Pokémon, Ash's art style is off!

Of course, there's no problem!

The mouse looked at the Ditto.

After all, this power of yours... doesn't belong to you!

"Pikachu...!!!"

Pikachu took a deep breath, its chest bulging and its abdominal muscles tensing.

Ditto's pupils suddenly contracted, only to see that Pikachu was actually using one hand to brace itself against the ground, and as it twisted its waist, the force coming from its tail had increased even more!

The entire tail suddenly sank down, pressing down on the blade of the tile-splitting palm and grinding downwards!

Ditto's expression froze for a moment, then his shoulders slumped and his ankle made a soft cracking sound.

He was actually forced to kneel down on one knee by that brute force!

His knee slammed into the ground, creating a crack around it!

"Now!"

As Ash spoke again, Pikachu spun around.

The tail swung away from the Brick Breaker's grip, and the body, using the momentum of its rotation, delivered a serious, merciless, and unpretentious straight punch to Ditto!

"boom--!"

With a single blow, Ditto was sent flying, palm and all!

Ditto slammed its back against the ground, leaving a long groove before finally coming to a stop.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

"Wow, that's some real strength!"

"So he was holding back all along!"

"I never imagined that a Pokémon that looks like a stray dog ​​could be so beautiful!"

"Yeah! No wonder some big guys have been catching Pikachu on the roadside lately. I thought it was Johto trainers attacking!"

"Pikachu—!"

Pikachu landed back on the ground and flicked its tail.

It tilted its head and looked at Ditto struggling to get up in the distance, its eyes clearly showing a hint of provocation.

snort!

Do you really think your clumsy imitations can beat the mouse's relentless efforts and the power of technology?

What a joke!

"Pikachu, keep using Thunder Punch!"

"Pickup!"

Pikachu suddenly clenched its right paw, and lightning shot out from between its fingers.

Golden arcs of electricity crackled and climbed up the forearm, enveloping the entire arm in a layer of leaping lightning.

It crouched low and charged forward at an extremely fast speed.

It left a golden afterimage as it charged straight at Ditto!

Imetti's heart tightened, and her voice involuntarily rose a few decibels.

Ditto!

"Quick! Get up and use close-range combat to retaliate!"

Ditto gritted its teeth and sprang up from the ground, its arms outstretched, one in front of the other, assuming a close-quarters combat stance.

He charged straight at Pikachu!

Fists, knee strikes, elbow strikes—a barrage of blows rained down like a storm!

Pikachu was equally fierce, each punch radiating anger!

In an instant, the two sides were locked in combat.

The punches and kicks clashed and crackled, much to the delight of the audience.

At first, Ditto could barely handle it.

After all, close combat does have an advantage in pure physical confrontation. Its combo moves are flawless in terms of rhythm, angle, and explosiveness.

The problem is that every punch Pikachu throws produces arcs of electricity that constantly strike its body, leaving its muscles numb and stiff, preventing it from using its full strength!

in short.

Pikachu's fists are enchanted!

It is a Ditto whose strength is not comparable to Ash's!

With a punch, Ditto's elbow strike went off by three points.

Another punch landed on his shoulder blade, and the numbness crept up his wrist to his shoulder, making his forearm feel like it was filled with lead and he couldn't lift it.

Ditto gritted its teeth and struggled, desperately trying to maintain its rhythm.

However, the stinging and stiffness caused by the electric shock made its movements increasingly distorted, and cracks began to appear in its originally impenetrable close combat!

Seeing this, Imetti also became a little anxious.

As a former Lifestyle Trainer, she indeed lacked combat experience. In previous battles, she had simply overwhelmed her opponents with Ditto's extremely high stats and brute force her way through.

Moreover, Ditto transforms into Ash, so its move pool is not as extensive as other Pokémon.

All of them are offensive fighting techniques; there isn't a single skill that can control the field, disrupt, or weaken the opponent.

Once we encounter an opponent of equal or even higher skill, like we are now, it's a disaster!

Pikachu delivered another Thunder Punch to Ditto's shoulder.

A surge of electricity coursed through his body, and Ditto staggered back two steps, almost collapsing to the ground.

It was panting heavily, its knees were weak, and the light in its eyes was gradually dimming.

The punches became weaker and weaker with each blow, and even an elbow strike to Pikachu's crossed arms had no deterrent effect whatsoever.

Having been defeated once again, it is now plunged into deep despair.

After all, when a numerically powerful monster encounters another numerically powerful monster that is even stronger and can be enchanted...

How are we supposed to fight like this?!

It even began to doubt itself: was it really qualified to imitate Ash?

Ultimately, it's just a clumsy imitation, disguised as Ash Ketchum.

Those moves, those actions, are just poor imitations; perhaps they're simply not worthy of being called "good."

Ditto!

Imetti's voice rang out from the sidelines.

"Stand up! You haven't lost yet! You can still... you can still keep fighting!"

She clenched her fists tightly.

"You said it yourself, didn't you? You said you loved being Ash the most!"

"Because that's the strongest version of yourself! How could you... how could you give up here!"

The audience was initially silent.

Then someone shouted first—

Go for it, Ditto!

"Don't give up! Those moves were so cool!"

"We've watched you fight your way up! Stand up!!"

"Although what your trainer just said sounded a bit twisted... don't give up so easily!"

More and more voices converged, like a warm stream of water flowing through the noisy arena and into the ears of the shapeshifter.

Ditto shuddered.

It slowly raised its head, first looking at Imetti, then up at the audience, at the unfamiliar faces, at the waving arms...

Finally, their eyes met.

Ash stood on the opposite side, took a deep breath, and his voice pierced through the arena, through the noisy discussions, and directly into Ditto's ears.

"So this is what you wanted me to see, Ditto?"

"Failure is not terrible; I fail often too. What's terrible is losing the courage to fight!"

The reason he is so strong now is because he was not intimidated by his mother's strength when he was a child, and he never gave up and has been challenging her ever since!

Now I am able to stand on equal footing with them!

In an instant, their eyes met, and Ditto's pupils contracted slightly.

It suddenly understood something.

I realized that I was just imitating Ash's appearance, his gait, his expression, the angle of his punches, and the degree to which his chin was raised when he spoke.

It learned these superficial things perfectly, but never touched on anything deeper!

True strength lies in inner strength!

That's it!

I see!

Having figured everything out, Ditto's eyes lit up again.

It slowly straightened its body, its back straightened, and even its breathing became deep and long again.

At that moment, it was no longer "a Ditto that became Ash," but "a Ditto that chose to become Ash."

Every cell in the body is rearranging itself, and energy is boiling like never before.

It no longer needs to consciously think about how Ash throws punches or moves.