A black-and-white Ultra Ball with yellow stripes flew toward Meowth, only for the well-prepared Jessie to smack it away with practiced ease. She clenched her fist, full of resentment.
"You little brat, seriously? Do you ever quit? Can't you let us finish our lines for the new region for once?"
Obviously, this was not the first time this had happened.
"Yeah! We still haven't caught your Pikachu and Mewtwo yet, and now you're trying to catch Meowth? Don't push it, kid. Be good and listen to us finish our intro!" James snapped.
"Fine. Since this is the first time, I'll cut you some slack."
With that, Ash stopped interrupting them.
"Where were we?"
"We're the lovely and charming villains," Ash kindly prompted when he saw the expressions on Clemont, Bonnie, and Serena's faces, like they'd just seen a ghost.
"Who asked you to help, twerp? Keep your mouth shut."
Ash's fists tightened. No good deed goes unpunished.
"We're the lovely and charming villains!"
"Jessie!"
"James!"
"Team Rocket, blasting across the galaxy!"
"A white hole, a bright white tomorrow is waiting for us!"
"That's right, meow!"
"Wobbuffet!"
The blue, jelly-like Wobbuffet had popped out of its Poké Ball on its own at some point, but nobody's attention was on it. Clemont stared at Meowth in astonishment.
"A talking Meowth? That's amazing!"
"Ash, who exactly are these people?"
"Yeah, and why do you know their lines even better than they do?"
"That's a long story. Anyway... Froakie, Frubbles. Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"
Ash changed the subject instantly and gave the attack order.
"Froak!"
Froakie leaped high into the air and casually flung out a spray of bubbles.
"Pika, chuuu!!!"
Pikachu followed right behind it, its body erupting with a mass of dazzling golden electricity that shot straight toward Team Rocket.
The trio had been ready for this. They immediately ducked back and hid behind Wobbuffet.
"It's all up to you, Wobbuffet, use Counter!"
At this point, Wobbuffet had not yet run into the Giratina battle that would make it legendary in a single fight, but it had already trained Counter and Mirror Coat to the peak of perfection. And even though Jessie only ever shouted Counter, Wobbuffet could judge for itself which move it actually needed to use.
After all, Pikachu had been its old rival for years. Wobbuffet knew perfectly well that Thunderbolt had to be answered with Mirror Coat.
Unfortunately, while Wobbuffet knew Pikachu's tricks, Ash knew Team Rocket's just as well.
When Froakie's Frubbles, which were not a real move in the normal sense, splashed across Wobbuffet's body while it was using Mirror Coat, the attack had no reaction at all.
The wet bubbles soaked Wobbuffet and the entire Team Rocket trio.
A split second later, Pikachu's Thunderbolt struck. The brilliant golden current instantly swallowed Team Rocket in a blinding flash, their white skeletons standing out clearly inside the light. Then came the explosion.
The whole group was blasted off again on the spot.
"You rotten little brat! Can't you let us succeed even once?!"
"What a miserable feeling!"
Ash watched Team Rocket disappear into the distance, shading his eyes with one hand as he looked up. Honestly, they were a pretty lively bunch.
Serena wiped at her brow awkwardly. "They're... what, exactly?"
"Team Rocket," Ash explained. "A bunch of people with conscience, determination, and excellent brains who are completely devoted to becoming villains. Most of the time, they entertain themselves by stealing other Trainers' Pokémon."
Serena and Clemont had no idea how Team Rocket would react if they ever heard Ash's description of them, but one thing was certain, the two of them were absolutely floored.
"People with a conscience who still want to become villains... how does that even happen...?"
[Mission complete. Enhancing Ability... Enhancement complete.]
[Type]: Partner Pokémon
[Ability]: Lightning Rod I (Draws Electric-type moves to itself. It takes no damage and instead greatly raises its Special Attack.)
[Level]: Lv. 100 (Champion level)
[Moves]: ..., Zippy Zap, Floaty Fall, Splishy Splash, Pika Papow
[IVs]: HP 31, Attack 31, Defense 31, Special Attack 31, Special Defense 31, Speed 31
[Base Stats]: Total 430, HP 45, Attack 80 (160), Defense 50, Special Attack 75 (150), Special Defense 60, Speed 120
[Held Item]: Light Ball (doubles Pikachu's Attack and Special Attack when held)
This was Ash's first time using the system to carefully inspect Pikachu. In actual battles and tests, he had long since confirmed that Pikachu had noticeably better base stats than others of its kind, and had suspected that it was a Partner Pokémon. But only now, after seeing the system's note for himself, was he completely certain.
Partner Pokémon had better base stats than ordinary Pokémon.
That much was true for both Partner Pikachu and Partner Eevee. Both had an extra 110 base stat points.
In other words, a normal Pikachu's base stat total was only 320.
Even with Light Ball doubling both offensive stats, regular Pikachu's 55 Attack and 50 Special Attack only became 110 and 100.
Compared to Pikachu's 160 and 150, the gap was like heaven and earth.
Even Dragonite only had a base Attack of 134.
Pikachu's 160 Attack had already reached Slaking-level power, and Slaking came saddled with that brain-dead Ability that forced it to loaf around every other turn.
Pikachu, meanwhile, had no such limitation at all.
Its 120 Speed put it above almost everything else.
And with the exclusive partner moves added in Let's Go, Pikachu, Floaty Fall and Splishy Splash gave it Flying- and Water-type coverage, massively expanding its offensive options.
Against most Pokémon that weren't Legendary, it could deal with them with ease.
Its base 45 HP was low, but for a small-bodied Pokémon like Pikachu, it was just right.
A small body naturally used less stamina when moving.
And that speed and agility more than made up for its lower defensive bulk.
Partner Pikachu, a Pokémon that was nearly perfect aside from being unable to stay airborne for long.
One of only two Pokémon the audience had ever elevated to godlike status.
You could see that clearly from the original timeline. Even without holding a Light Ball, Pikachu had still been able to tear through Leon's main lineup.
As for the other one, of course it was Greninja.
And thinking about that just made Ash angry on Greninja's behalf.
Changing the Kalos Championship from a win to a loss had already been disgusting enough.
Then Journeys came along and made it even worse.
What, that dumb tree needed three whole years of pruning?
Back in his previous life, Ash had really wanted to complain about that.
Couldn't they have had Lucario tear through the preliminaries, get injured in the semifinals, and then have the teacher step in for the finals, showing off the Bond Phenomenon and shocking the world?
A one-on-one showdown between Greninja and Charizard, a real men's duel, with Greninja taking down Leon's ace Charizard.
Then after both sides traded wins and losses, Leon could rally through several more rounds, and in the end Pikachu could close it out with one last friendship-powered Thunderbolt.
Wouldn't that have been way more exciting?
Not only would it have fulfilled the dream of becoming World Champion, it also would have paid off Olympia's old prophecy.
Ash and Greninja would reach a height no one had ever reached before.
World Champion would have been the perfect ending.
But none of that happened.
Of course, in this life, with a new Ash, he would never let something that unfortunate happen again to any Pokémon under his command.
At least in the previous five conferences, Ash had never neglected a single one of his Pokémon.
Even Butterfree, Pidgeot, Primeape, Larvitar, and the others who had originally been released or sent away.
Even Latios and Latias, despite being Legendary Pokémon.
And even Mewtwo.
That would naturally remain true in the future as well.
Once he was done reflecting, Ash lowered his gaze and looked toward Pikachu's second-stage enhancement.