"Bro, you go first. I want to see Garp in a."

  "Nah, you go first. I also want to see Garp... for real this time."

  "..."

  The trainer who was being watched by everyone scratched his head awkwardly and said, "I don't have Garp, though..."

  "Then why did you shout its name?"

  "Well, I saw you all calling out Ground-type Pokémon, so I just threw one you didn’t mention..."

  The trainer’s response earned him a wave of exasperated sighs and rolling eyes.

  Taking advantage of the pause, a blond-haired boy who had been waiting before Paul’s turn, stepped into the battle arena and looked at Electabuzz.

  "Buzz~!"

  Hearing the names of Pokémon being thrown arouabuzz perked up, curious about its oppo.

  However, when it realized the challenger was the blond-haired boy Barry, it immediately lost i.

  Electabuzz let out a bored yawn, already disied before the battle began.

  "Don’t uimate me, Electabuzz! Even without Paul, I take you down!"

  Electabuzz clicked its tongue zily, unfazed by the outburst.

  As Paul’s starter Pokémoabuzz’s strength didn’t waver without its trainer’s guidahe idea of Barry defeating it without Paul around? Laughable.

  "Just you wait, Electabuzz! I’ll beat you!"

  Fueled by frustration, Barry ched his fists, threw out a Poké Ball and began what would soon turn into a nightmare.

  ROUND 1: SNORLAX

  Snorx didn’t even mao use a single move before Electabuzz charged in with Quick Attad k down with Brick Break.

  A sed Brick Break sealed the deal, ending the match within 30 seds.

  ROUND 2: HERACROSS

  Heracross unched a Megahorn attack, but Electabuzz dodged effortlessly.

  A flurry of Fire Punches—Electabuzz’s least polished bo—nded in quick succession.

  Even when Heracross used Eo prepare for a Reversal terattack, Electabuzz read its i and nullified it with Protect, following up with a decisive Fire Punch.

  ROUND 3: ROSERADE

  Roserade opened with a Magic Leaf aal Danbo, leaviabuzz with little room to maneuver.

  Relying on its speed, Electabuzz dodged Petal Dand endured Magic Leaf before nding a full-powered Ice Punch, freezing Roserade into an icy statue.

  A final Brick Break ehe battle.

  ROUND 4: HITMONLEE

  This Fighting-type Pokémon’s impressive foave Electabuzz a hard time, f a grueling five-mitle.

  In the eabuzz had to use Thunder Punch to subdue the martial artist.

  ROUND 5: STARAVIA

  Thanks to Paul’s... “motivational training,” Staravia had shown signifit improvement.

  With Shadow e and Agility, it mao evade and outpace Electabuzz, f the Electric-type into a er.

  Electabuzz, now desperate, used Charge to power up and unleashed Thunder, finally bringing Staravia down.

  ROUND 6: PRINPLUP

  The Prinplup that had been previously defeated had recovered enough for a rematch.

  Electabuzz took this battle seriously, utilizing its boosted strength from Charge to recreate their first enter.

  Ohutaded the fight.

  After the match, Electabuzz stretched its limbs, feeling fully warmed up.

  "Buzz?"

  Despite its victory, Electabuzz tilted its head in fusion. Was Barry’s team really this weak?

  After p for a while, it came to a clusion: the oppos weren’t weak—he was just to.

  "I’m invincible!"

  Meanwhile, Barry, having bee 6-0, wandered out of the arena in a daze, barely registering his surroundings.

  "Why is he s...? Is the gap between us really this wide...?"

  "Am I that weak...? No wonder Paul doesn’t aowledge me..."

  Muttering to himself, he stumbled back to the Pokémoer, handed his team to Nurse Joy auro his room.

  Curling up uhe covers, Barry fell into a deep self-imposed isotion...

  Elsewhere, Paul muttered, "Useless." upon hearing about the match.

  Electabuzz had bee far stronger after evolving through the power of the Zap Pte. Its strength rivaled Ursaring’s and its speed surpassed that of Turtwig.

  Even Gym Leaders would struggle against it if they weren’t careful.

  Losing was uandable. Getting swept 6-0 without dealing any signifit damage? Uable.

  "What were you even training for? Even Ash could beat you at this rate."

  Far away in Kanto, Ash sneezed for no reason, rubbed his nose in fusion, and looked at Pikachu on his shoulder strangely as his mother scolded him over the phone.

  "Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll be fine, right Pikachu?"

  "Pika~!" Pikachu cheered, raising a tiny fist.

  Suddenly, a trainer burst through the Pokémoer doors, carrying a battered Eevee.

  "Nurse Joy! Please help my Pokémon—it’s badly hurt!"

  Nurse Joy rushed over, etched on her face. "What happened?"

  "Entei appeared out of nowhere... I thought I could catch it..."

  Hearing the word "Entei," Ash immediately hung up on his mother and dashed over to iigate.

  As Paul aabuzz domihe battlefield, Ash and Pikachu chased after Entei in the forest, Barry sulked in bed, and Lucas trained i.

  In the Family Bond Pokémoer, a sleepi dreamt of a long and fleeting journey—a dream enpassing the ey of its life as an Oshawott.

  Perhaps, this was only the beginning of aory...

  If you want to access advance chapters, please visit: patreon. / PMadz_23