Pikachu… had reached its limit?
A normal Pikachu might celebrate reaching ash Pikachu's level, but his Pikachu was different.
Its Partner Form, its insane growth speed, its fluctuating ability values, everything screamed "special."
Pikachu never hit a bottleneck. Not even once. And yet the group's experts were telling him… Pikachu was stuck?
He couldn't accept it.
Newbie Ash: Are you sure? Pikachu has never shown a hint of reaching its ceiling. It still feels far from its true limit.
Breeder Ash: Your feeling is correct. Pikachu's true limit is far beyond this. But its current level cap, within this region, has indeed been reached. If Pikachu wants to grow again, it must use special methods.
Newbie Ash: Special methods? What kind?
Breeder Ash: I'll start from the beginning.Our Pikachu is extremely special, you've experienced that already, haven't you?]
Newbie Ash: Yeah.
Ash had never seen or even heard of another Pikachu like his. And the Partner form was unique to his parallel selves, something no one else in his world had.
Reaching a limit simply didn't seem possible.
Breeder Ash: But think carefully. Does a Pokémon this special truly come without a price?
Breeder Ash: Pikachu's ability ceiling is six A-rank. That's top-tier for a Pikachu. But Pikachu's rate of growth? Even a six S-rank Gardevoir shouldn't keep up.
Ash fell silent.
It was true.
Natural talent alone shouldn't explain Pikachu growing faster than a Gardevoir whose base potential was far superior.
Even if aptitude didn't directly dictate growth speed, it influenced it.
And Pikachu's growth had been absurd, leveling every seven days, sometimes faster.
At this rate, Pikachu would've reached the God tier within a year.
That made no sense.
Even with strong bonds, how could a six A-rank Pikachu eclipse a six S-rank Gardevoir or Charizard?
The slight difference in favoritism shouldn't create such a monstrous gap.
Breeder Ash: Pikachu grows so quickly because the cap hits it early.
Steady growth with no bottlenecks isn't a gift, it's a warning.
Breeder Ash: This "smooth growth" is actually the sign of a flaw you haven't noticed. Everything climbs perfectly… until suddenly it can't climb anymore.
Ash's heartbeat quickened.
Newbie Ash: Then… the special method you mentioned… what is it?
This was where Limit Break came in.
Breeder Ash: The method is simple. You must finish a region, then travel to another one. Once you do, Pikachu will break through its level cap.]
Newbie Ash: "Finish" the region… meaning what? Different places for different regions?
Breeder Ash: No. "Finish" isn't a location, it's the completion of your journey within that region.
Breeder Ash: In Kanto, for example: If you collect eight badges and participate in the League Conference regardless of your ranking, your "path" in this region is considered complete.
Breeder Ash: Other ways count too: defeating the region's Elite Four, gaining enough fame, beating the region's Champion, or accomplishing some equivalent great milestone
Breeder Ash: There isn't a rigid checklist. You'll know you've reached the "end" once you step into the next region and Pikachu's limit loosens.
Breeder Ash: Speaking of going to other regions, that's where Pikachu's real speciality comes in. Pikachu doesn't have too little potential, it has too much. So much that it needs a special unlock method. That method is exactly what I mentioned: once you reach the "end" of a region, you have to set out for a new one.
Breeder Ash: For example, once you've collected eight badges in Kanto and participated in the League Conference, then head to the Hoenn region. At that moment, one "layer" of restriction on Pikachu will be lifted. Its talent will rise by one tier, its physical ability cap will increase as well, but in exchange, its level will drop.
Newbie Ash: ???
Ash could still barely follow up to that point, but the moment Breeder Ash mentioned Pikachu's level dropping, his brain crashed.
Leveling up was normal.
But leveling down?
That only happened when a Pokémon suffered damage to its very core.
How could leveling down be part of getting stronger?
Breeder Ash: You didn't misread. Pikachu's level really will go down. That's the price of getting a higher tier of talent. But don't panic, for Pikachu, climbing back to its original level will be relatively easy. And once it's back there, its power at that same level will be much higher than before. So relax.
Newbie Ash: So this is the hidden secret inside Pikachu? Then how much can its potential increase by moving to the next region? Is there a limit to how many times it can improve?
Breeder Ash: The scale of the increase depends on your Pikachu. Take mine as an example: in Kanto, it could only reach mid-level at most. After that, it completely stopped progressing. Now, I've traveled through all the regions and should have unlocked all of Pikachu's potential. Even so, it's currently only at peak level.
