"What is it? Tell me quickly!"
Ash was very excited when he heard Wu Neng's words; after all, he really wanted to defeat Brock right now.
"Come with me."
Seeing Ash's expression, Wu Neng paused, then led Ash down another path.
Ash eagerly followed Wu Neng, wanting to see what could make Pikachu unleash his potential.
Wu Neng led Ash along a small path to the side of a river that was mostly dried up, and a small wooden cabin sat by the river.
"Where is this?"
Ash looked around, but still couldn't tell where they were. He was genuinely curious how this place could help Pikachu unleash his potential, so he couldn't hold back and looked at Wu Neng expectantly, hoping he would explain.
"The Waterwheel Power Plant. If Pikachu is given a large amount of electricity, his stored power will increase, and his power will naturally improve."
Wu Neng looked at Ash and said seriously. This was a little trick he had figured out himself. Although the electricity would be gone once it was used up, it was still a good method.
"Uncle Wu Neng, your idea is truly amazing!"
"But why do you know so much about Pokémon?"
Hearing Wu Neng's explanation, Ash suddenly perked up. Why hadn't he thought of that himself? But then he suddenly realized, Uncle Wu Neng was clearly just a stone seller, so why would he know so much about Pokémon?
For some reason, Wu Neng suddenly became very nervous, his movements became exaggerated, and his voice involuntarily rose a few octaves as he scratched the back of his head: "No, how should I put it, I just think this will work!"
"Alright! Pikachu, let's do Charge special training!"
"Pikachu~~"
Ash was indeed Ash; as soon as someone fooled him, he ignored the illogical parts and turned to Pikachu.
Pikachu was also very cooperative with Ash, patting his chubby body to indicate he was ready.
"But there's no water in the river now."
Just as Ash and Pikachu were full of confidence, Wu Neng looked at the somewhat dry riverbed and delivered a fatal blow.
Pikachu and Ash's recently boosted morale immediately dissipated because of Wu Neng's words, and both of them staggered, almost falling to the ground.
"Then doesn't that mean we can't generate electricity?"
Ash finally recovered. If there was no water, then wouldn't they be unable to generate electricity? What should they do? Ash looked at the all-capable Uncle Wu Neng, hoping he could come up with a solution.
"It's not impossible."
Wu Neng smiled at Ash. In fact, he did have a plan, though it wasn't really a plan.
The scene shifted, and Ash was already standing on the waterwheel, while Wu Neng had connected Pikachu to the generator.
"I said, are you really going to do this?"
"Doing this might be quite dangerous, you know."
Yu Feng's voice came from the shadows. He had been standing there for who knows how long. After all, Pikachu is not like Pichu; he can generate and store his own electricity.
What Ash and his friends were doing was undoubtedly forcibly expanding Pikachu's energy storage. In the short term, it would indeed increase his power, but during this period, Pikachu would be like an easily explosive powder keg, ready to blow at any moment.
"Yu Feng? When did you get here?"
Ash was startled by Yu Feng's sudden appearance and almost fell off the waterwheel.
"Did you forget I have Psychic abilities? And you still haven't answered my question."
Yu Feng pointed to his head, indicating that he had used his Psychic abilities to help him more than once.
Seeing Ash's sudden realization, Yu Feng reminded him that he still hadn't answered his question and shouldn't just ask him why he was there.
"Of course we're going to do it! We're going to defeat Brock by ourselves, right, Pikachu!"
"Pikachu!"
Ash said excitedly, and Pikachu also responded energetically to Yu Feng. He also hoped to defeat Brock.
"Then I have no objections. You two continue."
Seeing that Pikachu had agreed, Yu Feng had no reason to stop them from continuing their special training, even if this training was a quick fix.
"Then I'm ready here."
Wu Neng, seeing that the two had finished discussing, gave Ash an OK gesture, indicating that he was ready.
Receiving Wu Neng's signal, Ash began to vigorously pedal the waterwheel beneath his feet, and the indicator on the generator began to gradually rise.
One bar
Two bars
...Six bars
The generator's indicator quickly showed a full Charge, which Yu Feng, who was watching from the side, truly couldn't accept.
He could accept pedaling the wooden waterwheel to generate electricity, after all, he could do it too, but was Ash, who could pedal the generator to full Charge, a bit too much?
What kind of Machamp is this!!!
At this moment, Yu Feng really wanted to ask Ash if he wasn't really some Fighting-type Pokémon.
As the electricity increased, Pikachu began to feel unwell, his eyes tightly closed, and golden electric sparks occasionally flickered from his cheeks.
"You must endure. At first, you will feel very painful when more electricity than your stamina allows is input, but over time, your body will begin to adapt to high-voltage currents."
"Hey, hey, hey, Ash, why don't you stop tormenting Pikachu with this quick-fix method? Wouldn't it be better to just ask me for Helping Hand?"
Xiao Xia appeared in the river below at some point. She really couldn't stand Ash tormenting Pikachu like this and once again suggested that Ash could borrow her Pokémon to defeat Brock.
"Even without your Helping Hand, I can still win."
Ash was indeed Ash; he once again refused Xiao Xia's Helping Hand, which made Xiao Xia turn and leave in anger. She also didn't understand Ash; when it came to Pokémon battles, Ash was as stubborn as a donkey, the kind that five horses couldn't pull back.
"I want to train my Pokémon and earn badges with my own strength."
Ash said, not knowing who he was speaking to, and quickened his movements as he spoke. Pikachu also endured the current exceeding his current level to respond to Ash's expectations.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, Wu Neng seemed to notice something and turned to look at the generator.
The generator had been dyed with a golden glow at some point, and the energy bar on the dial was glowing red. Faint wisps of black smoke could be seen rising from the generator, as if it was severely overloaded.
From outside, dazzling golden light burst forth from this dilapidated waterwheel power plant, illuminating this small area as if it were daytime.
Yu Feng used his Psychic abilities to take Wu Neng away from Pikachu, as not everyone was a freak like Ash, who could physically withstand Thunderbolt.
"What kind of potential is this? Can a single Pikachu really do this?"
Wu Neng had traveled for a long time, but he had never seen the current situation. Are children nowadays really this strong?
Then should he also let Brock go out and travel?
P.S.
Okay, this is the author. The author honestly can't write anymore. After rewatching the original series, Ash is truly outrageous. He just pedals the waterwheel for hydropower, and it even stays overloaded at max capacity. Outrageous.