled herself hoarse, cheering Ash on.
Professor Kukui, though, just stared blankly.
It wasn't that he couldn't accept losing—
It was that he was starting to feel…
Lance's jinx was truly terrifying.
Going forward, if Lance wanted to bet on anything—
Kukui figured it'd be safer to bet
in the exact opposite direction.
In Kalos—
Serena watched Ash and Pikachu's performance,
heart pounding.
In just a few short minutes,
her feelings had gone
from nervous worry—
To pure, breath-stealing admiration.
This Ash and Pikachu—
Were just too cool.
I really…
want to hurry up and go on a journey with you…
On the screen—
After knocking Tapu Koko out of the sky,
Pikachu landed right in front of Professor Kukui.
For someone who didn't know any better—
It might've looked like Pikachu was Kukui's Pokémon.
Seeing Tapu Koko being completely suppressed,
Kukui went blank for a moment.
So Ash and Pikachu…
Had grown this much already?
If that was the case—
Then there was no longer any need to hold back.
"Tapu Koko—Nature's Madness!!"
Nature's Madness—
A terrifying technique
that drew on the power of the natural world itself.
In the previous Heavenly Tally,
this move had taken out over a dozen Pokémon in one blow—
Some of them even Mega Evolved.
Now Tapu Koko was using that move again.
And this time, it was no weaker than before.
Tapu Koko pressed its hand to the ground—
Pink-violet light erupted from its body,
waves of energy spreading across the arena floor—
The ground turned glossy, like mirror glass.
Arcs of energy danced like electric currents around the edges,
crisscrossing violently.
Wind screamed.
Heaven and earth shuddered.
When Nature's Madness came out,
it was as if the very sky darkened.
If that attack fully landed—
Pikachu might or might not be okay—
But the spectators in the stands
would definitely be in trouble.
"Pikachu—use Electroweb to pin it down!"
"Pika-pi!!"
Pikachu swung his tail,
golden light gathering at its tip—
Then leapt, whipping it outward!
A massive net of electricity
spread out and dropped over Tapu Koko!
The spreading pink-violet wave of Nature's Madness
was caught and tangled by the crackling electric mesh—
BOOM!!
Nature's Madness and the electrified net collided—
and exploded.
Pikachu's Electroweb—
had blocked it.
That same Nature's Madness—
had nearly engulfed the entire dead volcano last time.
It had stopped a dozen powerful Pokémon in their tracks
and wiped them all out in one blow.
Even among divine guardians,
Nature's Madness was a top-tier trump card.
And yet, that terrifying move—
Had just been stopped
by a single little Pikachu's Electroweb.
"Pika-God is unstoppable!!"
"Holy crap, this is Pika-God?!"
"There are two types of Pikachu in this world—
the random electric rodent mascot,
and Ash's Pikachu."
"Pika-God has already gone toe-to-toe with three legendary Pokémon!
As a humble Bug-type fan, I declare him the strongest!"
"..."
Pikachu's overwhelming performance
made everyone forget
They had bet on Tapu Koko just moments before.
A single Pikachu unleashing power like this—
It shook people to their core.
As if moved by some invisible force,
everyone began cheering:
For Pikachu.
Clapping for Pikachu.
At that moment—
A mortal body had blocked the blow of a god.
All eyes in the world
were on Pikachu.
[Diantha: Lance…]
[Leon: Hahaha! Good thing I believed in Ash!]
[Alder: Trust in Satoshi never fails you!
Looks like I've got some more points coming my way.
At this rate, I might actually save up enough for a Key Stone!]
[Wallace: Huh? Alder, you saw a Key Stone in the shop?]
[Alder: Yeah, but it's like two million.
The Mega Stones paired with it are a million each.
Too expensive…]
[Wallace: Damn it—
If only I'd bet on Ash from the beginning…
This is all your fault, Lance!]
[Lance: ??? Oh, shut up!
I didn't force you to bet anything!
You all followed your own "intuition"!
How is this on me?!]
Lance couldn't take it anymore.
He'd swallowed Diantha's teasing earlier—
Even he was starting to doubt
if he really was cursed or something.
A battle like this—
And he still might lose his prediction?
Tapu Koko versus Pikachu.
That's like Rayquaza versus a Caterpie.
How do you lose that?!
His head was splitting.
So he'd done the smart thing earlier—
and gone silent.
But now even Wallace had joined in—
Lance snapped.
If they wanted to call it "poisonous luck," fine—
But then everyone was poisoning together!
"Ash, you've gotten really strong."
"Yeah… I have gotten stronger, Professor Kukui!"
Hearing Kukui's words of praise,
Ash felt his eyes sting for some reason.
It was just like a kid who'd finally scored a perfect 100
and was getting praised by their dad—
All that bottled-up emotion spilled out at once.
"Kpu~"
Tapu Koko nodded in agreement—
Then began to sing.
Ancient chants echoed across the arena.
Within ten seconds—
Three more figures
rushed from different directions—
And descended, one after another,
into the sky above the battlefield…
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