Facing Misty's angry eruption, Ash and Brock only gave sheepish grins and confessed that they had gone to the hot springs.Misty's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"You two went without me?"
The way her voice cracked on the "me" said everything, betrayal, disappointment, and the righteous fury of a girl who had been looking forward to hot springs since arriving on Cinnabar Island.
Cinnabar! The island famous for hot springs!
And those two idiots just wandered off on their own while she was showering like some clueless fool waiting for them to return.
Ash quickly raised his hands. "Sorry, sorry! You went straight to take a shower, so we thought we'd go first. Besides… we're going to be staying on Cinnabar Island a bit longer. There's no need to rush, it's our last stop anyway."
That changed everything.
Misty's annoyance melted instantly, replaced by a sparkle in her eyes.They were staying here? Not rushing off tomorrow?
That was the best news she'd heard all day.
After all, everyone who had ever collected badges, or played even one Kanto game, knew the last badge always created the strongest urge to sprint straight to the finish line. Ash suddenly not rushing was honestly shocking.
"In that case," Misty said, smiling like a mischievous cat, "I'll forgive you… but you're paying for everything on Cinnabar Island. This place is crazy expensive, and I'm not as rich as you~"
Ash subconsciously stepped back when she leaned in close enough for him to catch her scent… and then paused.
'Why did I step back?'
The thought flickered and vanished before he could grab it. He smiled and nodded instead.
"It's fine! I'll cover everything for you and Brock."
And he meant it. Money wasn't a big issue anymore, not unless they were talking about top-tier, once-in-a-lifetime divine items. As long as they weren't shopping for those, Ash's recent income was enough to let Misty and Brock live on this island for the rest of their lives.
Misty's mood visibly skyrocketed. She beamed brightly, thanked Ash, and skipped back to her bed to sleep. It was already late, and if not for Ash's Gym battle, she'd have knocked out long ago.
Brock yawned and climbed into his own bed. "I'm going to sleep too. Ash, how are you still so full of energy? We're exhausted."
He wasn't wrong. Misty and Brock were minutes away from forming dark circles, while Ash looked like he could run a marathon. And this was after he battled Blaine, boosted his Pokémon, commanded everything, and literally fought an High-level Pokémon with his bare hands.
Ash grinned. "Just small stuff! You guys sleep. I'm going to review today's battle for a bit."
He plopped onto his bed with Pikachu curling beside him and Togepi nestled to the other side. Brock looked at the peacefully snoozing Pokémon, shook his head with a sigh, and mumbled, "Must be nice being young…" before drifting off.
Ash clasped his hands behind his head and shut his eyes, focusing inward.
One-time Exclusive S-Rank Ability: Limit Break.
For Ash's Pikachu only. Unconditionally shatters Pikachu's current limit, triggering full-spectrum evolution of its abilities.
Compared to other S-ranks, this description was short, almost cryptic. But after Breeder Ash's explanation the night before, Ash finally understood how terrifying this ability was.
He wanted to use it right away.
But Limit Break was too powerful and too unknown, and he wasn't about to risk using it on a sleepy Pikachu in the middle of a hotel room. Better to wait until morning, somewhere safe and open.
Once that was decided, Ash dove back into the chat group archives, absorbing Trainer theory, high-level command strategies, psychological tactics, and battle conditioning models. Months of nightly study had already transformed him, he wasn't just memorizing anymore; he was genuinely interested.
Learning had stopped being a chore. Now it was fun.
Especially when Tactical Ash brought up those unbelievably dirty, borderline-illegal battle tricks that required frightening amounts of knowledge to execute.
To become the second person alive who could make an opponent smile from sheer mental despair during a duel… yes, that was a worthwhile goal.
Early the next morning, Ash awoke before sunrise.
Pikachu was a warm, sleepy ball in his arms. Togepi was still dozing soundly.
Ash gently carried Pikachu out of the room and placed the half-asleep Togepi near Misty's pillow.
Next to Ash himself, Togepi was closest to Misty. If Ash slipped out, Togepi would wake up soon after and start rolling around looking for him. But with Misty nearby, she'd sleep peacefully for a while longer.
