A terrifying aura erupted from Marshadow's body.
Looking at the ominous little Pokémon shrouded in sinister energy, everyone grew tense.
Tense for the boy with Pikachu.
"Marsha!"
Energy surged around Marshadow, condensing into one orb after another in front of it.
Then, like cannon shells, they blasted toward Pikachu.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge!"
Pikachu turned into a streak of lightning, narrowly evading the energy orbs.
Boom boom boom boom!!!
The orbs crashed into the ground.
In an instant, the earth was riddled with giant craters, each dozens of meters wide.
That horrifying destructive power—
Made Professor Oak and the others' hearts leap into their throats.
A Pokémon like Pikachu, if it took even one hit head-on, would probably lose consciousness immediately.
But fortunately…
Pikachu was fast.
With Quick Attack, it dodged all the incoming blasts.
The two Pokémon entered a fierce battle.
Marshadow's attacks were terrifying. A casual strike could blast out a crater dozens of meters wide, enough to flatten a small hill.
"That Pikachu is way too strong!"
Lance, Champion of Johto and member of the Kanto Elite Four, stared at the screen in disbelief.
His ace was his Champion Dragonite, yet he felt that even Dragonite might not be able to withstand more than two of Marshadow's attacks.
And yet this Pikachu was evading them all without a scratch.
He looked at the boy on screen.
This Trainer's ability to raise Pokémon was simply incredible.
Pikachu was not a particularly strong Pokémon—if anything, it was weak, ranking in the lower-middle tier among Electric-types. Its cheek pouches were too small, meaning its Electric-type moves should have had a natural upper limit.
But the Pikachu in the video had shattered those limits entirely.
It was actually fighting this terrifying Marshadow on equal footing.
Boom!!
Another energy sphere missed Pikachu and blasted a giant crater into the earth, sending dust flying into the sky.
Crackle crackle crackle—!
From within the dust, a bolt of lightning suddenly shot out.
Caught off guard, Marshadow was struck directly by Thunderbolt, sending it flying backward and smashing through a massive rock.
Its body entered a brief state of paralysis!
"Pikachu, use Iron Tail!"
Pikachu leapt high into the air, its tail gleaming with metallic light.
It whipped down viciously toward Marshadow.
Were they about to win?!
That thought flashed through everyone's minds.
But events didn't unfold the way they hoped.
Marshadow got back up from the ground, energy surging through its body as it forcibly shook off the paralysis.
It was furious.
It had actually been hit by Pikachu?
Boom!!!
An even stronger aura burst from its body.
Its dark coloration turned green, and the tip of its candle-like crest lit with a flame.
It clenched its fist tightly, and flames ignited around it!
"A Fighting-type move—Fire Punch?!" Professor Oak blurted out. "Besides Ghost-type, Marshadow also has Fighting-type attributes?!"
"Fire Punch?" Cynthia's eyes widened.
Across the Pokémon world, all Champions and Elite Four members felt their hearts sink.
Fighting-type Pokémon excelled in close combat!
And Pikachu was still in midair—it had no way to dodge.
Bang!!
Marshadow stomped the ground and shot up like a cannonball, smashing its flaming fist squarely into Pikachu.
A clean hit!
With a cry of pain, Pikachu was blasted high into the air.
But it wasn't over.
More energy orbs formed around Marshadow.
Boom boom boom!!!
One after another, they slammed into Pikachu, sending its body tumbling and exploding through the air again and again.
Boom!!
At last, Pikachu crashed heavily to the ground, barely conscious, its body covered in injuries.
Silence fell over the scene.
The people of the Pokémon world stared blankly.
All across the Multiverse, everyone stared as well.
They had lost.
"This is bad—Marshadow is going to kill Pikachu!" Professor Okamaki shouted.
Marshadow had gathered an even larger energy orb.
It was preparing the finishing blow.
The attack descended toward Pikachu.
In Pikachu's current state—barely clinging to consciousness—if that hit landed, it would die.
