It came again, that voice once more.
Ash felt his heart skip a beat.
He was absolutely certain that there was no one else nearby, yet the voice clearly echoed in his mind.
Where exactly was it coming from?
Before he could figure it out, the voice rang out again inside his head, carrying a tone filled with unquestionable confidence.
“Trust me, just jump down. You will be fine. Believe in your physique.”
My physique?
Hearing that, Ash paused for a moment.
He subconsciously thought back.
Ever since he was young, his body had always been in good condition.
Even without any deliberate training, his strength seemed endless, and even when he fell from trees, at most he would only get a few scratches.
Although jumping off a cliff was definitely a first for him, the group of aggressive Spearow and Fearow behind him were already closing in.
It seemed… he had no other choice.
At that moment, Pikachu, who had just landed on the ground, had finally gathered enough electricity and was preparing to launch one final attack against the flock, ready to fight them to the bitter end.
But in the next second, Pikachu suddenly felt itself being tightly scooped up by a pair of arms.
Before it could even react to what was happening, the entire world flipped upside down in front of its eyes.
Its body was lifted into the air, facing the sky, and then it began to plummet rapidly.
“Pika—!?”
Pikachu’s eyes widened instantly, filled with disbelief.
Because it quickly realized what had happened.
No matter how it thought about it, it never expected this idiot… this idiot trainer to actually jump off a cliff while carrying it.
A sense of weightlessness enveloped Pikachu’s entire body, the cold wind howling past its ears.
All it could feel was its body falling rapidly, and its survival instincts forced out a sharp cry.
At the same time, Ash’s shout, mixed with the roaring wind, rang out as well.
“Trust me, Pikachu!”
“Pikaaa!!!” (I am never trusting you again!)
“Splash!”
Accompanied by a loud crash, Ash, holding Pikachu, fell straight from the not particularly high cliff into the rushing river below.
The freezing water instantly wrapped around their bodies, followed immediately by the intense pain from the impact with the surface.
Ash’s consciousness began to blur at that moment.
Even he had not expected this.
As expected…
Jumping off a cliff was completely unreliable… This chapter is updated first at g.com.
After silently complaining in his heart one last time, his consciousness was cut off like a snapped filament, plunging into darkness.
But at the very last moment before losing consciousness, Ash used the last of his strength to push Pikachu in his arms upward toward the surface.
“Pika!”
Pikachu, pushed above the water, choked on a few mouthfuls of water.
It shook its head violently, and the moment it opened its eyes, it saw Ash’s body slowly sinking beneath the surface.
Pikachu cried out anxiously.
Without any hesitation, it tried to swim over and pull Ash back up.
But its body was too light, and in the rushing current, it could not exert any strength at all.
It could only watch helplessly as it was carried downstream, completely powerless to resist.
Watching Pikachu being swept away by the current, and feeling his own body grow weaker and weaker…
Could it be…
That his journey to become a Pokémon Master was going to end on the very first day?
This was the final thought in Ash’s mind before he sank fully into darkness.
Yet in the next moment, just as his consciousness was about to completely dissipate…
That familiar voice sounded again.
“This should not be happening. It is just a drop from this height, how did he pass out? That weak?”
The voice had only just appeared before it receded like a tide.
In the next instant—
The Ash who had already lost consciousness suddenly opened his eyes underwater.
But at that moment, his entire demeanor had completely changed.
The youthful inexperience of a rookie trainer vanished without a trace, replaced by a calm and steadiness that seemed forged through countless trials.
“So I can actually take over? I thought I would just be watching from the sidelines the whole time. Honestly… before this, even speaking a few words was difficult, but now I can directly take control. What kind of mechanism is this?”
“And… the body feels fine. It is still that familiar strength, like I could box with a Primeape. But mentally it feels a bit weak… could it be that because I am inside his body, his original consciousness became weaker, which caused him to pass out?”
Ash.
Or rather—
The future Ash who had already won the Masters Eight Tournament silently complained in his mind as he felt his current body gradually growing colder.
However, he quickly realized that this was not the time to dwell on such thoughts, because the crisis at hand was far from over.
Looking upward, with the faint light filtering through the water’s surface, he barely made out Pikachu’s small yellow figure being swept away not far ahead.
He immediately began moving his arms, adjusting his posture, and swiftly swam toward Pikachu.
“Pika! Pika!!”
At the same time, Pikachu, being carried away by the current, struggled desperately, paddling its limbs in an attempt to resist the rushing water, while anxiously calling out, trying to awaken Ash wherever he might be.
But just then, another surge of water crashed forward, ruthlessly slamming Pikachu’s small body against a protruding rock in the middle of the river.
“Pika—!”
The loss of strength, combined with Ash’s disappearance, gradually caused Pikachu to stop moving its limbs.
As its will to survive faded, its remaining stamina visibly drained away.
Just as Pikachu felt its vision beginning to blur and its consciousness slipping away, it suddenly sensed itself being gently lifted again by a pair of strong arms.
“Pika…”
In its hazy state, Pikachu instinctively let out a weak murmur.
It struggled to open its heavy eyelids, and within its blurred vision, it faintly saw the outline of a face it had disliked seeing not long ago.
It was Ash.
After successfully catching Pikachu, Ash did not feel any relief.
He noticed that the injuries Pikachu had suffered from hitting the rock seemed quite serious.
From the frantic running earlier, the continuous battles, the fall into the river, the constant struggle against the current, and now the violent collision with the rock… on top of that, the freezing water was still draining what little stamina Pikachu had left, and…
Ash glanced back vigilantly and, as expected, saw that those relentless Spearow and Fearow were still flying above, chasing along the riverbank.
‘So why are there Fearow as well?’
Future Ash could not help but shout inwardly.
Under normal circumstances, he had only provoked a group of Spearow.
But for some reason, this time even Fearow had joined the pursuit.
Ash simply could not understand why so many Fearow were gathered here.
Normally, wild Fearow would never cluster together in such numbers.
This was not some unusually resource-rich forest.
Although he could not figure out the reason for their appearance, Ash understood that the trouble he was facing now was far greater than what he remembered from the past.
But when he lowered his head and saw Pikachu lying in his arms, clearly exhausted yet still struggling as if it wanted to keep fighting…
Ash took a deep breath and spoke in a tone completely different from before, one that was calm, confident, and gentle.
“Do not worry. Leave everything here to me, Pikachu. Try to recover your strength. You do not need to force yourself. Just rest for a while and sleep.”
Pikachu, which had been struggling just a moment ago in Ash’s arms, noticeably relaxed after hearing his steady and reliable voice.
That sense of reassurance, as if it could be trusted unconditionally, allowed Pikachu to let go of all its guard.
Its eyelids, which had been fighting to stay open, finally gave in, slowly closing as it drifted into a deep sleep.
Seeing that Pikachu had finally fallen asleep, Ash let out a breath of relief.
But it was not over yet.
Although he had managed to calm Pikachu, he could also feel his own stamina steadily being drained.
If he did not quickly shake off those pursuers and find a place to get ashore, then the situation would truly become dangerous.
To avoid the sight of the Spearow and Fearow, Ash took another deep breath, held Pikachu close, and dove back underwater, keeping only Pikachu’s nose and mouth slightly above the surface, then allowed the rushing current to carry them downstream.
And at this moment, as he submerged himself once more beneath the water, there was only one thought left in his mind—
‘Misty, where are you?
Hurry up and come save us!’
(End of Chapter)