The referee's arm swung down sharply: "The battle begins!"
"Raichu, show this little guy what real power is!" Lt. Surge waved his hand, his voice booming.
His plump Raichu immediately struck a pose, its body crackling with dangerous golden electricity, full of intimidating power.
However, Ash's Pikachu did not charge forward as everyone expected. It simply landed lightly at the edge of the field, the tip of its tail silently touching the ground.
The bottom line was that it absolutely could not take a full-power electric shock from Raichu head-on. And, it had to begin grounding itself.
"Oh? Too scared to get close, boy?" Seeing this, Lt. Surge had a good idea of Ash's tactic.
Lightning Rod?
Yes, that was the right move.
But could he keep it up?
He grinned widely, trying to provoke him with words: "Looks like your electric mouse is a coward, just like you!"
"A true champion wouldn't flinch!" Although Lt. Surge admired Ash's approach, he wouldn't be polite with his words.
A Pokémon battle wasn't just a battle between Pokémon. The battle between Trainers had already begun.
Though it was an official match, and Pokémon couldn't directly attack the opposing Trainer, verbal misdirection between the Trainers was fair game~
"Words are meaningless. Winning in the end is all that matters." Ash's gaze remained locked on the field, his tone calm and steady, as if he hadn't heard the taunt.
"Pikachu, Swift!"
Ash glanced at Lt. Surge; he could play the mind game too.
"Talk a big game, but lose in the end... wouldn't that be embarrassing?"
"Celebrating at halftime is not something a mature trainer would do."
"Just as you said—a true champion wouldn't flinch."
"And the loser has no right to say those words." Ash attempted to use mind games on Lt. Surge.
This was a mutual psychological battle.
"Pika—chu!" Pikachu moved the instant Ash spoke.
Ash's words were the signal—the tactic had begun.
Its small body erupted with astonishing speed, instantly becoming a golden blur as it began moving across the field in a zigzag pattern.
Pikachu constantly increased and decreased the distance from Raichu, simultaneously flicking its tail to launch one star-shaped projectile after another at its opponent.
Swift could be fired in a large volley. But it could also be fired one at a time.
"Cheap tricks!" Lt. Surge had already figured out Ash's strategy.
The only things the two Trainers could do were give the initial command or start the battle. After that, their real-time commands couldn't keep up with the Pokémon's actions.
This was when daily training and pre-battle tactical preparation were put to the test. A Trainer's quality was judged not only by their on-the-spot commands during battle but also by their daily training regimen.
Raichu roared, and a thick bolt of electricity erupted from its cheeks, precisely meeting the incoming Swift stars.
A series of thunderous explosions rang out as starlight and electricity collided and annihilated each other in mid-air, sending out ripples of energy.
However, after a few exchanges, Lt. Surge's thick brows gradually furrowed.
He realized something was wrong—Pikachu's movements were erratic, and the angles of its Swift attacks were tricky, forcing his Raichu to constantly adjust its aim to intercept them with electric shocks.
The power and energy consumed by each electric shock were far greater than that of the seemingly light, star-shaped projectiles. After all, it was difficult for Raichu to hit the Swift stars accurately with an electric shock.
To increase its hit rate, it could only defend with a wider area of effect, like raising a shield. This caused the defender to expend far more energy than the attacker.
Raichu couldn't just take the hits without fighting back. So, in addition to detonating the Swift stars, Raichu's electric shocks also targeted Pikachu.
But not only was it difficult to hit Pikachu, even if a hit landed, it would be blocked by the explosion of a Swift star, like a tank's reactive armor.
And because the Lightning Rod ability was channeling the electricity... stray sparks couldn't cause any real damage. They might even charge Pikachu up.
Battles between Electric-type Pokémon were indeed a bit of a headache.
Pikachu zipped across the field, every pause accompanied by a few stars of light. And Raichu, though powerful, was like a clumsy turret, forced into an inefficient defense, each electric shock consuming a considerable amount of stamina.
"Hmph..." Lt. Surge grunted under his breath.
This Raichu wasn't his main; it couldn't win a battle of speed.
Whispers began to spread through the audience.
The Trainers who had expected to see an instant steamroll were now watching in astonishment as the agile Pikachu toyed with the powerful Raichu. Every clash between Swift and an electric shock seemed to chip away at Raichu's chances of victory.
Ash remained calm in the command area. The kiting strategy was being executed perfectly, and the scales of victory were tipping, bit by bit, in their favor.
But was it really that simple? Could Lt. Surge truly have not considered this possibility? Of course not.
"I have to say, you're impressive, boy." Lt. Surge began to praise Ash. "But the field has its limits, you know."
"Raichu, calculate Pikachu's position."
"After you restrict its movement with Electroweb, use a full-power Thunderbolt!"
Lt. Surge knew very well that the Lightning Rod ability had a limit. A powerful enough overload could still burn right through it!
And for Pikachu right now, the biggest problem was the limited space. In the wild, it could retreat indefinitely. But not in a Gym battle.
As Raichu moved forward, it would shrink the space Pikachu had to maneuver. And once that space was compressed to its minimum, Raichu would use Electroweb.
As a move that shapes Electric-type energy, Electroweb has a physical form that can collide with and restrict movement. It wouldn't be directly channeled into the ground by the Lightning Rod ability like other electric attacks. It wasn't very scientific, but it was very Pokémon.
Under Lt. Surge's command, Raichu pushed forward, enduring the scattered Swift stars like a heavy tank, relentlessly compressing Pikachu's room to move.
Pikachu was firing very few Swift stars, basically just one or two at a time.
The tactical purpose of this move was to force Raichu to keep discharging electricity, widening the energy exchange ratio between them.
It wasn't about relentless bombardment... though his Pidgeotto was being trained in that direction.
"Pika!" Pikachu's eyes were sharp, showing no signs of panic.
It released several Swift stars to distract Raichu and obscure its own movements.
Then, with a sudden stop and change of direction, it dodged a probing bolt of lightning. Immediately, it pushed off with all four limbs, the explosive power launching it into the air in an instant.
"Pika—chu!" It twisted its body nimbly in mid-air.
Its tiny feet precisely kicked off Raichu's thick neck, using the momentum to backflip while simultaneously firing another volley of Swift stars, aimed straight at the opening Raichu exposed while attacking.
Bang!
Bang!
Swoosh—!
The attacks landed one after another. Raichu grunted in pain, now bearing several new marks of injury, and its advance faltered for a moment.
A gasp went through the audience.
This Pikachu's counterattack was too fast, too clever.
Most importantly, it was incredibly fast. It struck every time where it would hurt Raichu the most.
However, Raichu's defense and stamina were clearly beyond imagination.
It shook its head, its eyes becoming even more ferocious.
Even though it hurt, it had to endure for the sake of victory.
It weathered the brilliant assault and continued its steady, unwavering advance.
...And that was exactly what Pikachu wanted to see.
____
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