At the critical moment, a figure rushed forward, snatching up the wounded Pikachu.
It was the boy.
He scooped Pikachu into his arms and ran with all his might.
Boom!!!
A violent explosion erupted behind him, and the shockwave blasted the boy far away.
His body was soaked in blood. His back was torn open and mangled. He looked utterly battered.
But…
The first thing he did was not check his own injuries.
He looked toward Pikachu, which had fallen from his arms and landed in front of him.
He had been shielding Pikachu tightly in his embrace.
But the force of the explosion was too strong, throwing Pikachu from his arms.
"Pikachu… are you okay?"
"Pi… Pika…"
Pikachu slowly opened its eyes. When it saw the blood all over the boy's body, it struggled desperately to rise.
Countless trainer were shaken to their core.
To use a human body of flesh and blood to shield one's Pokémon from such a terrifying attack—
In reality, many people raised Pokémon as tools. They called them partners with their mouths, but how many would truly disregard their own lives to save one?
A Pokémon is near death? Its body is tough—just rush it to the Pokémon Center.
A Pokémon is injured? Just spray some medicine on it.
They all said Pokémon were family.
But…
In a Pokémon's world, there was only its Trainer.
In a Trainer's world, however, there was never only one Pokémon.
What this boy did on screen filled the entire world's trainer with shame.
And at that moment, they finally understood why Ho-Oh had chosen to bestow its feather upon this boy.
If even he did not deserve it—
Then no one in the world did.
Across the Multiverse, countless people were moved.
"So this… is what a partner is!!" Luffy was deeply shaken. "Someday, I want companions I can entrust my back to as well!!"
"Partners—Sasuke, Team 7 has to become partners like that too!" Naruto threw an arm around Sasuke's neck.
"So this is what it means to be comrades," Ichigo said firmly, glancing at Rukia beside him.
"Everyone in Fairy Tail is a comrade we can entrust our lives to!" Natsu roared.
"Boss… does a pure bond like that still exist in our world?" Xia Dou asked softly, looking at Bai Yuekui.
"Companions…?" Sesshomaru from the Inuyasha world fell into thought as he looked at Rin and Jaken beside him.
"Comrades? Pointless," Aizen felt nothing.
"Comrades? Just an excuse for the weak to huddle together," Frieza said coldly.
The video continued.
The boy had been blasted to within ten meters of a cliff.
Behind him was a bottomless abyss.
He no longer had the strength to stand.
Behind him, Marshadow raised its hand slightly.
The Pokémon it had been controlling all around it began gathering energy at their mouths.
The boy could feel the surging power behind him like blades at his back.
Looking at Pikachu, who kept trying to stand and collapsing again, he slowly and painfully pulled a red-and-white sphere from his pocket.
"Pikachu… get in the Poké Ball."
"Pika!" Pikachu shook its head.
"Listen to me!"
Pikachu still refused.
It tried with all its strength to get up.
This time, it finally managed to stand, staggering unsteadily toward the boy.
But after only a couple of steps, it collapsed again.
[The boy's Pikachu does not like the confinement of Poké Balls.]
[So ever since they became partners, the boy had never forced Pikachu into one again.]
The BGM changed.
The passionate, stirring theme softened into something heartbreakingly gentle.
Scenes flashed through the boy's mind—moments from their journey together.
Behind him, the energy grew brighter and brighter.
Pikachu felt it too.
It clawed desperately at the ground, trying to inch forward so it could be with its Trainer.
All across the Pokémon world, trainer clenched their fists so tightly their knuckles turned white.
Across the Multiverse, countless people watching felt their hearts twist in pain.
Some felt a deep resonance.
"Come on!!! Survive!!! Don't give up so easily!!!" Ichigo, who had just rescued Rukia from Soul Society, understood better than anyone what it meant to risk your life for a companion.
"Come on!!!" Luffy shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Stay alive, keep going!!" The entire Red-Haired Pirates crew shouted.
"Keep going!"
