Ash looked back at the Fearow in the sky, his eyes filled with determination.
Then he started taking off his clothes.
Ayumi was stunned: "You... you're not planning to have one last fling with me before you die, are you?!"
Ash's mouth twitched violently: "What are you thinking all day long..."
Without a word, he put the combat suit on Ayumi: "This suit is quite tough. It should be able to protect you and Pidgeotto."
Feeling his rough gentleness, Ayumi stared at his face and suddenly smiled: "It's not that I'm against it..."
The next moment, Ash tackled her to the ground, dodging an attack from a Fearow.
"Seriously, if you're going to offer yourself, wait until I have time, you idiot!" Ash complained. His expression gradually became serious: "Stay right here and don't move... Protect yourself."
"..." Ayumi didn't say anything, just clutched his arm tightly.
"Be a good girl, listen to me, and trust me."
Ayumi looked up. It was still that reassuring smile.
Ash squeezed her face, placed the unconscious Pidgeotto beside her, and then ran off with Pikachu.
As he ran, he taunted the Fearow: "Pikachu, continuous Thunder Shock!"
The exhaustion wouldn't allow it to use Thunderbolt anymore.
Gradually, the sky became cloudy, and a light drizzle began to fall. Ayumi slowly lifted a corner of the combat suit. The Fearow were gone from the sky.
For a moment, the only sounds were her breathing and the pitter-patter of rain on the suit.
"Ash... you better be okay..." Ayumi clutched the jacket on her body tightly. Her sad eyes gradually became resolute: "Next time, I won't be a burden!"
After a moment of thought, she took out a Potion and some berries from her bag and started to treat Eevee and Pidgeotto. Otherwise, she would just be a hindrance even if she went to help Ash.
On the other side, Ash had run out of the forest and arrived by a river. He had countless large and small wounds all over his body, but thankfully, with his cultivation and "Super Pallet Towner" physique, they were all minor injuries.
Pikachu was in his arms, having long since lost the ability to battle.
However, the flock of Fearow was also much smaller, but the Fearow that had been knocked down by the electric shock were regaining their strength and gathering again.
"You vengeful birds..." Ash's face was a little grim. He simply placed Pikachu behind him and went forward alone:
"Listen up! I'm Ash from Pallet Town! I'm the one who's going to become the world's number one Pokémon Master! Come at me with everything you've got! I will never lose to you!!!"
The Fearow naturally didn't hold back. In an instant, a dense flock of birds surrounded Ash.
He had used Harden countless times, but he was still covered in scratches. Pain mixed with blood continued to seep out, unstoppably.
"Pika..." Pikachu looked at Ash, a flash of emotion in its eyes.
Once, Ash had also protected it from a swarm of Beedrill.
Now, he was protecting it from sharp claws by facing them alone.
"Pika..." Tears streamed from its eyes, but Ash didn't answer.
"Crack!" Lightning flashed across the sky, and the torrential rain poured down. The lightning illuminated Ash's determined face.
Pikachu suddenly looked up. Just like five years ago, that tenacious figure was its lifelong pursuit!
An indescribable surge of power drove its body to stand up again. It leaped like a flash of lightning onto Ash's shoulder.
"Pika. chuuu!!!"
A thunderclap split the sky, and the world suddenly turned a brilliant white.
From a distance, Ayumi's face was illuminated by the ear-shattering lightning: "That's..."
"Thump..." Ash fell to the ground, a smile on his lips.
His eyes were only on that brilliant yellow figure in mid-air, a Pokémon that looked like a god of thunder, who was igniting the flower of life for him.
One by one, charred Fearow fell to the ground. Pikachu staggered to his side and gently licked his cheek.
The boy and his Pokémon looked at each other and smiled. Although their bodies were covered in wounds, their hearts were tightly bound.
The terrifying thunder seemed to have shattered the clouds. The sun shone down on the earth again, and a beautiful rainbow slowly appeared in the sky after the rain.
"Caw!" At the end of the rainbow, a golden-red flash appeared. A figure carrying a seven-colored glow flew across the sky.
Its golden-red wings shimmered in the sunlight, but it didn't seem to cause any air movement, as if it was in another space. It was the Photographer, Ho-Oh!
To some of you, Ho-Oh is called "the photographer" because it's extremely rare to see it in the anime or movies, so it's comically nicknamed "the photographer holding a camera."
Ho-Oh, with its yellow crest on its head, its red eyes seemingly meeting Ash's, flew toward the other side of the rainbow.
Under the brilliant light, the earth was peaceful and serene.
At the same time, in a nearby forest, a well-built girl looked up. Her pupils suddenly constricted the moment she saw the rainbow bird: "That's!!!"
Her body trembled uncontrollably. After a long while, she calmed down, her eyes focused. Her well-defined long legs under a black dress took off in the direction where Ho-Oh had just been.
A long time later, when Ash came back to his senses, Ho-Oh had already disappeared. At the same time, a majestic female voice with a hint of doubt echoed from the sky: "Interesting..."
A golden-red feather slowly floated down from the sky, finally stopping in front of Ash.
Rainbow Wing: A symbol of being recognized by the legendary God of Life, Ho-Oh. The holder also has a special name - Rainbow Warrior.
Effect: Contains powerful life energy and has the effect of slowly nourishing the soul and strengthening the body.
As the Rainbow Wing fused into his body, Ash felt a surge of vitality, and his wounds didn't hurt as much.
He looked up at the distant sky again: "One day, we will become a being like that!"
"Pikachu~!"
With that, the boy and his Pokémon had officially survived the crisis.
However...
"Creak, creak, creak!"
"Huh?!" Ash was suddenly shocked. The next moment, he felt a sense of weightlessness.
Unbeknownst to them, the battle had brought Ash and Pikachu to the edge of a cliff. After the powerful lightning strike, the area was on the verge of collapsing.
"Rumble!" The cliff instantly broke, and Ash and Pikachu fell!
"Pikachu!!"
Ash immediately kicked off a falling rock and hugged the flying Pikachu tightly in his arms, then curled up into a ball.
He was about to fall and be crushed, but Ash still chose to use himself as a shield for Pikachu.
Maybe it was the confidence of a "Super Pallet Towner"... or maybe it was just love.
But the expected impact never came.
"Watch out!" A clear voice came. The next moment, Ash was grabbed and hung in mid-air.
He opened his eyes. The one holding him was a slender, jade-like arm.
He looked up to see a graceful girl in a black dress smiling. The form-fitting long dress outlined a pair of "bunnies" that were far larger than Ayumi's. Under the wind-blown hem of her dress, a beautiful sight was faintly visible. Her long, black-brown hair flowed in the wind, showing off her elegant demeanor.
Ash immediately recognized her. It was the original female protagonist from the Pokémon Adventures manga, Green.
In other words, she was the older sister of Ayumi who was captured as a child.
At this moment, she was floating in the air, holding on to her Wigglytuff's feet.
This was a special ability of this particular Wigglytuff. It used the low-density air inside its body to create buoyancy, allowing it to fly.
However, while it could usually carry Green alone, the added weight of Ash and Pikachu was too much.
"Wiggly..." Wigglytuff tried to inflate itself, but it still couldn't handle the weight of the two of them. It continued to fall, and the speed gradually increased.