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The conditions for Aura Fusion are actually quite stringent, requiring both sides to have a deep affection, or rather, a bond, or a high degree of recognition for each other.
There was absolutely no problem on Ash's side; let alone his captured Pokémon, even if he met a Pokémon for the first time and it was in danger, he would sacrifice his life to protect it—that's Ash's personality.
The only issue was with the Pokémon.
If the affinity and recognition were only average, Aura Fusion wouldn't be possible, and Pidgeotto and Butterfree were the best examples.
However, both of them were later able to achieve it.
The Millennial Gastly was newly caught and had not even been with him for a day, so Ash actually hadn't even considered using Aura Fusion during this battle.
After all, even Pidgeotto and Butterfree had failed initially, let alone Gastly?
Yet, the result was unexpected; although the fusion was at a relatively low level, it was successful, and due to Gengar's powerful endurance, he was able to accept a good amount of Aura even with a low fusion level.
Now, Gengar's level had directly reached Elite Four level peak, putting him on the same starting line as Alakazam; the rest depended on their respective Trainers' abilities.
"Sure enough, only a head-on capture can earn the Pokémon's recognition!"
"Huh? What are you saying?" Gengar was full of question marks.
"Nothing, just talking to myself. It's coming, Gengar!"
Ash said with focused attention, his mind re-engaging in the battle, while Gengar suppressed his confusion and began to familiarize himself with this newfound power.
On Sabrina's side, Alakazam vanished from its spot without warning, reappearing behind Gengar the next second, unleashing Psyshock with a fierce roar!
The solid blue Psychic energy was about to strike Gengar's body!
However, Gengar directly conjured a Shadow Ball with one hand and threw it backward as if he had foreseen the future!
"Boom!!"
Shadow Ball and Psyshock collided, causing a violent explosion, and the turbulent winds blew in all directions!
On the field, smoke billowed, but the sounds of battle continued to erupt, with loud roars exploding one after another!
Even though neither side had given a command, their Pokémon engaged in an even more intense battle than before!
The shockwaves from the battle's aftermath rippled against the barrier formed by Aura, but they only created faint ripples.
However, the ground of the arena had become pitted and uneven due to their battle; if Ash hadn't enveloped the entire field with an Aura shield, the whole Saffron Gym would probably have been demolished by now!
"Ash and Sabrina aren't giving commands, so why are Gengar and Alakazam fighting so fiercely?!"
Misty was a bit confused; was this still a Pokémon battle? What was she looking at?
The Trainer wasn't giving commands, yet the Pokémon were frantically looking for opportunities to attack each other, but both Trainers seemed so serious. Is this what a battle between special ability users looks like?
"It should be telepathy. Telepathy is a type of Psychic application. Some Pokémon that can use telepathy can even communicate directly with humans mentally. Ash and Sabrina should both be using telepathy, communicating directly with Gengar and Alakazam in their minds."
"This command speed is much faster than verbal commands. If Sabrina's opponent wasn't Ash, or if Ash's opponent wasn't Sabrina, then the battle's momentum would probably have already shifted to one side." Brock explained with a look of emotion.
Special ability users can truly only be dealt with by other special ability users!
Otherwise, if one side can hear the opponent's commands, while the other is fighting blindly, relying on the Pokémon's movements to guess the opponent's attack method, isn't it obvious which side has the advantage?
But what surprised Brock the most was Ash. It's one thing for others to use Psychic for telepathy, but how can your Aura also achieve telepathy?
Barriers, attacks, recovery, detection, boosting Pokémon strength, and now telepathy—you're calling it Aura, but it reads like an all-purpose power, right? Don't be too outrageous!
On the field, the battle between the two sides intensified. Now, this battle was no longer just a contest of Pokémon strength, but also a contest of Trainer strength!
The power of Aura vs. Psychic!
Unfortunately, this was not a true Trainer-versus-Trainer showdown. If the Trainers could participate directly, then with Sabrina's power, she probably couldn't even withstand one of Ash's hands... Rules saved Sabrina.jpg!
