I have added this story to my Patreon. You can support me and read the 40 latest and advanced chapters there. It also fed and motivate me to write more chapters!
Free Members will get 10 Chapters Ahead of the schedule on Patreon!!!
Link: Patreon.com/AVRKingsTL
—------------------—k
Aura Fusion, a power developed by Ash, allows a Pokémon to significantly enhance its strength in a short period.
Although the duration is limited, it is the only way to win against an otherwise unbeatable opponent.
Powerful moves often come with risks, and for a Pokémon, this risk is a test of its body's endurance.
For an Elite-level Pokémon to perform at a Professional level, or a Professional-level Pokémon to perform at a Gym-level, the Pokémon's physical endurance is indispensable.
Even Gardevoir, among Ash's Pokémon, pays great attention to physical training, which is why most of his Pokémon are physical attackers... However, even if their physical quality far exceeds their own level, Aura Fusion can only last for a short time.
At most, a battle can utilize it for five to six minutes before reaching its limit.
Unless the Pokémon using Aura Fusion lowers its enhancement cap, meaning it could have been boosted to Gym-level peak but chooses to only boost to Gym-level intermediate.
However, Ash's opponents basically never hold back, and he always has to unleash his power to the extreme to have a fighting chance.
This brings us to the second side effect of Aura Fusion: Ash himself.
How much Aura Fusion can enhance depends on the combined strength of Ash and the Pokémon, but because Ash's power is extremely terrifying, the Pokémon experiences such a terrifying boost.
To this day, no Pokémon has been able to withstand more than 10% of Ash's power.
However, the side effect of Aura Fusion does not depend on how much stronger Ash is than the Pokémon, but rather on the state of either the Pokémon or Ash.
If the Pokémon is in poor condition, Ash's condition will also be extremely poor; if Ash is in poor condition, the Pokémon's condition goes without saying.
However, the latter has never happened; not to mention how strong Ash is, during battles, it's basically the Pokémon fighting, so how could Ash's condition be poor?
So, basically, only the Pokémon can drag Ash down; even if Ash's strength far exceeds that of his Pokémon, under the ripple effect of Aura Fusion, Ash will still feel a wave of exhaustion.
Just like now, even though his stamina and strength are still abundant, he feels a deep-seated fatigue, which is a result of Charizard losing its ability to battle.
Even after recalling Charizard and deactivating Aura Fusion, Ash still needs a few minutes to recover.
Therefore, the power of Aura Fusion must be used at the right time; if one wishes to use it consecutively, they must ensure that the previous Pokémon does not lose its ability to battle.
For example, if there were a second round now, Ash would not be able to use Aura Fusion a second time within a few minutes.
Against powerful Trainers, this would be a fatal flaw.
"Are you alright, Ash?" Lorelei asked with concern, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, seeing Ash still slumped on the ground.
Although he lost a battle, it shouldn't be such a blow that Ash can't even stand up, right?
"I'm fine, just a bit exhausted. I need to sit for a while; don't mind me for now." Ash smiled wryly, waved his hand, and then took out Charizard's Poké Ball to recall Charizard.
"You worked hard, Charizard... Next time... next time we'll definitely win, and we'll even defeat Lorelei's main Pokémon!" Ash murmured as he put away the Poké Ball.
This defeat was quite important to him.
No matter how much he was suppressed by the big shots in the group, he had never lost a single battle since his debut, and he unconsciously felt a bit inflated.
In the group, he was indeed a rookie, but outside, he was Kanto's strongest newcomer, attracting widespread attention, having defeated a reserve Elite-level Trainer in just three months of travel.
His inner pride had already quietly swelled, only not fully formed yet due to the help of his parallel self.
Even so, Ash had already developed a mindset: no matter what kind of opponent he faced, he would not lose!
Aura Fusion, Partner Form, MEGA Evolution—these various methods were completely unique to him.
As a fifteen-year-old boy with so many unique methods and unique experiences, it would be abnormal if he didn't feel a little inflated.
However, after the battle just now, Ash's inflated heart was completely deflated.
He still had a long way to go before becoming a true powerhouse; he was a challenger, not one of those standing at the peak.
He was still young, with infinite possibilities; next time... he would win!
"Thank you, Ash and Master Lorelei, for giving us such a wonderful battle! Where's the applause!!" Misty saw Ash still slumped on the ground, but his face showed no dejection; instead, he looked eager and excited.
She knew that Ash's mindset hadn't been affected.
The reason he was sitting on the ground was probably because the battle just now had drained too much of his strength.
The live broadcast was still on, and to prevent Ash's weakness from being exposed, she had to warm up the crowd as much as possible.
As Misty's words fell, thunderous applause once again erupted in the arena.
No one thought Ash's defeat was shameful; instead, to be able to push Lorelei to such an extent, it could definitely be said—he lost with honor!
How long had he been out? Was it even four months in total? To achieve such a level in less than four months, he could already be described as a prodigy.
Kanto might really be on the rise!
...Johto Region—
Lance, dressed in black, watched a live broadcast in a huge base with a group of people also dressed in black, with an 'R' on their clothes.
He had infiltrated Team Rockets, originally intending to find some clues about Team Rockets HQ or Giovanni's hidden genetic data.
However, shortly after infiltrating, an internal directive from Team Rockets ordered everyone to come to the base's main hall to watch a live broadcast.
Lance was a bit puzzled; do villainous organizations also watch live broadcasts?
He even wondered if his undercover identity had been discovered, and this was an excuse to surround him in the base's main hall.
However, Lance was both skilled and bold; as long as Giovanni didn't make a move, even if all of Team Rockets were banded together, they wouldn't be his match.
Upon arriving at the hall, Lance didn't expect that the broadcast's mention of a live stream was actually a live stream!
