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Alakazam's series of actions just now had not received Sabrina's command. Besides the initial Teleport, all subsequent moves were used by Alakazam itself.
The moment Alakazam saw Gengar transform into Tyranitar, it immediately used the Grass-type Energy Ball. It was clear that Alakazam had anticipated Gengar's move.
But this could not possibly have been done by Alakazam alone; there must have been Sabrina's instructions involved.
For a powerful Trainer like Sabrina, there would be no phenomenon of a Pokémon disobeying commands, nor would there be a Pokémon arbitrarily changing moves to attack. Therefore, Alakazam's attack must have had Sabrina's instructions.
But Sabrina hadn't spoken, so there was only one answer… Sabrina used telepathy!
"The Pokémon are tricky, and the Trainer is also tricky. This Gym is indeed difficult to deal with!" Ash exclaimed, while the Aura within him was also stirred.
To be fair, you started it!
"Gengar, Taunt!"
The most troublesome aspect of Psychic-type Pokémon is the versatility of their moves. Currently, Alakazam has only used Teleport. If it were to use Light Screen, Reflect, Ally Switch, Nasty Plot, and other moves later, that would be truly problematic.
So, what Ash needed to do now was to seal the opponent's moves first. As long as there were no troublesome changing moves, Gengar would not lose in a head-on confrontation!
"Teleport," Sabrina's calm voice rang out, and Alakazam instantly vanished from its spot, its figure constantly shifting on the field.
With this frequency of Teleport, Taunt simply couldn't Lock-On to the opponent.
And while Gengar was busy chasing Alakazam's figure, Alakazam could seize Gengar's opening to counterattack, thereby dealing damage to Gengar.
But… all of this was predicated on Ash not being there!
Playing these deceptive, confusing moves in front of an Aura user? That can only mean you've picked the wrong person!
"Front left, Taunt!"
As Ash's voice fell, Gengar, without hesitation, directly made a beckoning gesture towards the front left.
With the beckoning gesture, all of Alakazam's changing moves were instantly sealed!
In front of Ash's Aura, all deceptive moves would have nowhere to hide!
Alakazam, who was in the middle of using Teleport, instantly froze in the direction Gengar had Taunted.
Seeing this, a hint of surprise appeared on Sabrina's face. Alakazam's Teleport frequency was so fast, yet the opponent still managed to catch it?
Sabrina then looked towards Ash, and a hint of understanding appeared in her beautiful eyes.
So that's it, he also started using his abilities, just like her?
Next, it would not only be a battle between Pokémon but also a battle between Trainers.
"Now, Gengar, Night Shade!"
The damage of Night Shade increases with level. With Gengar's current Elite Four level strength, the power of Night Shade is definitely no less than Shadow Ball, and it can also ignore the opponent's defense to a certain extent!
As long as it hits, it can cause considerable damage!
(In reality, Dragon Rage can be called a big ultimate move, so Night Shade, which is similar to Dragon Rage, is set this way. In the journey, Ash also uses Night Shade as Gengar's main output move.)
Gengar's crimson eyes suddenly erupted with inky black light. The light, radiating evil energy, tore through the void and rushed towards Alakazam!
A blue light flashed brightly in Sabrina's beautiful eyes, and the next moment, Alakazam's body made a muffled sound!
"Teleport."
A clear, cold voice came out, and Alakazam once again disappeared in front of Gengar, Night Shade missed!
Ash: ???
No, what the hell? I used Taunt? And you can still use Teleport? Are you kidding me?
This was truly a bit beyond Ash's comprehension, but the opponent's location was still accurately captured by Ash's Aura, so… "Gengar, change direction, behind you!"
"Alright!" Gengar's mouth curled into a smirk, and its body sharply turned, the Night Shade also changing direction with its body!
The inky black light surged towards the direction Ash indicated!
The next moment, Alakazam appeared in the void, but what greeted it was a powerful black light.
"Boom!!"