Countless beings across the Multiverse were cheering them on.
Finally…
Dragging its battered body, Pikachu painfully crawled to the boy's side.
"Why did you come over? Wouldn't it have been better to just get into the Poké Ball?"
Pikachu rubbed its cheek gently against the boy's face.
"Because… because I want to be with you."
Pikachu never opened its mouth, yet its voice sounded in the boy's heart—and through the screen, in everyone's ears.
The boy froze slightly, then gently patted Pikachu's head.
Behind them…
A blazing light illuminated half the sky as countless terrifying attacks came crashing down toward the boy and Pikachu.
But neither of them looked afraid.
As if, so long as they were together, then even death meant nothing.
And just as those countless attacks were about to descend—
The boy spoke in a soft voice:
"Pikachu, I promised you. If you didn't like it, I would never force you into a Poké Ball."
He gazed at his Pikachu with boundless gentleness.
"Pika! Pika pika pi!"
Pikachu seemed to understand what he intended to do. Panic flooded its eyes, and it shook its head frantically.
"Then let me break that promise… just this once."
The boy lifted the Poké Ball.
"Come back… Pikachu."
Pikachu turned into a beam of red light and was drawn into the Poké Ball.
The boy looked at the Poké Ball in his hands, his expression tender.
"Goodbye, Pikachu."
Using the last of his strength, he clutched the Poké Ball tightly against his chest.
Behind him…
The countless attacks arrived as scheduled.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the pupils of everyone watching, endless firelight erupted, swallowing the screen whole.
Everyone stared, praying for a miracle.
Slowly, the flames began to fade.
No one dared blink.
They stared with everything they had.
On screen, a giant crater appeared.
Inside the crater…
There was only a red-and-white Poké Ball.
And a cap.
The boy himself was nowhere to be seen.
He had been struck by countless different energies at once—his body completely broken down, disintegrated, vaporized.
Hum… hum…
The Poké Ball trembled, then opened.
Pikachu emerged.
It immediately looked around frantically.
But the figure it was searching for was nowhere to be found.
Then, in the next instant, it froze as if struck by lightning.
It saw the cap.
Despair. Terror. Emptiness.
All those emotions appeared on its face.
Stumbling forward, it ran to the hat and picked it up.
Clutched it tightly.
Held it desperately close.
It buried its face in the cap, breathing in the familiar lingering scent.
Huge tears spilled from its eyes, one after another.
That scene…
Broke everyone across the Multiverse.
Watching the bond between Trainer and Pokémon—
A bond that transcended life and death—
Countless people burst into tears, as if their tear ducts had completely given way.
"PIKAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lightning exploded from Pikachu's body, forming an enormous pillar of thunder that pierced the heavens.
The thick clouds overhead were blasted apart. The sky itself seemed to shatter.
Terrifying arcs of electricity surged wildly throughout the entire mountain range.
Every Pokémon under Marshadow's control was swept by the current, their eyes instantly clearing.
Even Marshadow itself was blasted back.
And the corrupted Ho-Oh feather in its hand shattered on the spot.
"Look!!!!" Professor Okamaki cried, wiping away his tears before suddenly trembling all over.
Everyone hurriedly looked.
The shattered Ho-Oh feather in Marshadow's hand had broken into countless glittering golden fragments, like grains of shining sand.
But upon closer look, they could see that each fragment was actually a tiny golden flame.
Those golden flames drifted down and gathered before Pikachu.
At the exact place where the boy had vanished.
Then—
A seven-colored radiance burst forth.
It shone brilliantly.
Rainbow light flared.
The outline of a human figure slowly took shape.
"Pika!!"
Pikachu felt that familiar presence and threw itself forward.
A hand—not especially large—caught it and embraced it.
The vanished boy…
Had been revived.
High in the sky, a divine bird shining with seven-colored light had appeared without anyone noticing.
[Top 10 Strongest Legendary Pokémon — TOP 9: Ho-Oh]
[End]