And the broadcast showed his old acquaintance, Lorelei!
Lorelei's opponent was also the recently popular young man, Kanto's supernova, Ash.
How did these two end up fighting? Lance was puzzled, but after watching the broadcast for a while, his confusion was resolved.
It turned out to be helping Ash dispel the rumors circulating online recently.
But Lance still found it strange, the strange point being... why was Lorelei in Cerulean City?
She should be in Viridian City, monitoring Giovanni's every move.
Since the Alliance received reliable intelligence a few days ago about a formidable Pokémon within Team Rockets, they had begun to meticulously monitor everyone openly associated with Team Rockets.
As a Kanto Elite and Johto Champion, he personally went undercover into Team Rockets to find that genetic data and specific information about that monstrous Pokémon.
Now he had infiltrated, but Lorelei's surveillance work seemed to have fallen short!
In the broadcast, Charizard and Glaceon quickly became entangled in battle.
Even through the television, Lance could clearly determine the levels of both Pokémon.
A Professional-level peak fighting an Elite-level peak... this level difference, yet they could still fight back and forth, was utterly unscientific!
As the battle reached its final moments, Lance's pupils sharply constricted when he saw the colorful flames burning on Charizard.
This power... could he already use it so freely?
There was no mistake; this was definitely the power of a god, and not the somewhat lesser sacred fire like Entei's, but the true sacred fire of Ho-Oh.
Both Charizard's explosive Aura and its performance were enough to prove that Charizard could now wield this divine-level quality flame.
The unfortunate thing was that Charizard's level was simply too low.
If its level were higher, even if only Gym-level initial, it should have been able to defeat Glaceon directly with this one attack.
However, Charizard still had a trump card: the Fighting-type Seismic Toss.
If that Seismic Toss had connected, it definitely would have taken down Glaceon.
But as Charizard spun, Lance keenly noticed that Charizard's arm was problematic—it was the arm that was initially hit by Glaceon's Hydro Pump.
Seismic Toss itself is a move that puts immense strain on the body.
Although its power is strong, if the body cannot withstand it and it is forced, it will only become a weakness.
Ash ultimately misjudged the condition of both Charizard and himself, causing Charizard's final attack, Seismic Toss, to not be fully executed.
Glaceon found an opening and reduced the damage of Seismic Toss.
Finally, Glaceon also took down Charizard with Ice Shard, and Ash regrettably lost this battle.
However, none of the Team Rockets members present showed any sarcastic attitude towards Ash's performance.
This was simply because if any of them had gone up against Ash's performance, they would likely have just been thoroughly beaten.
They were considered mid-level personnel within Team Rockets, and although they joined Team Rockets for various reasons, they never slacked off in training their Pokémon.
The members present were basically Trainers who had been traveling for five years or more.
However, if they were to face Ash, they estimated that a 10% chance of winning was the best possible outcome.
"Is this the super rookie who recently appeared in Kanto? His strength is not to be underestimated!"
"More than not to be underestimated, look at who his opponent is? That's Lorelei of Ice! Even if she wasn't using her main Pokémon, she's definitely Elite-level, right!
To be able to go back and forth with Lorelei, and still be a rookie... Kanto isn't just rising, it's skyrocketing!"
"Sigh, the Alliance is going to produce another incredible figure.
I wonder when our Team Rockets will have such a super genius to lead us to the forefront."
"It's tough. I don't know what the higher-ups want us to do by watching this live broadcast.
Is it just to show us the rise of the Alliance's genius?"
"Who knows..."
Amidst the discussions of the Team Rockets members, the broadcast sounded again: "Everyone, you must have finished watching the battle just now.
Team Rockets is now issuing an internal wanted order: target, Ash of Pallet Town, Kanto Region.
Condition: capture him alive and bring him to Team Rockets.
The achiever will be rewarded with three Pokémon that can at least reach Champion-level in the future, and three controllable Elite-level Pokémon."
The voice on the broadcast was deep and hoarse.
Lance immediately knew that the speaker was Apollo, one of Team Rockets' high-ranking executives, and the highest-ranking executive under Giovanni.
He was responsible for the Johto area, but he should not be in this base now, but rather in a central base, broadcasting his words to all bases.
His purpose for going undercover this time was to find out the location of Team Rockets' base in the Johto region.
Apollo was inherently cautious.
Except for his trusted aides or some powerful members, no one else knew the location of the Johto region's base.
He had been undercover here for several days and hadn't even met Apollo.
However, this time he did get a good piece of intelligence: Team Rockets seemed to be targeting Ash...
Lance vaguely guessed Team Rockets' motive for targeting Ash: it was for the mysterious power on Ash that could make Pokémon directly cross a major stage, and the divine flame on Charizard.
'Giovanni, if you dare to lay a hand on our people, then don't blame me for turning your Team Rockets upside down!'
Lance's eyes narrowed, a fierce glint in his gaze...
At Cerulean Gym, after the battle ended, Lorelei interacted with some of the audience.
For those who interacted with Lorelei, the ticket for this event was definitely worth every penny.
Those who didn't get to interact were a bit disappointed, but the match itself was spectacular enough.
To witness an Elite battle from such a close distance—in other places, this amount of money wouldn't even buy a ticket.
Those who initially bought tickets for a few hundred yuan felt even more thrilled; this was an Elite-level battle!
To see it for a few hundred yuan, they had made a huge profit!
After the interaction ended, everyone, under the guidance of Sakura and others, left the venue in an orderly fashion, while Lorelei, Ash, and the others returned to the backstage of Cerulean Gym.
Regarding the battle just now, Ash still had many questions for Lorelei, such as why the final Seismic Toss failed to defeat Glaceon; logically, that much stamina should have been enough to finish it off.
Also, the reason Lorelei came to Cerulean Gym...