In a Black World —
Gary's mind went blank.
What the—?
He didn't even blink, and Nidoqueen was already airborne.
Watching Nidoqueen roll across the ground, Gary finally felt it clearly:
He'd still underestimated Ash's Pikachu.
That "electric mouse" had probably surpassed every Electric-type he'd ever seen.
A Pikachu with power like this… he'd never witnessed anything like it.
"Nidoqueen, hang on!"
At Gary's shout, Nidoqueen forced herself upright.
"Good—now use Earthquake!"
Earthquake was a full-field move. It hit the entire arena.
Gary knew Pikachu was fast, but no matter how fast it was, it couldn't outrun the battlefield itself.
"RRAAAH!"
Nidoqueen slammed her foot down.
The whole stadium shook violently.
"Ash: Pikachu—Quick Attack in close, then jump and use Iron Tail!"
"Pika!"
A golden blur flashed.
Pikachu appeared right in front of Nidoqueen and sprang upward.
Midair, its tail gleamed with a hard metallic sheen—
then whipped downward like a falling hammer.
Yes, Earthquake hit the whole field.
But it didn't hit the sky.
Pikachu had jumped over the shockwave and brought Iron Tail down from above—
BOOM!!
The impact was so violent the arena shook harder than it had from Earthquake.
Even Gary—standing at a distance—staggered and nearly lost his footing.
Gary: "…"
You call that Iron Tail?!
That strike looked like a meteor.
Dust exploded across the field.
And Gary didn't even need to look to know the result.
If Nidoqueen could take that and stay standing, she'd be knocking on the Elite Four's door today.
Sure enough…
When the dust cleared, a crater had formed where Nidoqueen stood.
At the bottom, Nidoqueen's eyes had spiraled shut—
unable to battle.
Pikachu took the win without breaking a sweat.
[Lance: That Pikachu is still as violent as ever!]
[Volkner: If I could turn my Raichu back into a Pikachu, maybe it'd be like that too!]
[Flint: Listen to yourself. If you can turn Raichu into Pikachu, I'll call you the greatest Electric-type trainer alive.]
[Cynthia: It's not impossible. Earlier stream rewards gave Ash's Bulbasaur "free evolution." If that kind of reward shows up again… maybe "de-evolution" could happen too.]
[Volkner: No thanks—I'm just joking. Not every Pikachu is that Pikachu.]
[Professor Oak: Still… if Black World Ash's Pikachu is that strong, doesn't that mean our Ash's Pikachu has the same potential?]
[Ash: Uh… I am training Pikachu! Okay, I haven't learned Iron Tail or Grass Knot or Rain Dance stuff yet, but Pikachu's strong now!]
[Gary: Oh? Even my Eevee beats yours and you call that "strong"?]
[Ash: Th-That was my bad calling! That's not Pikachu's fault!]
[Professor Oak: I'm not saying your Pikachu is weak, Ash. I'm saying… it may have the same kind of potential.]
[Professor Oak: Usually, Pikachu's issue is that its growth is slow and its ceiling is limited.]
[Professor Oak: But both your Pikachu and Black World Ash's Pikachu have something unusual—slow growth, yet they keep improving without hitting a hard wall.]
Ash read Professor Oak's message and glanced at Pikachu beside him.
To be honest, he'd never seriously thought about "potential."
In Kanto, Pikachu really was common.
The world felt "fair" in a cruel way:
powerful species were rarer, weaker species were everywhere.
That was why so many Trainers chose Pokémon with higher long-term ceilings.
Because how much work did it take for a Pikachu to keep up with a Dragonite?
No one wanted to find out.
And yet…
Ash's Pikachu really did feel different.
Slow improvement, yes—
but no dead-end.
It just kept climbing.
As if its potential was… endless.
[Jessie: That's why we've been trying to grab Pikachu and give it to Boss Giovanni!]
[James: Exactly! You have no idea what that Pikachu represents!]
Before, people had laughed off Team Rocket's obsession.
Now, more viewers hesitated.
Were they… actually right?
Had those two seen Pikachu's value from the very beginning?
In a Black World —
Ash's Pikachu had crushed Nidoqueen. Gary recalled her with a grim expression.
So far, Ash had used three Pokémon.
Pidgeot was exhausted, but the other two were barely scratched.
Gary had already lost four.
He sucked in a breath.
"Calm down, Gary… there's still a chance. Go—Golem!"
Gary's fifth Pokémon hit the field.
Golem was one of his planned answers to Pikachu.
Because no matter how terrifying Pikachu was—
Ground-types still mattered.
"There's your Ground-type again?" Ash asked.
"I came prepared for your Pikachu," Gary said sharply. "This won't be like last time."
"Golem—use Sandstorm!"
Instead of attacking first, Gary changed the weather.
In a Sandstorm, Pikachu would take chip damage, its footing would be worse, and visibility would drop.
"RUMMMBLE!"
Golem threw its head back and roared.
Dust and grit began to whip across the field—
and Golem's silhouette faded inside the storm.
Ash frowned. "Sand Veil?"
"Hah! Exactly!" Gary's pride surged. "Sandstorm plus Sand Veil. Your Pikachu won't be able to find Golem!"
Then Gary suddenly remembered something.
His proud expression froze, and he blurted out:
"You can't use that ability from before!"
"Trainer special powers interfering in a match is against the spirit of battling!"
