Episode 47: Evolutionary War

Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Misty are standing at the edge of a large lake. Today we catch up with our heroes, still joined by Misty, just as they're about to take some much needed time off, and enjoy themselves a little.

Misty declares, "This is it. The perfect fishing spot!"

Brenda states, "I've never gone fishing before."

Misty looks to her. "Don't worry about it, it's the easiest thing in the world to learn how to do."

Ash produces a fishing rod and declares, "I bet I catch the biggest fish! Right Pikachu?"

Pikachu nods in agreement. "Pik."

Misty pulls out her fishing rod. "No way you're beating me."

Ash grins smugly. "Oh yeah? Even if I have your secret weapon?" From his bag he pulls out a fishing lure that's shaped like Misty.

Misty gasps. "The Misty Special!?" She then blushes and says somewhat embarrassedly, "You still have that thing…?"

Ash nots. "You bet I do, and now I'm going to use it to beat you at your own game."

Misty snaps herself out her embarrassment and declares with renewed fire, "Well I have something way better than that now!" She digs into her bag and pulls out another lure. This one also looks like her, but redesigned to match her current outfit. "I present to you the Misty Supreme!"

Both stare at each other intensely as they attach their respective lures to their rods, and then cast them. They continue to lock eyes competitively as they fish.

Brock and Brenda watch from a few steps back. Brock suggests, "Maybe it's best that we just sit back and watch. Give them some space."

Brenda nods in agreement. "Sounds good to me."

Both Ash and Misty get a tug on their lines at the same time. They shout at once, "I've got one!" and reel in their lines rapidly. What emerges from the water is a single Binacle, with one head biting onto each line. Once they realize they've both caught the same Pokémon, they shout at each other, "It bit my line first! No, it bit my line first!" They butt heads once again. Meanwhile the Binacle, quite confused by what's going on, releases its hold on the lines, and drops back into the water. They then shout at each other, "Great, you let it get away!"

From behind them, someone laughs. Then he says, "I thought I heard some familiar squabbling."

Ash and Misty both turn around in surprise. Ash says with shock, "It's Ritchie…"

Ritchie grins. "Hey Ash, what's up?"

Misty greets, "Ritchie, it's great to see you."

Brock nods. "Yeah, funny coincidence meeting you here."

Ritchie nods in agreement. "Yeah, it's great to see you guys too."

Brenda asks, "Let me guess, another old friend of yours?"

Ash nods. "Yeah, I met Ritchie during the Indigo Conference back in Kanto. He's the one who beat me."

Ritchie shrugs it off as if it's no big deal, and says, "You and I both know that battle would have gone much differently if you were at full strength."

Ash shakes his head. "You beat me fair and square."

Misty asks, "So what brings you to the Tenno Region, Ritchie? Are you planning on entering the Tenno League?"

Ritchie shakes his head. "No. Actually, I'm on way to right now to take a boat back to the Kalos Region, that's where I'm working right now to gather badges. I thought I'd stop here along the way to take a break to go fishing for some Tenno Pokémon to take back with me."

Ash then asks, "So why did you come to the Tenno Region in the first place?"

Ritchie grins. "Why don't you have battle with me and find out?"

Ash grins back. "We haven't had a battle since the Indigo Conference. This should be fun."

Both have taken positions on either side of a flat patch of land near the lake. Brock has taken position as referee. Brenda and Misty watch from the sidelines. Brenda says, "So these two must have a rivalry going way back."

Misty nods. "I guess that you could say that they're both cut from the same cloth. That sparked both a friendship and rivalry between them the moment they first met."

Brock declares, "This will be a one-on-one match. First trainer to knock out the other's Pokémon wins." Ash and Ritchie both nod in agreement to the rules.

Ritchie goes first by pulling out one of his star-marked Pokéballs and tossing it into the air. "Go, Sparky!" What appears is not the expected Pikachu, but rather a Raichu. It still maintains the tuft of hair on the top of its head, proving it is the same Pokémon.