'Gengar, use Thunder Wave!'
In the smoke-filled arena, both sides found it difficult to see each other with their naked eyes, but for them, this level of obstruction was nothing; both could clearly sense the opponent's position.
And both were using telepathy to communicate, which made the Pokémon's reactions on the field even faster.
But this was actually somewhat disadvantageous for Sabrina.
She had always been the one who could use this almost cheating-like command technique; others couldn't hear her voice, but she could hear theirs, thereby judging their movements and so on.
But now, she couldn't hear Ash's commands, and due to the smoke, she could only ascertain Gengar's position but not what move Gengar was using.
Now, it depended on which side's predictions were more accurate.
Gengar moved with extreme speed, then appeared in front of Alakazam, unleashing electricity from his hand, and golden lightning attached itself to Alakazam, inflicting paralysis.
Sabrina, who was linked with Alakazam, immediately felt the effects on Alakazam. She quickly used Psychic to remove the abnormal status, but this time it wasn't as smooth.
The previous two abnormal statuses, one was Taunt, and the other was Confusion, both acted on the mind. This time, paralysis acted on the body!
To remove paralysis, she had to use Psychic to expel the electric current from Alakazam's body, which was not something that could be done instantly.
And Ash, of course, couldn't miss this opportunity.
'Gengar, Shadow Ball!'
Gengar conjured a Shadow Ball with one hand and slammed it hard onto Alakazam's head!
"Boom!"
Another roar echoed on the field, and Sabrina, outside the arena, also let out a muffled groan, her already pale face turning even whiter, and her long, slender legs almost buckled beneath her.
Powerful moves often come with risks. Alakazam's level was boosted to Elite Four level peak because Sabrina had combined her Psychic and mental energy with Alakazam.
Unlike Ash and Gengar's relatively basic Aura Fusion, Sabrina and Alakazam had already achieved Psychic fusion where they were indistinguishable. That's why Sabrina, with her Elite Four level Psychic, could elevate Alakazam's already Elite Four level power even further.
But this approach also carried significant risks. Every attack Alakazam made consumed a lot of her Psychic power, and every time Alakazam took damage, her mental state would also be harmed.
Since gaining her monstrous Psychic abilities, Sabrina had never pushed her Psychic to such an extent, nor had she ever been beaten into such a sorry state.
As the smoke dissipated, the situation on the field was revealed to Misty and Brock.
At this moment, Gengar was still lively and jumping, while Alakazam was half-kneeling on the ground, looking like a candle in the wind.
Seeing this, both of them were delighted, it seemed Ash should have won this battle!
"Gengar, give him the final blow, Shadow Ball!" Ash also let out a sigh of relief, then ordered Gengar to finish off Alakazam completely.
Alakazam no longer had the strength to escape, nor the strength to resist, only one last straw away from losing its ability to battle.
A dark Shadow Ball appeared in Gengar's hand. Gengar grinned and said, "It seems my Trainer's special ability is superior after all! Goodbye, big fox!"
Saying that, Gengar made a shotput throwing motion, about to throw the Shadow Ball... "Wait a minute!!"
A sudden voice made everyone present, including Ash, freeze.
Gengar, who had already taken his stance, stumbled, almost falling backward!
Gengar dispelled the Shadow Ball in his hand and glared irritably at where the voice came from. He wanted to see who was so bored as to interrupt just as the winner was about to be decided.
A man wearing a hat had appeared inside the Gym at some point, standing beside Sabrina.
The person who had just spoken was this man.
Ash looked at the man, feeling a bit familiar, and the next second, he exclaimed, "Ah! Aren't you the man who warned us at the Gym entrance?"
This was the same man who, when they first arrived at the Saffron Gym, had told them not to challenge the Gym.
However, at that time, this man had been scared away by Sabrina, but now he had come back?
"What do you want, mister? I'm about to win!" Ash looked at the nearly defenseless Alakazam and wasn't in a hurry to finish it off.
