As Misty fell into a melancholic mood, the large screen with a white border slowly lit up.
The high-hanging sun, the smashed alarm clock, the young boy suddenly waking up in bed—it was still the same old routine.
Without even changing his clothes, he rushed to Professor Oak's laboratory. But as always, he was late. Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander had all been taken.
Ash was on the verge of tears.
Fortunately, Professor Oak had saved one Pokémon for him—a peculiar Pikachu that refused to enter its Poké Ball.
Although it wasn't the Pokémon he had wanted, Ash happily set off on his journey with Pikachu.
To him, it didn't matter what Pokémon it was—he loved them all the same.
However, Ash was the only one in a joyful mood. Pikachu had no interest in traveling.
It was being forced, and that meant Pikachu was completely unwilling to obey Ash's commands.
Ash spotted a wild Pidgey in the roadside grass. He asked Pikachu to help him catch it, but Pikachu just stood there disdainfully, watching as if it were enjoying the show.
Ash was enraged. Since when did a Pokémon dare to look down on him? To prove himself, Ash prepared to catch the Pidgey with his own hands.
But after all his effort, not only did Ash fail to catch the Pidgey, he also provoked a Spearow.
The hornet's nest was stirred up. A massive swarm of Spearow, led by their leader, launched a Sucker Punch on Ash and Pikachu.
Pikachu was strong—if there had only been two or three Spearow, it wouldn't have even flinched. But now there were hundreds, even thousands. Even Pikachu could only sigh in despair.
Under the relentless assault of the Spearow swarm, Pikachu quickly became covered in wounds.
[Misty: So that's what happened.]
From this perspective, the slap Ash received was a bit unfair.
[Cynthia: My heart goes out to Ash. He just started his journey and encountered such a terrifying situation.]
[Diantha: Will it leave a psychological scar on the child?]
[Maxie: Now's the perfect opportunity. The Spearow's attention is all on Pikachu. That kid could just run for it.]
[Archie: Are you even human? Leaving such a cute Pikachu behind and escaping alone? How could anyone do that?!]
[Maxie: Where there's life, there's hope. As long as he's alive, anything's possible. It's just a Pokémon—he can catch another one.]
Maxie displayed human ruthlessness to the extreme.
[Archie: Hmph. My philosophy is correct. We should summon Kyogre and flood the world into an ocean. Humans are heartless creatures—Pokémon are the true hope of the world.]
[Wallace: You two fanatics are really something else!!!]
Ash didn't abandon Pikachu. Ignoring the danger, he rushed into the Spearow swarm and rescued the battered Pikachu.
But the danger wasn't over. The enraged Spearow weren't about to let them go. A wild chase began.
They fled through the forest and even dove into the lake, but still, Ash couldn't shake them off.
During their escape, Ash met Misty.
Although he received a solid slap from her, it wasn't without gain—Ash not only learned the location of the Pokémon Center but also "borrowed" her bicycle.
The bicycle chain was practically on fire, yet the Spearow continued their pursuit.
The strength in Ash's body gradually faded, and his legs felt heavy, like they were filled with lead. Eventually, he collapsed, falling heavily onto the muddy road with the bicycle.
Cornered, Ash displayed an unparalleled fearless spirit. He took out a Poké Ball, placed it beside Pikachu, and shielded Pikachu behind him.
At the brink of life and death, for Pikachu to live, he unhesitatingly chose to die.
"Hey! Do you even know who I am?! I'm Ash from Pallet Town—the future world's number one Pokémon Master! I won't lose to you! I'll defeat every one of you!"
"Pikachu, get in! Get into the Poké Ball—quickly!"
The chatroom fell silent.
Everyone was shocked by Ash's actions.
Although each of them was immeasurably stronger than Ash, if they were in the same situation, could they calmly give up their own life for their Pokémon?
[Lance: I really want to say I could too. But thinking about it carefully, if I really faced something like that, I definitely wouldn't be as resolute as Ash.]
[Steven: Not even a moment of hesitation… He's truly an admirable guy.]
[Diantha: Compared to Ash, we so-called Champions seem so far behind!]
Will opened his mouth but didn't speak. Though he was an Ash hater, there was simply no way to hate him now.
He couldn't go against his conscience.
Better to shut up—and quietly enjoy Ash's performance.