Ash gasps, "You Evolved Sparky!"

Ritchie nods. "Yeah, the two of us thought long and hard about it, and we decided that Sparky was ready to Evolve. It had gained as much out of being a Pikachu as it ever was going to."

Ash looks up to Pikachu and asks, "How about it buddy, you feel like beating another Raichu?"

Pikachu nods with determination, "Pik." It then hops off of Ash's shoulders and onto the ground in front of him.

Ritchie then adds, "But Sparky Evolving wasn't the surprise I had for you. Let's show him Sparky!"

Sparky grins. "Rai rai!" It moves its tail so that the lower portion of it is no longer obscured by its body. Wrapped around it is a curious band with a gemstone attached.

Ritchie then makes a fist and shows the back of his palm to Ash, revealing a similar gemstone attached to the back of his glove. He taps the stone and declares, "Let's do this, Mega Evolution!" Both gemstones begin to glow. Tendrils of light connect the two stones and Sparky begins glow intensely. Its form changes in both shape and size.

Ash and Pikachu gasp in collective awe. "Mega Evolution…"

The transformation completes and the glowing subsides. Sparky is now a Mega Raichu. The most noticeable difference is that it has grown a second tail. The lightning bolt shape of both tails are larger than the original, adding extra zig-zags. Also changed is its color scheme. It is now primarily yellow in coloration, with the tips of its ears, arms, and legs being black. The brown stripes from its back now reach around to its front, not quite wrapping all the way around. In the center of its chest is a lightning bolt emblem. Small jolts of electricity buzz and crackle around its body at random. It still maintains its ruffled hair on the top of its head.

Ritchie explains to the still stunned Ash, "I came across this Key Stone while in the Kalos Region. I was told that here in Tenno you can find an item known as Raichite that will allow Raichu to Mega Evolve. That's why we're here."

Ash manages to say, "Wow Ritchie, that's great…"

Ritchie grins. "It is pretty awesome, isn't it?" He then adds, "I won't blame you if you want to back out of this battle now. Mega Evolution makes battles a whole new ball game."

Ash shakes off his shock and disagrees, "No way would I ever miss this chance. Besides, Pikachu and I have taken on our fair share of Mega Pokémon."

"I'd expect no less from you Ash. Let's do this. Go ahead and make the first attack."

Ash chuckles. "You'll regret that choice. Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu launches the first attack. "Pikaaaaaaaa chuuuuuuuuu!" It unleashes its strongest Thunderbolt. Ritchie and Sparky make no attempt to dodge the attack. Sparky simply absorbs the electricity effortlessly.

Ritchie taunts, "Come on Ash, you're going to have to do better than that. Sparky, use Iron Tail!" Both of the Mega Raichu's tails begin to glow silver.

Ash declares, "Our electricity may not have been effective, but we know exactly how to defeat a Raichu, isn't that right Pikachu? Use Quick Attack to dodge!" Pikachu dashes away at high speeds.

Ritchie doesn't seem to care. "How about we show them your speed, Sparky!"

With a surprising speed even faster than Pikachu's Quick Attack, Sparky leaps at Pikachu. "Rai chu rai!" It slams its two tails down on Pikachu in succession.

Ash shouts, "Pikachu!"

Sparky leaps back from Pikachu and Ritchie explains, "Raichu may be a slower Pokémon that Pikachu, but Mega Raichu is a whole different story. It gains plenty of speed to make up for that deficiency."

Pikachu gets up slowly. It seems to have taken a large amount of damage from the single attack. Ash suggests, "Alright then, let's tackle this problem head on! No one can beat your Volt Tackle, Pikachu!"

Pikachu begins to dash at Sparky, it becomes cloaked in electricity. "Pika pika pika pika pika pika…!"

Ritchie counters, "Sparky, let's show them our Volt Tackle!"

