Chapter 158:
"That's enough, Charizard!"
Seeing Charizard's injuries worsening, Ash couldn't help but shout.
This wasn't the first time he'd said this.
Although both sides were exchanging blows, Charizard's strength was clearly inferior to Salamence's, so its injuries were more severe. By all logic, it should have fallen long ago, but it kept pushing through.
Salamence flung Charizard away with its tail once more, panting slightly as it stared at Charizard in astonishment. The bloodlust and hatred in its eyes faded a bit.
The strength of this Charizard was worlds apart from its own.
So why was it fighting so desperately?
Just because that human was its Trainer?
Salamence didn't understand. It found it utterly baffling.
The humans who had captured it had first tormented it with various negative conditions, trying to force it to serve them.
When that didn't work, they directly turned it into a test subject, drawing its blood daily. To prevent it from recovering its strength, they kept it in a state of hunger, sustaining its vitals only with nutrient solutions. For a full six months, it hadn't eaten a single thing.
Such hatred made it want to seek revenge upon every human it saw.
Charizard was thrown near Ash. Seeing it covered in injuries but still trying to stand, Ash held it down, his heart aching. "That's enough, Charizard. Leave the rest to the other Pokémon."
Charizard pursed its lips, ignoring him, and struggled to its feet. But the next moment, its overburdened body couldn't hold on any longer, and it collapsed.
Ash let out a long breath and turned his gaze to the Pikachu on his shoulder. "Pikachu, I'm counting on you."
"Pika, Pika!"
While watching the battle between Charizard and Salamence, Pikachu had been growing increasingly anxious.
Now, hearing Ash's words, it kept repeating to itself: This battle must be won! And it must electrocute this Salamence.
Yes, it must!
Pikachu leaped down from Ash's shoulder. Its small frame seemed almost "fragile" compared to the massive Salamence.
Salamence collected itself, its blood-red wings flapping. Sharp stones materialized around it and shot toward Pikachu.
Its ability was Moxie: each time it defeated a Pokémon, its attack power increased significantly.
Coupled with 100 power, this Stone Edge attack was as terrifying as falling meteors.
"Dodge with Quick Attack, Pikachu!"
But after its Trainer's command to dodge, Pikachu's speed suddenly skyrocketed. With this boost, it easily avoided the Stone Edge attack?
Even with its violent nature, Salamence was stunned by Pikachu's maneuver.
"Great job, Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!"
Electricity shot out like lightning serpents, striking the bewildered Salamence.
"Roar!"
Salamence roared in anger.
It didn't understand why this seemingly weak Pikachu could dodge its Stone Edge attack, nor why this Thunderbolt hurt more than Charizard's attacks. But without a doubt, it was furious.
The earlier Gyarados and Golduck had been taken down in one hit.
The Charizard had held on a bit longer, but now this Pikachu thought it could stop it from gaining freedom?
It landed on the ground, and intense Ground-type energy began to surge across the battlefield. As this energy spread, the ground started shaking violently. Boosted by Moxie, this Earthquake attack made the entire island tremble slightly.
Pikachu, which had just hit Salamence, immediately became unsteady on the ground, a look of extreme pain on its face.
This was the damage from Earthquake.
The attack boost from Moxie, combined with type advantage, drained its stamina in a single blow.
If not for some special reason, an ordinary Pikachu would have been finished right there.
But Salamence's rage wasn't quelled.
Although Mewtwo's order was only to defeat all opposing Pokémon, it hadn't said anything about not attacking after winning.
So, its desire to attack was its own.
Besides, in its fury, Salamence had forgotten to conserve energy for the remaining Pokémon.
How could it remember Mewtwo's words?
Its eyes turned blood red, energy gathered in its mouth once more—Hyper Beam. This time, the Hyper Beam was even more powerful than the one that had defeated Golduck, and its target was the severely injured, unsteady Pikachu.
Perhaps because it was gathering so much power, Salamence took a bit longer to charge.
But precisely because of this delay, the Trainers watching the battle grew even more anxious.
Whether it was the earlier Charizard or now Pikachu, these two Pokémon had given them hope for survival.
But now, they were about to watch Pikachu turn to dust under this energy blast.
Misty and Brock couldn't bear to watch and closed their eyes.
In the sky, Mewtwo's gaze remained calm. Even in this situation, it didn't intervene, because Mew was there as a safety net.
What it found more curious was: how could this Pikachu hurt Salamence?
Their strengths were worlds apart.
But just then, its eyebrows raised again, and a look of surprise appeared in its eyes.
Because on the battlefield, upon seeing this scene, Pikachu's Trainer actually broke through its psychic restraints despite the ongoing Earthquake aftershocks and stumbled toward Pikachu?
What joke was this?
This was its psychic power?!
Finally, the moment before Hyper Beam landed, Ash scooped up Pikachu, shielding it with his own body and taking the Hyper Beam on his back.
After a blinding white light, the Trainer had vanished from the spot. Pikachu remained, but its expression was dazed. It stared in disbelief at what had happened, tears streaming down its face. An overwhelming sense of grief, palpable even without special perception, began to spread from it, eventually filling the entire hall... It wanted to grab onto something, but its Trainer had turned to nothing and disappeared.
It could grasp nothing...
Only a hat, dislodged during the Earthquake, slowly drifted down before Pikachu, who caught it.
'Huh?'
This was Mewtwo's astonishment.
'Was my initial belief really wrong?'
This was the thought that followed Mewtwo's surprise.
The two Trainers who had appeared so far had both moved it deeply.
Not just Mewtwo; even Salamence above was stunned.
Then, an immensely powerful energy fluctuation snapped Mewtwo out of its thoughts.
Following the energy source, it saw Pikachu at the center, holding the hat, its body crackling with extremely fierce electricity.