Drip... drip...
Forced out of the patch of sunlight that had broken through the clouds, Pidgeot was once again driven back into the falling rain by Greninja's relentless Water Shuriken barrage.
The gentle rain continued to descend from the heavens, falling upon Pidgeot's wings before rolling off in countless droplets. However, unlike Pokémon such as Wingull, Swanna, or Cramorant, Pidgeot's feathers did not possess especially remarkable waterproof properties.
After remaining in the rain for an extended period, not only did its wings become soaked and heavier, but the feathers covering the rest of its body also gradually absorbed moisture and weighed it down. Coupled with the pressure of the rainfall descending continuously from above, Pidgeot's flight speed was reduced once again.
Fortunately, Pidgeot was no ordinary Flying-type Pokémon—it was one of Ash's meticulously nurtured ace Pokémon.
Even when faced with such a disadvantageous situation, it still had ways to turn the tide.
BANG!!
Much like a ninja using the Substitute Technique from Naruto, the moment Pidgeot sensed the situation turning unfavorable, it immediately sacrificed one-fourth of its stamina to use Substitute, combining it seamlessly with Quick Attack.
In the blink of an eye, Pidgeot disappeared from the rain curtain and reappeared beneath the brilliant, warm sunlight breaking through the clouds.
However, before it could celebrate its successful escape, an invisible and formless force suddenly descended upon it.
"Greninja, use Extrasensory!!"
"Gren!"
Greninja immediately responded. The webbed membranes of its palms began glowing with brilliant psychic light as it waved them through the air as though manipulating the very heavens themselves.
An immense invisible force capable of seemingly twisting space itself condensed into a gigantic hand that grasped toward the two Pidgeots floating high in the sky.
BOOM!!
"PIDGEOT!!"
Caught within the gigantic hand created by Extrasensory and crushed beneath the overwhelming force that warped space itself, the Substitute that Pidgeot had created at the cost of one-fourth of its stamina instantly exploded into nothingness.
Even Pidgeot's true body couldn't escape unscathed, letting out a pained cry as it suffered the attack's aftermath.
As a Pokémon specializing in Speed and offensive power, what Pidgeot feared most were powerful crowd-control techniques capable of restricting its movements.
BANG!!
Left with no other choice, Pidgeot immediately used Substitute once more to free itself before—
"PIDGEOT ×99!!"
The moment it escaped, Pidgeot instantly used Double Team + Roost, creating countless afterimages to conceal itself as it descended toward the ground to recover its stamina.
Substitute was an extraordinarily powerful move—one could even call it an overbearing and unreasonable evasive technique.
Moreover, unlike the absolute defensive move Protect, Substitute didn't suffer from reduced success rates when used repeatedly. It could be used continuously, its only drawback being its tremendous stamina consumption.
"Greninja, use Icy Wind!!"
Seeing Pidgeot split into countless copies to conceal its descent while preparing to recover with Roost, Ash immediately issued another countermeasure.
"Gren!"
WHOOOOOSH—!!!
Greninja's movements were incomparably swift. The moment it received Ash's command, it immediately opened its mouth and unleashed a fierce, bone-chilling gale toward the flock of Pidgeots.
Icy Wind was an Ice-type move.
And before Pidgeot could successfully use Roost to temporarily shed its Flying typing, Greninja's Icy Wind posed an enormous threat to it.
POP! POP! POP! POP!
"PIDGEOT!!"
The frigid gale swept across the battlefield, instantly shattering the leading Double Team clones one after another.
As the freezing current rapidly approached, Pidgeot, whose stamina had yet to fully recover, no longer cared about completing its Roost.
Flapping its wings frantically, it hurriedly took to the skies once again.
Compared to merely suffering damage, what Pidgeot feared most was being frozen solid by Icy Wind.
If its body became frozen and immobilized, then regardless of how much stamina it still possessed, it would be unable to withstand Greninja's relentless storm-like offensive for more than a few exchanges before suffering defeat.
The battle continued to rage on.
Since they were all companions belonging to the same team, everyone was intimately familiar with one another's abilities, battle styles, and move pools.
Precisely because of this, the pace of battle was incredibly fast.
Both sides continuously countered one another's moves and strategies. Although Greninja enjoyed the advantage of having Ash directing it from the sidelines, Pidgeot—which had already grown capable of standing proudly on its own—didn't fall behind in the slightest.
The only thing Ash and Greninja could do was gradually establish and accumulate advantages through superior timing and battlefield tempo before slowly expanding those advantages and ultimately claiming victory.
Throughout the entire battle, both Ash and Greninja devoted themselves completely to the fight without allowing the slightest distracting thought to enter their minds.
Meanwhile, the heart rate synchronization data being monitored by Rotom continued steadily climbing.
Whenever their synchronization reached a certain threshold, Ash would further reduce his usage of Aura Power, causing the connection between him and Greninja to become increasingly faint and blurred.
Yet despite that, the genuine bond between Trainer and Pokémon only continued growing stronger.
While Ash and Greninja progressed toward complete unity by simultaneously reducing Aura Power's assistance while strengthening their mutual bond, Pidgeot—serving as their sparring partner—wasn't without its own gains.
Practice was the sole criterion for testing truth.
Likewise, battle was the only true method of testing the fruits of a Pokémon's daily training. Particularly when fighting powerful opponents of equally high caliber, battle served as an invaluable opportunity to identify one's weaknesses and shortcomings.
However, despite Pidgeot's own improvements, Greninja was undoubtedly the greatest beneficiary of this training.
...
One week later...
Another week quietly passed.
The third stage of Bond Evolution training had finally reached its conclusion.
Without relying upon Aura Power's assistance, Ash and Greninja had once again achieved complete unity of heart and mind—the prerequisite condition for Bond Evolution itself.
"Greninja—Bond Evolution!!"
After such prolonged and arduous training, Ash and Greninja once more activated the power of Bond Evolution.
"GREEEEN!!"
Upon the deserted beach at Pallet Town's river estuary—where no one was present save for Ash and his Pokémon—a magnificent transformation began once again.
Following Ash's powerful shout, Greninja raised its right arm high above its head.
At the same moment, raging torrents of water surged upward from beneath Greninja's feet before transforming into an enormous water cyclone that completely enveloped its body.
However, unlike their previous activation of Bond Evolution 2.0, this time was fundamentally different.
Following the completion of their third stage of training, alongside the raging torrents of water surging upward was the tremendous power of evolution erupting from within Greninja's body itself.
Watching as Greninja became enveloped not only by the raging water cyclone but also by the brilliant light of evolution while its appearance once again began to change, Ash couldn't help but feel incomparably moved.
It was as though Greninja had finally and truly mastered the power of Bond Evolution.
The entire process of transformation was astonishingly brief.
Within merely a few seconds, Greninja completed its Bond Evolution.
Its body remained shrouded within the raging water cyclone, but one could vaguely make out that compared to before, Greninja's appearance had now undergone tremendous changes.
At this moment, it could no longer simply be called Greninja.
Just as it had been known in the original timeline, it could finally be called—
Ash-Greninja.