The faint sound of Officer Jenny's police sirens could be heard in the distance.
No matter how slow the reaction time was, it wouldn't be so slow that they remained completely ignorant. Officer Jenny was already heading towards Silph Co.
However, by the time they arrived, everyone would probably have run away, right?
Ash held the unconscious Pikachu, who had passed out from exhaustion, tightly in his arms. Under the cover of the night, he ran with all his might towards the Pokémon Center alongside Misty and Brock.
Since they were on foot, they could take shortcuts. Coupled with the use of Agility and Starmie's Psychic to vault over walls, their speed was actually faster than taking a taxi.
There were many pedestrians watching on their way out, but no one approached them. Sabrina's departure itself had made the people uneasy. Now that something had happened right after Sabrina left, the public was even more panicked. The night in Saffron City was destined to be unrestful.
Step—
Step, step, step—
Rapid footsteps echoed through the night streets of Saffron City. Constantly using Agility to accelerate his running, Ash felt the heart in his chest beating wildly.
He practically crashed through the familiar automatic glass doors of the Pokémon Center. The warm lighting and the smell of disinfectant rushed over him, yet they could not dispel the anxiety in his heart.
Pikachu was exhausted. Not knowing if there would be any complications made him naturally very anxious.
"Nurse Joy!"
"Please, take a look at Pikachu, quickly!"
Ash's voice carried the panting from his run and an uncontrollable tremor. He carefully held out the small, unconscious yellow body in his arms.
Nurse Joy, who had been busy at the front desk, looked up at the sound. When she saw clearly that the visitor was Ash, and noticed the obviously abnormal state of the Pikachu in his arms, her gentle face was instantly dyed with solemnity.
Joy walked up quickly, her gaze sweeping over Pikachu, then glancing at Misty and Brock, who followed closely behind and looked equally bedraggled.
Obviously, something had happened. But Nurse Joy didn't know what—then, in the next second, she knew.
Nurse Joy had contacted Alakazam. Unlike Sabrina, who could be in contact with them 24 hours a day... Alakazam could only establish a mental connection when needed.
"It's you guys..." Nurse Joy clearly recognized the three of them. Especially the Misdreavus lying on Ash's head. The little fellow had been wandering around the Pokémon Center before and was quite popular.
She didn't ask much and immediately pushed a stretcher cart over from the side. "Quick, put him on here. Follow me to the emergency room!"
The red light of the emergency room turned on, dying the air of the waiting area with a layer of unease. Ash clasped his hands tightly, his eyes staring dead at the closed door.
Plans can never keep up with changes. Pikachu having an accident was not within their expectations. But reality is just like that.
Even Sabrina, who could foresee the future, couldn't guarantee that every situation was within her expectations. Let alone others.
Misty patted his shoulder in concern. Brock, meanwhile, stood with his arms crossed, his brows locked tight. He was evidently recalling that thrilling scene just now—that earth-shattering strike from Pikachu that exceeded its limits.
Brock: Ash's Pikachu is really unreasonably strong.
As for Gyarados and Onix, neither Brock nor Misty was too worried. Whether one can win and whether one can escape are two different levels of difficulty.
In a realistic wild battle mode, when strengths are roughly equal—as long as one doesn't fight to the death without retreating, it is actually quite hard to defeat the enemy.
Time passed minute by minute. Every second felt as long as a century.
After an unknown amount of time, the door to the emergency room finally opened. Nurse Joy walked out, a trace of fatigue on her face, but her eyes were relatively peaceful.
"Nurse Joy, Pikachu, he..." Ash rushed forward in a single step.
"Don't worry, his life is not in danger," Nurse Joy reassured him. She took off her mask, her tone carrying a professional seriousness.
"However, he used power far beyond his own current limits. The powerful energy output caused a significant impact and load on his body, especially his electric sacs and parts of his neural pathways."
"You can understand it as a kind of power backlash."
She looked at Ash's pale face and added, "It's like forcibly making a water pipe withstand the flow of a high-pressure Hydro Pump; the pipe itself will get damaged."
"He needs a period of quiet recuperation and gentle energy conditioning to let his body slowly repair these injuries. He cannot engage in high-intensity battles or energy output for the time being."
"Did you make Pikachu use boosts too many times?"
"The Unova Champion, Mr. Alder's Volcarona, died of weakness precisely because of this."
"Fortunately, this Pikachu has a very good foundation. Recovery is only a matter of time; it won't leave any permanent aftereffects."
"But I suggest using such moves that boost one's own power less often... or rather, you must grasp the critical point well."
Hearing these words, the heart Ash had been holding in suspense finally dropped slightly, but a sense of guilt surged over him like a tide. It was he who chose to enhance the Light Ball at the critical moment, pushing Pikachu to that limit...
But at that time, Pikachu's power was indeed needed. After all, it was impossible to gamble on what their fate would be if they were caught by Team Rocket. Even amidst the focused fire from Team Rocket, if anyone got injured... they could really have died.
Just then, a huge commotion came from outside the Pokémon Center, mixed with the exclamations of passersby.
"What's happening?" Misty looked towards the entrance vigilantly. The three exchanged glances, a faint premonition in their hearts.
