"Now begins the Gym Challenge battle. The two sides are Gym Leader Lucci and Ash from Pallet Town. Each side may use one Pokémon. There is no time limit for this match!"
The referee waved the flag in his hand and explained the rules.
The arrival of Ash and his two companions quickly caught Lucci's attention. Seeing the confident looks on Ash and Pikachu's faces, Lucci agreed to the challenge.
"It's your turn, Pikachu!" Ash shouted, sending out his most trusted partner—Pikachu.
"I'm counting on you, Alakazam!" Lucci said as he sent out his original Pokémon, Alakazam.
The white light faded, and the familiar Alakazam appeared once more on the battlefield.
"The battle begins!" the referee announced.
"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered.
"Not bad." Red nodded in satisfaction. Alakazam's weakness lay in its physical defense. Blindly using electric attacks would only be exploited by Alakazam. Purposeful close combat was the true way to defeat it.
"In order to beat Alakazam, Ash thought about it for a long time last night!" Brock explained.
"So my Ash can actually plan tactics now?!"
Red froze in surprise for a moment. Was this really the same reckless Ash he knew?
"Teleport!" Lucci commanded, choosing not to engage Pikachu in close combat.
"Pikachu, watch where Alakazam reappears and use Iron Tail!" Ash ordered again.
"Pika—pi!"
Pikachu's tail glowed white, hard as steel, fiercely striking toward the spot where Alakazam materialized.
Seeing this, Alakazam could only hastily use Psychic to block, but it was still struck in a vital spot by Iron Tail.
"Over the past two days of training, I've figured out Alakazam's habits!" Ash said to the puzzled Lucci, explaining how Pikachu could accurately predict its reappearance.
"You really surprised me, Ash!" Lucci praised. He hadn't expected such a huge change in just two days.
"In that case, I won't hold back anymore. Alakazam, use Psybeam!" Lucci commanded.
"Oh no! Ash, watch out for Psybeam! It has a 10% chance to confuse the target. You must handle it carefully!" Brock urgently warned, afraid Ash would recklessly order Pikachu to charge in.
"In that case, Pikachu, use Thunderbolt directly to break through Psybeam!" Ash shouted decisively.
"Pika…chu!"
Electricity burst from Pikachu's body. The high-voltage current collided with Psybeam, causing a violent explosion.
"Now use Agility!"
The explosion stirred up thick smoke. Ash intended to use this chance to completely drain Alakazam's stamina.
"Trying for close combat? Alakazam, use Reflect!" Lucci ordered, reducing the power of Pikachu's physical attacks.
"Reflect?"
Ash, whose theoretical knowledge was practically zero, froze in confusion. What kind of move was that? He only saw a transparent wall suddenly appear in front of Alakazam, but had no idea what it did.
"Reflect is a Psychic-type move. It halves the power of physical moves like Quick Attack!" Brock explained helplessly.
"Forget it! Pikachu, use Iron Tail now!"
Ash shook off his useless anxiety. For a trainer like him who relied on improvisation, overthinking countermeasures would only disrupt his battle rhythm.
Bang—
Pikachu's Iron Tail struck Alakazam accurately, but the transparent wall weakened half of the damage. Alakazam quickly launched a counterattack.
"Alakazam, use Psychic!"
Blue light shone from Alakazam's eyes. The two spoons crossed together, releasing powerful psychic energy that forcibly restrained Pikachu, slamming it up and down onto the ground to drain its stamina.
(What should I do? How can I break free from Alakazam's psychic control?)
Ash's mind raced for a solution, his gaze locking onto the ground beneath Pikachu.
(Brother once said that Pokémon battles must always make use of the battlefield conditions. The ground… right! The ground!)
"Pikachu, when you're about to hit the ground, use Iron Tail and stab it firmly into the earth!" Ash ordered calmly.
"Great idea!" Brock praised.
Under Alakazam's control, Pikachu plummeted rapidly. Just before crashing, it flipped with all its strength and drove Iron Tail into the ground, anchoring itself in place.
As Alakazam tried to strengthen its psychic hold, Ash immediately ordered Pikachu to use Thunderbolt toward it.
"Teleport!"
Alakazam vanished from its spot, easily floating in midair with its psychic power. It materialized the psychic energy like cannon shells and hurled them at Pikachu—using Psyshock.
"Pikachu, dodge quickly!" Ash commanded.
The smaller Pikachu relied on its size advantage to evade the attack, then used Quick Attack again, leaping up to slam into Alakazam. The struck Alakazam crashed to the ground—but as it fell, a strange smile appeared on its face.
"Great chance! Pikachu, use Iron Tail now!" Ash exclaimed excitedly, as if already witnessing victory.
"Still too reckless…" Red shook his head helplessly. When battling a Psychic-type Pokémon like Alakazam, unless you have a way to completely finish it off, you shouldn't abandon your advantage so easily. Psychic-types had plenty of survival tricks.
"Alakazam, use Kinesis!" Lucci ordered.
Ash and Pikachu both looked confused. What kind of tactic was that?
Alakazam's spoon suddenly bent, making Pikachu, who was attacking, think a powerful Psychic-type move was about to be unleashed.
"Pikachu, be extra cautious!" Ash reminded—unaware that this played right into Alakazam's hands.
"Ash, you're still too naive. Alakazam, use Fire Punch now!" Lucci commanded.
"What?!"
Alakazam's flaming right fist struck Pikachu's abdomen hard. The scorching flames burned Pikachu's body, and it let out a painful cry.
"I didn't expect it to be a trap!" Misty exclaimed in shock.
"It just shows how experienced Lucci is in battle. He completely understood the mindset of trainers like Ash!" Brock said with lingering fear. How would he win against such a crafty opponent?
"Psyshock!"
Countless waves of psychic energy burst from Alakazam's crossed spoons, mercilessly striking Pikachu.
"Pikachu, hang in there! Dodge quickly!" Ash shouted.
Pikachu struggled to get up from the ground, but the burns on its body prevented it from standing.
"Psycho Cut!"
Alakazam slashed fiercely with its crossed spoons, sending two materialized psychic blades slicing toward Pikachu.