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"Let's begin, Gastly, second round."
"Heh, you're quite bold to say that. I was just worried about affecting her earlier, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of you. I won't be responsible if you get seriously injured."
"Come on."
At this moment, Ash's Aura Power was fully active. Compared to his unrefined state a month ago, he was now very skilled in using Aura.
Although he still couldn't compare to the Aura Heroes in the group, dealing with an Elite Four level Gastly...heh heh.
"I need to be a bit more serious to deal with you. First of all..." Gastly said, its body suddenly emitting a dazzling light. The next moment, Gastly's body changed.
From its original gaseous form, it transformed into a Pokémon with two legs, two arms, and crimson eyes!
Gastly's final evolution, Gengar!
For a Millennial Gastly, learning the ability to evolve and devolve was just a matter of course. A Pokémon might be able to control the timing of evolution, but learning to devolve was exceptionally difficult.
Only a Pokémon like Millennial Gastly could achieve such a miraculous feat.
Normally, he maintained his Gastly form, but in battle, he would switch to Gengar. His various stats would also improve. However, he hadn't battled in a very long time. After countless years, he was now facing a human.
After transforming into Gengar, he clasped his hands together, and a dark Energy Ball instantly appeared in his hands, which he then fiercely launched!
Shadow Ball!
This Shadow Ball was far more powerful than the one that attacked the Team Rocket Trio earlier. The Shadow Ball that sent the Team Rocket Trio flying merely repelled them, but a Shadow Ball of this power would be lethal if it hit them!
The powerful Shadow Ball cut through the void, whistling as it flew towards Ash. Ash stood his ground, not dodging, and only moved when the Shadow Ball was right in front of him.
He settled his Qi in his dantian, brought his fist to his waist, and then unleashed a punch!
"Bang!!"
That Shadow Ball, which seemed capable of shattering steel, was actually pulverized by Ash's single punch!
Black and purple energy scattered in the air, and Gengar remained in the stance of having used Shadow Ball, completely stunned.
Damn it, he blocked his full-power Shadow Ball with his bare hands? You must be cheating!
Although his current level was Elite Four advanced, he had been at that level for countless years. Even most Elite Four peak-level Trainers wouldn't dare to claim to match him in a direct attack, let alone when he had specifically evolved into Gengar!
Yet, this Shadow Ball was shattered by Ash's simple punch, and Ash looked completely at ease... Heh heh, is this guy really human?
"My turn," Ash said, placing his hands at his waist. A Zhan blue Energy Ball condensed at his waist—Aura Sphere!
"Hmph!" With Ash's roar, the Aura Sphere was fiercely launched. In the darkness of the night, the Aura Sphere released by Ash was like a small sun, illuminating the entire Girl Gorge!
Gengar quickly began to fly and dodge in the air, but the Aura Sphere seemed to have a homing tracker, relentlessly following behind him, even closing the distance.
Seeing this, Gengar gave up on dodging. A pitch-black Energy Ball appeared in his hand, and then he spun around and threw the Shadow Ball. The Shadow Ball collided with the Aura Sphere in mid-air, creating a huge roar!
"Boom!"
A terrifying shockwave swept through the air. Misty and Brock, who were hundreds of meters away from the battlefield on the ground, all felt a strong impact.
If they could feel the force of the impact from such a distance, one could imagine how great the impact and destructive power were at the epicenter of the explosion.
Before Gengar, still in the air, could even sigh in relief, a Zhan blue Energy Ball suddenly burst out from the thick smoke, and then, to Gengar's horror, it hit directly!
"Boom!"
A second explosion occurred in the air, and Gengar's figure slowly fell. Ralts's Discern earlier had become a setup.
Why use Discern? Because Aura Sphere is a Fighting-type move.
Furthermore, all of Ash's strength came from his fist and foot techniques. He could also convert Aura into other elemental skills for attack, but he wasn't proficient. He was at his peak strength when fighting with Aura and his fist and foot techniques.
So, Ash had initially planned for Ralts to use Discern to make the opponent materialize, and then he would finish the job.
