(Note: In the live broadcast, subtitles automatically translate Pokémon speech, so everyone in the real world can understand what Dragonite—or any other Pokémon—says.)
[Volkner: Holy crap, that thunder was from Pikachu?! Aaron, it's been several minutes and I still haven't heard your 'Pikachu is useless' speech.]
[Aaron: Ahem… well, um… it seems Black World Ash's Pikachu might be just a little different from your average Pikachu.]
[Gardenia: Not just Black World Ash's! Aaron, did you forget? Even White World Ash's Pikachu, back when he first started, summoned lightning from the heavens and took down hundreds of Spearow!]
[Aaron: …]
Why do they all have such good memories?!
It was just a casual remark—"Pikachu has low potential if it doesn't evolve."
And Volkner—
the guy who evolved his own Pikachu into a Raichu—
was the first to jump in and refute him?!
[Lance: Even that giant Dragonite acknowledged Pikachu's strength. To raise a Pikachu to that level… Ash really is something.]
[Lorelei: I'm curious though—Ash, between your Pikachu and Black World Ash's Pikachu, who's stronger?]
[Ash: Uh… before I got the Light Ball, definitely Black World Ash's. After I equipped it… I'm not so sure.]
[Volkner: The Light Ball doubles Pikachu's electrical power and physical strength, right? And even then it might not compare?]
[Leon: That's because Black World Ash's Pikachu isn't just about raw electricity. His body's been forged through relentless, high-intensity training.]
[Leon: Remember—he's been training with weights for years, even before the journey began!]
Weight training—especially long-term—tests a Pokémon's willpower like nothing else.
And for a frail, small-bodied species like Pikachu, even a few kilograms can feel unbearable.
But now?
Black World Ash's Pikachu was carrying eighty catties—almost forty kilograms!
Forty kilos!
The sheer will and effort that represented needed no explanation.
To think that a single Light Ball could make up for years of that kind of dedication?
Impossible.
[Raihan: Exactly. The Light Ball's insane, sure, but it doesn't erase the gap between them. White World Ash mostly lets his Pokémon grow naturally, while Black World Ash trains them every single day.]
In the Black World—
After the battle with the colossal Dragonite,
Ash stayed at Bill's Lighthouse for another two days.
He used the beach and the tides around the lighthouse for training—
letting Pikachu face the waves head-on,
trying to see if he could learn Surf!
The audience was collectively horrified.
"What the hell?! He's already learned Steel- and Grass-type moves, and now he wants to learn Water-type ones too?! You think Pikachu's a Legendary or something?!"
But it didn't stop there—
Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander all joined the "wave training."
Ash even called Professor Oak from the lighthouse,
asking him to send over additional training weights.
That was because, after learning that Pikachu and Pidgeotto were training under weights,
the rest of his starter trio asked for their own.
Misty and Brock couldn't just stand by either.
Driven by Ash's intensity, they started training their own Pokémon as well.
When one person starts "grinding," everyone else gets dragged into the grind.
After a few days of this beach boot camp,
and once the new weights arrived,
Ash and his friends continued their journey—
this time, toward Vermilion City.
As the three of them stood before the city gates,
the dark screen slowly faded to black…
and the white screen lit up.
It was time for White World Ash's story—
Upon reaching Vermilion City, White World Ash immediately wanted to rush to the Gym.
But Misty and Brock pulled him back.
After such a long trek, both they and their Pokémon were exhausted.
Challenging a Gym in that condition would be suicide.
So they first went to the Pokémon Center to rest and heal.
There, Ash noticed many injured Pokémon.
He soon learned that Lt. Surge, the Gym Leader,
had once been a soldier—and ran his Gym like a military boot camp.
His battles were brutal, merciless.
Many rookie Trainers had been crushed by him.
But that only ignited Ash's fighting spirit.
That afternoon, he returned to Surge's Gym with Misty and Brock.
Facing Surge's Raichu, Ash sent out Pikachu.
Surge laughed in his face, mocking him for using a "baby Pokémon."
The battle went just as one might expect—
White World Ash was completely outmatched and thoroughly defeated.
Carrying his injured Pikachu,
Ash returned to the Pokémon Center, heart heavy.
There, Nurse Joy offered him a Thunder Stone.
If Pikachu evolved into Raichu, he might stand a chance.
But Pikachu refused.
He insisted that winning in his current form was what truly mattered.
If he evolved just to escape difficulty—
then what would happen the next time he faced hardship?
Team Rocket, who had been eavesdropping nearby,
were moved to tears.
They disguised themselves and secretly helped Ash and Pikachu train.
They designed a special regimen to boost Pikachu's speed even further.
Brock also pointed out that Surge's Raichu had evolved too early,
before mastering Pikachu's signature speed—
meaning it had sacrificed agility for power.
Speed would be the key to victory.
When the rematch came,
Ash and Pikachu triumphed.
They defeated Surge and earned Ash's third badge.
[Bruno: Team Rocket… they really… I'm crying! In Ash's darkest hour, it was Team Rocket who stepped up for him!]
[Caitlin: So what you're saying is… Team Rocket are actually just tsundere good guys?]
[Lance: Or maybe… they're undercover agents?!]
[Ash: Wait, what?! The ones who helped me were Team Rocket?! Are you guys good or bad?!]
[James: Idiot! Of course we're bad guys!]
[Jessie: That's right! No one in the world is worse than us!]
[James: We just couldn't stand watching the Pikachu we've chased for so long lose so easily to some Raichu—that'd be humiliating!]
[Jessie: Exactly! Don't think we wanted to help you or anything, got it?!]
Jessie and James went back and forth,
perfectly embodying the definition of tsundere.
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