They rushed out of the Pokémon Center quickly. Under the night sky, two massive figures were causing a stir.
It was precisely Misty's Gyarados and Brock's Onix. They had obviously followed the previous orders, broke away from the battle on their own, and followed their Trainers' scents to find them here.
Gyarados had several traces of being cut by Stone Edge on its body, and some scales were curled up, but its eyes remained fierce. Onix had obvious impact cracks and claw marks on the rock armor of its body surface, moving with a heavy sense of fatigue.
But that was all. As large-sized Pokémon, their stamina was very good, and their vitality was extremely tenacious.
"Gyarados! / Onix!" Misty and Brock hurriedly took out their Poké Balls and recalled them. Both of their faces were written with heartache.
They turned back to the Center and handed the two Poké Balls to Nurse Joy as well. "Nurse Joy, please check them too."
Although rationally speaking, they felt Gyarados and Onix wouldn't have suffered any major injuries. But rationality is rationality. Emotionally speaking, leaving Onix and Gyarados behind to cover their retreat was already heartbreaking enough.
But this was the best course of action. After all, if the Trainers themselves stayed, they would only become burdens. This was different from when Lt. Surge fought the Giant Tentacruel. Even Lt. Surge had to step on a Magnezone to enter the field.
Not everyone could be like Sabrina, who could fight even better than her own Pokémon.
Nurse Joy took the Poké Balls and quickly scanned them with a simple detector nearby.
"They don't have major issues. It's mainly excessive stamina consumption and some superficial wounds."
"Gyarados's scales need care, and Onix's rock armor needs time to self-repair. Give them some high-energy food and Potions, and they'll be fine after a few days of good rest."
"Compared to Pikachu's situation, their condition is very good," Nurse Joy said with a relaxed expression.
Sometimes, a pain reaction is actually a normal, healthy response. If it doesn't hurt, itch, or move, that's when the trouble is big.
Misty and Brock finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After settling the three partners who needed treatment, the three sat on the bench in the waiting area, the atmosphere somewhat heavy.
Ash subconsciously took out his Pokédex, his finger hovering over the name "Alakazam" in the contact list.
With such a big commotion happening in front of Silph Co. and Team Rocket being so rampant, would the Saffron Gym... or rather, Alakazam, really know nothing?
But in the end, his finger did not press down.
He recalled Alakazam's eyes, full of wisdom yet jumping with rage at him; he recalled its identity as Sabrina's ace, and its ability to appear and disappear unpredictably and perceive everything.
Would a Pokémon capable of teaching Psychic powers, capable of Teleport, and possessing super-high IQ be unaware of the vicious incident happening in the city it guarded?
Impossible.
Then, the only explanation was... there were some more complex, unknown considerations behind this, or perhaps a tacit understanding? Maybe it was an instruction left by Sabrina before she left.
Maybe it was Alakazam's own judgment to watch and wait. Maybe it involved some delicate balance between Team Rocket, the Gym, and the League... Even when the incident happened, Alakazam might have even been present.
Ash pondered various possibilities. A strong Trainer also needs a smart brain. He had an intuition that rashly contacting Alakazam at this moment would not yield the expected help.
—Rely on the mountain, and the mountain may fall.
—Rely on the sea, and the sea may dry up.
—In short, one must still rely on oneself.
Ash put away the Pokédex, took a deep breath, and suppressed his chaotic thoughts. His gaze became firm.
"In any case," Ash spoke, his voice breaking the silence. "Relying on others isn't a solution in the end."
"We were lucky this time."
"But what about next time?"
"And the time after that?"
He looked at Misty and Brock.
"With Miss Sabrina gone, the water in Saffron City is much deeper than we imagined."
"Team Rocket... that Executive named Vicious, and that Cross with his bizarre state... they won't let this go."
This was almost a foreseeable future. The reason Trainers can become strong quickly through traveling is that traveling is truly dangerous.
Those who can break through layers of difficulties and obstacles... those who finally make it out are definitely strong. Those who aren't strong enough get filtered out in the process.
What a simple and unadorned mechanism. It's just that the difficulty is a little bit high.
True adventure is never smooth sailing. And the road to becoming stronger is destined to be full of thorns.
"Maa maa..." Misdreavus's mood was also a bit low as she lay on Ash's head. Misdreavus wanted to evolve very much right now, because she could become strong immediately after evolving.
But she was still a little conflicted. Unlike the complete resistance at the beginning, the ratio of thoughts for evolving versus not evolving was now 1:1... The little thing's mindset was constantly changing too.
Brock nodded in agreement: "That's right... expecting protection from others isn't as good as strengthening oneself."
He was very satisfied that Ash could think of this; this mindset was good. The existence of friends and allies is necessary. But the strength of one's own power is even more necessary.
Misty also clenched her fist. "Once Pikachu and the others recover, we'll leave here."
"The next target is Fuchsia City, right?"
"Before that, we must be prepared. We absolutely cannot be this wretched again!"
Misty prepared to transfer two Pokémon from the Cerulean Gym later. Although they couldn't be Gym Leader-level main forces, they would at least be decent Pokémon.
____
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