This was a method proposed by Champion Ash in the group chat.
When facing an unbeatable opponent, if it wasn't a formal battle, one could also consider some unconventional tactics.
Formal battles stipulated that Trainers could not participate in combat, which indeed left no room for manipulation. But in the wild... who said that only Pokémon could be used to catch other Pokémon?
When Ash first caught Pikachu, didn't he use his own fists and feet?
Now, facing an enemy that his Pokémon couldn't defeat, it was naturally time for his trump card to appear—Ash himself!
It was precisely because of Champion Ash's suggestion that Ash chose to tell Gastly about the battle-capture condition.
Among them, the Aura Hero in the group also reminded him that Fighting-type moves, including the power of Aura, could not hit Gengar.
Ghost-type Pokémon are indeed naturally immune to Aura, but there's a way to solve it: just use the move Discern.
And even if Ash's Ralts couldn't use Discern, he still had Riolu.
Riolu hadn't fully recovered to a battle-ready state, but if it was just to use Discern, that would be fine.
But since Ralts knew Discern, there was no need for Riolu to come out. He should just stay in his Poké Ball and recover from his injuries.
"Damn it, that hurts!" Gengar finally recovered from the impact of the Aura Sphere just as he was about to hit the ground, and then he floated back into the air.
At this moment, he felt pain all over his body. This was an Aura Sphere weakened by Shadow Ball. If he had been hit directly, he probably would have been finished right then and there.
"Encore..." Ash once again condensed an Aura Sphere at his waist. With his attack power, if this one hit Gengar, the battle would essentially be over.
Just then, Gengar's body was suddenly covered in a layer of light. The next second, a dazzling figure flew out from the light!
Ash's hands, which were condensing the Aura Sphere, paused, and then an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.
"Wh-what?!"
Misty and Brock, seeing that figure from afar, also had expressions of extreme shock on their faces.
"Ho-Oh!"
"Why is Ho-Oh here?"
Indeed, appearing before everyone was the legendary Pokémon, Ho-Oh!
Ho-Oh's appearance startled everyone, including Ash, who was in the middle of battle.
Ho-Oh, soaring in the air and shimmering with rainbow colors, swooped down, attacking Ash.
Ash, who was momentarily stunned, instantly snapped back to reality. The Aura Sphere he had just started to condense vanished, and he immediately rolled, barely dodging Ho-Oh's dive attack.
At this moment, he still didn't understand why Ho-Oh would appear here, and why it suddenly attacked him. Where did Gengar go?
"Something's not right..." Ash turned his head to look at Ho-Oh, which had already turned around and was rushing towards him again.
At this moment, Ash's mind was incredibly focused. His Insight Eye was pushed to its limit, and the true information of the 'Ho-Oh' before him appeared in Ash's eyes.
"It's not Ho-Oh... it's Gengar!"
"Heh, it's too late now!" The Ho-Oh, rushing towards Ash at an incredibly fast speed, suddenly reverted to Gengar's form, and in its hand, it had already formed a Shadow Ball.
"You can't dodge this at this distance, can you!" Gengar sneered, and at extremely close range, he fiercely launched the Shadow Ball in his hand!
In the blink of an eye, the Shadow Ball arrived in front of Ash and exploded with a roar!
"Boom!"
"Ash!!!" Misty's pupils contracted, shouting Ash's name. No matter how powerful Ash was, being hit by a Shadow Ball at such close range, he couldn't possibly be unharmed.
What's more, Gengar was Elite Four advanced. Although Ash's initial ability to suppress Gengar head-on was shocking, this time Gengar had caught Ash's weakness.
Ash might be strong in offense with his Aura Power, but defensively... As the smoke slowly dissipated, Gengar in the sky stared intently downwards. If Ash still had the ability to fight, he would deliver another blow.
At this point, he definitely couldn't hold back, otherwise, he would be caught!
Having been carefree for a millennium, if he were really caught by someone, he would certainly be quite unaccustomed to it.