Raichu begins to dash towards Pikachu now. "Rai rai rai rai rai rai rai rai…!"

Both Pokémon ram into each other and shout "Chu!" at the same time. The colliding attacks send both Pokémon flying backwards. Sparky lands on its feet and skids back a couple of inches on them. Pikachu, on the other hand, is helplessly thrown through the air and slams into the trunk of a tree.

Ritchie sees how damaged Pikachu is now. He asks with concern, "Do you want to stop the battle? I don't want to see Pikachu get hurt."

Ash shakes his head. "No way, we'll never give up, right Pikachu?"

Pikachu gets up and affirms, "Pik."

"Alright…if that's what you want. Sparky, use Thunder." Sparky unleashes a massive bolt of electricity.

Ash shouts, "Intercept it with Thunderbolt Pikachu!"

"Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuuu!" Pikachu attempt's to block Raichu's electricity with its own, but it is quickly overwhelmed. Sparky's Thunder attack crashes down on Pikachu, inflicting severe damage.

Pikachu falls to the ground. Brock begins to declare, "Pikachu is unable to-"

He stops when he realizes that Pikachu isn't down for the count. Pikachu struggles to get up, but it manages. "Pi…ka…" It looks towards Sparky daringly.

Ash, getting caught up in the heat of battle, orders, "Quick Attack Pikachu, followed by an Iron Tail!" Pikachu dashes in at Sparky, preparing to attack with its tail."

Ritchie looks somewhat unsure of what to do. He reluctantly orders, "Sparky…use Iron Tail as well." Before Pikachu can even make it in for the attack, Sparky swats it away with its tails.

Pikachu is flung back once again. And once again, using all of its will and determination, it gets back up. "Pik…"

Misty shouts, "Ash, you have to end this battle! Pikachu is too hurt to battle anymore! Give it up!"

Ash clenches his fists. "No…we'll never give up." Pikachu seems to agree with Ash's sentiment.

Ritchie begs, "Please Ash, don't make this go on any longer than it has to."

Ash and Pikachu ignore him. "Pikachu, use Volt Tackle again!"

"Pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika chu!" Pikachu attempts to ram itself at Raichu again.

"Stop it Sparky…" Sparky once again swats Pikachu away with an Iron Tail.

Pikachu is knocked down again, but once more it gets back up. Brock shouts, "Enough, as referee I'm calling this match!"

Ash shouts in frustration at him, "Don't you dare! We're not done yet! We can still win this! We won't lose to another Raichu!" A tear comes to his eye. "Never again!"

Ritchie sighs. "Then you leave me no choice. Sparky, full power Thunder, don't hold back this time."

Sparky, looking at Pikachu and seeing the damage it has sustained, hesitates. But it concedes and prepares to attack. "Raiiiiiii chuuuuuu!" and unleashes an even bigger blast of electricity than last time. Before Ash and Pikachu can react, the electricity rains down on Pikachu.

Pikachu cries out in pain, "Pika!" and falls to the ground.

Ash shouts, "Pikachu, are you okay!?" Pikachu doesn't respond. It's finally down. Brock doesn't even bother calling it. Ash runs out onto the battlefield. "Piakchu!" He picks it up and looks at it. Pikachu is still out and makes no response. Its injuries are extensive.

Sparky reverts back to a normal Raichu, and it and Ritchie come running towards Ash. Ritchie shouts, "Ash, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt Pikachu this badly, I swear."

Ash looks up to him for a moment, but doesn't say a word. He's about to say something, but then he just shakes his head. He runs off with Pikachu cradled in his arms.

Everyone looks around at each other, unsure of how to react. After a few moments of hesitation, Brock, Brenda, and Misty run off after Ash.

Ritchie and Sparky remain behind. They look to each with uncertainty and sadness.

