A capable Trainer is not just about having strong Pokémon; their own insight and reaction capabilities must keep up, or else they'll only become a burden to their Pokémon.
Trainers and Pokémon progress together. If a Trainer can't keep up with their Pokémon's pace, it will hinder the Pokémon's growth speed, which is why becoming a top Trainer is so challenging.
Both Ash and Yuji are undoubtedly strong Trainers, and it's impossible for them to not even see their own Pokémon's movements clearly.
Right now... Dragonite has the upper hand!
With each collision, Pikachu's body accumulates more and more injuries, and gradually, Pikachu is struggling to keep up with Dragonite's speed.
Although Pikachu can be faster than Dragonite, the skill being used by Dragonite is Extreme Speed, which is a tier above Quick Attack. The inherent acceleration of this move is enough to bridge, or even surpass, the speed gap between the two.
"Iron Tail!" Out of nowhere, Ash suddenly shouted, and almost the instant his voice fell, Dragonite and Pikachu collided again. However, this time, Dragonite was directly knocked away!
When the spectators focused their gaze, they saw Pikachu with its back turned towards Dragonite, and its tail, shimmering with a metallic sheen, moving like lightning.
"Such... such a fast Iron Tail! Just as Ash's voice fell, Pikachu instinctively used Iron Tail. Normally, even if Pokémon can hear commands, they shouldn't be able to react that quickly, but Ash's Pikachu not only reacted, it executed it!"
After a brief shock, the commentator's professional conduct quickly kicked in, and he began to explain the situation unfolding in the arena.
Even he couldn't quite see the speed of the collision just now. Yet, at this speed, Pikachu not only heard Ash's command but also executed it instantly.
This reaction speed, this speed of executing moves, is incredibly fast. It's almost as if it wasn't heard by the ears, transmitted to the brain, and then reacted upon; instead, Iron Tail was used instinctively the moment Ash's voice fell.
Although this is a non-native move, Pikachu seems to have made it an innate move.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Seeing Dragonite knocked back by Iron Tail, Ash quickly commanded Pikachu to continue the attack.
Pikachu floated lightly to the ground, its body instantly charged with brilliant electric energy. The next second, golden lightning shot out like an arrow from a bow, aimed directly at the fallen Dragonite.
"Dodge!!" At Yuji's command, Dragonite, despite the pain, flapped its small wings and quickly flew from the ground into the air, narrowly avoiding Thunderbolt.
"Zippy Zap!" Thunderbolt being dodged was within Ash's expectation; his true attack was hidden behind!
With Ash's words, Pikachu disappeared from its spot in a blink; a golden streak of electricity cut through the sky, leaving the audience only seeing a flash of lightning and then hearing a thunderclap in the sky!
"Ziiii!" With the sound of thunder came Dragonite's cry of anguish echoing across the sky!
Zippy Zap hit Dragonite, resulting in dazzling electric light shining in mid-air. Dragonite's entire body turned golden, expressing an extremely painful look, showing how devastating the damage was.
Only now did Yuji react; he hadn't seen Pikachu's speed clearly at all. By the time he realized it, Dragonite had already been hit by this move called Zippy Zap.
The move's name circled in Yuji's mind, but he found no information about it.
Yuji knew that Ash's Pikachu behaved uniquely after putting on the hat, but he didn't know that hat-wearing Pikachu had its exclusive moves, especially Zippy Zap, which was ridiculously powerful.
It comes with the same speed boost as Extreme Speed, but its power is even greater because this move is guaranteed to hit the Pokémon's weak spots. Originally Zippy Zap was just slightly stronger than Quick Attack, but when it's guaranteed to hit weak spots, it rivals a signature move like Volt Tackle!
Yet, this move has minimal energy consumption, without the backlash of a move like Volt Tackle, plus its acceleration effect makes it the most versatile and useful of Pikachu's four special moves.
After Dragonite was hit by Zippy Zap in the sky, its barely airborne body finally couldn't support itself any longer and crashed down.
Of course, Ash wouldn't pass up such an opportunity, immediately commanding Pikachu: "Pikachu, Floaty Fall!"
"Pika-Pika!!" Pikachu flipped in mid-air, head down, and then plummeted, its small body seeming to transform into a tiny meteor, coated in a layer of pale yellow energy, the surrounding wind converging on Pikachu and becoming the force behind its descent!
"What move is this? Dragonite, use Dragon Claw!" Another unseen move, Yuji didn't care anymore and responded with Dragon Claw.
The falling Dragonite reluctantly opened one eye, and upon targeting Pikachu's landing point, crossed its arms in front of it, with emerald green light extending from its claws.
"Boom——!!!"
Pikachu, enveloped in wind pressure and pale yellow energy, crashed heavily onto the crossed Dragon Claws like a meteor hitting the ground.
The emerald Dragon-Type energy and Pikachu's pale golden energy clashed, exploding upon contact, the piercing tear of energy mixed with the dull sound of snapping bones reverberating in the arena and leaving people's ears aching.
Already paralyzed throughout its body from the critical hit of Zippy Zap, Dragonite's Dragon Claw, held up with all its might, cracked inch by inch under the tremendous force of Floaty Fall, the emerald light scattered like shattered glass, and Dragon Claw was crushed by Floaty Fall!
After shattering Dragon Claw, the remaining force hit Dragonite as well, and the two figures overlapped as they swiftly fell to the ground!
"Boom!!"
Dragonite's body slammed heavily onto the sandy ground in the arena, instantly creating a pit several meters in diameter, the sand and stones beneath propelled tens of meters into the air by the shockwave, and then fell like rain.
The softness of this sandy arena is relative to a regular ground, but this place isn't a trampoline; the sand and stones can still hurt if they hit hard on the body. From this height, this force falling down will certainly cause Dragonite substantial damage.
Pikachu bounced lightly from the collision's counterforce, finally landing not far from Dragonite on the ground, its body slightly rising and falling, as the continuous attacking was also somewhat consuming for Pikachu.
Starting from the use of Iron Tail, Pikachu's assault had been relentless, Thunderbolt, Zippy Zap, Floaty Fall, almost seamlessly connecting, leaving not only Dragonite with no chance to catch its breath but Pikachu as well.
But overall, the result was favorable, with Dragonite being suppressed entirely throughout, and now its physical strength should have been significantly depleted.
In contrast, Pikachu only suffered some damage at the very beginning facing Dragonite's Extreme Speed.
However, the title of Quasi-God given to Dragonite isn't for nothing. A few seconds later, Dragonite within the pit slowly managed to rise, though riddled with injuries, the determination burning in its eyes hadn't diminished in the slightest; instead, it burned even more fiercely!
It's been a long time since encountering an opponent of this caliber; despite falling behind, for Dragonite, now was just right, it was just warming up for Dragonite!
The real battle has only just begun!