With the fall of Starmie, this battle's victory was declared for Ash.
Despite having the advantages of arena, level, and trainer experience, Misty still lost to Ash.
This left Misty in shock, her pupils losing focus.
Never mind the three-on-one advantage in numbers; two at the Ordinary Level, one at the Advanced Level, how could that help?
The gap in levels becomes greater as you go higher; as an Elite Peak Starmie, theoretically, it could easily defeat six Pikachu-level Pokemon.
This is a difference of one major level and two minor levels, and it's not a jump from novice to ordinary, it's from advanced to elite!
Under this level disparity, the opponent defeated her without losing a single Pokemon's fighting ability, leaving Misty shaken to the core.
Even after being hit twice in a row by Pikachu's Zippy Zap, Misty believed she still had hope for a comeback, as long as she could control Pikachu with Psychic and then defeat it with Water Gun or similar moves, Ash's remaining two Pokemon would be no match for Starmie.
However, reality was harsh. In her haste, she hadn't noticed the problem with the field; Pikachu's Thunderbolt didn't just attack through the air with lightning, it also extended the electricity across the ground by using the water as a conductor.
In the end, Starmie, left with only a sliver of physical strength, fell under the Thunderbolt that spread from the water flow.
After some time, Misty's pupils finally regained focus; returning to her senses, she saw Ash and Pikachu happily hugging and spinning in circles at the spot, with Ralts happily spinning along with them at their feet.
The little one didn't know why Ash was so happy, but since Ash was happy, she was happy too, so she danced and rejoiced with them.
Seeing this, Misty withdrew Starmie and then jumped into the pool below, walking up to the joyous Ash.
"Congratulations, Ash, for defeating Cerulean Gym. I underestimated you; I didn't expect you to have hidden moves."
Ash wiped his nose and chuckled: "Hehe, that was a secret move Pikachu and I accidentally came up with; even we were surprised at the time."
"Pika Pika~" Pikachu, standing on Ash's shoulder, nodded in agreement while returning Ash's hat to him.
At that time, when he suddenly used that skill, Pikachu was surprised himself; he didn't know he could even use such a move.
It was during breakfast on Moon Mountain; Ash and he got up early for training while Misty and Brock were still asleep. Because Ash often trained physically with him, Ash took off his hat due to excessive sweating.
Pikachu was curious about Ash's hat and tried it on, and when he did, he felt an inexhaustible power coursing through him.
Pikachu informed Ash of this, and Ash used the Eye of Insight to discover that Pikachu, who was originally at the Advanced Level Middle stage, had reached Advanced Level High after donning the hat.
Not only that, Pikachu's various ability values didn't decrease with the level up, but instead increased to another tier.
C~B became B~A, D~B turned into C~A.
This all-rounded enhancement, merely from wearing a hat, left Ash feeling puzzled.
Besides the level and ability values, Pikachu also felt he had learned a new move, so Ash had him try it out — and this was Pikachu's first use of Zippy Zap.
Afterwards, Ash immediately went on the group chat to ask about it, but this time something unexpected happened.
The veterans in the group had never seen or heard of such a situation; when they learned of Ash's case, they tried putting their hats on their Pikachu, but nothing happened.
Although a move that requires wearing a hat isn't unheard of, it's an exclusive move that only they and Pikachu can execute, with terrifying power.
However, that move was entirely different from what Ash described, and their Pikachu did not experience any ability or level increase from wearing a hat.
Thus, it can basically be determined to be Ash's Pikachu's exclusive form in this timeline.
A form change just by putting on a hat is puzzling even from the perspective of the group veterans.
The veterans decided to name this form of Ash's Pikachu — Partner Form.
As for the name "Zippy Zap," Pikachu came up with it himself, because when using the skill, he felt as if his entire body was filled with electricity, allowing him to move rapidly under the drive of lightning. The speed boost from this move was a tier above Quick Attack!
Hence, the vivid and descriptive name Zippy Zap.
The above is the complete origin of Zippy Zap.
It was this skill, the enhancements brought by wearing the hat, and the Aura Fusion buff that gave Ash the confidence to employ this strategy.
By clearing the site's water source, and relying on Pikachu's mobility, along with several buffs, they directly collided with Starmie head-on!
Facts proved that under the multiple buffs, Pikachu's speed was no less than that of the elite level, and with Zippy Zap being even quicker than Quick Attack, in terms of speed, Starmie could not keep up with Pikachu at all.
In the end, Ash won the battle thrillingly and rightfully obtained the Water Drop Badge.
Ash took the Water Drop Badge from Misty's hand, striking a classic pose: "I got the Water Drop Badge!"
"Pika Pikachu!"
"Ralts Ralts~~" Ralts, who hadn't participated in the match, also joined in the celebration, extending her little hand to pose with Ash, lifting Misty's spirits despite her loss.
This little one wasn't just adorable but had such a lovable personality that just looking at her seemed to dispel the gloom in one's heart.
"Congratulations, Ash, on getting your second badge, and for such a beautiful battle. Your unorthodox fighting style is beyond many gym leaders' expectations. It's really hard to imagine you're a new trainer."
Brock came clapping towards Ash, his words full of praise for Ash's battle.
At first, he was more focused on the big sisters nearby, but soon his attention was wholly captured by Ash and Misty's battle.
To Brock, Ash's fighting style seemed crude and wildly imaginative; at least in Brock's view, no normal person would think of such tactics, yet Ash did and executed them.
If it wasn't for Ash usually demonstrating such a lack of knowledge, Brock would honestly suspect he'd been battling with Pokemon since a young age, like those gym heirs.
If Ash could expand and enrich his knowledge, the future really holds the possibility of becoming Champion.