Breeder Ash: But I'm sure it can reach the God tier someday. My own training is what's holding it back. Even so, at peak, my Pikachu can already fight evenly with God-tier Pokémon. The gap between Champion and God tier is like heaven and earth. The only reason my Pikachu can bridge that gap is because it's repeatedly broken its own limit and endured level resets again and again.
A Pikachu at Champion peak, able to contend with the God tier…
If anyone else said that, Ash would think they'd gone insane.But Breeder Ash had no reason to brag here.
Just imagining his own Pikachu one day reaching that height made Ash's heart burn.
One day… Pikachu will definitely reach that stage too.
Newbie Ash: So as long as I take Pikachu to clear every League, it'll gain the potential to advance to the God tier, right? But these advancement requirements sound way harsher than for other Pokémon…
Other Pokémon only needed triple-S aptitude to qualify for God-tier advancement. His Pikachu, on the other hand, had to travel through all League regions and "complete" each one.
According to Breeder Ash, Pikachu's aptitude would rise with every region. That meant that by the second or third region, Pikachu's aptitude could already reach triple-S or even beyond.
So in a sense, Pikachu's path was much more demanding than normal God-tier candidates.
Of course, calling triple-S aptitude "just" was a bit much, but given how many high-aptitude Pokémon Ash was surrounded by, it didn't feel that wrong.
Breeder Ash: You don't actually think that just reaching triple-S aptitude guarantees a 100% ticket to the God tier, do you? That's wishful thinking.
Breeder Ash: I've said it before, triple-S is only the minimum requirement to attempt breaking into the God tier. Having triple-S or even higher doesn't mean success is automatic.
Breeder Ash: You've completely overlooked something: There are countless Pokémon who would beg to have Pikachu's situation, to steadily gain levels and potential just by traveling, and to naturally climb toward God-tier as long as they survive the journey.
Breeder Ash: If there really existed a Pokémon that could, given enough time, guarantee reaching the God tier, the entire world would fight over it. In that sense… Team Rockets' trio actually has terrifying foresight. They set their sights on Pikachu before it even debuted.
That statement made Ash freeze for a moment.
Having potential is one thing.
Actually reaching the God tier is something completely different.
There are countless Pokémon in the world with extraordinary talent.Yet how many ever make it to Elite Four strength? How many become Champions?
According to Breeder Ash, Pikachu isn't just "talented." It is one of the extremely rare Pokémon in the world that can reach the God tier, as long as Ash keeps traveling and unlocking its potential region by region.
Even triple-S Pokémon can't compare.
And now that Ash thought about it, Team Rockets' trio really did have unmatched foresight.
From day one, those three had pounced on Pikachu like predators catching the scent of treasure. They stalked Ash through forests, cities, regions, with ridiculous persistence.
When looked through this lens, their instincts were frighteningly accurate.
Though there was also a high chance they simply got lucky in the dumbest possible way.
Newbie Ash: When you put it like that, it does sound kind of insane. Being able to reach the God tier just by following the journey… that's something other Trainers could only dream of. Speaking of which, is that new S-rank ability I drew related to Pikachu?
Breeder Ash: Exactly. That ability is exactly what it sounds like, it allows Pikachu to break through its bottleneck even without meeting the regional requirements. Once you exit the chat, you can use it on Pikachu directly.
Champion Ash: Honestly, your luck is disgusting, in a good way. You draw the exact thing you need, right before going up against Giovanni and Mewtwo. Fate itself seems to be on your side for this Gym challenge.
Newbie Ash: Hehe, I did say my luck's always been great! Alright, I'm logging off. Thanks for the lessons.
Ash closed the chat and returned to reality, the warm steam of the hot spring, the splash of water, and Brock's worried face hovering way too close.
"Ash! Finally! We were calling you for ages," Brock said, leaning in to inspect him like a doctor checking a patient. Even Pikachu peered over the edge of the spring with concerned eyes.
"We seriously thought you passed out from the heat."
Ash quickly waved his hands. "No, no, I'm fine! I just zoned out from soaking too long. Got a bit dizzy, that's all."
Seeing that Ash could talk, move, and wasn't floating face-down in the water, Brock finally relaxed. He stepped out of the spring, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"If I stay in any longer, I'll be the one fainting," Brock muttered.
Ash stretched, called out to his small Pokémon floating around him, and stood up.
"Alright, everyone, let's head back. If we don't show up soon, Misty's probably going to report us missing."
Only now did he remember their phones were left in the changing room, meaning Misty had no way to contact them.
And sure enough;
The moment they returned to the room, they were greeted by Misty standing with her arms crossed, foot tapping, and her expression sharpened like a Gyarados ready to Hydro Pump someone into the ceiling.
"Where did you two run off to?! And you didn't even tell me!"