𝘓𝘌𝘛'𝘚 𝘎𝘖, 𝘗𝘐𝘒𝘈𝘊𝘏𝘜.ᐟ

Sylveon sends love your way! 💗

"We're never going to find him now, Sprigatito."

"Mrow."

Liko frowned, pulling the cat Pokemon into her arms so she wouldn't lose track of it, too. Friede had let her and Roy go on ahead into Motostoke, but Roy must have run off while Liko was distracted by one of the shops, and now she couldn't find him anywhere. It didn't help that there was a large crowd of people gathering near the city's stadium...

"Maybe he went there," Liko muttered to herself. She squeezed herself into the middle of the crowd, eventually making her way into the building, but it was no use. There were just too many people, even if Roy was there she couldn't see him.

She gave a small, defeated sigh, but let the flow of the crowd push her further on until she found herself sitting in the audience of one of Galar's exhibition matches. She'd always thought Paldea's Gym battles were a spectacle, but even the ones she'd gotten to see up close when she was little were nothing like this. The battlefield was huge, and the cheering of the crowd was almost deafening at times, but at some point Liko got so drawn into the battle that she hardly noticed it anymore.

"The way that Pikachu moves... It's so strong, it reminds me of Cap." She was speaking to herself, but she heard her Sprigatito meow in agreement. She hadn't been paying much attention when the announcer introduced the trainers; one of them was one of Galar's Gym Leaders, but she was pretty sure she'd heard the word 'Kanto' used in reference to the Pikachu's trainer.

Galar’s Piers preferred classic battling to the outlandish kaiju fights, having grown up in Spikemuth, which lacked a Power Spot. After Rose’s arrest, he was more willing to return to the spotlight, showing off just how powerful his heavy hitters were, without external forces. His Obstagoon was the perfect example of no-nonsense brutality and deception, without a parlor trick to speak of.

Kanto’s Ash Ketchum was a different story. While he enjoyed the novelty and spectacle of Dynamax, the truth was, he generally just preferred speed and versatility to heavy, stagnant firepower. Especially with his ace, Peeks. 

Peeks and Obstagoon had it out in a swift and brutal exchange of blows and mental one-upmanship. The field even lit up with the golden ambience of Pikachu’s Electric Terrain. Pillars of lightning struck with his Rising Voltage, which he used as stepping stones to lead the charge on the incorrigible Obstagoon, and his stellar defenses and counterattacks. When it came down to it, the finishing blow was even more breathtaking than one might’ve imagined.

Landing atop one of his own Rising Voltage shots, Pikachu maneuvered atop his tail — the similarities to the illustrious Cap were stacking up! — to absorb the might of his own move through it, channeling it for a stunning, blinding use of his favorite clincher attack. The Iron Tail! It may as well have been a Max Move in in its own right; there was little that even Piers could do to stop it. Ash and Peeks had won.

The two illustrious trainers shook hands for a battle well-fought — even teased a musical collab in the aftermath! — before departing from the fanfare into the stadium.

“ Yeah, can I get a bag of scones — ”

“ Pika! ”

“ Yeah, no. Two, actually! And two bottles of water? Those things are killer if you can’t wash ‘em down, heh . . . Good save, Buddy. ”

“ Pika-chu, ” Pikachu proclaimed proudly with folded arms. What would Ash do without him, he asked? That was all he got out anyway, before a sudden disruption to Ash’s balance threw him from his perch, tumbling off. “ Ka!? ”

The oblivious Liko had unfortunately collided with Ash at a nearby snack stand, where he’d slipped away from the fanfare. As a result, the girl had a chubby Pikachu falling towards her! Luckily, he was sharp as they came, and clung to the girl’s head instead of colliding with her.

❝ Don’t say anything else about it. ❞

“ Alright, alriiight. I’ll just keep my super cool B-U-G-types to myself. ”