Chapter 148: Misty Explosion and Ultra Instinct
2024-05-15 Author: Samsung Charmander (Author Name)
On a sunny day, at a training ground in the Pokémon Center's backyard, several Pokémon were diligently undergoing special training. A rather plump Electric Mouse Pokémon was also strolling around a group of people.
An umbrella had been set up in the middle of the training ground, where Ash sat, watching a video file on his Pokedex with rapt attention. Beside him sat an adorable pink Butterfree, its attention also fixed on the Pokedex.
In the center of the field, a medium-sized, blue turtle Pokémon occasionally shot a Water Gun toward the sky, the spray falling around the area to cool it down.
"Damn! The copyright notice is three minutes long, and you can't even fast-forward!" Ash complained, a dark expression on his face.
The boy and the Butterfree were watching the technique machine video they had obtained from the Celadon Gym. Although Erika had given them a box of discs, they only needed to scan the QR code engraved on a disc to watch the technique machine video on the Pokedex.
"Move Name: Misty Explosion."
Hearing the main event begin, Ash's eyes lit up. The name of this move alone sounded incredible.
"Step one: Excite the Fairy-type energy and, in one go, increase it to its maximum."
"Step two: Maintain this rampaging power and transfer it into your own body, allowing your body to act as a vessel for this Fairy energy."
Moves like Bellossom's Dazzling Gleam and the Moonblast that Butterfree had used before both involved releasing Fairy energy outward to attack the enemy. Yet Misty Explosion took a different path, condensing it inside one's own body?
Ash's eyes narrowed. As expected of a major move that guaranteed the enemy's demise, its method of use was truly unconventional.
"Step three: Embrace the opponent and simultaneously detonate this energy to perish along with the enemy."
Ash: "?"
Something seemed to have gone wrong.
Next, an adorable-looking Pokémon appeared in the video. Its body resembled a pink cream cake, adorned with a few bright red strawberries. It hopped forward and hugged a blue-and-black, dragon-type Pokémon. The strangest thing was that this dragon-type Pokémon actually had three heads.
Then, the cream Pokémon's body emitted a dazzling pink light as its energy rose to its peak. It suddenly burst apart, unleashing an incomparably powerful stream of Fairy energy.
The screen flashed. The cream Pokémon lay fainted on the ground, and the three-headed dragon beside it had also fainted.
Ash: "?"
If he remembered correctly, shouldn't this move be called Self-Destruct?
How did it get such a pleasant-sounding and dominant name like "Misty Explosion" when it came to the Fairy-type?
He suggested that Self-Destruct should also be renamed in the future, perhaps to "Natural Explosion."
"..."
Ash suddenly remembered the keyword Ms. Erika had mentioned: its use meant certain death.
So, it wasn't certain if the enemy would die, but you yourself were guaranteed to die...?
Maybe he shouldn't learn this move after all. He might as well just diligently master Moonblast...
But just as he had this thought, he suddenly felt a warmth by his ear. He glanced to the side and saw that the pink Butterfree beside him was now enveloped in a flashing pink light, looking like a time bomb ready to go off at any moment.
"Wait!"
Before Ash could even speak, he heard a "BOOM!" as the Butterfree exploded right in front of him. The violent Fairy energy kicked up a turbulent air current that ravaged his face.
"Pokedex Beep. Butterfree has learned a new move: Misty Explosion," the Pokedex prompted.
Ash: "..."
Fortunately, he was thick-skinned. A point-blank, unmastered Misty Explosion did little more than cover his face in soot, leaving him otherwise unharmed.
It was just that after using Misty Explosion, Butterfree had fainted and fallen to the ground, its wings wilted.
Ash silently recalled it to its Poké Ball, then silently snapped the Misty Explosion technique machine disc in half.
I, Ash, will never use this move again...
"Hmm?"
Ash stood up and found a giant Metapod standing by his feet, its size a full two times that of a normal Metapod. It was staring intently at him.
It thought Ash had been the one to tell Butterfree to Self-Destruct, and the Metapod was a little angry.
"What's wrong? Don't be a simp."
Ash knocked on Metapod's hard shell and said with a smile.
The current Metapod was still accumulating strength while waiting for evolution. It wasn't easy to conduct training at this stage, so Ash hadn't arranged anything for it to do.
When it evolves into the peerless dragon, Rayquaza, in the future, it won't be too late to start its special training.
"Leave it to me..."
A voice suddenly rang out in his mind, causing the corners of Ash's mouth to lift in pleasant surprise.
"Brother Red, did you figure out how to evolve Metapod into Rayquaza? You're the best, haha."
Red: "..."
There's no way a Metapod could ever evolve into a Rayquaza!
After taking a few more deep breaths to compose himself, Red slowly replied:
"I've had some ideas about that Ultra Instinct book from last time. I need to find a guinea pig to experiment on..."
A realm beyond the ultimate state was something that even he couldn't achieve just by wishing for it.
Furthermore, the path of Ultra Instinct was somewhat different from his original direction for reaching beyond the ultimate state. But no one ever said you couldn't reach two different states beyond the ultimate.
Trivia: there isn't only one path to the realm beyond the ultimate state. By his blind guess, even the path Green intended to walk was a third, different path from his own.
"A guinea pig? Do you want my Pikachu?" Ash asked curiously.
"I mean this Metapod. It might be the one among your Pokémon with the highest potential to grasp Ultra Instinct right now..."
Red used to just spout nonsense to fool the idiot, but this time was different.
Ultra Instinct required immense willpower and the extremely difficult ability to separate mind and body. In truth, Metapod was far ahead of the others in this regard.
And most importantly, other Pokémon had six, or even infinite, directions in which they could move their bodies.
Forward, backward, left, right, up, and down, plus combinations of all angles within those six directions.
The more directions the body could choose to move in, the greater the difficulty in separating mind and body.
But Metapod was different. It could only move in two directions.
Tipping forward and back.
Ash: "?"
Red didn't elaborate. Instead, he took control of Ash's body and raised an arm.
"Whoosh~"
He swung his arm. Metapod understood and tipped backward, then rocked forward again.
"Whoosh~"
In an infinite loop, Metapod's movements were like the grand master's chair in his soul space, rocking up and down, dodging his movements.
"Don't judge with your eyes. Sense with your body..." Red instructed slowly.
Once it no longer needed its eyes to perceive and relied solely on its body's conditioned reflexes, it would have taken its first step into Ultra Instinct.
Metapod: "?"
Why was its master acting like such a mystic today?
Ash's Pokémon were still training hard. To become the strongest trainer—a Pokémon Master—was not just Ash's dream, but the dream of his Pokémon as well.
"He has the ability to make his Pokémon adopt his will..."
Red, in control of Ash's body, couldn't help but smile. It seemed this youth he was possessing wasn't just a simple-minded blockhead; he also possessed an extraordinary ability.
Then, a thought occurred to him, and he tossed out a Poké Ball.
"Bang!"
A red light flashed. It was a small, brown, dog-like Pokémon. The moment it appeared, it scurried under the sun chair, looking around with a hint of fear, its body trembling slightly.
It was the Eevee that had been subjected to the Rainbow Group's illegal experiments.
"This is everything your trainer is. Experience it along with him..."
Red didn't touch it. Instead, he sat down on the sun chair and quietly watched everything around him.
After adapting to the environment, Eevee blinked its large eyes and also began to quietly observe its surroundings, somewhat puzzled as to why these Pokémon were performing such tedious movements in the scorching weather.
"Tss..."
Wartortle once again shot a Water Gun towards the sky. As the water scattered and fell, a beautiful rainbow appeared above the training ground.
(end of chapter)