'Excellent fellow, much better than that electric mouse from before.'
Scizor looked at Pikachu with approving eyes and nodded, casually conducting the electricity on its body into the ground.
Despite being the same species of Pikachu, the strength gap between the two was so obvious.
This was Scizor's subconscious thought, which also indirectly acknowledged Pikachu's strength.
When training Ash's Pikachu before, Scizor had not yet evolved, and its strength hadn't grown much either.
But even in that stage, Scizor could still 'train' Pikachu to within an inch of its life. If not for holding back at the end, Pikachu probably wouldn't have passed Scizor's training at all.
"The first stage of training can end now. We'll begin the second stage of training. Pikachu, you need to quickly master the technique of using Electroweb," Red said earnestly.
After speaking, Scizor continuously used Agility to approach Pikachu. Under Pikachu's astonished gaze, it pressed its right pincer against Pikachu's forehead and lightly tapped it, signaling that Pikachu shouldn't underestimate its speed.
"Gulp!"
Pikachu swallowed nervously, not expecting that its pride and joy, its speed, would be so laughable in Scizor's eyes.
This action by Scizor also made Pikachu develop an inner desire to quickly master the Electroweb move.
To master the Electroweb technique, Pikachu began continuously using Electro Ball, wanting to use this feeling to simulate the shape of an electric web.
The second stage of training thus began!
After two days of intensive training, Pikachu had skillfully mastered the technique of using Electroweb. Due to Scizor's terrifying close combat training, it had also barely learned Thunder Punch and Brick Break, two close combat moves, though they still needed some additional practice.
After a brief journey, Red arrived alone in Viridian City once again.
In preparation for the upcoming battle with Mewtwo, Red specifically went to the Pokémon Center and called Professor Oak's laboratory, asking Professor Oak to transfer his original team over.
"Red, what happened to make you call for your original team?!" Professor Oak looked nervously at the calm Red, worried.
"I just want to challenge a strong opponent. There won't be any danger," Red said flatly, reassuring Professor Oak on the screen.
Perhaps because of Red's calm expression, or perhaps out of trust in Red, Professor Oak chose to remain silent, no longer blindly asking about Red's plans. Instead, he turned and ran to the backyard, calling over all of Red's original team.
After a moment, Red had reorganized his six Poké Balls. After entrusting Professor Oak to carefully care for his Pokémon, he briefly chatted with Professor Oak before ending the call and heading toward Viridian Gym.
At this time, Ash's trio had already arrived outside Viridian Gym.
"The green badge from the strongest gym is here! I'm definitely going to get it!" Ash said excitedly.
"So hot, I'm burning with fighting spirit today!"
Ash's eyes burned with the flames of battle intent, anticipating the upcoming gym challenge.
"Ash is really fired up!" Brock said in surprise.
"Damn it... why are you making a fire here?!" Misty criticized.
A dramatic scene occurred. Somehow, several torches had piled up at Ash's feet and were burning together in flames.
No wonder Ash felt his whole body boiling. It was because his feet were almost set on fire.
"Thank you, Pikachu! I know you wanted to light a fire in my heart, right?" Ash said.
"Pika!" Pikachu nodded in response.
"I absolutely won't let down your passionate friendship!"
"Pika..."
Ash and Pikachu looked at each other with moist eyes like comedians, excitedly grasping each other's hands.
"How wonderful, this is the friendship between men!"
Seeing this scene, Brock said with tears in his eyes.
"I completely don't understand," Misty waved her hand helplessly in complaint.
"Hahaha! You're still the same, putting on boring comedy shows... Ash!"
A gorgeous red sports car appeared in the trio's line of sight, and a familiar figure emerged.
"Gary Gary, he's so great! Gary Gary, he's so cool!"
Many beautiful cheerleaders shook their pom-poms, cheering for Gary.
"Gary!" Ash said excitedly, not expecting his rival to appear here.
"I thought you had already given up on your dream of becoming a Pokémon Master and crawled back to Pallet Town. But you managed to get here. That's worth praising!" Gary said with his habitual mockery, immediately stoking Ash's anger.
"What did you say?!" Ash said angrily.
"Don't get too excited, Ash," Brock advised.
"Looking at you like this, I bet you haven't collected eight badges yet, right!" Gary said smugly. Just as he was about to take out his badge case to show off, he noticed that Ash in front of him suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha! Gary, don't underestimate me! I've collected a whole nine badges!" Ash said smugly, not forgetting to pull down his collar to let Gary witness the badges he had obtained.
"How is that possible?! You even got the qualification badge, when clearly your brain..."
Gary said in shock, counting the League badges on Ash's collar in disbelief, finding that there were indeed an astonishing nine of them.
Gary shamefully let go of the hand that wanted to take out his box and said to Ash in a relatively calm tone: "I've also 'barely' collected ten badges. I got the right to participate in the Indigo Conference long ago. I'm passing through here today on my way back to Pallet Town to spar with the trainer from the strongest gym!"
After speaking, Gary got out of his sports car and shouted to the two guards at the gate: "I'm Gary from Pallet Town, here for an official challenge with the gym leader!"
Having stated his purpose, Gary also received permission from the guards and entered Viridian Gym together with his beautiful cheerleaders.
Seeing Gary enter Viridian Gym, Ash, behind him, also rushed forward urgently but was stopped by the guarding sentries.
"According to regulations, for Pokémon battles, only one challenger is allowed at a time!"
"How can this be?!" Ash said in distress.
"I'm a trainer who possesses the green badge. May I enter Viridian Gym?"
Ash's ears perked up. Upon hearing the familiar voice, he turned around in delight to see Red approaching, holding a green badge.
"Permission granted!"
Although they couldn't let Ash's trio pass, Red, who possessed the green badge, had the qualification to freely enter and exit Viridian Gym simply because Red possessed strength that others feared.
"Big brother, what should we do?" Ash asked anxiously, wanting to go to Viridian Gym together with Red.
"You should obediently follow the rules and wait outside for a while," Red said leisurely, refusing Ash's idea of going together.
Ultimately, Red was still worried about Ash's safety and couldn't bear to let Ash rashly enter the crisis-filled Viridian Gym.
As for Gary's safety, first, Red could now provide timely rescue, and second, as Professor Oak's grandson, Team Rocket couldn't be foolish enough to harm his life.
'Mewtwo, I wonder if you can ignite my desire for battle. I'm really looking forward to it...'
The stone door in front slowly opened. Under the respectful gazes of the two guards, Red entered Viridian Gym.