Chapter 170: Two Star Electrician Certificate
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
"This Pikachu is so strong."
Quietly watching from the crowd, Taiichi's eyes lit up. It was the first time he had ever seen an unevolved Pokémon thrash its own evolved form.
"Should I find a time to challenge my three older brothers with Eevee...?"
A bold idea formed in his mind.
In the middle of the surrounding crowd, Ash once again obtained a Fire Stone and signaled for the next match to start quickly. He wanted to take all three stones today.
The guy was a classic whale—rich and foolish. Bring it on.
"..."
Spiky-Haired Big Brother's brow furrowed deeply. Two consecutive defeats had already shown him that this Electric Mouse Pokémon before him was extraordinary, not at all the unremarkable, common creature it appeared to be.
But he quickly rallied. Whether it was Speed or Power, both could be increased through training. But there was one thing Pikachu could never surpass Raichu in.
Ash read his body language and spoke up:
"Is it weight? Give my Pikachu two more years, and who knows?"
Pikachu: "?"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother: "..."
He snorted coldly. It wasn't actually weight. What he really wanted to talk about was,
Electric power!
Ash was slightly taken aback, then impassively watched to see what flashy tricks his opponent had up his sleeve. After all, electric power had always been Pikachu's specialty. With enough power, it could even defy type effectiveness and blow up an Onix.
Suddenly, in front of everyone, Spiky-Haired Big Brother pulled a small red booklet from his coat. His expression was very proud. On the booklet were five large, gold-stamped words.
Two Star Electrician Certificate!
"Hmph, my Raichu can control a powerful electrical output of at least 2,500 volts. This Two Star Electrician Certificate I earned is the best proof!"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother said with a smug smile.
The Electrician Certificate wasn't actually a vocational certificate for laborers, but one issued by the Electrician Association specifically for trainers of Electric-type Pokémon.
This association represented the highest level of Electric-type assessment and was a shrine in the heart of every trainer specializing in the Electric-type.
Fun fact: every type has such an association, and for the Electric-type, it's the Electrician Association.
For instance, Brock had joined the Mountaineering Club, which was full of Hikers who possessed the rock-solid will. He even currently held an Insightful Realm rock-solid will certificate.
The prefix on the Electrician Certificate represents a trainer's ability to control Electric-type Pokémon.
One Star represents the ability to control an electrical output under one thousand volts.
Two Star represents the ability to control an electrical output between one thousand and five thousand volts.
By the same token, Three Star is for between five thousand and ten thousand volts.
It's said that when an Electric-type trainer obtains a Four Star Electrician Certificate, their strength is enough to earn them a place even among the Elite Four and Champions.
As for the legendary Five Star Electrician Certificate, it was just that—a legend. No one had ever been heard of obtaining one.
Red: "..."
Rocking back and forth in his grandmaster's chair in the Soul Space, he suddenly remembered that a long time ago, he seemed to have had a Five Star Electrician Certificate, but he had casually tossed it aside.
After all, he disliked certificates with five characters on the cover.
"2,500 volts?"
Ash scratched his head. This was unexpected.
The "Thunderbolt" that the Pikachu species commonly uses is actually just a name meant to sound impressive; the voltage could never actually reach one hundred thousand volts.
If they were hit by a one-hundred-thousand-volt direct current, Team Rocket, who are constantly being blasted off, wouldn't just be scorched and injured—they would suffer the horrifying phenomenon of immediate cardiac arrest.
"A Two Star Electrician Certificate, huh... Interesting."
Ash's interest was piqued. He decided on the spot that he would also go to the Electrician Association to get an Electrician Certificate in the future, so he could legally use Thunderbolt.
Soon, Spiky-Haired Big Brother brought over a machine half a meter tall. It was covered with various intricate devices, had a graded screen on top, and two long, insulated cables extending from the bottom, ending in metal clips.
"This thing is called an electric power multimeter. It can simultaneously measure the voltage, resistance, and current of both AC and DC electricity," he explained.
That's right, his third match was to use a machine to measure the electrical power of Pikachu and Raichu!
He first gave a demonstration, teaching Ash the technique of using the resistance method and voltage method to measure voltage simultaneously. He adjusted the multimeter type to measure DC voltage and mechanically zeroed the device.
Then, he placed the two leads on Raichu's cheeks.
"Did you watch my procedure closely? These are all key points on the exam. You have to know them to get an Electrician Certificate, so remember them well," Spiky-Haired Big Brother instructed.
"I've remembered fifty percent of it."
"So much information at once is indeed tough on you. How much do you remember now?"
"Only thirty percent is left..."
"Not bad, not bad, you forget really fast. And now?"
"I've already forgotten everything!"
"Then it seems your theoretical knowledge is up to par."
The two looked at each other and smiled, as if they had forgotten about the match.
Brock and Misty: "?"
The crowd: "?"
They could understand every word and sentence these two said, but how come they couldn't understand the conversation at all when put together?
Only Red, who had passed the electrician exam, showed no reaction. He even gave a slight nod, understanding this metaphysical dialogue.
This was an understanding unique to electricians.
*Bzzzt...*
Raichu released an electric current, which flowed through the connectors and into the multimeter. The reading on the latter quickly rose from 0 to 2,500V, and even kept rising until it stopped at 2,700V.
"Haha, as expected of my Raichu! Its electrical power has improved so much again!"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother laughed heartily.
Although his ace, Jolteon, actually had even stronger electrical power, reaching a terrifying 3,000V!
"Your turn."
Without hesitation, Ash took the insulated wires and connected them to the electric sacs on Pikachu's cheeks. He first mechanically zeroed the device, then flipped the switch.
1000V
The voltage reading shot up, instantly reaching four digits.
2000V
3000V
4000V
Finally, the voltage reading stopped at 4396, precise to three decimal places: 4396.777
"Impossible! The machine must be broken!!"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother's eyes widened as he blurted it out.
The next second, the reading indeed changed again. The value plummeted, becoming the number 10.
Then, the dial just kept fluctuating back and forth between '10' and '4396'...
Spiky-Haired Big Brother: "?"
Is it really broken?
He'd been a two-star electrician for so many years and had never seen fluctuating data...
This Pikachu was too strange.
"So how are we supposed to determine the winner?" He was out of ideas.
"Does this even need consideration? Let's just have a proper fight to decide the winner."
Having grown impatient with all the flashy contests, Ash immediately marked out a field. As a trainer, when in doubt, just have a Pokémon battle and get it over with.
"Battle? I was just going easy on you before. In a contest of individual stats, your Pikachu might have a chance of winning, but a battle is the ultimate test of all-around qualities. Your Pikachu is bound to lose today!"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother said with absolute confidence.
3 minutes later.
Raichu had already fainted on the lawn, while Pikachu stood in place, kicking its own belly with its hind leg as if it had just done something trivial.
"That's it?"
Spiky-Haired Big Brother simultaneously read the body language of both Ash and Pikachu—
(Two transition chapters... A little filler isn't really filler.)
(end of chapter)