Apparently having been watching the entire time while hiding nearby is Team Rocket. They too are speechless. James breaks the silence by stating, "Poor Pikachu…"

Meowth says, "It hardly seems possible that the same Pokémon that sends us blasting off week after week could get beaten so badly…"

Jessie nods. "This is surreal…"

James, breaking the morbid tone, suddenly gets up and declares, "I say that as that Pikachu has defeated us so often and so thoroughly, it is our sacred duty as members of Team Rocket to see that Pikachu becomes strong enough to beat that Mega Raichu no matter what."

Meowth adds, "And then The Boss will love it that much more when we give it to him."

Jessie says, "That's great and all, but how do you plan on doing that? It's not like we have anything that would make Pikachu stronger."

Meowth stops and thinks for a moment. "Well…there is this…" He pulls out a Thunder Stone."

James exclaims, "It's the Thunder Stone we stole from The Twerp last time this happened!" He pauses. "Wait…weren't we going to sell that?"

Meowth shrugs. "I guess we never got around to it."

Jessie asks, "But wait, we stole that to stop Pikachu from Evolving. Do we really just want to hand it back after that?"

They all look to each in thought for several moments. Then they all nod at the same time and say, "It's what we need to do."

Ash has made it to a Pokémon Center. He watches nervously as Nurse Joy and Brock frantically attempt to heal it. Nurse Joy shouts, "This is no good! Pikachu is failing to create its own electricity!"

Brock quickly suggests, "We need to jump start it, and fast!"

Nurse Joy orders, "Chansey, get me the defibrillator!" Her Chansey assistant comes running pushing a cart covered in machinery ahead of it. It passes by another hospital bed with a fainted Raticate on it and brings the cart to Nurse Joy, who quickly grabs two panels from the cart and activates the machinery. She shouts, "Clear!" and taps the panels down on Pikachu. Pikachu convulses from the electricity.

Brock, who is monitoring a screen with Pikachu's vitals displayed, informs her, "No change!"

Nurse Joy charges the machine again. "Clear!" She shocks Pikachu again.

Ash watches in despair. He thinks, Pikachu…I promised you this would never happen again…I'm so sorry…please…you have to pull through…you just have to…

Nurse Joy shouts again, "Clear!"

Ash clenches his fists and looks away. A tear falls from his eye. This is my fault…I pushed you too hard…I should have stopped that battle…

Brock, with a sense of relief and joy, suddenly declares, "That did it! Pikachu's condition is stabilizing!" Ash looks up towards him. "Pikachu is going to be alright, Ash."

Who's that Pokémon!?

A Pokémon that was created by genetic manipulation. However, even though the scientific power of humans made its body, they failed to give it a warm heart.

Some time has passed. Pikachu is propped up against a pillow in a hospital bed. Ash, Brock, Brenda, and Misty are all gathered around it. Ash asks, "Pikachu…how are you feeling?"

Pikachu appears to be deep in thought and doesn't feel like talking. It rolls over on its side, facing away from Ash.

Ash sighs. "I'm sorry Pikachu. This is my fault. I got overconfident. I figured that we've beaten Raichu before, a Mega Raichu would make no difference. I should have seen that that wasn't the case from the beginning."

Brenda asks, "You keep on talking about this as if it's happened before. What am I missing here?"

Ash explains, "Back when Pikachu and I were first starting off our journey, we had to face Lt. Surge, the Vermillion City Gym Leader. He used a Raichu. He kept on teasing me about having Pikachu and not Evolving it. After he beat Pikachu badly, Pikachu and I considered having it Evolve to beat Surge, but in the end we decided to use Pikachu's speed to its advantage instead, and that won us the Thunder Badge. Later, when we were in the Sinnoh Region, something very similar occurred with a trainer named Sho. He had a Raichu and we ended up in a battle. His Raichu beat Pikachu with ease once again. And once again we considered having Pikachu Evolve into Raichu. But Pikachu and I decided that we wanted to show Sho that we could beat him without needing to Evolve. It was after we beat him that I thought we put the question to rest. There was no need for Pikachu to Evolve. But now even Ritchie has Evolved his Pikachu. Not only that, he's Mega Evolved it." Ash looks to Pikachu. "Pikachu may be able to do a lot of things, but he'll never be able to Mega Evolve…unless he Evolves into Raichu first…"

Upon hearing this, Pikachu looks up to Ash.