The sky was still dim. Pikachu rubbed his eyes, confused why Ash dragged him out so early when they'd agreed to relax for a few days. Why was he suddenly acting like it was training camp again?
Ash looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then knelt down and spoke seriously:
"Pikachu, you must've felt it… right? No matter how hard you train, your strength won't increase anymore."
"Pika?? Pikapika!!"
Pikachu instantly snapped awake. The moment Ash brought up that, he couldn't pretend anymore. He waved his tiny arms, explaining everything he'd been feeling these past weeks:
He had trained harder than ever. He'd pushed himself beyond his limits.
But nothing changed.
He'd been stuck at the same level for half a month. Even defeating an Elite-level Magmar in a direct clash didn't raise his level even a little.
And for this Pikachu, that was absolutely abnormal.
He had actually planned to tell Ash after the Gym battle… but the hot spring had stolen all rational thought from his little head.
Seeing Pikachu rant with frustration, Ash nodded gently.
"I know. You hit a bottleneck you can't break through. I brought you out to fix that."
Then he added, with complete seriousness:
"If it hurts, shock me as much as you need. Don't hold back."
"Pi…ka??" Why did that sound like some ominous final sentence before a tragedy?!
Ash cleared his throat.
"Cough. There might be discomfort. I don't know exactly what will happen. But I'm certain of one thing, we can break your limit. There will be one price though: your level will drop."
Pikachu froze.
A level drop…
He lowered his head for one second.
Only one.
Then he looked up with blazing, unshakable determination.
If his level dropped, then so be it.
He would rather fall than stagnate forever.
Ever since meeting Ash, Pikachu had always been the big brother of the team. Except for Gengar, and maybe Aerodactyl on a good day, no one could suppress him. But now, Gardevoir and Charizard were rapidly catching up. Soon they would surpass him.
This was unacceptable.
If there was a way forward, Pikachu would take it, even if he had to drop to Level 0.
Ash nodded, then activated Limit Break.
A gentle white light flowed from his hand straight into Pikachu's chest.
For a second, nothing happened.
Pikachu blinked, about to ask what went wrong, and then the agony hit.
A burning heat erupted from deep inside. His bones felt like they were twisting.
His muscles convulsed. His nerves screamed.
"PIKAAAAA—!!!"
Electricity exploded from Pikachu's body, and every bolt crashed into Ash.
Ash didn't dodge. He didn't use Aura.
He took it. Every bit of Pikachu's pain, he carried with him.
The shrieking thunderstorm lasted nearly half a minute before finally fading. When it ended, Ash was blackened from head to toe, clothes scorched, hair standing up like a terrified Pidgey.
But he was alive. And Pikachu… was not in good shape.
Ash immediately dropped beside him.
Pikachu lay limp on the ground, breath shallow, aura faint and flickering. It looked as if all his life energy had been wrung out from the inside.
Ash didn't hesitate, Viridian Power surged from his palms, flowing gently into Pikachu's body.
Internal injuries, very severe ones.
Not external wounds, but deep, origin-level strain caused by forcibly breaking a limit that wasn't supposed to be broken yet.
Normal Pokémon sometimes lost levels if their origin was damaged.Pikachu was the opposite, in order to break through, his level had dropped, and the backlash tore him up from within.
But thanks to Viridian Power, and because the injury wasn't permanent, he would recover.
Ash activated the Eye of Insight.
Species: Pikachu (First Evolution)
Ability: Static
Six-Dimensional Stats:
Attack: B → A → (S)
Sp. Atk: S (S)
Defense: B → A → (A)
Sp. Def: B → A → (A)
HP: B → A → (A)
Speed: A → S → (S)
Ash's eyes widened.
Pikachu's entire stat structure had evolved.
Two of his A-ranks broke straight into S-rank. The others stabilized at high A with upward potential.
His natural Sp. Atk remained locked at S. And Speed, already near the top, reached S-tier with potential to surpass it.
And then there was the title next to his name:[First Rebirth]
Ash blinked.
"What does that mean?"