Behind Ash, Misty was watching the sleeping Geodude wrapped in white silk, her red lips slightly parted in surprise.
She seemed to understand a bit why Ash decided to capture Caterpie. Aside from sheer strength, this tactic of inflicting status conditions was indeed perfect for Butterfree, the final evolution of Caterpie.
Even though Butterfree is a final evolution, like other Bug-type Pokemon, its species abilities are relatively low, especially in terms of physical strength and defense, which could be described as lacking.
Its speed is actually just average, but relatively speaking, it's not too bad. What stands out the most for Butterfree is its special attack; however, being a mid-speed fragile Pokemon means that even high special attack doesn't offer much utility, especially against a Gym Trainer right after evolving.
Therefore, Misty has always been skeptical about Butterfree's utility in Gym battles.
However, Ash hit her with a wake-up call right at the start. His initial tactic seemed to say—watch closely, this is how you use Butterfree!
On the field, after Butterfree had showcased its advantage fully, Ash decided to call it back.
"Well done, Butterfree, return!" After calling it back, Ash looked at Pikachu by his feet. Pikachu nodded and dashed forward.
"It's your turn, Pikachu!"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu was full of energy.
"First Butterfree, then Pikachu? Bug-type, Flying-type, Electric-type... Ash, are you doing this on purpose, or do you really not understand type advantages?" Brock almost couldn't keep a straight face when he saw Pikachu take the field.
What kind of Pokemon did he send out? Pikachu, Butterfree, aren't they all countered by Rock and Ground-types?
Even if Ash hadn't researched what type the Pewter Gym specialized in, he should have realized Geodude's type upon seeing it, right?
In Kanto, Geodude is as commonly seen as Pidgey and Spearow. Generally speaking, even a Newbie Trainer would know Geodude's type, let alone a Trainer like Ash capable of using such advanced strategies.
Yet, knowing Geodude's type, he still sent out two Pokemon with negative type advantages. It wasn't just a standard type disadvantage—one was quadruple weak, and the other couldn't even damage Ground-types, completely countered.
Facing such a type disadvantage, unless the Gym Leader had a level advantage, they'd be at a complete loss.
As for Ash…
"Of course, I know Pikachu's Electric-type moves can't harm the Ground-type Geodude, but Pikachu doesn't just have Electric-type moves. Go, Pikachu, let Brock see the secret technique we've been practicing!"
"Pika Pika!" Pikachu stood with determination, placing its hands on its waist and slowly closing its eyes.
At this point, Ash closed his eyes too, and their movements were perfectly synchronized, both putting their hands on their waists.
Brock and Misty were both puzzled, especially Misty. Having been with Ash these days, she was well aware of his training routine with his Pokemon.
Even she didn't know what secret technique Ash and Pikachu had up their sleeves. Clearly, they'd been spending all this time battling and practicing Electric-type moves and Pikachu's speed.
Other than that, after every meal, Ash would close his eyes, sit cross-legged as if meditating, and Pikachu would sit on Ash's shoulder with its eyes closed, as if asleep, similar to how they looked now.
But could that really be called a secret technique?
As time ticked by, Butterfree's Hypnosis-created opportunity was being seemingly wasted by Ash and Pikachu, and Brock didn't interrupt them.
He wasn't sure if Ash was just bluffing or truly had some impressive trump card, but if time dragged on, it would become advantageous for him, since Geodude was still asleep, serving as an easy target.
As a newbie Pikachu should only have Normal-type moves aside from Electric-type ones, and while they couldn't damage Geodude much, they could add up over time.
It's best to drag it out until Geodude wakes up.
The next second, the Geodude wrapped in white silk suddenly twitched. Brock was overjoyed and immediately shouted, "Geodude, wake up and use Rollout!"
"Geo…" Waking up, Geodude began to struggle, and with a decisive effort, it broke free of the silk binding it!
Though some white silk still hung on, reducing its speed, it was hardly a concern for the already slow Geodude.
Geodude curled up into a ball again and started rolling in place.
"Now, Pikachu, Aura Sphere!!" At this moment, Ash's eyes snapped open, and he shouted loudly.
"Pika Pika!!" Pikachu's eyes opened too, its once black pupils turned sky-blue. Between Pikachu's hands, a blue energy ball quickly formed, growing in a blink of an eye to a size comparable to Pikachu's own height.
Before Geodude rolled closer, Pikachu thrust its hands forward, sending the Aura Sphere flying, zooming toward Geodude like a shooting star.
Still rolling, Geodude sensed the danger and quickly tried to escape using its rolling speed to dodge the incoming Aura Sphere from Pikachu.
However, as Geodude rolled away from its original position, the Aura Sphere astonishingly curved mid-air, homing in on the fleeing Geodude.
"Boom!!"
Aura Sphere struck with precision!!
Amid the explosion, a vast cloud of smoke rose where Aura Sphere hit. Pikachu stood calmly, pressing its hands down slowly and exhaled deeply, then gradually turned around.
The explosion's gust blew past Pikachu's back, and Pikachu's demeanor now looked as if it embodied the phrase 'real men never look back at explosions'.
Misty and Brock stood with mouths agape, staring in disbelief at the rising smoke on the field, speechless.
What the heck was that just now? Aura Sphere? An unheard-of move! Is that even a move Pikachu can learn? Brock couldn't comprehend it and was deeply shocked.
Misty was equally conflicted inside. She knew what Aura Sphere was; wasn't it an attack move Ash conjured using Aura Power? So why could Pikachu use it too?
No, no, Ash and Pikachu made the same gestures just now, and both closed their eyes. Could it be... no, that's impossible, one with the Pokemon, merging to share moves, how could that happen in reality!