Chapter 8: The Spearow Flock's Revenge! Ash, I Choose You!
"...Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!" Ash commanded, pointing a finger at the wild Spearow in front of them.
A bolt of golden electricity shot from Pikachu's cheeks, streaking through the air and striking the bird Pokémon dead-on.
The Spearow let out a pained cry, its feathers singed black as it fell limply to the ground.
"Alright! That's the tenth one we've beaten!"
Ash pumped his fist in excitement, celebrating with a high-five against Pikachu's tail.
With that victory, they had now defeated ten wild Pokémon. Ash could feel Pikachu's Aura growing stronger with each battle, a tangible increase in its power.
He had learned from the "user manual" that the Aura within humans and Pokémon represented not only their life force but also their raw power. The stronger the Aura, the stronger the individual.
The manual didn't provide a clear ranking system, however, so Ash had no idea what "level" Pikachu was at. In fact, he didn't even know how Pokémon levels were classified in the first place.
All he knew was that with every Pokémon Pikachu defeated, its skill with its moves and its own Aura grew a little bit stronger. For now, that was enough.
However, Ash also noticed that as they defeated more Pokémon, Pikachu's growth was slowing down. After beating this tenth Spearow, the increase in Pikachu's Aura was barely noticeable.
He posed the question to the masters in the chat group. They explained that while Pikachu's level was increasing, the level of the Pokémon they were fighting was not. Therefore, its progress was naturally tapering off.
It was just like playing a video game. As you level up, you get less experience from beating low-level enemies. At the same time, the amount of experience you need to reach the next level increases. The combination of these two factors meant that leveling up would inevitably get slower.
To keep improving quickly, they needed to fight stronger Pokémon. Win or lose, those battles would provide a much greater boost.
After getting his "own" advice, Ash decided it was best to head to Viridian City and see what this "Gym Challenge" was all about.
But just as he made that decision, a flock of Spearow descended upon them...
"Are these free XP packs delivering themselves to our door? This is great... whoa!" Ash and Pikachu were rubbing their hands together, ready for a big fight, but then another dozen Spearow appeared behind the first group. And then another dozen after that.
All told, the flock of Spearow numbered over a hundred.
Peering into the swarm, Ash spotted the very same Spearow he had just defeated.
"They brought the whole family for revenge! Seriously? Over one little battle? Pikachu, you're up!" Ash declared, pointing dramatically.
Pikachu immediately zipped behind Ash, shaking its little head frantically.
No way! Not happening!
Was he kidding? It was just a rookie Pikachu. Making it fight over a hundred Spearow was no different than a death sentence.
"Pika-pi! Pikachu!" Ash, I choose you!
"Hey, hey! What's that supposed to mean?! I'm a human! You want me to fight a hundred Spearow?"
"Pika? Pikachu pi." You're the one who's so strong, right? Now's your chance to prove it.
"You little—!!"
"SKREEE!!" While Ash and Pikachu were arguing, the Spearow flock lost its patience. They dove as one, a feathered arrow plummeting towards the boy and his Pokémon.
Forgetting the argument, Ash snatched Pikachu off the ground and broke into a dead sprint.
"Pika pika!" Why are you running?! Go fight them!
"Fight them with what?!" Ash yelled, clutching Pikachu as he ran. "Are you blind? Look how many there are! Why don't you go fight them?"
Although he now possessed Aura Power, he still didn't have a clear grasp of his own strength. If the Aura Guardian Ash were here, he would have swatted the flock out of the sky with a wave of his hand. But for the brand-new Aura user Ash, facing down a hundred angry birds was more than a little intimidating.
With his Aura-enhanced body, Ash's speed far surpassed that of a normal human. The Spearow were fast, but they couldn't keep up with him.
Pikachu scrambled out of Ash's arms and onto his shoulder, digging its claws into his jacket for stability. As it watched the Spearow flock shrink in the distance, a look of pure astonishment crossed its face.
Is it even possible for a human to run this fast?
As Flying-type Pokémon, Spearow were naturally swift, far faster than any normal person. But Ash was actually outrunning them. The only word for it was "unbelievable."
Then again, this was the same human who had beaten it in a bare-knuckle brawl. Maybe outrunning a flock of birds wasn't so crazy after all.
"Pika pii~~" Convinced they were safe, Pikachu turned around and blew a raspberry at the pursuing flock.
It had only defeated one of them, and they had called in over a hundred relatives for backup. Their thirst for revenge was honestly pathetic. So Pikachu decided to be petty right back.
If I can't beat you, I can at least annoy you.
Seeing Pikachu's taunt, the Spearow grew even angrier. They flapped their wings with all their might, but the human below was still pulling away, the gap growing wider by the second. If this kept up, they were going to lose him.
"SKREEE!!" A sharp cry came from the front of the flock. Several of the larger, stronger-looking Spearow suddenly glowed with a white light, their speed increasing several times over.
It was the move Quick Attack!
Boosted by the move, a dozen of the high-level Spearow rapidly closed the distance.
"Pi! Pika pi!!" Ash, run faster! They're catching up!
"What?! But I was leaving them in the dust!" Ash glanced back and saw that Pikachu was right. A dozen Spearow were now hot on their heels.
"I'm warning you, don't make me fight back!" he yelled over his shoulder. "I'm only running because I don't want to hurt you!"
The Spearow closed the distance to fifty meters.
"This is your last chance! Turn back now!"
The Spearow closed to twenty meters.
"Alright, you asked for it... Damn it, Aura Sphere!!" Seeing that his words were having no effect, Ash grit his teeth and thrust one hand out behind him.
A ball of blue energy materialized in his palm. In less than a second, a perfect, shimmering Aura Sphere was formed, and he launched it into the sky.
The speeding Spearow never expected the human to actually fight back. They had no time to dodge. The Aura Sphere exploded right in the center of their advance guard.
BOOM!!
A cloud of black smoke billowed across the green fields. Ash skidded to a halt, digging his heels into the dirt.
He had put about fifty percent of his power into that attack. Now he wanted to see what kind of damage it had done. If it took out more than five of them, he was done running.
You wanna chase me? Fine! Today, I'm playing for keeps