Misty says, "Hey, do you still have that Thunder Stone Nurse Joy gave you? Maybe you should consider using it. I don't think that anyone would disagree that Pikachu will get a lot more powerful when it Evolves into Raichu. Not to mention, Ritchie probably did have a point. You and Pikachu have been training for so long that Pikachu doesn't really have anything left to gain by staying as it is."

Ash shakes his head. "No, after Pikachu decided not to Evolve to battle Sho, Team Rocket stole the Thunder Stone. If I did have it though, would we even want to use it…?"

Just then, Jessie leaps in through an open window and declares, "What a question, twerpish indeed!"

James leaps in as well and adds, "We'll answer these questions when we feel the need!"

"Bringing the blinding white light of evil into the future!"

"Thrusting the hammer of justice down onto the black darkness of the universe!"

Meowth leaps in. "Carving our names in the Rock of Eternity!"

"The fiery destroyer, Jessie!"

"And with thunderous emotion, I am James!"

"Wisest of the wise, Meowth!"

They all declare at once, "And now gather, under the name of Team Rocket!"

Wobbuffet appears, but Jessie immediately tackles it to the ground to stop it. "Oh no you don't! This is the one motto you don't get to mess up!" She forcefully returns it to the Pokéball.

Ash gets in front of Pikachu and shouts, "Team Rocket, there's no way I'm letting you steal Pikachu while he's still weak!"

James laughs. "While that does sound like a solid plan that we might have tried on any other day, today is a special day."

Meowth nods. "Yeah, believe it or not, but we're on your side today."

Jessie explains, "Pikachu constantly beats us, so it's not good for our public image if Pikachu gets beaten. So we're here to give you this."

Meowth steps forward and presents the Thunder Stone to Ash.

Ash gasps. "Is that the same Thunder Stone…?"

Meowth nods. "You bet it is. We were going to sell it, but you need it more than we do right now."

James then declares, "So let it be known that Team Rocket does have a selfless bone in their bodies!"

And with that, the three of them leap out of the window and retreat away.

Ash looks down to the Thunder Stone, and then Pikachu, who is staring intensely at the stone. He then looks to everyone else and asks, "Can we have some time alone?"

They all nod and then file out of the room, leaving Ash and Pikachu by themselves. Ash sits down in the chair next to Pikachu's bed. He places the Thunder Stone down on the bed in front of Pikachu. "Well…here we are for the third time. The same exact question as before."

Pikachu nods. It sighs, "Pik…"

"The easiest answer would be to just do what we've always done. If we've answered the question the same way twice before, why would it be any different now?" He pauses for a moment. "But Ritchie does make things different. He's not some jerk trainer like Surge or Sho, who Evolved their Pikachu purely for power. He and Sparky know what they're doing. Sparky Evolved and now look at what it's capable of. Maybe we should reconsider."

Pikachu nods in agreement. "Chu."

They both go into deep thought. Collectively, they have flashbacks to much of their journey up until now. They think about the time they first met in Oak's lab, Pikachu is shocking Ash. Then it's when Pikachu protected Ash from the flock of Spearow. They think about their times fighting Lt. Surge, first losing, but then winning. Then it's their battles with Sho, once again losing one, but winning the next. Ash then says, "Think about all you've managed to accomplish Pikachu, then think about how much more you could if you Evolved…"

Pikachu is too deep in thought to give an answer.

Ash picks up the Thunder Stone and stares at it. Then he looks to Pikachu. "Come on buddy, let's go for a walk."

It's Mewtwo!

