“Damn it, Raichu! Wake up!”
Lt. Surge watched the huge ball of light in Alcremie’s hand, his head aching. He recognized this as the Grass-type ultimate move, Solar Beam. Although it didn’t have a type advantage against his Raichu, in Raichu’s current state, one hit would almost certainly render it unable to battle.
Unfortunately, Raichu, with hearts in its eyes, couldn’t hear his calls and continued to stare dazedly at Alcremie.
The Solar Beam in Alcremie’s hand grew larger and brighter. Alcremie, already somewhat dark, now only had two glowing red eyes visible.
“Mmm!!”
As Yu Feng waved his hand down, Alcremie fired the fully charged Solar Beam, and the Solar Beam, like a sun, directly engulfed Raichu, whose eyes were still filled with hearts.
The Solar Beam’s bombardment lasted a long time, as agonizing as Lt. Surge’s inner turmoil.
“Raichu has lost the will to battle, so the challenger Yu Feng is the winner!”
Finally, the blinding light disappeared. Raichu lay on the ground, covered in wounds and having lost the will to battle. Why not ‘lost the ability to battle’? Because even after being hit by the Solar Beam, the hearts in Raichu’s eyes, despite its injuries, had not vanished, giving Alcremie enough time to charge another Solar Beam.
“Congratulations on your victory. This is proof of your defeat of me, the orange badge.”
Lt. Surge showed no dissatisfaction at Raichu’s defeat. He clapped his hands, congratulating Yu Feng on his successful challenge, and took the orange badge from his vest, handing it to Yu Feng.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a satisfying battle. Recently, people have been coming to challenge me with Rattata and Caterpie, and I have to hold back. They fall down with just a little force.”
“Although a Gym Leader’s job is to guide new Trainers, the Pokémon they bring don’t even have a chance to last long enough for me to guide them.”
It wasn’t that he wanted to complain, but those people didn’t even consider what their Pokémon were. It’s not that initial evolutions are weak, but bringing a first-stage Pokémon with no offensive capability—isn’t that just annoying?
A Gym Leader has many things to do in a day; he doesn’t have time to play house with them.
“Hmm, indeed. Rattata is fine, but a Caterpie, which has no offensive capability at all, is…”
Yu Feng could deeply understand Lt. Surge’s frustration. Ash also initially wanted to challenge him with Caterpie, but not everyone is Ash, who can make Caterpie do wonders.
“Alright, next up is that little baby.”
When Yu Feng put away the badge and started walking outside, Lt. Surge looked at Ash with a provocative gaze. After all, Raichu battling Pikachu—how could he possibly lose?
Ash also looked at Lt. Surge with dissatisfaction, then ran down the stairs from the side and stepped onto the battlefield.
“Xiao Feng, aren’t you going to watch?”
Xiao Xia watched Yu Feng walk out of the Gym, curious if Yu Feng wasn’t going to watch Ash’s challenge.
“No, I’ll wait for him at the Pokémon Center. Whether he wins or loses, he’ll have to go there eventually, right?”
Yu Feng waved his hand, indicating that he would wait for Ash at the Pokémon Center. Regardless of winning or losing, Ash would have to go there, wouldn't he?
Yu Feng, walking outside, stretched lazily, then patted Alcremie, who was perched on his shoulder, and said gently, “You worked hard.”
“Mmm~”
Alcremie nuzzled Yu Feng’s finger, indicating that it was fine. She had been feeling bad about not being able to help Yu Feng much, so being able to help get a badge was already very good.
“If Pikachu loses…”
“You’re right. If we keep chasing them, we’ll lose our standing.”
“Then sit down, Meow!”
A familiar voice came from nearby. Yu Feng felt that this voice sounded very much like a few people he knew.
Yu Feng followed the sound, and sure enough, just as he thought, it was Team Rockets trio, who were watching a drama.
Watching the trio cheering for Ash, Yu Feng nodded in satisfaction. They were indeed Ash’s lifelong best friends, Team Rockets, who had followed Ash for twenty-five years, never abandoning him.
Yu Feng quietly left from behind, so Ash would be relieved when he left later.
“Mmm?”
Alcremie looked at Yu Feng, who had suddenly become emotional, with confusion. If she remembered correctly, these three were enemies, right? Why are you getting emotional instead of chasing them away?
Pokémon Center
“Oh, you’re back. How was it? Did you successfully challenge Vermilion Gym? It’s okay if you failed, just try harder next time…”
Joy, who was resting, saw Yu Feng return. Although he didn’t look sad, he wasn’t particularly happy either. Thinking Yu Feng hadn’t succeeded in challenging Vermilion Gym, she was about to comfort him.
Then she saw Yu Feng pull out the orange badge with a puzzled expression, as if saying, “What are you talking about?”
“I battled, and it was quite easy, actually. No need to be so happy.”
Yu Feng wasn’t someone who couldn’t distinguish good from bad. Joy was trying to comfort him, so explaining it clearly was enough.
“Oh, then…”
Joy was about to say something else when she was interrupted by another Pokémon being brought in.
It was a fainted Pikachu and Ash, who was beside him.
“Joy, please help me!”
Ash called out to Joy as he entered. His Pikachu was too stubborn, refusing to give up no matter what he said, which led to its severe injuries.
“Ah, come with me quickly.”
Seeing the severity of Pikachu’s injuries, Joy quickly took Pikachu into the operating room with Chansey.
Time passed by minute by minute, and Pikachu was pushed out again. Joy gave a few instructions for Pikachu to rest well and then left, as she was still very busy at the moment… “Pika…”
Pikachu laboriously opened its eyes, looking at Ash and the others, who were watching it with concern.
“That’s great, Pikachu! You’re awake!”
Ash was very happy to see Pikachu wake up, but remembering Joy’s instruction to let it rest well, Ash didn’t touch Pikachu.
Pikachu looked at Ash, then puffed out its cheeks and turned its head away, refusing to look at Ash.
“Pikachu is very seriously injured.”
Brock looked at the sulking Pikachu and immediately understood why Pikachu was angry.
“That’s obvious, isn’t it?”
Ash said he wasn’t blind; he could see if Pikachu was seriously injured or not.
“No, he’s talking about Pikachu’s spirit. Lt. Surge’s Raichu overwhelmed him.”
Yu Teng Sheng Dai explained for Brock. She had encountered similar situations in school, so she could tell at a glance why Pikachu was angry.
“That’s not it! Pikachu just wasn’t serious. Next time, if he fights seriously, he’ll definitely win.”
Ash clutched his precious hat in his hand. He just felt that Pikachu hadn’t fought seriously this time. If it could defeat Geodude last time, there was no reason it would lose to Raichu this time.
“But Pikachu was already fighting very seriously just now.”
Xiao Xia looked at Pikachu with some pity. Pikachu’s appearance just now clearly showed it wasn’t trying to avoid fighting seriously.
Ash’s hand, holding the hat, relaxed. Yes, Pikachu’s appearance just now clearly showed it had used all its strength.
But even so… “There’s a way to win.”
