Chapter 9

【Hopp: Amazing! Ash actually knows Lugia. I'm so envious.】

【Siebold: That slap in the face came out of nowhere. They really are best friends!】

【Cynthia: Perhaps the bond between Ash and Lugia is even closer than we imagined.】

【Caitlin: Even I, who love making friends so much, couldn't become friends with Lugia. Yet Ash, based on just a single meeting, became best friends with Lugia!】

【Brock: Actually, Ash also knows the three Legendary Birds of the Orange Islands who hold divine duties.】

【Gary: What the heck! Ash, what have you been secretly doing behind my back all this time!】

【Ash: It's nothing. On my very first day out, I even met Ho-Oh. By the way, if you hadn't chosen to drive, you might have seen it too!】

Killing someone and then breaking their heart!

Silence was the light screen at that moment.

With a single sentence, Ash silenced everyone in the world capable of sending danmu.

What the heck!

Ho-Oh! That is an existence even more mysterious than Lugia!

The legendary deity who wields the authority of the rainbow!

Kanto isn't large; there are only two deities who wield authority in total.

Yet Ash has encountered both of these deities.

The odds of this are comparable to being taken away by Team Rocket upon stepping out and being told you are Boss Giovanni's biological son.

Moreover, that was Ho-Oh!

To this day, the number of people who have seen Ho-Oh remains extremely small.

Legend says only those with a destined connection can meet it.

Ash, what level of Pokémon intimacy is this!

Ho-Oh, Lugia, the three Legendary Birds!

Only three Legendary Beasts remain; Ash has nearly completed the feat of gathering all the Legendary Pokémon of the Kanto region.

Ash has only been traveling for such a short time, yet his experiences already surpass ninety-nine percent of all Trainers!

(Ash: I've already seen the Three Legendary Beasts!)

In the scene—

Lugia, who had been feigning sleep, opened its eyes.

It turned skeptically toward the direction the sound came from; the noise evoked a faint sense of familiarity.

Following the direction of the sound, Lugia saw a boy wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt and a blue-and-white baseball cap.

On the boy's shoulder sat a yellow electric mouse.

A gentle breeze blew.

It stirred the hair on the boy's forehead.

At that moment, Lugia clearly saw the face of the newcomer.

It was Ash!

Just as Cynthia had guessed, the bond between Lugia and Ash was far closer than anyone imagined.

'Ash, it's been a long time.'

"Yes, I can't even remember how long it's been." Facing the breeze, Ash brushed the stray hairs from his forehead.

Chloe, who had been following closely behind Ash, now felt her entire worldview twisted.

She was not one of those Trainers who set out on a journey at the age of ten.

Having spent so much time at the Trainer School, Chloe naturally knew which Pokémon stood before her.

That was Lugia, the Sea Deity.

This boy named Ash actually knew the Sea Deity.

For the first time, Chloe felt the difference between Ash and the person she had imagined.

Ash might be rash, but he was absolutely not like Goh!

Chloe deeply regretted linking Ash with Goh!

'Our last meeting was in Kalos; I had to go to great lengths to return from another world.'

As Lugia spoke these words, its expression clearly showed resentment.

The battle was over, yet you forgot to bring me back!

Ash, you have no conscience!

It seemed Lugia heard the complaint in its own words.

Ash awkwardly turned his head to look toward the seaside.

"The sea is so blue."

'...'

The topic shifted so abruptly that even Ash himself found it unbearable.

"By the way, I forgot to tell you: I've already won the Alola League championship."

'Is that so? Then congratulations. It seems that during my absence, you have grown quite a bit.'

"Of course! I am Ash!"

'Is that so? Then let us battle; let me witness your growth.'

With those words, the once calm sea surface became turbulent once more.

A biting wind tore through the sea, and even the clouds in the sky were scattered by the gale.

"Then let me show you my growth! Pikachu, go!"

Facing Lugia's challenge, Ash would not retreat.

Pikachu, who had been standing on Ash's shoulder, immediately jumped down.

"Pika!"

Fierce battle intent swept across the entire harbor.

The long-awaited excitement had returned!

Lugia did not attack immediately; its eyes fixed tightly on Ash's.

From them, Lugia sensed a surging battle spirit.

The memory of fighting side by side with Ash in the Orange Islands remained vivid.

That boy, who possessed little strength yet was still willing to give his all to stop Zapdos and Moltres, had now grown up.

The battle against the Demon God had further deepened the bond between itself and this child.

Now, it was time to test his growth.

'Do not hold back; attack me!'

Lugia's voice echoed within Ash's mind.

"I will never let you down! Pikachu, use Thunderbolt at full power!"

"Pika~chu!!!"

Lightning summoned the heavens; the originally azure sky seemed covered by dark clouds.

Thunder roared through the sky, and countless bolts of lightning surged forth from Pikachu's body.

At this moment, Pikachu, the newly crowned Alola Champion, still maintained its fiercest battle spirit!

Countless lightning bolts intertwined and converged.

Finally, they struck Lugia ahead with perfect precision.

Golden electric light enveloped Lugia's entire body.

Thunder roared, and even Lugia felt excitement facing Pikachu's full-power strike.

Countless bolts of lightning stung Lugia's skin.

"Tch."

Lugia's feathers were extremely special, allowing it to soar freely over the ocean.

Its feathers clung to its epidermis like scales.

Yet even so, Pikachu's attack made every single feather tremble!

A long-lost excitement enveloped its entire body.

Lugia roared wildly, savoring the battle.

In just a short time apart, Ash and Pikachu had both grown to the level of worthy opponents.

However, being its opponent was no easy feat.

With a flap of its wings, the lightning that had shrouded Lugia was torn apart in an instant.

Such an attack was merely an appetizer!

Lugia slowly opened its mouth, gathering Water-type energy within.

In a mere instant, countless streams of water converged before Lugia.

The next moment.

A water column, surging with unstoppable force, cleaved the surface and shot straight toward Pikachu on the shore.

Lugia's attack had not been aimed.

Yet precisely because of that, Lugia's terror was laid bare.

Where the water swept, the sea surface was split cleanly in two.

The dock, constructed of reinforced concrete, cracked under the impact of the torrent!

Even so, the attack remained incredibly swift.

"Dodge quickly!"

Fortunately, Pikachu was a Pokémon that had endured countless battles, and its coordination with Ash was ingrained in its very bones.

Upon hearing Ash's voice,

a flash of lightning erupted as Pikachu's body transformed into a streak of blue light, vanishing from the spot.

The instant it disappeared, Lugia's attack struck the very same place, blasting a massive crater into the port's dock.

Such an attack, even its aftereffects, was beyond human resistance.

However.

Ash's figure stood firm amidst it all.

No matter how the wind howled or debris flew, his feet did not shift a single inch.