Chapter 1418: The Power of the Pikachu God

Cynthia has seized the initiative!

The host shouted: "Ash's first Pokémon is quickly knocked out!"

Cheers rang out one after another in the arena, and the audience was bustling, shouting in unison for the Milotic below.

"How could this be..."

Cold sweat beaded on Ash's forehead. In his view, Dragonite's loss was truly unjust; clearly, his side had the upper hand.

Pikachu's ears couldn't help but droop. "Pika..."

At Professor Oak's laboratory, all the Pokémon were dejected. Professor Oak and Delia wore helpless smiles: "What a pity."

"Indeed."

A bad start is a huge blow to morale. Although it wasn't a defeat without any chance to fight back like in the original story, it still left Ash feeling very frustrated.

He recalled Dragonite into its ball and whispered: "Next time, I'll definitely let you win!"

Turning, Ash looked at Pikachu beside him and decisively entrusted the current situation to the Pokémon he trusted most.

"Go! Pikachu! I choose you!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu nodded heavily and leaped quickly into the arena.

Its dark, round eyes stared fixedly at Milotic, its immense fighting spirit transforming into a soaring aura.

But Cynthia didn't give it a chance to face her. The moment Pikachu entered the arena, a red beam recalled Milotic.

"Return."

Immediately, she threw another Poké Ball. "Bloom brilliantly! Roserade!"

Bang!

Light flashed.

Roserade stood gracefully in the center of the arena.

Its body was woven from lush emerald and dark green leaves, a pale rose sat atop its head, and the red and blue bouquets on its arms were delicate and dripping with dew, lingering with a faint floral and herbal fragrance, appearing both elegant and mysterious.

The host said: "Cynthia has sent out the Grass and Poison-type Roserade! Electric-type moves are not very effective against it!"

Hearing Cynthia's words, Huang Tie in the preparation room couldn't help but remark: "She actually designed an entrance line for every single Pokémon?"

Queen Queen Leiguanwang: 'What is improper about that? I feel it is sacred!'

Where is it sacred?

Huang Tie: "..."

Obviously, Queen Leiguanwang still favors Zhulan, especially after Kuailong was defeated by Meinasi.

He only felt sorrow and couldn't help but sigh—the King of Abundance is becoming the King of Cliches, what should he do?

In the arena, the moment Ash caught sight of Roserade, he immediately issued a command: "Pikachu! Quick Attack!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu kicked off the ground with its hind legs, its body instantly enveloped in dazzling white light, like a streak of lightning.

In the Masters Eight arena, the battle-hardened Pikachu of the eight generations finally displayed one hundred percent of its strength; even a mere Quick Attack now carried an astonishing sound of breaking the air.

Wherever the white light passed, the air seemed to be torn apart, leaving a clear afterimage.

Cynthia: "Bullet Seed!"

"Roli!"

Roserade reacted swiftly. The red and blue bouquets on its arms suddenly tightened, and as it waved them rapidly, countless fine green seeds were fired like bullets, shooting straight at the approaching Pikachu!

"Pika!?"

Pikachu's ears stood up. Even while moving at high speed, it maintained extraordinary agility, dodging and weaving like lightning, constantly changing direction to avoid the rain of seeds.

Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft—

The seeds that hit the ground exploded instantly, splashing green debris and fine dust, leaving fist-sized shallow pits in the ground.

Roserade fired seeds while retreating, but no matter what, it couldn't hit its opponent.

In an instant, Pikachu had broken through the blockade of Bullet Seed, closing in directly on its opponent, leaping up like an arrow from a bow!

"Dodge!"

Cynthia waved her hand quickly, and Roserade stepped back and spun, skillfully avoiding Pikachu's close-range tackle.

At the same time, the leaves on its arms condensed deep purple Poison-type energy, and a turbid, heavy Sludge Bomb with a pungent odor quickly took shape.

"Sludge Bomb!"

"Electroweb!"

Both shouted their commands simultaneously. Pikachu, having landed, twisted and leaped backward, flicking its tail to weave golden electricity into a giant electric net that grew from small to large, heading straight to cover Roserade as it fired the sludge!

In an instant.

The poison liquid swirling with purple-black mist was contained within it, and Roserade quickly pulled back, escaping the grip of the Electroweb by a hair's breadth.

Seeing Roserade dodge another move, the host remarked: "What fast reaction and speed!"

The rapid attacks had missed one after another, but Ash's expression remained unchanged.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu tapped its red electric sacs, and the thunder surging within erupted, summoning dazzling, eye-catching electricity!

Zzz!!