Night Shade hit, a huge cloud of smoke erupted in the air, and a golden figure fell from the smoke, crashing onto the ground.
Although he didn't know why the opponent broke through Taunt, Night Shade still hit the opponent squarely!
This caused no small amount of damage to Alakazam.
"What's going on? Didn't Gengar use Taunt? Why can Alakazam still use Teleport?!" Misty asked, somewhat puzzled, from behind.
Unless the Pokémon is recalled, under the effect of Taunt, a Pokémon should not be able to use status moves, even if you are a Psychic-type Pokémon!
"It might be related to Sabrina. Sabrina, this Psychic, has special abilities that ordinary Psychics don't. Perhaps she did something to assist Alakazam in breaking through the restrictions of Taunt."
Brock stroked his chin, saying thoughtfully.
Not to mention Elite Four level Pokémon, even Champion level Pokémon hit by Taunt would have their status moves sealed.
The reason Alakazam was able to use Teleport was likely due to external influence. Ash might not have noticed, but he did notice the blue light in Sabrina's eyes.
That should be a characteristic that lights up when Sabrina uses powerful Psychic abilities, so the situation is very likely as he guessed.
"Gengar, use Confuse Ray!"
On the field, Ash took advantage of Alakazam being knocked to the ground, directly having Gengar use Confuse Ray to put Alakazam into a confused state!
Once it's confused, he can then use Hypnosis. As long as both moves are successful, victory in this battle is basically secured!
This is what Tactician Ash meant—add whatever status conditions you can. Whether it's poison, paralysis, Confusion, sleep, add whatever you can. Status conditions are one of the biggest factors in successfully battling above your level!
As Ash's voice fell, a strange, confusing light shot out from Gengar's eyes, directly hitting Alakazam!
Alakazam had just recovered from the impact of the damage, only to be hit by Confuse Ray.
Upon being hit by Confuse Ray, Alakazam's two eyeballs immediately began to spin!
In a confused state, many moves of a versatile Pokémon like Alakazam would become disordered, and it would not be able to hear its Trainer's commands.
"Good job, Gengar, use Hypnosis!" Seeing Confuse Ray hit steadily, Ash excitedly snapped his fingers, then had Gengar follow up with Hypnosis.
Sleep and Confusion can exist simultaneously. As long as Hypnosis hits, victory in this battle is basically secured!
After Alakazam became confused, a blue light flashed in Sabrina's beautiful eyes again!
Alakazam's previously spinning eyes instantly cleared, and it then directly used Teleport to vanish from its spot. Gengar was still making gestures to cast Hypnosis, but the opponent was suddenly gone!
This time, Sabrina's actions were captured by Ash's Aura.
"I was just wondering why Taunt suddenly stopped working. As expected, it was your doing. You used your Psychic power to remove Taunt and Alakazam's Confusion just now, didn't you?!" Ash loudly questioned Sabrina.
Sabrina's Psychic power was truly a bug; ordinary Psychic powers don't have such functions!
Humans with Psychic power are already extremely rare, and among them, those whose Psychic power can achieve various strange functions are an even rarer minority.
At most, like some Pokémon, using Confusion, Teleport, and such is the limit.
But Sabrina was different. Just what she had shown so far—making Pokémon evolve or devolve, breaking through status moves—these were things ordinary Psychics could never achieve in a lifetime.
This guy was truly a freak!
A hint of surprise flashed across Sabrina's face, then she coldly replied, "So what? A Trainer's ability is also part of battle application. I didn't directly participate, so I didn't break the rules."
"And aren't you also a special ability user? You also used that special power within your body just now, didn't you? Otherwise, how could you have observed Alakazam's landing spot in advance?"
As a Psychic, Sabrina had already sensed the abnormality in Ash the moment he stepped into Saffron City.
Having been treated as a monster since childhood, she saw an anomaly like herself for the first time!
This was also why Sabrina was so fixated on Ash; she longed to meet 'anomalies' like herself.
