"What is that?" Gary asked, still catching his breath.
He'd seen a lot of Pokémon in his career. He'd never seen a Primeape evolve, hadn't even heard it was possible.
"It's a new evolution," Ash said. "Primeape achieves it by integrating Ghost-type energy into its body. The prerequisite is knowing Rage Fist, if your Primeape has that move, evolution becomes possible. You just need to find a way to fuse Ghost-type energy into it until it becomes part of its typing."
He pitched those last sentences to the wider audience deliberately. He could have kept the method secret, having the world's only Annihilape was a genuine tactical advantage, but that wasn't how Ash thought. The more Annihilape that existed, the faster the collective knowledge around the species would grow. More trainers meant more battle styles, more training methods, more data. No single person could develop all of that alone. Ash had gotten this far precisely because stronger trainers had shared their knowledge with him. Paying that forward wasn't generosity, it was common sense.
"What's the new evolution called?"
"Annihilape."
"Annihilape..." Gary raised an eyebrow. "Did you come up with that name?"
"I... yeah. Something like that." Ash's answer was oddly evasive.
He had his reasons. In parallel worlds, Annihilape was a well-documented species, common enough that the evolution method was practically public knowledge. Learn Rage Fist, use it thirty to fifty times in battle, and the evolution triggered naturally. Simple.
This world didn't work that way. Here, a Primeape could throw punches until its knuckles split and nothing would happen. Ash's Primeape had only managed it through a combination of factors: mastering Rage Fist, direct assistance from Gengar, and an ancient artifact tied to Ghost-type energy. Without all three, the evolutionary barrier couldn't be broken.
But now that one Annihilape existed in this world, the path was open. Each subsequent evolution would come a little easier, and eventually the difficulty would drop to match the parallel worlds entirely. The first one was always the hardest.
As for the name, the real reason Ash couldn't claim credit was simpler than anyone would guess. In the Paldea region of the parallel worlds, "Annihilape" had been in use for ages. If the regions ever merged, and Ash had reason to believe they might, anyone who'd heard him take naming credit would have questions he couldn't answer.
Better to be vague now and deal with it later.
Gary didn't push it. It was just a name. The battle mattered more.
He studied Annihilape with a sharp eye. The post-evolution aura was unmistakable, raw, heavy, and faintly unsettling. Strong, but not the untouchable tier that Ash's frontline Pokémon operated at. This was beatable.
The Alakazam Gary had on the field was his second-strongest Pokémon. It should have had a clean type advantage over any Fighting-type, except Ash had just announced that Ghost energy was baked into Annihilape's new form.
Gary ran the typing in his head. If the original Fighting-type remained alongside the new Ghost-type, then Annihilape was Fighting/Ghost. Psychic was super effective against Fighting but resisted by Ghost.
Ghost was super effective against Psychic but resisted by... nothing, actually. The matchup was mutual, each side hit the other hard, like Alakazam versus Gengar. No clean advantage either way.
"Mutual coverage. Fine then, I'll take the initiative." Gary made his call instantly. "Alakazam, Psybeam!"
Alakazam crossed its spoons and fired. A prismatic beam lanced across the field toward Annihilape.
"Dodge. Rage Fist," Ash said, calm as if he were ordering lunch.
Annihilape's feet dug into the ground and it vanished, not Teleport, just pure speed. It flickered across the field in a blur of stuttering motion, closing the gap in seconds, and drove a massive fist straight at Alakazam's face. Dark energy erupted from the knuckles on impact, a shadow-wreathed punch that carried the weight of every hit Annihilape had absorbed.
"Protect!" Gary barked.
The speed shocked him, but he'd be lying if he said he was surprised. Ash's Pokémon were always faster, stronger, or tougher than their level suggested. At this point, Gary had made his peace with it.
Besides, Psybeam had been a probe, meant to draw a reaction, not land a knockout. Gary had already prepared his defensive response before Annihilape started moving.
Alakazam kept its spoons crossed and poured energy forward. An emerald barrier shimmered into existence just as Annihilape's fist arrived.
Rage Fist slammed into Protect and bounced. The recoil jolted through Annihilape's arm like it had punched a wall of solid steel.
In the stands, spectators scrambled for cameras and Pokédexes the moment Annihilape threw the punch. Ash had just told the world that Rage Fist was the key to Primeape's evolution. If anyone ever caught a Primeape of their own, footage of the real thing could be invaluable.