The golden light suddenly illuminated the entire arena, and the thick lightning, accompanied by the "crackle" of violent electricity, blasted straight toward Roserade.

The lightning scorched the air, causing it to twist slightly, and the powerful electric pressure covered the entire arena, making the audience outside subconsciously feel their limbs go numb; it was truly an astonishing display of power!

At the same time, Roserade turned gracefully in the air, the leaves on its body dancing wildly, whipping up a violent green airflow, with countless sharp leaves spinning at high speed within it.

"Leaf Storm."

Boom—!!

The golden lightning and the green Leaf Storm collided with a roar. Electricity and leaves tore at each other and annihilated one another, with tiny sparks and emerald leaf fragments flying everywhere. The massive impact force whipped up a gale, triggering the protective devices outside the arena.

Dust and energy mist mixed together, blocking the view.

But this strike did not go as Cynthia had hoped.

Although Leaf Storm barely blocked the frontal attack of Thunderbolt, it was completely crushed by the violent lightning. The continuously firing electricity quickly pierced through the smoke and dust, hitting Roserade's body and blasting it away!

Cynthia: "Huh!?"

"Roli!"

Enveloped in a glowing blue light, Roserade let out a muffled grunt, its body losing balance uncontrollably, and it only managed to land after swaying violently.

Seeing this, Ash quickly ordered Pikachu to pursue. "Iron Tail!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu kicked off the ground, its tail instantly enveloped in a silvery-white metallic glow, becoming incredibly hard.

It leaped in front of the struggling Roserade, using the momentum of its charge to twist its small body, and its steel-like tail, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound, lashed fiercely at Roserade!

Zzz—

The wind whistled, full of power!

"Protect!"

"Roli!"

In its haste, Roserade raised its bouquet-arms to cross and block. A pale blue light barrier appeared, but Iron Tail slammed heavily into it, emitting a dull, heavy "bang."

Clang!

The barrier trembled violently, covered in dense cracks, and shattered with a roar the next second.

The Iron Tail's momentum remained undiminished as it headed straight for Luo Silei; the latter could hardly resist this surging, immense force, its body forced to slide backward, its feet carving shallow marks into the hard ground.

"Roli..."

Roserade suddenly dropped to one knee, its brow furrowed and its arms trembling.

Such heavy force!

The host also shouted: "Pikachu's double attack is extraordinary! Roserade is being continuously suppressed!"

Cynthia's eyes narrowed slightly, knowing Ash wouldn't give Roserade a chance and would surely continue to attack fiercely, so she quickly ordered: "Jump up! Leaf Storm!"

"Thunderbolt!"

"Pika—chu!!"

Pikachu tapped its cheeks, its electric sacs discharging continuously, and the electricity around its body surged again, turning into a thick pillar of lightning.

Roserade leaped up to release Leaf Storm. Having lowered its Special Attack, it was even less of a match for Thunderbolt this time, but it used the lift of the leaf hurricane to fly into the air.

Bang!

The two colliding energies created a shockwave again, swirling it to an even higher altitude as it turned its body.

Cynthia took the opportunity to raise her right hand, which was gripping a Poké Ball.

"Return!"

A red beam shot out, accurately hitting Roserade in mid-air, successfully removing the Pokémon from the arena.

Pikachu rushed out of the smoke and dust stirred up by the collision of moves, but could only watch helplessly as Roserade left the field, failing to continue its pursuit.

The host shouted: "Cynthia swaps Pokémon! Roserade successfully leaves the field!"

"What a pity!"

Brock sighed loudly. Pikachu was on a roll; logically, it could have successfully taken down Roserade and regained the momentum.

But it was nimbly swapped out by Cynthia.

So, who will be the Pokémon to face Pikachu next?

"Come from the waves! Gastrodon!"

Bang!

Accompanied by Cynthia's entrance line, the newly appeared Pokémon was the Ground and Water-type Gastrodon.

Undoubtedly, following the Grass-type's resistance to Electric-type moves, she had simply brought out a Ground-type Pokémon that was immune to them.

But when Ash saw it, he had no intention of swapping, and waved his hand fiercely: "Go! Quick Attack!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu's figure flickered, disappearing from its spot like a white rainbow, approaching Gastrodon at high speed!

Cynthia had anticipated this, waving her hand and shouting: "Earthquake!"

"Gastro!"

Gastrodon's body trembled suddenly, and the earth beneath it shattered into countless chunks.

A visible earthy-yellow shockwave spread in all directions, the ground shaking wildly, causing countless rocks to fly everywhere. The violent vibration made the audience feel as if the scene in the arena was twisting.

