Chapter 251: The Elegant Suicune Naturally Uses a Chain of Slaps
"Ash, if this is all you've got, you're not walking away from me with Rika."
Suicune stood cold and aloof on the ground, its detached gaze fixed on the panting Pikachu.
Aloof, regal, elegant — this was the legendary incarnation of the north wind, Suicune!
Under normal circumstances, seeing a Suicune this striking, Misty figured she'd probably be screaming with delight. But right now, all she felt was despair. How were they supposed to deal with something this strong? Even Ash's Pikachu was completely outmatched.
Rika pressed her lips together, still not daring to look up — if she did, she was certain the embarrassment would be too much to bear. Honestly, why did Mister Mammon have to act like this?! It made her feel exactly like some princess kidnapped by an evil dragon. Utterly mortifying.
Caitlin kept her eyes deliberately elsewhere, refusing to so much as glance in Rika's direction.
"Damn it!!" Ash gritted his teeth, burning with frustration he couldn't shake.
"You're still too weak right now, Ash. As you are, there's nothing you can actually do," Mammon said, yawning, thoroughly unbothered. "If you want to beat me, you'll need to get a lot stronger first — right now you're basically some kid in shorts off the street, one hit and you'd fall apart."
Mammon tilted his head slightly, studying Ash's darkening expression. Ash wasn't perfect, of course — he got upset over losses, got angry when provoked. But Mammon believed all of that was exactly the kind of fuel that made someone stronger. After all, the "monsters" over in the other regions were all growing at a breakneck pace — and if Kanto was supposed to be the strongest region, how could its homegrown "monsters" afford to fall behind the competition? Mammon figured Red and Ash had both been coasting a bit too comfortably lately, so — time to spice things up. Last time had presumably left a real impression on Red; this time, it was Ash's turn. As for Green... hadn't run into him yet. No telling which corner their "five-minute champion" was off showing off in these days.
"Looks like this is your ceiling for now. Well then, see you around."
Mammon gave Ash one last look, turned with Rika still in his arms, and made to leave. Suicune didn't move, simply watching Ash's group and Pikachu calmly, ready to keep them from chasing after Mammon.
"Wait! This fight isn't over yet!" Refusing to accept it, Ash immediately threw his second Poké Ball.
"Charizard! Use Flamethrower!"
The ball opened, and a Charizard burning with fierce presence spread its wings, a roaring blaze surging from its jaws toward Suicune. Even with a type disadvantage — didn't matter! Ash believed in his Charizard.
"Hydro Pump." Mammon turned back around.
Suicune opened its mouth and answered with a massive Hydro Pump of its own — Water-type Hydro Pump!
BOOM!
Hydro Pump and Flamethrower collided head-on — the classic clash of water and fire, blue against red. But the outcome came as no surprise to Mammon at all: Suicune's Hydro Pump powered straight through the flames and slammed hard into Charizard.
KA-BOOM!
A thunderous impact, and Ash's Charizard let out an anguished cry before crashing straight down, hitting the ground hard.
This...
Brock watched the scene, utterly stunned. Sure, Water beat Fire, but a complete, one-sided steamroll like that between two signature-tier moves was genuinely rare to see. It said everything about just how strong this Suicune really was — and Brock knew full well that Ash's actual strength was already considerable. Even Xia, the veteran back at the Cinnabar Gym, had openly admitted he wouldn't be a match for Ash even at full strength.
And yet here was Mammon, using his Suicune to bat Ash around like some rookie bug-catcher on the roadside.
"Charizard!" Ash cried out in alarm, rushing over to check on it.
"Still quite a gap to close. Hopefully you'll have made some progress by our next meeting?" Mammon shook his head — he could tell Ash's skill was genuinely solid, just not solid enough. Not yet.
"I will save Miss Rika!" Ash checked on Charizard, breathing a sigh of relief, then glared back at Mammon, unwilling to give up despite it all. This Suicune really was overwhelming — but he wasn't going to quit. Never give up, never abandon a fight halfway — that was his creed.
"Meaningless," Mammon said, giving him a glance.
"Squirtle!" Ash ignored the comment, sending out his third Pokémon.
A healthy-looking Squirtle appeared before him. Ash's sharp battle instincts had already told him — if he couldn't even land a hit on this Suicune, beating it would be next to impossible.
A Squirtle? Mammon raised an eyebrow at the sight — Ash, a kid with this much natural talent, and he still hadn't let his Squirtle evolve? Ah, right — Ash respected his Pokémon's own wishes; if Squirtle itself didn't want to evolve, he'd back that choice regardless. But honestly, evolution boosted combat strength enormously. Sure, Ash could train a Squirtle to be genuinely excellent — but how could a Squirtle compete, tactically, with a Blastoise? Blastoise could Mega Evolve, could Gigantamax, could adapt to all sorts of matchups — it held real tactical value. A Squirtle just didn't have that range.