But the move itself didn't look impressive. Veteran trainers could gauge a technique's output at the moment of launch regardless of whether it connected, and the consensus was underwhelming. If you ranked moves into four tiers, Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Top, then Rage Fist barely cleared Beginner. Marginally above Quick Attack at best. For a move that supposedly unlocked an entire evolution, it was anticlimactic.
Not that move tiers told the whole story. Quick Attack sat at Beginner in raw damage, but between its priority, its dodging utility, and how easy it was to learn, calling it weak would have been foolish. Still, Rage Fist didn't look like a game-changer.
"Alakazam, Reflect!" Gary chose defence over aggression while Annihilape was still recovering from the recoil. A shimmering wall of pink light materialised around Alakazam, halving all incoming physical damage. It would persist for several turns and even carry over to switch-ins. For a physical attacker like Annihilape, it was a nightmare.
Ash didn't flinch. If Gary couldn't handle a telegraphed Rage Fist, he wouldn't be Gary.
"Annihilape, Phantom Force."
Before its evolution, Primeape had trained directly under Gengar. The Ghost-type curriculum was thorough, and Annihilape had emerged from its transformation with a full suite of spectral techniques, including Phantom Force, a move that bypassed Protect entirely. Reflect would still dampen the blow, but there was no blocking it.
Annihilape sank into the ground and vanished.
Gary's eyes sharpened. He scanned the field around Alakazam, searching for any flicker of movement. Nothing.
"Calm Mind."
Alakazam closed its eyes and entered a meditative state. Psychic energy swelled around it as its special attack and special defence climbed simultaneously. If it couldn't strike the enemy, it would use the window to power up.
Annihilape erupted from the ground directly behind Alakazam. No warning, it's body wreathed in ghostly energy driving forward like a battering ram.
The impact launched Alakazam off its feet. It tumbled across the arena, rolling several times before skidding to a halt.
Annihilape landed and tilted its head, confused. That was it? A clean Phantom Force from behind and the fox had only gone ten metres?
"Don't worry about it, that's Reflect cutting the damage," Ash called. Annihilape had never encountered the move before. During team training sessions, his Pokémon rarely bothered with defensive screens, they preferred hitting each other at full power and occasionally practicing Protect timing. A damage-halving wall was new territory. "Just keep the pressure on. Don't let it breathe, Rage Fist!"
Annihilape shook off its confusion and launched forward. Its feet cratered the ground on the push-off, dark afterimages trailing behind it as it closed the distance in a heartbeat. Alakazam was still on its back when Annihilape's fist came hammering down.
"Protect!"
Alakazam raised both spoons from the ground and the emerald barrier snapped back into place just in time.
Rage Fist connected with the barrier, but this time Annihilape didn't bounce off. It leaned in, driving its fist harder against the shimmering wall, trying to punch straight through.
Gary snorted. "Break through Protect by brute force? If Pikachu were standing there, maybe. But you?" He shook his head. "Alakazam, Psychic!"
Alakazam's eyes blazed blue behind the barrier.
"Brick Break." Ash's voice cut through at the exact same instant.
Annihilape's clenched fist snapped open into a blade-hand and chopped down in a single vicious stroke.
Crack.
Brick Break's secondary property tore through screen-type moves on contact, ripping apart Light Screen and Reflect without waiting for their duration to expire. The pink shimmer around Alakazam dissolved into nothing.
And in the same motion, Protect collapsed. The barrier only persisted while under active pressure, the moment Annihilape had pulled back from Rage Fist and transitioned to Brick Break, the shield winked out of existence. Which meant Brick Break's follow-through had nothing between it and Alakazam.
The chop connected flush, slamming into the crossed spoons Alakazam had raised as a last-ditch guard. The metal bent like tin foil under the impact, and Alakazam was blasted backward across the arena.
But Alakazam's Psychic had already fired.
A concentrated surge of mental energy rammed directly into Annihilape's body with no finesse and maximum force.
Both Pokémon flew in opposite directions. They skidded across the ground and came to rest near their respective trainers, battered and breathing hard.
"Alakazam, you okay?"
"Annihilape, can you keep going?"
Both Pokémon hauled themselves upright. The exchange had been brutal on each side, but not equally. Alakazam had taken Brick Break, a Fighting-type move against a Psychic-type, which meant only half damage thanks to the resistance. Annihilape had eaten a Calm Mind-boosted Psychic that was super effective against its Fighting typing. The math was clear: Annihilape had come out worse.