On the surface, Pikachu is indeed the weakest of the three giants, but once it's in partner form, that's a different story.
"Wearing a hat? Interesting, the whole Pokemon's aura is different now. It seems this is how your Pikachu gets stronger," Mr. Brandon instantly understood once he saw Pikachu in the hat.
Although she knew Ash's Pikachu was special, she never paid attention to Pikachu's partner form, so this was the first time she saw it.
However, he speculated the change in Pikachu's aura, and after wearing the hat, Ash's Pikachu probably underwent strengthening similar to other Pokemon undergoing MEGA Evolution.
Once Pikachu wore the hat, its strength qualitatively changed, and perhaps earlier, it couldn't threaten Regice, but now, it might.
"We're going in, Mr. Brandon, Pikachu, use Zippy Zap!"
"What's that?" Brandon frowned slightly, clearly unfamiliar with this skill.
Immediately, before Brandon could react, Pikachu had already vanished from the field, leaving only a faint electric glow in its place.
Brandon's pupils suddenly constricted; this speed was nearly comparable to using Extreme Speed. He couldn't even capture Pikachu's silhouette!
"Bang!!!"
A dull crashing sound exploded inside the pyramid, lightning scattered freely!
Regice's stout body seemed like it was hit by a heavy hammer, flying backward and crashing into Mewtwo's transparent barrier!
"Boom!!!"
The barrier rippled violently but wasn't damaged; instead, Regice slid off, half-kneeled, with its chest ice layer visibly damaged.
This hit directly struck Regice's weak spot, inflicting significant damage.
"Regice!" Brandon's voice finally carried a hint of astonishment.
It slowly stood up, the chest damage disappearing with the ice refreeze, but Brandon could tell the hit inflicted more harm than expected on Regice.
Although Regice's special defense was remarkable, it didn't mean its physical defense was weak; none of the Three Divine Pillars had weak defenses.
From the explosive aura Pikachu showed prior, it ranked at most at the Elite Peak level. The power boost from wearing the hat might reach Champion Junior Level, but only just.
A Champion Junior Level encounter resulted in nearly a fifth of Regice's health being taken down, even without attribute restraint...
Ash's third Pokemon is exceptionally outrageous, surpassing even the previous two Pokemon!
"Zippy Zap..." Brandon murmured the skill's name, eyes on the small yellow silhouette on the field.
Pikachu landed smoothly, its body under the hat sparkling with golden lightning, its cheek electric sacs crackling.
"Another unseen skill," Brandon looked up at Ash, "Its speed even rivals Extreme Speed, a skill Pikachu shouldn't normally learn, right?"
Ash nodded and smiled, "Indeed, ordinary Pikachu can't learn this skill, but my Pikachu is special; it's the only one like this in the world!"
"Unique, indeed, deserving of that title," Brandon took a deep breath, suppressing his disbelief, "Regice, Ice Beam!"
"Pikachu, dodge!" Ash decisively directed Pikachu to evade Brandon's counterattack.
Without the support of locking skills, Regice's slow attacks were basically impossible to hit Pikachu.
Pikachu leaped up as Regice raised its arms, shooting the ice-blue beam from its palms, targeting not Pikachu but the entire battle field!
"What?" Ash frowned.
Ice Beam swept across the ground, leaving shattered rocks and cracked floors, all covered by a thick layer of ice.
In less than a second, the entire battle field transformed into an ice plain! Coldness permeated the air, causing Misty and others in the audience to shiver.
"With this, Pikachu can't utilize its speed," Brandon remarked in a deep voice.
Pikachu stood on the ice, slipping several times, nearly falling.
After all, it's not an ice-type Pokemon; walking on slippery ice is difficult enough, let alone moving at high speed.
"Ash..." Serena looked worriedly at the field, Misty and Brock also furrowed their brows.
Brandon's response was too decisive, seeing Pikachu's speed advantage, he immediately restricted it with the field, thus sealing Pikachu's greatest weapon.
Compared to trainers Ash fought before, Brandon's strategy and reflexes undoubtedly stand at the highest tier.
What will Ash do next?
But that's not all.
"Regice, Snow Scene!" Brandon's voice resounded again.
Regice's chest core emitted ice-blue brilliance, further dropping the temperature inside the pyramid.
Heavy clouds formed overhead, fine snowflakes fell from the clouds, and within moments, the battle field was enveloped in heavy snow.
Snowflakes falling on Pikachu made it shiver.
Snow Scene skill alters the weather to snowy state, but snow and hail are two different weather states; the latter continuously drains health from non-ice attribute Pokemon, while the former does not.
In snowy weather, ice attribute Pokemon's defense increases by fifty percent, Blizzard becomes one hundred percent accurate, and some Pokemon can use notably op skills like Aurora Veil, effectively halving all damage received.
These advantages are significant enough for ice-type Pokemon, but for Regice, it's even more.
Ash gritted his teeth, that Regice has a hidden ability, Ice Body.
In snowy weather, Regice can periodically restore a portion of its health, recovery based on percentage health, practically a cheat for legendary Pokemon.
"Regice, Blizzard!" Brandon waved his hand grandly.
Regice's chest core burst with a dazzling blue glow, dropping the pyramid's temperature below freezing!
Gusts whipped sharp ice shards towards Pikachu, with surprising density, nearly covering the entire field!
The range is too wide, and coupled with Snow Scene's boost, Blizzard's coverage expanded by a whole circle.
Even normal Pikachu finds dodging this move challenging, let alone now with the field covered in ice.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash had no choice but to withstand it.
Pikachu strained to stand on the ice layer, emitting brilliant golden lightning, shooting a thick bolt towards the Blizzard's center!
"Boom——!!!"
Golden lightning clashed with ice-blue Blizzard in mid-air, in terms of ATK, Pikachu won't lose to Regice, yet Thunderbolt remains a single-target attack and Blizzard a broad coverage.
Lightning tore a gap but couldn't stop the whole Blizzard, numerous ice shards bypassing the bolt's sides, hitting Pikachu solidly!
"Pika---!!"
Pikachu let out a scream, the whole body was blown away by Blizzard, spinning in air several times before crashing onto the ice, and sliding over ten meters before stopping.
It struggled to stand up, but its body was already frozen stiff, covered in wounds from the ice shards.
This hit nearly depleted half of Pikachu's health, whereas Regice's health keeps replenishing due to the snow.
Brock and the others couldn't help but sweat for Ash; in the three matches, this was the closest Ash got to a predicament!
With time, terrain, and conditions not favoring Ash, how can he win?