At the critical moment, Pichu didn't panic or flail about.
Instead, it blinked its round, watery eyes, puffed up its cheeks, and deliberately acted cute—sending out a wave of harmless friendliness toward Rattata.
Although Rattata wasn't female, being suddenly hit with such an overwhelming cute attack still caused the aggressively charging Rattata to hesitate for a split second.
Seeing this, the corners of Ash's lips curved upward into a confident smile.
Without the slightest hesitation, he decisively gave the counterattack order.
"Pichu—now! Use Thunder Wave!"
"Pichu—!"
The moment it received the command, Pichu slammed on the brakes. It slapped the electric sacs on its cheeks, and a thread-thin arc of electricity shot forward at lightning speed, instantly wrapping around Rattata.
The charging Rattata was less than half a step away from Pichu.
Faced with the sudden Thunder Wave, it had no room to dodge.
It was hit—cleanly.
"Chi—chi!!"
The instant Thunder Wave struck, Rattata's muscles went slack. Its body spasmed violently as paralysis seized it. Mid-charge, its limbs gave out, and it crashed hard onto the ground.
"Pichu—Thunder Shock!"
The moment Rattata collapsed in a paralyzed state, Ash's next command followed immediately.
On the grassy clearing, the small and nimble Pichu performed a quick backward hop. It slapped its cheek sacs again, and a bolt of electricity as thick as a big toe tore through the air, leaving Rattata no chance to react.
"Zzz—!"
"Chi—!!"
The damage from Pichu's full-powered Thunder Shock was devastating. After being struck, Rattata's eyes rolled back—and it instantly lost all ability to fight.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. You defeated LV.9 Rattata. Experience +110]
[Pichu meets level-up requirements. Leveling up… Current Level: LV.8]
[Pokémon: Pichu]
Level: LV.8 (53/76)
Type: Electric
Nature: Timid
Abilities: Static (Hidden Ability: Lightning Rod)
HP: 20
Attack: 40
Defense: 15
Sp. Atk: 35
Sp. Def: 35
Speed: 60
Overall: 205
Potential: Gold (King/Royal) +0.06%
"Favored by the world's fortune, bearing miraculous and unfathomable power."
Moves (Copyable):
Skilled:
Thunder Shock (200/500)
Wish (12/500)
Tail Whip (3/500)
Nuzzle (13/500)
Thunder Wave (1/500)
…
"Nice, very nice."
Ash nodded in satisfaction after checking the panel.
"Defeating Rattata gave 110 experience points. Pichu successfully leveled up from LV.7 to LV.8, and it's only 23 experience points away from the next level."
After the battle, Ash didn't just leave Rattata lying there.
He first copied its skills through the Ascension Trainer System, then used Healing Grace to treat Rattata's injuries.
Feeling the Viridian Blessing within him gently boil and rise once more, Ash nodded contentedly. After Rattata regained consciousness, Ash continued wandering across the grassy wasteland with Pichu and Frogadier.
…
The grassy flats were home to many small wild Pokémon.
Most of them fed on grass seeds and occasionally snuck into nearby farmland to steal crops planted by the townsfolk.
To Ash, these little Pokémon were adorable.
But to farmers, they could be a serious nuisance—often causing resentment and frustration.
In the end, it was simply a matter of differing interests and perspectives.
Different standpoints led to different conclusions.
As the favored child of this world, Ash possessed exceptionally high affinity with Pokémon—but this affinity only became apparent after brief interaction.
Under normal circumstances, if Ash didn't actively activate Natural Affinity, wild Pokémon would still jump out and attack him while he traveled through the wilderness.
He wasn't given any special treatment.
With Aura Perception active and deliberately roaming areas rich in wild Pokémon, Ash encountered battle after battle in less than an hour.
Rattata
Rattata
Sandshrew
Weedle
Rattata
Geodude
Six encounters in total.
Since all of them were weak wild Pokémon under LV.10, Ash deliberately sent out Pichu, whose level was lower, to fight.
…
By the time Ash left home that afternoon, Pichu was only LV.7.
After just two to three hours of battling wild Pokémon on the grassy flats, Pichu's level skyrocketed to LV.13—a total increase of six levels.
If Ash hadn't deliberately slowed things down out of concern for unstable foundations and inflated strength, Pichu's level could have caught up to Frogadier in a single afternoon.
[Ding! Congratulations. Pichu reached LV.13 and learned new moves: Sweet Kiss and Nuzzle!]
…
After finishing Pichu's leveling session, Ash didn't neglect Frogadier either.
He would never intentionally hold Frogadier back just to let Pichu catch up in level.
However, as levels increased, the experience required for Frogadier to level up was on a completely different scale from Pichu's.
After fighting more than a dozen wild Pokémon, Frogadier's level only rose by two levels.
LV.20 → LV.22
Frogadier didn't learn any new moves this time, but Ash felt no regret.
Frogadier's move pool was already extensive—so extensive that even now, they couldn't fully train everything yet. And as for learning new moves, that was trivial for Ash.
[Pokémon: Pichu]
Level: LV.13 (11/180)
Type: Electric
Nature: Timid
Abilities: Static (Hidden Ability: Lightning Rod)
Skilled:
Thunder Shock (200/500)
Wish (12/500)
Tail Whip (3/500)
Nuzzle (13/500)
Thunder Wave (1/500)
Novice:
Sweet Kiss
Nuzzle
------
[Frogadier]
Level: LV.22 (32/460)
Type: Water
Nature: Serious
Abilities: Torrent, Protean
(Heaven-Gifted Ability: Bond Phenomenon)
Moves (Copyable):
Proficient:
Pound (200/1000)
Bubble (200/1000)
Aqua Ring (1/1000)
Quick Attack (1/1000)
Skilled:
Growl (23/500)
Water Pulse (347/500)
Lick (117/500)
Rain Dance (112/500)
Water Shuriken (150/500)
Smokescreen (1/500)
…
"All right."
Ash looked at his two partners and nodded.
"Pichu, Frogadier—the rest of the time, you'll stay here and train."
"Pichu, your task is to raise Sweet Kiss and Nuzzle from Novice to Skilled."
The road to becoming stronger…
had only just begun.
--------------
T/N:
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