[Holy shit! He's definitely cheating, right? How did the move come out before the Pokémon?!]
[Daaamn, this guy's a hacker!]
[So why doesn't a Thunderbolt charged inside a Poké Ball hurt the Trainer? Do they make special Poké Balls like that now?]
[Insulated gloves! Red's wearing insulated gloves!]
[That's allowed? We've found someone sneakier than Lao Shui!]
[.]
Xia Chi never imagined that one day, he would get the Giovanni treatment-
Red had insulated himself from the electricity with insulated gloves, then secretly had Pikachu charge a Thunderbolt inside its Poké Ball. This was the very trick he had used in his showdown with Giovanni!
(Pikachu charging electricity inside its ball in Pokémon Adventures.)
That scene had left the deepest impression on Xia Chi when he read Pokémon Adventures.
How could a Trainer as cool as Red even exist.jpg
So when Xia Chi noticed that barely perceptible current just now, that iconic scene immediately flashed through his mind.
Almost instinctively, he ordered Floragato to use Mud-Slap.
Thankfully, he had made it in time.
And thankfully, this Pikachu's Electric-type moves couldn't hurt a Ground-type Floragato-
Both Ash in the anime and Red in Pokémon Adventures had Pikachu that could defeat a Ground-type Onix with Thunderbolt.
Now that was real cheating.
Fortunately, nothing that ridiculous had happened in this timeline.
"Pika, Surf!"
The brilliant electricity of Thunderbolt had barely faded before Red's next command came like a raging storm.
"Pika-chu!"
Energy gathered, and a tremendous surge of Water-type energy erupted around Pikachu!
The ground trembled slightly as an azure wave nearly as tall as a person materialized behind Pikachu!
Pikachu stood firmly atop the churning crest, riding its tremendous momentum toward the battered Floragato!
The suffocating offensive made Xia Chi wince.
*You weren't going all out this early in your previous matches,