"ROOOOAR——!!!"
The deafening roar wasn't a celebration of rebirth.
It was the beginning of destruction.
The golden giant thrashed wildly in the stream, its massive body far too big for such a narrow space.
Ash had chosen this spot for a reason—
to limit Gyarados's movement in case it went berserk after evolving.
Its scarlet eyes were completely devoid of reason.
Only pure, boiling rage and the urge to destroy remained.
As the Pokédex said: Gyarados was a brutal Pokémon.
Between Magikarp and Gyarados, it was like two different species.
Obedient, dopey, almost cute as Magikarp.
As Gyarados?
The exact opposite.
Its thick body twisted violently. A tail clad in golden armor whipped out like a siege hammer, tearing the air with its shriek as it smashed into the bank.
BOOOOOM—KRAAACK!!!
Stone, mud, and chunks of wood as thick as a person's arm blasted out like cannon shot.
The bank was instantly wrecked. The stream surged up into several-meter-high waves of churning, muddy water.
Gyarados was strong.
Gyarados was very strong.
A small Pokémon caught full-on by that tail would probably be flattened.
That was the power of mass and size.
A kind of "stat" totally separate from base stats, EVs, or IVs—
an innate, species-level advantage.
"Look out!"Misty screamed, diving to the ground with her hands over her head.
A rock the size of a washbasin grazed her scalp, whistling past to slam into a tree behind her, leaving a deep dent in the trunk.
Her face went chalk white. When she shouted again, she sounded close to tears, more terrified than Ash had ever heard her.
"Ash!"
"Put it back in the ball!"
"When Gyarados just evolves, its brain restructures—it always loses control!"
"Right now it's just a walking disaster!"
Misty had always been afraid of Gyarados. Seeing a golden Gyarados rampaging in front of her was even worse.
And she was still only ten.
Even so, her hand had already found the Poké Ball at her waist.
If Ash couldn't handle this, she'd have to jump in.
"Put it back?" Ash's voice, by contrast, was almost unnervingly calm—
even tinged with burning battle fervor.
"Misty!"
"With fear in your heart, you'll never be able to truly connect with a Pokémon!"
"This is what it means to walk the Champion's Road!"
He stared unblinkingly at the golden monster thrashing in the stream.
Retreat?
Not one step.
"Partner!"
His shout cracked like a whip.
Ash's arm sliced through the air like a blade, pointing straight at the source of the destruction.
"It's time to prove our power!"
"Target: Golden Gyarados!"
"Operation—start!"
Ash was certain of one thing:
Right now, Pikachu was stronger than this newly evolved Gyarados.
Partner Pikachu, with a Light Ball equipped, plus Volt Tackle and Electro Dash in its arsenal?
How could he possibly back down?
This was the true Pika God.
In the games, Electro Ball's base power was only 50—but with priority +2, zero wind-up, it was practically instant.
Put in game terms:
A lightning-fast Electric strike that always moves first and nails the vital point.
And Gyarados was still in the water.
This stream was deep for a Magikarp.
For a Gyarados this size, it was a puddle.
Its movement was constrained. It wasn't even used to its new body yet.
"Pika!"Pikachu's small body drew taut like a bow, golden electricity racing under its fur. Its eyes went razor sharp, all traces of its usual playfulness gone.
"Listen up!" Ash's words fired out like bullets, each order cutting cleanly through the roar of wind and Gyarados's bellowing.
"Opponent is huge. Its strength outclasses you!"
"Use your absolute speed. Keep your distance at all times!"
"Quick Attack for evasion! Thunder Shock to chip away—look for an opening!"
He dragged in a breath, eyes blazing with resolve.
"And at the end—Volt Tackle."
"Drop it in one hit."
He ran the numbers in his head:
This Gyarados was at least seven meters long. Conservatively, three tons.
A monster like that…
If Pikachu got tagged in close combat?
Best case: serious injury.
As for Gyarados's tail swipe—
If a third of its mass was in the tail—about a ton—and it swept at around thirty kilometers an hour…
That impact would be in the range of a large crocodile's tail strike. Enough to smash a small boat.
Hydro Pump, as its signature Water-type attack, was basically a living high-pressure cannon.
Assuming a half-meter blast opening at two hundred kilometers an hour…
We were talking several times the pressure of a firefighter's hose. Enough to rip thin steel.
Defense-wise, those scales were at least five centimeters thick.
They'd laugh off low-caliber bullets.
This was the kind of stuff they actually taught at real Pokémon academies.
You didn't go to school for years just to learn type charts and damage multipliers.
Nobody would believe that.
If he hadn't been in Ash Ketchum's body, if he were just some ordinary kid, school would have been his best starting point.
To be a qualified Trainer, you needed a solid understanding of the world first.
"Pikaaaaaa–CHUUU!!!"
Pikachu became a streak of blazing gold.
Lightning Rod was much more practical than Static in this world.
Pikachu's electricity came from the pouches in its cheeks—the red spots.
If they overcharged beyond what its body could tolerate, it hurt itself.
Static Pikachu had more stable "baseline" electricity and could carry more charge on their fur.
Lightning Rod Pikachu had far better conductivity and could tolerate much higher electric loads.
It wasn't like in the games—Lightning Rod didn't make you immune to Lightning.
This wasn't a game. Things were different.
The games were reference material, not scripture.
Pikachu didn't charge straight in.
Instead, it sprinted back and forth along the riverbank, carving blazing arcs of afterimage into the air.
Fast.
Under the cloak of electricity, its true body was almost impossible to see.
"ROAR!"Gyarados's crimson eyes locked onto the taunting golden streak. Its enormous head swung around, jaws yawning wide as a thick beam of pure destruction blasted forth—
a combined torrent of water and annihilating light, like a spear of judgment.
The air warped in its path. Water vapor flashed into steam.
A Hyper Beam.
This newly evolved golden Gyarados had already learned Hyper Beam.
But it was clearly too low-level for it.
Forcing out Hyper Beam put a huge strain on its body.
The power was weaker than a properly mastered one—
but the backlash was worse.
Game description: after using Hyper Beam, the user can't move next turn.
In reality?
This Gyarados's entire body simply locked up.
Hyper Beam was a finisher.
If you didn't kill the enemy with it…
You were the one in trouble.
Long charge-up.
Even longer cooldown.
Realistically, you should only use it when the target had no room to dodge and you wanted a one-shot execution.
What's that? Some monsters can chain Hyper Beam?
If you run into that kind of monster…
What are you arguing for?
Either die—
Or get out of the way.
"Quick Attack!" Ash snapped.
At this point, commands and Pikachu's instincts were almost synced.
He didn't need to be faster than the "bullet"—only faster than the trigger finger.
A thinking Pikachu would always beat a mindless Gyarados.
The instant Hyper Beam launched, Pikachu broke its run with a sharp right-angle turn, diving off its existing line.
The golden trail carved a deadly corner in midair as the raging beam ripped through its afterimage and slammed into the forest.
BOOOOOM!!
A crater several meters wide was gouged out, trees disintegrating into charred splinters as a trunk toppled with a crash.
"Thunder Shock—maximum power!" Ash's commands didn't let up.
Gyarados didn't have the brains to learn from it anyway.
"Pikaa——!!!"
Still at full speed, Pikachu twisted mid-sprint.
Its cheek pouches flared brilliant gold.
This time, it wasn't a few thin arcs.
Several thick bolts of golden lightning, each as wide as a bowl, lanced out with furious crackling.
Go down, you overgrown eel!
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