A little later, Brenda peeks into the room, saying, "Hey guys, I just thought I would…" She trails off as she realizes that Ash and Pikachu are no longer in the room. She looks around also notices that the Thunder Stone is nowhere to be seen. She gasps. She then turns around and shouts, "Guys, Ash and Pikachu are gone! They took the Thunder Stone with them!"

Now Brenda, Brock, and Misty are outside, searching for Ash and Pikachu. Brenda asks, "Do you think they're going to do it? Do you really think Pikachu is going to Evolve?"

Misty shakes her head. "I don't know. Knowing Ash and Pikachu, I would normally say no way, they're too stubborn, but this seems different. He and Pikachu were really shaken by this loss." She sighs. "I've always teased Ash about refusing to Evolve Pikachu…I realize now that I shouldn't have. I don't want Ash to go and make a mistake he'll regret later."

Brock adds, "And don't forget Pikachu, he's the one that's actually going to have to go through the process of Evolving. If anyone's going to regret the choice, it will be Pikachu."

Brenda asks, "So we have to make sure that Ash and Pikachu don't make this decision too hastily." Brock and Misty nod in agreement.

They keep on searching. After a little while more, Misty stops them. "Listen, hear that?"

Ash's voice is saying, "Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

Brock, Misty, and Brenda all go wide-eyed with surprise, realizing what Ash is saying. They run towards his voice. They find him and Pikachu on the lakeshore. Ash kneeling before Pikachu holding out the Thunder Stone.

Ash says to Pikachu, "If we do this, there's no going back, we'll never have a chance to undo this. You're absolutely certain?

Pikachu nods. "Pik."

Misty says with disbelief, "He's actually going through with it…"

Brock agrees, "I can't believe it…"

Ash says, "Alright then, let's do this."

Pikachu takes a step up towards the Thunder Stone. It moves to pick it up slowly. Then it suddenly moves by twisting around and knocks the Thunder Stone out of Ash's hand with an Iron Tail. "Chu pika!" The stone is flung up into the air. Once up there, Pikachu unleashes a Thunderbolt. "Pikaaaaaa chuuuuuuuu!" The electricity it releases impacts the stone and causes it to explode, shattering into shimmering dust that rains over Ash and Pikachu. Pikachu itself seems to sparkle and glow from this dust landing on it, but nothing happens from it.

Ash grins. "There. It's done."

Brock, Misty, and Brenda are stunned. Brenda demands, "Wait, what's done? I thought you were going to Evolve Pikachu!"

Ash only now notices that they're there. He grins at them. "No, we decided once and for all that Pikachu shouldn't Evolve. We decided to destroy the Thunder Stone so that we'd never be tempted again."

Brenda then asks, "But I thought you wanted Pikachu to get stronger. How are you going to do that without Evolving it?"

Ash grins and Pikachu leaps up onto his shoulder. "We decided that there's two ways to get stronger. An easy way and a hard way. In this case the easy way would be to Evolve. But as long as Pikachu doesn't Evolve, we're going to have to work that much harder to make it more powerful. In the end, the harder we work, the more powerful we'll get, even more so than a Raichu ever could, because it never had to work as hard. Right Pikachu?"

Pikachu nods in affirmation. "Pik."

Misty shakes her head in disbelief. "It shouldn't surprise me anymore, but you are most stubborn person I know Ash Ketchum. You and Pikachu both."

Ash looks to Pikachu. "Now that we have that settled, how about some special training?"

Pikachu grins and nods in agreement.

And so they train all night long and into the next day. Upon completing the training, Ash declares, "That's it! We have it! We have a new strategy that will help us win!"

Pikachu cheers, "Pik pikachu!"

Brock, Brenda, and Misty are leaned up against trees sleeping, apparently having nodded off while watching Ash and Pikachu train. Ash's shouting wakes them up. Misty groggily asks, "What's that…? You guys are done…? Can we go back to the Pokémon Center now…?"

Ash chuckles. "No way Misty, we need to leap right into action. It's time for a rematch." He then runs off along the lakeshore shouting, "Ritchie!"