Facing this unavoidable attack, Ash's response was very simple: "Jump up!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu leaped in the posture of Quick Attack, easily jumping to a height of ten meters.

Cynthia looked up, feeling admiration for Pikachu's jumping ability. "As expected of you! But—Stone Edge!"

"Gastro!"

Gastrodon responded loudly. Countless fragments of rock from the earth shattered by Earthquake gathered around it, forming giant rocks half a person tall, whistling toward Pikachu in mid-air.

Ash said confidently: "Pikachu! Hit them back! Iron Tail!"

"Pi—ka!"

Pikachu twisted its body, its lightning-shaped tail once again coated in a metallic luster, turning into an indestructible metal blade; despite having no leverage, it was still able to strike back all the giant rocks flying toward it!

Thud, thud, thud!

The giant rocks were like baseballs hit by a bat, returning to where they came from in Cynthia's wide-eyed gaze.

Fortunately, Gastrodon relied on its own extreme flexibility to successfully catch the flying rocks, only letting its body move back a long distance.

But Ash's attack didn't stop there.

"Go! Quick Attack!"

"Pika!"

Pikachu, having landed, turned into a white light again, heading straight for Gastrodon, which was holding the rocks!

Cynthia's heart trembled violently, and she shouted loudly: "Acid Armor!"

At the critical moment, Pikachu slammed into the layers of stacked giant rocks, instantly shattering them all.

It passed through the giant rocks, and just as it was about to hit Gastrodon, the latter's figure melted like a candle, causing its impact to miss.

Cynthia's surging heart stabilized because of this. "Muddy Water!"

Gastrodon, which had turned into a puddle of mud, suddenly bulged, and more muddy water surged from beneath it, forming a swirling mud tide that covered half the arena, covering Pikachu like an undersea vortex.

Ash's strategy for this was only one: "Jump!"

"Pika!"

Today's Pikachu had simply become a bungee jumper; having finally returned to the ground, it returned to the sky again to avoid Muddy Water.

More importantly, the purpose of this jump was to return to the field.

"Return, Pikachu!"

Pikachu successfully jumped out of the range of Muddy Water and quickly returned to Ash's side, counting as a swap.

Cynthia watched this scene, feeling a sense of relief in her heart for no reason.

This pair of partners could always deliver unexpected performances, a fact she had already realized after learning about them in advance.

It was just that she hadn't expected Pikachu to be even more exaggerated than she had thought.

"An indomitable spirit and a Pokémon that can perfectly respond to expectations..." Cynthia smiled. "Come! Let me see just how far you can go!"

"Go! Gengar!"

Ash threw a Poké Ball into the arena.

Bang!

"Gengar!"

Gengar flew out with its tongue lolling, shouting as it looked at the distant Gastrodon.

It hovered in the sky, which to some extent allowed it to better avoid Ground-type moves than Pikachu.

Ash chose to send it out precisely because of this point.

There was one more point—

"Will-O-Wisp!"

"Gengar!"

Nine ghostly purple flames appeared around Gengar, flying toward Gastrodon one after another!

Cynthia followed up with a command: "Muddy Water!"

It was still surging turbid mud, but this time what Gastrodon released was not a vortex but a wave.

Muddy Water rushed toward Will-O-Wisp like a crashing wave, attempting to crush them one by one.

But unexpectedly, Will-O-Wisp did not disperse and charge; instead, it formed a continuous attack. The first few collided with Muddy Water, instantly shattering it and opening a gap.

The remaining Will-O-Wisp swarmed over, and although only two or three remained, they successfully hit Gastrodon.

"Gastro!"

Gastrodon let out a muffled grunt.

The flames entangled its skin, causing the moisture to be continuously drawn away.

Seeing this, Cynthia could only be glad that Gastrodon was skilled in both physical and special attacks; otherwise, having its physical attack weakened by the burn would have been a huge blow!

"Mud Shot!"

"Gastro!"

Gastrodon quickly released multiple mud bombs at Gengar, but Gengar's figure was quite agile; it looked fat, but it easily dodged the incoming mud impacts by swaying left and right.

Ash shouted: "Hex!"

"Gengar!"

Gengar's eyes lit up with a blood-red glow.

This move wasn't originally in its move pool. It was when Huang Tie went to Professor Oak's laboratory earlier and saw Ash's Gengar practicing Will-O-Wisp that he guided it to learn the complementary Hex.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be a waste?

Now it was just right to use it on Gastrodon. The blinding blood-red light pierced the air, hitting Gastrodon with extreme speed!

Hum!!

Gastrodon was instantly swallowed by the raging fire, turning into a fireball!