The apprentice Gym Trainers in the Gym were actually recruited by Sabrina to cultivate 'anomalies' like herself, but the results greatly disappointed her.
Even the most talented among them could at most learn a little Psychic power, and being able to bend a spoon was already the limit.
So, upon sensing the immense power within Ash, Sabrina immediately focused all her attention on him. After learning that Ash was coming to challenge the Saffron Gym and that her own existence had been exposed, she then shifted her gaze.
Ash's arrival and the power he displayed made Sabrina even more 'desirous' of him.
In the past, challengers, after failing, would be turned into dolls and forced to play a deadly escape game with Sabrina, but at most, they would only experience some fright and psychological trauma before being released, the time not exceeding a week at most.
But if it were Ash… if he lost, Sabrina would keep him by her side forever, just like her mother whom she turned into a doll!
At this moment, although Sabrina showed no emotion on her face and seemed quite normal, her heart was completely twisted!
Sabrina's words made Ash curl his lips dismissively. He could use Aura to observe the trajectory of Sabrina's Psychic power, and Sabrina could naturally use her Psychic power to observe his Aura.
However, compared to the auxiliary capabilities of his Aura, Sabrina's Psychic auxiliary was simply too abnormal!
If he wanted to provide more assistance to his Pokémon with Aura, he would have to enter an Aura Fusion state, and Aura Fusion required a certain level of intimacy, or rather, bond.
The deeper the bond, the stronger the power that Aura Fusion could connect to.
Currently, besides Gengar, all the Pokémon Ash had could perform Aura Fusion with him. After all, they had all gone through certain events before submitting to him, and they had been together for quite some time.
It was just that the degree of fusion varied.
But Gengar, he had truly never tried Aura Fusion, and he didn't know if the fusion would be successful.
This was also why Ash didn't 'cheat' immediately after knowing Sabrina was 'cheating.'
However, now, after Ash exposed Sabrina's 'cheating' method, Sabrina no longer concealed it at all. She directly raised her Psychic power to its extreme, and Alakazam's level instantly reached Elite Four level at this moment!
Damn it… this was lifting a rock to drop it on his own foot!
Now, Alakazam's level was one level higher than Gengar's, and its special attack stat, with the enhancement of Sabrina's Psychic power, was already very close to Gengar's level.
Gengar now had no advantages whatsoever.
"No choice, I can only try… Gengar, if you feel a surge of power later, don't reject it, try to accept it!"
"Huh?"
Gengar was full of question marks, completely unaware of what Ash was saying.
Ash didn't have much time to explain to Gengar. The opportunity for Aura Fusion was only this one time. Once the opponent started attacking, there would be no chance to attach his Aura to Gengar.
In Ash's eyes, a brilliant azure light lit up, and a terrifying power surged from Ash's body.
The next second, Gengar felt an unparalleled power inject into its body. That power tried to fuse with the power within itself.
"This power… Aura? Good job, kid, you have this trick up your sleeve!" Gengar showed excitement and simultaneously accepted the Aura into its body.
Instantly, its power became more than a notch stronger than before, and it also felt the miraculous effects of Aura!
Alakazam's location, for example, was as conspicuous as a light in the darkness!
Now, no matter if Alakazam used Teleport or other disruptive moves, it would be impossible to evade his detection!
"This detection range… tsk tsk, no wonder you were able to find that guy's landing spot in one go just now, it's practically cheating! Did you also use this move to predict my attacks when you fought me back then?" Gengar said, clicking its tongue in wonder.
Aura Fusion — Success!
Ash finally breathed a sigh of relief after feeling the strange connection between himself and Gengar. The first Aura Fusion was successfully completed, something that Pidgeotto and Butterfree couldn't do back then.
He hadn't expected Gengar's feelings for him to be so deep, even enough to reach the point of fusion.
It seems that indeed, physical clashes are needed to deepen bonds!