Seeing the Squirtle show up, Mammon felt a small twinge of disappointment — he'd hoped a prodigy like this world's Ash might have shaken up his lineup a bit, and instead, out came a plain Squirtle. Made him wonder what the rest of Ash's main team even looked like.
"Squirtle, Sucker Punch!"
Ash gave the order at once.
"Hm?" Mammon blinked, caught briefly off guard.
Suicune's eyes shifted instantly. The small Squirtle came darting forward at surprising speed, right up to Suicune, leapt — and smacked it clean across the face.
SMACK!
Normal-type Sucker Punch — an inherited move on this particular Squirtle.
"GRRR!!" Suicune's expression turned to ice on the spot, letting out a furious growl at Squirtle, practically hissing with fury. Its eyes went cold as a glacier, locked murderously on the little water turtle in front of it.
Damn it! A little turtle, and it dares to slap me?!
Squirtle, thoroughly rattled by that cold, murderous glare, gulped audibly — it could feel a thick wave of pure hostility rolling straight at it.
"Perfect! Squirtle, follow up with Body Slam!"
Seeing Sucker Punch land, Ash immediately pressed the advantage. Squirtle let out a couple of low grunts, its body glowing faintly white, and slammed its head straight into Suicune's chest — Normal-type Body Slam!
Suicune staggered from the impact — though by this point, its ability to act had already returned. Or rather — it had recovered the instant Squirtle came barreling in.
"Do whatever you want," Mammon said, giving no orders, letting Suicune act on its own.
Suicune took a step forward, its oppressive, freezing stare making Squirtle distinctly uneasy. Ice-blue light gathered at its mouth, and an Ice Beam shot straight out.
"Squirtle! High-speed spin to dodge!"
Squirtle immediately pulled its limbs and head into its shell, spinning rapidly, trying to loft itself into the air to dodge the beam. But the Ice Beam came too fast, catching the spinning Squirtle dead-on, its high-speed rotation grinding to an abrupt halt.
Crack, crack~
The Ice Beam kept freezing, and under Suicune's precise control, most of Squirtle's body got encased in ice, the frost spreading down to the ground beneath it.
"Squirtle!" Ash cried out in alarm.
"Squir? Squirtle, squirtle." Squirtle's head poked free, discovering its whole body frozen solid, and it thrashed in a panic. But the next instant, a shadow fell over it — Squirtle looked up to see Suicune's blank, expressionless face looming close.
Squirtle gulped again. Something told it this was about to go very badly.
And then—
SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!
Under the slack-jawed disbelief of Ash's whole group, Suicune, utterly expressionless, lifted its paw with practiced, rhythmic precision and started slapping Squirtle across the face — one crisp smack after another, hard enough that Squirtle's cheeks were starting to swell.
"Is that... Slap Rush?" Misty stared, dumbfounded, hesitantly voicing the thought. Slap Rush was a real Normal-type move, after all.
"But does Suicune even learn Slap Rush?... And something's off about it, too," Brock muttered, mouth twitching. Slap Rush should make the paw glow white when it's used — but this clearly wasn't the move at all.
"Forget 'Slap Rush,' it's just SLAPPING my Squirtle!! Squirtle!" Ash finally snapped back to himself, stamping his foot in fury, voice cracking with panic. This absolutely ridiculous Suicune — how vindictive could one Pokémon possibly be?! His Squirtle landed one measly Sucker Punch and Suicune goes and freezes it solid just to slap it around in retaliation?!
"..." Misty.
"..." Brock.
Ash hurriedly recalled his thoroughly dazed, dizzy little water turtle back into its ball, heart aching for it. Meanwhile, deep in Ash's shadow, a pair of hollow orange eyes stared out at Suicune in absolute horror. Suicune is TERRIFYING.
"Let's go," Mammon said, chuckling, and left the training ground with Rika and Caitlin in tow. Ash, though he wanted desperately to stop them, found Suicune standing like an entire mountain in his path — all he could do was watch helplessly as the three of them walked away.
Ash suddenly found himself agreeing with Mammon — right now, there really was nothing he could do.
"We couldn't even hold them long enough for Miss Jenny and her team to get here..." Misty sighed, thoroughly frustrated.
"Given Mammon's strength, I doubt even Officer Jenny's people could do much against him," Brock said with a sigh.
Ash gritted his teeth, staring off in the direction Mammon had disappeared. I have to get stronger. Stronger than this.
Mammon!! Next time — I will beat you!!
"Where should we head next, then?" On the way back to Rika's courtyard, Mammon mulled over which region to visit next.
(End of Chapter)
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you