"Where are you looking?" A faint voice came from behind Gengar. Gengar's expression froze, and he quickly moved forward.
Turning his head at this moment would definitely be a brain-dead move. Knowing the opponent is behind you and still turning around, wouldn't that just extinguish your only chance of escape?
However, even though Gengar's speed was already very fast, Ash's punch was faster!
As Gengar moved forward, Ash unleashed a punch, and the fist, glowing with Aura, fiercely struck Gengar's back!
"Bang!"
A visible shockwave spread through the air, and Gengar plummeted like a meteor!
"Boom!"
Gengar crashed to the ground, creating a violent roar. Countless shattered stones scattered, and a huge pit was directly smashed into the solid ground.
Ash fell from the sky, landing steadily on his feet.
He looked at his tattered clothes on his stomach, feeling a bit fortunate.
Fortunately, when Ho-Oh flew over, he was constantly using his Aura Power for protection. Otherwise, if he had been hit by that Shadow Ball, he might have actually suffered some injuries.
But more importantly, he wouldn't have had the chance to seize Gengar's moment of hesitation.
Once Gengar started moving freely, even if Ash's strength was superior, it would be difficult to deal with Gengar.
Judging from Gengar's ability to even transform into Ho-Oh, he might have more trump cards up his sleeve.
However, no matter how many trump cards he had, Gengar was now down. He couldn't use any of them.
Seeing Gengar fall, the girl floating in the distance quickly floated to Gengar's front, looking at him with worry.
She wanted to touch Gengar with her hand, but it passed right through Gengar's body. Seeing this, a look of disappointment appeared on her face.
"Don't worry, he's fine. He just lost the ability to battle. Judging from the Aura in his body, he'll wake up soon." Ash walked up to Gengar and comforted the girl.
"Ash, are you okay?"
Seeing the battle end, Misty and Brock also quickly ran over from a distance. The former touched Ash's stomach, confirming that Ash's stomach was indeed unharmed.
"What could happen to me? It's Gengar lying on the ground, you know. Let me see if I can heal him a bit." Ash said, squatting down, and the Aura Power in his body surged, injecting into Gengar's body.
Aura Power is not a healing force, but if the Aura Power in the body grows stronger, it will also affect vitality and other aspects, which can be considered indirect healing.
If a Pokémon was in a dying state, Ash's Aura Power probably wouldn't have much effect. It could only save special Pokémon like Riolu, who are very sensitive to Aura.
But if it was just like Gengar, in a coma, injecting a little Aura Power to wake him up was no problem.
With the injection of Aura Power, Gengar slowly woke up. The first thing he saw was Ash. He subconsciously wanted to attack Ash, but then he suddenly remembered what had happened last, and the strength he had gathered in his body dissipated.
"You young man, you strike so fast and so hard!"
"You're an Elite Four level Pokémon. How could I beat you without using my full strength, right?" Ash said, pulling Gengar up.
Upon hearing this, Gengar rolled his eyes.
He had lived for two millennia, and he originally thought his wisdom and cunning had completely surpassed humans!
Like those Trainers' command levels, many of them probably weren't as good as him!
But now he knew that compared to humans, two millennia was still too young!
At least in two millennia, he had never encountered such a monster.
He took a Shadow Ball from that distance and was completely fine. Could this guy actually contend with a Champion?
This absurd thought arose in Gengar's mind, and he quickly shook it off.
A human contending with a Champion? Such a thing would probably only happen in dreams.
But Ash's strength... Heh heh, don't say it, you really can't be sure!
"Alright, young man, I promised you I would become your Pokémon, and I will. But before that, you have to fulfill what you promised me!"
"Deal!" Having received Gengar's renewed promise, Ash snapped his fingers and said cheerfully.
Then, he looked at the somewhat nervous girl and said, "Don't worry, I will take good care of Gastly. I've also heard your legend... After such a long time, that person is no longer here. He might have already reincarnated, so let go of your obsession and go find him in reincarnation. I believe with your feelings for him, you will definitely find him."