“If you don’t fight to the very end, how will you know the result!” Ash shouted back without even turning his head.
His voice was still loud and full of energy, yet Misty could clearly see the truth in his body.
His fists were clenched tightly, and his entire frame was trembling ever so slightly.
It was obvious that Ash had already realized the gap in strength between himself and Giovanni.
He was not a fool.
Pikachu had been knocked down again and again, while Nidoqueen had not even taken a single step.
How could he not feel such an overwhelming difference in power?
And yet, even so, Ash still refused to give up.
“One more time! Pikachu! Quick Attack!”
With that command, Pikachu launched its fifth assault toward Nidoqueen.
Watching that small figure charge forward once again, Giovanni finally began to feel a trace of irritation.
This farce had gone on long enough.
Seeing how stubborn Ash was, Giovanni no longer bothered to speak further and simply let out a faint scoff.
For the first time, he issued an attack command.
“Poison Sting.”
The moment the command was given, the Nidoqueen that had been standing still all this time finally moved.
It stepped forward with heavy strides, facing the streak of white light rushing toward it, and suddenly lowered its head.
Just before Pikachu could collide with it, the sharp horn on Nidoqueen’s head burst into a brilliant purple glow.
Not good!
Ash’s heart tightened.
But it was already too late.
Pikachu, moving at the speed of Quick Attack, had no time to change direction.
Nidoqueen did not even need to move its feet.
Pikachu crashed straight into the glowing horn.
“Pika—!!!”
Pikachu let out a cry of pain, its small body flying backward like a kite with a snapped string, at a speed several times faster than before.
“Pikachu!”
Ash’s pupils shrank.
Without thinking, he rushed forward and threw his arms open toward the flying Pikachu.
Pikachu slammed heavily into his embrace.
The force of the impact drove Ash backward several steps before he finally lost his footing and fell to the ground.
Only then did he manage to hold Pikachu securely.
“Ash?!”
Misty cried out in alarm and quickly ran forward, reaching out to help him up.
Dust rose into the air under the bright lights before slowly settling again.
At that moment, the gym fell into a terrifying silence.
Ash said nothing.
He simply held Pikachu in his arms, his head lowered.
Crashing into Nidoqueen’s Poison Sting at the speed of Quick Attack, even with Ash acting as a buffer, Pikachu’s condition did not look good at all.
Just as Misty thought the battle was over, Pikachu stirred slightly in Ash’s arms.
It slowly lifted its head.
Though most of its strength was gone, it had not lost the ability to fight.
With eyes full of unwillingness, it stared at the Nidoqueen that had remained unmoving from beginning to end.
Ash felt the movement in his arms.
He stayed silent for a long time before a slightly low voice finally came from beneath the brim of his hat.
“I’m sorry, Pikachu.”
“Pika?”
Pikachu turned its head in confusion and looked at him.
The usual loud and impulsive tone in Ash’s voice was gone, replaced by an unfamiliar calmness.
“Gym Leader Giovanni is right. Right now… as a trainer, I really am not qualified.”
Holding Pikachu, he slowly sat up from the ground, his voice filled with bitterness.
“Right now, I’m just fighting on sheer passion. I don’t even understand basic type advantages, I have no tactics at all, and all I do is make you charge forward blindly…”
“Pika…”
Hearing Ash’s self-blame, Pikachu let out a weak cry.
It reached out its tiny paw and gently patted Ash’s arm, as if trying to comfort him.
That small, almost insignificant gesture made Ash tremble all over.
He slowly raised his head, and his face was finally revealed under the light.
There were no tears, no despair on his face.
Instead, there was a seriousness he had never shown before, and the same unwillingness that Pikachu had displayed when facing Nidoqueen.
Ash looked up again toward the high platform, toward Giovanni who was looking down at him, and then at the overwhelmingly powerful Nidoqueen on the battlefield.
“Call it foolish or overestimating myself if you want…”
His voice rang out once more through the gym, exceptionally firm in the silence.
“But no matter who my opponent is, as long as I stand on the battlefield, I want to win against them. That’s all there is to it!”
These words made Misty, who had been about to persuade him to stop, freeze in place.
She stared blankly at the side of Ash’s face.
On the platform, Giovanni still had his arms crossed, his expression unchanged as he listened quietly.
Pikachu also looked up at Ash.
When it saw his face clearly again, it realized that his expression had changed.
The burning fighting spirit within him had not been extinguished by the crushing defeat.
Instead, it burned even more fiercely.
But compared to the reckless impulse he had when he first challenged the gym, this flame now carried a trace of composure and calm.
Ash lowered his head and met Pikachu’s eyes.
“So… even though I know this decision is selfish, Pikachu…”
His voice softened, carrying a tone of inquiry.
“Are you still willing… to keep fighting?”
Ash placed the choice in Pikachu’s hands.
He was already prepared.
If Pikachu showed even a hint of the fear it had displayed when facing Nidoqueen at the beginning, he would never force it to continue.
“Pika!”
Pikachu’s resolute cry cut off Ash’s thoughts.
The moment it heard Ash’s question, Pikachu broke free from his arms almost angrily.
Without hesitation, it ran back onto the battlefield.
Once again, it stood before Nidoqueen.
Despite the injuries from earlier, it lowered its body and let out a battle cry filled with fighting spirit.
“Pika!”
Everyone present was stunned by this scene.
Even Giovanni on the high platform found himself unable to utter the mocking words he had spoken earlier.
He simply watched the two figures on the battlefield, one tall and one short, one large and one small, his thoughts and gaze drifting for a brief moment.
For an instant, he seemed to see his younger self in Ash.
But what kind of person had he been back then?
Giovanni could no longer remember.
Yet looking at those two figures who absolutely refused to surrender, he felt that his younger self had probably been something like this.
…
“Pikachu…”
Ash murmured its name softly.
He had never expected Pikachu to give its answer in such a direct way.
But now that Pikachu had made its choice, how could he, as its trainer, fail to respond?
Ash took a deep breath, brushed the dust off his body, and stepped forward, returning to the challenger’s position behind Pikachu.
He raised his hand and forcefully turned his cap backward.
At the moment this action was completed, the aura around him seemed to change entirely.
He silently lifted his right arm, paused for a brief moment in the air, then brought it down sharply, pointing straight at Nidoqueen.
Ash’s thunderous shout echoed throughout the entire Viridian Gym once again.
“Pikachu! Go!”
“Pika!”
Pikachu answered with equal determination, declaring their resolve.
At that moment, the will and belief of Ash and Pikachu seemed to synchronize perfectly.
Just like before, when they had faced the flock of Spearow in a life or death moment, both of them had shared the same desire to protect each other.
Giovanni, standing on the platform, took in everything before him.
He looked at the boy who had regained his fighting spirit.
He looked at the Pikachu filled with battle intent.
And in his eyes, there finally appeared a faint trace of approval.
Once again, he issued a command.
But this time, unlike before, it was no longer given casually.
Instead, it carried a sense of acknowledgment and respect as he repeated the same order.
“Nidoqueen, use Poison Sting!”
(End of Chapter)