He was thinking of Ash's Aura—how it could "see" through obstacles.
But Ash only looked at him like Gary had grown a second head.
Then he called calmly:
"Pikachu, come back."
"Pika!"
Pikachu hopped out of the Sandstorm and returned.
"Who said I was going to fight you with Pikachu?"
"You think I'm going to win on 'type disadvantage' once—then do it twice?"
Ash flicked his wrist.
"Go—Blastoise!"
Ash's fourth Pokémon appeared.
Gary: "…!"
He felt like his soul had left his body.
Pikachu was terrifying.
And Ash… cautiously switched out anyway.
Who plays like that?!
"Blastoise—Rain Dance!"
"Blasto!"
The sky darkened instantly.
Clouds gathered, and rain poured down.
The Sandstorm was overwhelmed and washed away in seconds.
Golem's outline reappeared clearly across from Blastoise.
Ash tilted his head, almost innocently.
"Your Sandstorm was loud and dramatic… but tell me something—how were you planning to 'hide' in the first place?"
Gary: "…!"
Somebody save him.
Even with a massive lead, Ash still stole the weather and removed every trick.
Be human, man!
Livestream Chat
[Ash: Hahaha! Gary's face is killing me—like he just swallowed a lemon!]
[Gary: You swallowed a lemon! Be human! You're using Rain Dance just to bully a Rock/Ground-type that's already four-times weak to Water!]
[Professor Oak: Ahem. That's Black World Ash… and it proves he respects Gary as an opponent. He didn't give him a single opening.]
[Gary: Wow. Thanks. I'm so grateful.]
Even though it wasn't this Gary on the field, he felt it in his bones.
If he were the one getting smothered this hard…
he wouldn't be able to eat for days.
Maybe being a researcher really was more comfortable.
In a Black World —
Gary's face was darker than the storm clouds overhead.
He reached for Golem's Poké Ball.
In rain, against Water-type pressure—
Golem would go down instantly.
He had to recall.
"You want to run?" Ash said mildly. "Blastoise—Aqua Jet!"
"Blasto!"
Water surged around Blastoise's body—
and it launched forward like a torpedo.
Before Gary could complete the recall, Blastoise slammed into Golem.
Aqua Jet wasn't the strongest move…
But in rain, against a Pokémon four-times weak to Water?
Golem didn't stand a chance.
Golem flew backward, rolled twice, and collapsed—
unable to battle.
One move. One knockout.
No speeches.
No mercy.
Ash gave Gary zero breathing room.
Gary was cornered.
He had one Pokémon left.
One… against Ash's full roster.
Unless he had some miracle in his hand—
a hidden legendary, a once-in-a-lifetime clutch—
this was over.
"Come back, Golem…"
Gary clenched his fists, trembling with frustration.
He'd come so far… so close…
"Ash's voice rang out: Gary! What are you doing?!"
"Even now you're still fighting—don't tell me you've already accepted defeat before the match is even finished?!"
The shout snapped Gary back.
Right.
The match wasn't over.
He would fight to the last second.
"Tch. I don't need your pep talk," Gary spat.
"I'll show you my trump card—go, Blastoise!"
Gary's final Pokémon hit the field.
Ash didn't recall his own Blastoise.
It was raining, so Pikachu could've come in with momentum—
but Ash wanted this.
A head-to-head clash.
A Blastoise versus Blastoise showdown.
After a fierce exchange, both Blastoise collapsed—
both unable to battle.
It was the first point Gary had ever taken from Ash.
And it would be the last.
Final score:
Ash defeats Gary 6–1 and wins the Indigo League championship.
At the award ceremony, Gary glared and said through gritted teeth:
"You only won this time. Don't think you'll keep winning."
"Six months from now, the Silver Conference in Johto—we settle it again."
Ash grinned.
"I wouldn't have it any other way!"
The two rivals sealed their next duel with words.
Ash lifted the championship trophy overhead.
The screen filled with his smiling face.
Then, slowly, the image began to fade.
With Black World Ash's victory, the Black World story reached its end.
[Ash: He won… the other me really won the championship…]
Staring at the identical boy holding the trophy, Ash couldn't help imagining himself there.
But he forced himself back to reality.
That was another world—another timeline.
Right now, he was still fighting his way through his own journey.
[Gary: Heh… I lost. But I have to admit it—Black World Ash is ridiculous. Talent, effort, everything. In any world, I can't catch him.]
For once, Gary wasn't being stubborn.
He admitted it plainly.
He was behind in talent, and Black World Ash worked several times harder on top of that.
If you didn't see it with your own eyes, you'd never believe how relentless he was.
Losing to that?
No excuses.
[Leon: First League, first championship… and it was cleaner than mine was.]
[Raihan: Yeah. Leon also won his first League—but his road was rougher. Black World Ash? This was a crush.]
Across the whole run, only Gary managed to take even one Pokémon down.
His Blastoise had the aura of a true ace.
Even Black World Ash's Blastoise only barely edged it out.
But that was all.
Ash still won with overwhelming control.
[Cynthia: Winning the championship isn't the end of the journey—it's the beginning.]
[Alder: Exactly. He hasn't challenged the Elite Four or a Champion yet, and he's only traveled Kanto so far. He's still far from his dream.]
Black World Ash and White World Ash shared the same dream:
To become the world's greatest Pokémon Master—
and befriend Pokémon all over the world.
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