At that moment, it wasn't just Misty who was dumbfounded, Brock and the Cerulean Sisters on the sidelines were equally stunned.
None of them had even seen what happened. One instant, Pikachu had been trembling on shaky legs; the next, there was a blinding golden flash and Starmie went flying.
"What… what kind of move was that?!" Brock gasped.
Even the Sisters, who had grown up around Water Pokémon their whole lives, were lost for words.
Quick Attack? No way. Not even close.
In the Pokémon world, moves like Quick Attack or Extreme Speed were known for their burst of speed, but there were limits. At best, Quick Attack let a Pokémon outspeed an opponent one tier above its usual level, but nothing like this.
Pikachu wasn't Elite-level. He wasn't even close. Yet that attack… it had moved faster than many Professional-tier Pokémon could ever dream of.
And it wasn't just speed, the power of that hit had been terrifying.
Yes, Electric moves had a type advantage against Starmie, but with a gap this wide in battle experience, a simple Thunderbolt would never have caused such devastating damage.
"So what in the world…" Brock muttered, still staring, "did Ash do to Pikachu?"
From the outside, it had looked absurdly simple: Ash had tossed his cap, Pikachu caught it, and suddenly he'd become an entirely different Pokémon.
"Don't tell me that hat actually powers him up?!" one of the Sisters whispered, half-joking, half-terrified.
"Pikachu, again, ELECTRIC Acceleration!" Ash roared, eyes burning.
Misty quickly snapped out of her daze, clutching her fist. "Starmie, Rapid Spin, now! Deflect him head-on!"
If Pikachu was relying on contact moves, then there was still a way to turn this around. Rapid Spin's force could rebound any close-range assault. Power-wise, Starmie still had the edge, if it met Pikachu head-on, it could break through.
"Chaa!"
Starmie's gem pulsed as it spun with violent force, so fast that the wall behind it cracked and crumbled into a pit under the pressure. The roar of its rotation filled the arena, shaking the stands.
"Pika-CHUUU!!"
Pikachu blurred into golden light once more, slamming into the spinning Starmie. A burst of sparks exploded across the pool, filling the air with crackling thunder.
Instead of being knocked away, Pikachu's glowing body stuck against the spin, electricity flooding into Starmie's core.
The stalemate shook the entire Gym. Sparks rained down across the battlefield like golden fireworks.
"That's… impossible," Misty whispered, wide-eyed. Starmie's Rapid Spin should have blasted Pikachu off like a bouncing ball. Yet Pikachu's aura-charged body clung to it, refusing to be deflected, forcing Starmie to take the full brunt of his attack.
"Wooooah!"
"So cool!!"
"How is Pikachu doing this?!"
The Cerulean Sisters gasped in unison. They might not have been expert Trainers, but they still knew the basics: Pikachu was a common Pokémon in Kanto, not some powerhouse species. Under normal circumstances, it would struggle to consistently defeat even lower-level opponents.
But Ash's Pikachu… clearly wasn't normal.
"From the look of it, that attack resembles Volt Tackle," Brock muttered, rubbing his chin as if lecturing a classroom. "But the speed's completely different. It's faster, like Quick Attack supercharged with lightning itself. That's why it's almost impossible to follow with the naked eye."
He stole a glance at the three sisters, hoping his analysis impressed them. Instead, all three were too absorbed in the battle to even notice him. Brock slumped, wounded in spirit.
"SCREEEECH!!"
The clash on the field reached its peak. Pikachu shifted mid-collision, twisting his body until his head slammed straight into Starmie's glowing core, the blood-red jewel at its center!
The impact made Starmie's Rapid Spin falter, its rotation slowing by more than half.
"Pika-CHUUU!!"
Pikachu seized the chance, surging with raw power. Golden lightning exploded outward, pouring into Starmie in a flood that could no longer be deflected.
"Chaaa!!"
Starmie's cry rang across the arena before its spinning stopped altogether. The jewel in its core flickered weakly, its body wobbling like a toy top about to topple over.
Pikachu somersaulted backward through the air, spinning twice before landing squarely on the damp floor with perfect balance.
"Starmie!!" Misty's confident mask cracked. She clenched her fists, her worried voice betraying her panic.
At her call, Starmie twitched, forcing itself upright. Its gem still pulsed faintly, it hadn't fainted yet.
"That's it, Starmie! Use Psychic!" Misty snapped, desperate to regain control. If she could pin Pikachu down, victory was still within her reach.
"Pikachu, THUNDERBOLT!!" Ash shouted, refusing to back down.
The air split with a crack as golden lightning burst from Pikachu, coiling like angry serpents straight toward Starmie.
But the bolts froze mid-air, halted by Starmie's psychic grip. Slowly, almost mockingly, the electric arcs began to bend back, threatening to rebound onto Pikachu himself.
For a second, it looked like the battle had swung back to Misty's side.
But then Ash grinned.
Because while Starmie held the arcs above, the currents below were another story.
The leftover water on the arena floor crackled to life, carrying Thunderbolt's energy like a lightning rod straight across the pool. By the time Misty realized, it was too late, electricity surged up from below, striking Starmie dead-on!
"Chaaa!!"
The starfish Pokémon convulsed, its red jewel dimming to a dull glow. Then, with a heavy splash, it collapsed into the shallow water, completely spent.
The referee's flag shot up. "Starmie is unable to battle! Pikachu wins!"