Splash! Splash!
The instant Goldeen's Water Pulse streaked toward its target, Magikarp exploded out of the muddy ambush zone.
Golden scales flashed brilliantly beneath the afternoon sun.
Its body arced through the air in a magnificent parabola.
Then—
Like a meteor descending from the heavens—
It came crashing down.
BANG!
Its head slammed directly into Goldeen's forehead.
"Goldeeeen!!"
Goldeen's eyes rolled back.
Its body went limp.
And it immediately lost the ability to battle.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host. Defeated LV.24 Goldeen. Experience gained: +350]
[Ding! Magikarp has met the requirements for evolution. Magikarp is evolving...]
The spectators had barely processed Goldeen's defeat when Ash heard a series of system notifications ring out beside his ears.
At the same time—
A dazzling evolutionary light erupted from Magikarp's body.
One week ago, shortly before the Water Pokémon Beauty Contest began, Magikarp had already shown signs of evolution during training.
Since then, the feeling had surfaced repeatedly.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
By now, nearly eight separate evolutionary surges had been suppressed.
The evolutionary energy accumulated within its body had reached its limit.
And now, fueled by the experience gained from this battle—
It finally broke through.
Dun... dun... dun...
Watching Magikarp's silhouette rapidly lengthen within the brilliant light, the corners of Ash's lips slowly rose.
For some reason, he almost felt as though a legendary, blood-pumping evolution theme song was echoing through the air.
"WOW!!"
"Magikarp is evolving!"
"No!"
"It's already started evolving!"
"This is incredible!"
"I never thought I'd get to witness one of Ash's Pokémon evolve up close!"
"Seriously!"
"This is amazing!"
"Hehe, I was lucky enough to attend yesterday's finals of the Water Pokémon Beauty Contest."
"I saw Ash's Feebas evolve into Milotic right in front of me!"
"WHAT?!"
"That's insane!"
"You're so lucky!"
"Forget talking!"
"Take out your phones!"
"Record this!"
"Quick!"
The crowd exploded into excitement.
Phones were raised everywhere.
Cameras flashed continuously.
Pokémon evolution was already a rare sight.
But Magikarp evolving into Gyarados?
That was rare among rare events.
Not to mention—
This was Ash's Magikarp.
A shiny Magikarp.
Everyone knew that if they uploaded footage of this moment online, it would instantly explode across the internet.
Anything less than millions of views would be unimaginable.
...
...
The evolution didn't last very long.
Only around fifteen seconds.
Then—
The radiant light gradually faded.
"ROOOOOAAARRRR!!!"
A deafening roar erupted from within the fading brilliance.
The evolved Pokémon revealed itself.
A gigantic body.
Five to six meters long.
Even while partially coiled, it still stood as tall as a one-story building.
Compared to the compact and adorable Magikarp of the past—
This was a true monster.
A terrifying apex predator.
A Gyarados.
Its body shimmered like molten gold.
Every scale resembled polished jade or forged precious metal.
The sunlight reflected off its body, causing the entire beach to glow with golden radiance.
"ROAR!!"
Freshly evolved and overflowing with power, the Golden Gyarados threw back its head and unleashed another earth-shaking roar.
The soundwave rolled across the shoreline.
Ocean waves were pushed backward.
Nearby tourists staggered.
Many instinctively retreated in fear.
And Misty—
Who already possessed a deep psychological fear of Gyarados—
Immediately felt her legs go weak.
She collapsed onto the sand.
However, Ash barely noticed anyone else's reactions.
His entire attention was fixed on the magnificent Pokémon before him.
"A golden Gyarados?"
"How is that possible?"
Ash blinked repeatedly.
"Shouldn't a shiny Magikarp evolve into a red Gyarados?"
"Why is it still gold?"
He stared at the dazzling creature in surprise.
Then realization dawned on him.
Games were games.
Anime was anime.
Reality was reality.
The former could serve as references.
But they were never absolute truth.
Shiny Pokémon were also known as alternate-colored Pokémon.
The key word was alternate.
Their coloration simply differed from the species' standard appearance.
That didn't mean every shiny individual had to share the exact same alternate color.
Not every shiny Magikarp had to be gold.
Not every unusual Dragonair had to evolve into the same color Dragonite.
The defining characteristic of a shiny Pokémon was uniqueness.
Difference.
Variation.
Seen from that perspective—
A Golden Magikarp evolving into a Golden Gyarados wasn't strange at all.
Although the famous Red Gyarados was undoubtedly iconic—
This Golden Gyarados was equally breathtaking.
Magnificent.
Noble.
Regal.
And unbelievably cool.
"Golden Gyarados it is."
"At least now I don't have to worry about matching Lance's red Gyarados."
Ash chuckled inwardly.
Then he immediately issued a new command.
"System."
"Scan Gyarados's data."
Ding! Scanning. Please wait...
Shiny Gyarados
Level: LV.23
Type: Water
Nature: Confident, Brave
Abilities: Intimidate
Hidden Ability: Moxie
HP: 105
Attack: 135
Defense: 89
Special Attack: 70
Special Defense: 110
Potential: Blue +99.9%
Moves:
Mastered (1/5000): Tackle, Aqua Ring, Aqua Tail, Dragon Dance, Dragon Rage
Proficient (1/1000): None
Skilled (1/500): None
Novice (1/100): Bite, Leer, Twister, Flail, Whirlpool, Ice Fang, Brine, Scary Face, Waterfall, Crunch
…
The data appeared clearly before Ash.
The evolution had transformed nearly everything.
Its level had jumped by two.
Its former abilities, Swift Swim and Rattled, had become Intimidate and Moxie.
Its personality remained largely unchanged.
But the greatest transformation was undoubtedly its overall stats.
As a shiny Pokémon, its talent had already rivaled that of a pseudo-legendary.
Now that it had evolved into its final form, its base-stat total had surged all the way to 600.
Exactly equivalent to a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
And that wasn't even its limit.
If Ash could someday obtain a Mega Stone and trigger Mega Evolution—
Its total stats would increase by another hundred points.
A terrifying 700 base stats.
At that level—
Once it reached Champion-class strength—
It could potentially stand toe-to-toe with even Legendary Pokémon for short periods of time.
It still couldn't compare to Pikachu, the Gold-Potential Child of Destiny.
But—
It had already reached the same level of natural talent as Greninja, Kalos's own favored child.
And for a Pokémon that had once been dismissed as a useless Magikarp—
That achievement was nothing short of miraculous.
Author's Note:
Some readers might be confused or have doubts regarding the shiny Golden Gyarados.
In this story, the shiny Magikarp evolves into a Golden Gyarados rather than the usual Red Gyarados. This is based on an alternate shiny variant that has appeared in several Pokémon games.