Misty sighs, "Of course…" The three of them slowly and tiredly get up and follow Ash.

Somewhere else on the lake, Ritchie and Sparky are sitting on some rocks as Ritchie fishes. He hears Ash calling for him and looks up to see Ash running his way. He gets up and exclaims, "Ash! Is Pikachu better?"

Ash runs up to him and grins. "Don't worry, Pikachu is more than better."

Ritchie breathes a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad. I can't begin to explain how bad I felt. I really didn't mean to hurt Pikachu so badly."

Ash shakes his head. "No Ritchie, it was out fault. We were being too stubborn. Do you know what we realized overnight though?"

"What?"

"We realized that being stubborn was the key to getting stronger. We want a rematch."

Ritchie gasps. "A rematch!? After what happened yesterday!? How could you say that!?"

"Pikachu and I did a lot of thinking last night. You really had us considering using a Thunder Stone on Pikachu, but we decided that we could do better than that. You may be able to Mega Evolve your Raichu, but that doesn't mean we can't catch up with you, and I think we have after last night."

Ritchie nods reluctantly. "Alright…if that's what you really want…but I refuse to let this battle go as far as the last one did."

"Don't worry, it won't."

So the two prepare for their battle. Once again, Brock takes up position as referee. Sparky stands in front of Ritchie, and Pikachu in front of Ash. Before they begin battling, Ritchie suggests, "Maybe we shouldn't Mega Evolve this time."

Ash instantly rejects this by saying, "No way, I want you to go all out. Holding nothing back."

"If you say so…" He activates his Key Stone and declares, "Go, Mega Evolution!" and the process of Mega Evolution begins again as Sparky is transformed into a Mega Raichu. He then asks Ash, "Are you ready?"

Ash nods. "You bet. Why don't you make the first move?"

Ritchie nods reluctantly. "Okay…Sparky, use Thunder."

"Raiiiiiiii chuuuuuuuuuu!" Raichu unleashes a powerful Thunder attack.

Ash orders, "Alright Pikachu, Iron Tail, just like we planned!" Pikachu jumps up into the air and begins to use Iron Tail, but instead of leaping towards Sparky, it lets itself fall straight down, its tail jabbing into the ground. It now balances on its tail. "Great, now Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaaaaa chuuuuuuuu!" Pikachu unleashes its Thunderbolt, but it behaves oddly. Instead of being sent towards Sparky, it travels down the conductive path of Pikachu's Iron Tail and into the ground. The sudden burst of energy into the ground causes a shockwave of electricity to suddenly spread out across the battlefield. This surge of energy causes the ground to explode, sending chunks of rock and earth into the air. This debris in front of Pikachu effectively creates a shield and blocks the incoming Thunder attack.

Ash cheers, "Yeah, great job! Now up into the air with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu dislodges its tail and leaps up into the air. It begins to use Iron Tail to slam the falling debris towards Raichu, hitting it with accurate precision.

Brenda asks in surprise, "What is he doing!?"

Misty answers, "He's doing what he does best. He may stubborn, but that stubbornness can often lead to genius. He first improvised a shield, and then turned that shield into an attack."

Brenda simply responds, "Wow."

Ritchie grins, beginning to understand what's going on. "Alright, if that's the way you want to play, Sparky, wide range Thunder!"

"Raiiiiii chuuuuuuuuu!" The Mega Raichu begins to use its electricity to destroy the incoming debris.

Ash declares, "Alright Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Pikachu begins to Dash Around using Quick Attack, but instead of running along the floor, it leaps from various pieces of falling debris to the next. Is movement is completely erratic and random.

"Aim your Thunder at Pikachu again!" Sparky attempts to attack Pikachu, but it continuously misses.

Brock marvels, "Wow, Pikachu may not be able to out-speed a Mega Raichu on the ground, but in the air its movements are too random to be tracked!"