In Gengar's current state, even if he exited Aura Fusion, he could still easily beat Alakazam, unless the opponent had some hidden trump card, otherwise, they couldn't possibly win.
So Ash wanted to hear the reason why this man was stopping them.
"Currently, Sabrina and Alakazam's Psychic are in a combined state. If you let Gengar land one last Shadow Ball, not only will Alakazam lose its ability to battle, but Sabrina will also likely faint immediately and suffer a very severe mental blow. This is the drawback of forcibly boosting a Pokémon's strength."
The man patiently explained to Ash, his eyes under the brim of his hat looking at Sabrina, filled with tenderness and guilt.
Hearing this, Ash looked at Sabrina and saw that her condition was indeed not very good.
When he and his Pokémon performed Aura Fusion, although he would also bear some of the damage the Pokémon received, with his physique, unless it was a Champion-level battle or higher, that kind of damage wouldn't affect him at all.
But Sabrina was different. Her Psychic was only Elite Four level. Although it was extremely terrifying among humans, even arguably the top existence, there was still a gap compared to powerful Pokémon.
Although she could use Psychic to boost her Pokémon's power, once the intensity of the Pokémon battle increased, she, as the Trainer, would fall behind, just like now.
Typical Alakazam and Gengar are usually high-attack, low-defense, low-stamina. Sabrina's Alakazam was a classic ordinary Alakazam.
However, Ash's Gengar was different. This thousand-year-old Gengar had incredibly terrifying stamina. Not only did its stamina aptitude have an S, but he had also trained its stamina to S. Therefore, in terms of prolonged battles and wars of attrition, Gengar feared no opponent of the same level.
This was also why, after several clashes, Sabrina and Alakazam were already panting exhaustedly, but Ash and Gengar still looked energetic.
It could be said that in terms of raw power, Sabrina paired with Alakazam would not be weaker than Ash paired with Gengar, but in terms of endurance, the difference was too great. Sabrina was now completely exhausted and could barely stand.
If Gengar had used that Shadow Ball just now, both Alakazam and Sabrina would have collapsed.
Seeing this, Ash slowly retracted the Aura from his body, and the barrier on the field was also dispelled by him: "Sabrina, the outcome has already been decided, there's no need to continue fighting, right?"
Upon hearing this, Sabrina, who had been forcibly supporting herself, finally couldn't help but soften, her legs giving out, and she sat on the ground.
Alakazam's level also returned to its original state, and like Sabrina, it slumped to the ground.
"I lost." Sabrina's voice was still cold, but it seemed to carry some other emotions.
The man in work clothes saw Sabrina collapse to the ground. He seemed to want to step forward, but seeing Sabrina's cold expression, he ultimately did not take a step.
At this moment, Ash was also watching Sabrina. He thought of what the seniors in the group had said, and after a moment of hesitation, he walked forward.
"You lost, Sabrina."
"I know." Sabrina looked up slightly, gazing at the young man standing before her, somewhat unclear why he repeated that sentence.
"Do you feel unwilling?"
"Unwilling?"
"Putting in so much effort in a battle, giving your all, but still losing in the end. Although you were outmatched, you still feel incredibly unwilling, your heart feels like it's being squeezed by something, extremely uncomfortable, even wanting to have another rematch with the opponent... Don't you feel this way?"
Sabrina: ...Did she? It seemed she did.
From a young age, she had possessed Psychic, and as her Psychic abilities increased, her emotions became increasingly light, distorted.
Eventually, she became the way she was now, indifferent to everything, acting on her own whims, only doing what she wanted, without considering others.
Even her mother had been turned into a doll by her and kept by her side, while her father, also having Psychic, eventually escaped from her grasp.
After her family members were personally driven away and restrained by her, her emotions became increasingly closed off and distorted, eventually giving rise to a second personality, which was the doll she initially held in her arms.
But during the battle, unknowingly, the doll in her arms had disappeared, and her suppressed emotions were gradually released with the battle.
Finally, after the defeat, that bitter taste surged from her heart to her throat, an ineffable feeling resonating within her heart—this was... defeat.