Chapter 214. Stand Up vs. Won't Go Down
"I have Pikachu!"
Pikachu felt the same, and a touch of anger appeared on its earnest little face, its aura silently surging upward.
It ran up Ash Ketchum's arm, leapt, and landed in front of Moltres.
"Pika!"
Black particles gathered around the magnetic storm sword tail and cleaved the surging jet-black flames in two, the remaining force smashing into the top of Moltres's head.
"Gah—"
Moltres's neck twisted askew, and its entire head was driven deep into the ground.
"Rest in peace!"
Ash took off his cap and held it to his chest.
This Moltres was in terrible condition; if Natsume brought up the battle screen, there might have been only a sliver of HP left.
Lawrence III was startled by Pikachu's strange attack and jerked half a step back.
Then, his expression twisted again.
"Moltres with Divinity embodies the fire of competition—it will not go down!"
Sure enough, the moment Lawrence III waved his hand, the glassy-eyed Moltres stood up once more.
"You jerk!"
Ash clenched his fists and started forward, but Moltres blocked him.
"Fire Blast!"
Lawrence III snorted.
"Moltres won't go down, and there's no way I lose. Hand over the golden staff!"
Lawrence III felt certain of victory.
But soon, he noticed something off.
"Pikachu, dodge—quick!"
"Pikachu, now!"
"Pikachu, don't give up—stand up!"
The longer the fight went on, the more wrong it felt to Lawrence III.
That low-level Pikachu kept taking multiple Fire Blasts from Moltres, seeming about to fall each time, yet every time that brat cheered it on, it got back up again!
"Wh-what are you?"
A dozen turns later, Lawrence III's legs were shaking, and the confidence on his face was long gone.
This wasn't right.
Moltres wouldn't go down because it was the embodiment of the fire of competition.
But why this Pikachu too?
Why wouldn't it go down either!
"Woo?"
Beneath the sea, the light gathered on Lugia's wings vanished all at once, and it looked at Ash in surprise.
"N-no, impossible. You must have a limit!"
Lawrence III's gaze darkened.
Panicked as he was, he still noticed that with each fall and rise, that Pikachu's condition kept deteriorating.
There would be a moment it stayed down!
"Brave Bird!"
The jet-black flames on Moltres surged up, shaping into a great red bird with a terrifying aura.
Its wings tucked in as it skimmed low and streaked past at incredible speed.
"Pika!"
Pikachu stood unmoving, seemingly unhurt.
The next second, its body wobbled and toppled backward.
"Pikachu!"
Sensing it had reached its limit, Ash lunged from behind and caught it in his arms.
"Hah? You're out of tricks, aren't you!"
Lawrence III panted, watching Ash warily.
Even though the untoppleable Pikachu had finally fallen, he still didn't dare underestimate them.
He couldn't help it—this battle was too "miraculous."
At first, when he saw this Pikachu wouldn't go down, he tried inflicting a burn to win by a technicality.
But the other kid just shouted, "Don't give up!" and Pikachu lit up with the glow of evolution.
Evolving mid-battle—fine, he could accept that.
Yet when the light faded, Pikachu was unchanged; only the burn had vanished.
Not only that, with a single "Now!" it ignored Fire Spin's bind and sprang straight out.
More outrageous still, a Primeape popped out of nowhere mid-fight to take a hit for that already hard-to-beat Pikachu.
And before it was blasted off the island, it even used Rage Fist to trade one-for-one with Moltres, knocking it down in passing.
This is an island!
An island!!!
Do Primeape even live here for you to show up?
In that moment, Lawrence III truly felt a sudden, inexplicable fear.
Even more absurd, halfway through the battle he got scared and decided to duck out if he couldn't beat them.
He was going to have Moltres carry him away.
Then the kid yelled, "Moltres, don't listen to that guy—show your will!" and Moltres, out of his control, returned to the islet to resume the fight.
He even felt his grip over Moltres slipping.
This battle reminded Lawrence III of his middle-school days, when the senior on the team would pin him down and beat on him.
No—this was worse.
A trace of fear of battle stirred in his heart.
He didn't want to fight this brat anymore!
"Brat, hand over the golden staff!"
Seeing Ash unmoving for a long while, Lawrence III swallowed, not daring to step forward himself, and only ordered Moltres.
"Go snatch the golden staff back for me!"
Ash silently sprayed a Potion on the fainted Pikachu, and Lawrence III clenched his fist.
Surely nothing bizarre would happen now, right?
"Rooaaar!"
Charizard strode forward to shield Ash, fixed its gaze on Moltres, spread its wings, and charged.
"Hmph?"
Lawrence III sneered, and Moltres didn't spare it a glance either.
It sidestepped, talons flashing as it darted for the golden staff Ash had set to the side.
"Now, surely—"
Before Lawrence III could finish, a shriek split the sky.
He looked up to see what looked like a meteor hurtling toward the islet.
Boom!
It struck Moltres dead-on.
Like a shower of sparks, countless jet-black flames scattered, many splashing into the sea and sending up steam.
The "meteor" blasted Moltres away and, without slowing, slammed into the beach nearby, gouging out a massive crater.
Lawrence III gaped at Moltres, downed yet again.
Eighteen times—Moltres had fallen eighteen times.
And this was the most ridiculous: felled by a meteor from the sky!
Many ruins recorded Moltres with Divinity as bearing the fire of competition, hailed as an immortal bird.
But Lawrence III knew in his heart that a Moltres with Divinity wasn't truly immortal—only able to endure longer.
Even so, under his worried gaze, the Moltres lying there with its head lolling began to flicker with threads of black flame.
Like sparks setting prairie ablaze, the jet-black fire spread in an instant across Moltres's body.
"Gah—"
A harsh, bellows-like caw rose from the black flames as Moltres spread its wings and stood once more.
"Brat, looks like I still have the edge."
Lawrence III exhaled.
Ash didn't react.
Natsume had just sent him a telepathic message saying reinforcements were on the way.
Only… he looked left and right and didn't see any reinforcements at all.
Ash's face showed no panic; he even had time to glance around.
Looking like that made Lawrence III knit his brows, his face flickering between expressions until he didn't dare make a move.
What?
Could there be anything more miraculous than a meteor falling from the sky and hitting Moltres right on?
Of course there could.
"Gyaa—"
A full-chested bird cry rang out from the crater the meteor had made.
Sparks and lightning followed, and a Pokémon Egg wreathed in blazing flames vaulted out of the pit and planted itself before Moltres.
The "meteor" came to life!
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