The last of the debris is now falling. Ash shouts, "Now Pikachu!"

Pikachu makes a quick leap for a rock straight above Sparky. Before anyone can react to this movement, it sends itself plummeting straight down, initiating a Volt Tackle. "Pika pika pika pika pika pika chu!" Having given it no chance to dodge, it impacts Sparky head on. As soon as its attack lands, it leaps backwards, landing in front of Ash.

Watching from behind some bushes is Team Rocket. They all chant in a whisper at once, "We choose you Pikachu, pull on through Pikachu, go outdo Pikachu, Pikachu, Pikachu!"

Back in the battle, Sparky is down on the ground, but not yet knocked out. Ash declares, "Alright Pikachu, it's time to finish this battle off! Use Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu begins to charge electrical energy, but not in the normal way for a Thunderbolt. All around its body, electrical energy gathers, cloaking in entirely in electricity. As it charges energy it shouts, "Pikaaaaa, pikaaaaa…!" Everyone watching, including Ash, gasps in surprise. Pikachu then releases all of its gathered energy at once, shouting, "Piiii!" The energy is released as an amorphous orb-like mass of electricity that is constantly changing shapes as it flies towards Sparky.

Ritchie gets over his surprise long enough to shout, "Sparky, get out of the way!" Sparky attempts to leap out of the way, but it's too late. The electrical mass makes contact and explodes, releasing all of its energy. The moment it does, a massive bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and strikes Sparky. When the dust from this explosion settles, Sparky can be seen knocked out. It reverts back to its normal form.

Brock raises an arm and declares, "Sparky is unable to battle!"

Ash leaps up and cheers, "We did it!"

Pikachu also cheers, "Pik pikachu!" They begin to perform some sort of victory dance.

Misty asks, "Brock, what was that move?"

Brock says with some doubt, "I think it might have been Hallowed Lightning, the most powerful Electric-Type attack there is."

Brenda asks, "You don't sound certain. Why?"

"Normally Pikachu can't learn such a move through normal means. It has to be trained specially to use it. There's no way that Ash knew how teach it to Pikachu, so something else is at play here…" He goes into thought and suddenly exclaims, "I know what! Remember when Pikachu destroyed the Thunder Stone? It seemed to absorb some of the dust from it after doing so."

A flashback is shown of Pikachu destroying the Thunder Stone. After it does so, the falling dust from it lands on Pikachu and causes Pikachu to sparkle slightly.

Brock then continues to explain, "Pikachu must have absorbed some of that Thunder Stone's energy and used it to learn Hallowed Lightning!"

Misty points out, "So it was Pikachu's refusal to Evolve that gave it a new powerful move. That's fitting."

Ritchie walks over to Ash, who is still celebrating with Pikachu. He says, "Wow Ash, that was a great battle. I'm not going to lie. I thought you were crazy challenging us to a rematch." Ash and Pikachu stop their dance and Ash looks to Ritchie. "But you actually managed to pull it off. You beat us with a great strategy."

Ash smiles. "Evolving and Mega Evolving Sparky may have made it more powerful, but that doesn't mean everything."

Ritchie nods. "Yes, hard work and good strategy can overcome anything. You proved that to me here, and I'll never forgot it." He looks to Sparky and asks, "Isn't that right?"

Sparky nods. "Rai."

Ritchie then looks back to Ash, "Well, I guess we should get going then. We have to catch a boat back to Kalos."

Misty says, "Aw, are you sure you have to leave?"

Ritchie nods. "Sadly we do." He looks to Ash, "But now it's me who needs to beat you, so don't think this is our last battle."

Ash nods. "I'll count on it."

Ritchie walks off and waves to everyone. "Then this is goodbye. See you all soon." He and Sparky then run off.

And once again Ash Pikachu were put to test, and once again they proved that when the going gets tough, they get going. And with a new move in its repertoire, Pikachu is sure to be stronger than ever after this, as the journey continues!

To Be Continued…