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Inside Viridian Gym, Ash and Giovanni were enveloped in a golden light, which formed a shield, firmly separating the two from the outside world.
Even Pikachu's full-power attack had no effect on the shield. Ash rubbed the surface of the shield, carefully gauging its strength.
A moment later, he lowered his hand and turned to face Giovanni: "You really went all out. This thing must be a rare Darling, and you're using it on me?"
The strength of this shield was such that even he, using his full power, would likely struggle to break it. One must remember that his current power had reached the Divine Realm level! If even that level of power couldn't break it, then the solidity of this thing was unimaginable.
Giovanni had just explained the contract. Overall, although there were many restrictions, once it took effect, not even gods could stop it until the contract was fulfilled.
The stakes offered by both parties could not differ too much; if they did, the contract would not be established. As the initiator of the contract, his stakes could be relatively less, but even so, he still put up half of Team Rockets as a wager.
He was making a huge wager and offering a unique item with the power of the Creator God, all just to get him. Was he really that valuable?
"The potential within you is something I've never seen before. Even the world Champion Dande, who the Alliance now touts as unprecedented and peerless, would absolutely not compare to you once you've grown. So, as long as I can obtain you, no matter how great the cost, it's worth it."
"Aren't you afraid all your efforts will be in vain? If I win, everything you've put in will just be an illusion."
"Hahahahaha, if you have the ability, then win! What does it matter if I disband half of Team Rockets!" Ash's words made Giovanni burst into laughter, as if he had heard an incredibly amusing joke.
It was no wonder Giovanni was so confident. After all, the power Ash displayed could, at most, touch the peak of an Elite, or perhaps the early Champion level. To truly battle his main force, Ash was still a long, long way off.
Even six-on-one, Ash might not have a chance of winning, but out of caution and wanting to set a trap, he had suggested two-on-two, half Gym Leader and half leader.
Ash had indeed fallen for it. He surely wouldn't have expected that the promise he casually made would turn into a mandatory reality.
"Ash, for the first Pokémon, choose the lowest-tier Superior, that way even if Giovanni uses his main force for the second, you can still do two-on-one, at least keeping hope of victory!" Gary called out from outside the shield.
In a two-on-one situation, if Giovanni used a Pokémon of early Champion level, there would still be a chance of winning. But if it was above early Champion... then even if Ash used all his skills, he wouldn't be able to defeat his opponent.
Gary wasn't clear about Ash's exact strength, but only about ten days had passed since the trip to Cinnabar Island.
At that time on Cinnabar Island, Ash couldn't even handle a Pokémon of Elite peak level. Now, even with some growth, he could at most compete with an Elite peak Pokémon.
Therefore, if Giovanni brought out a Pokémon above early Champion level, his chances of winning would be almost 100%. At present, they could only bet that Giovanni wouldn't be so shameless as to use a Pokémon above early Champion level against a boy who had only just started his journey.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing... Speaking of which, this shield happens to block the spread of battle aftermath, so you all won't be in any danger."
"Still thinking about your companions' safety at a time like this? You don't actually think you can beat me, do you?" Giovanni said, beckoning Mewtwo, who was on the field, to float back to his side.
Mewtwo, shrouded in machinery, couldn't show any expression, but ever since Giovanni started talking to him, Mewtwo hadn't spoken, perhaps still pondering the meaning of Ash's words.
"Of course I'll win, and I'll win decisively. It's you, Giovanni, if you get knocked out by the aftermath during the battle, then you should be considered defeated, right?"
The golden light shield completely isolated the arena. No shockwaves would escape from inside, but Giovanni and Ash were both inside without any protective measures, so the battle's aftermath would affect them.
If Giovanni were to be knocked out or even severely injured and fall to the ground by a shockwave or an accidental brush with a move during the battle, wouldn't that mean he had won this battle?
"So that's your plan? I know you're a special ability user, and you certainly have an advantage there, but you're not naive enough to think I haven't prepared any defenses, are you?" As his voice fell, a brilliant blue shield appeared in front of Giovanni.
This was a shield formed by Psychic power. Ash could feel an extremely powerful force from it, that force... belonged to Mewtwo.
This was a shield created using Mewtwo's energy. It was likely that even a direct attack from an ordinary Champion-level would be unable to shatter it.
This was Giovanni's confidence.
"Alright, let's begin the choice of fate. You can choose the difficulty of the first Pokémon's challenge. Do you want to listen to Dr. Oak's grandson and choose the weakest tier challenge? That way, you can indeed manage to use two Pokémon to deal with my later Pokémon, but I'm not afraid to tell you, even two-on-one, you won't have any chance of winning."
"Heh heh, no need for such trouble. I said... I won't lose! For the first challenge, I choose the Elite level!" Ash said resolutely. He had no intention of using Gary's method to cut corners, because it truly wasn't necessary.
He believed in his own strength... His parallel self was also himself, no problem.
He would fight the first round well, treating it as a trial. If he couldn't win, a powerful figure would cover for him.
"Elite level, huh... What a coincidence, I only have one Elite level Pokémon, and it's a high-level Elite." With that, Giovanni directly threw a Poké Ball, and a massive Pokémon appeared on the field—Rhyperior!
This was the evolved form of Rhydon, requiring a special item to evolve. Its body was predominantly gray, covered in large orange rock-like plates. The shape and arrangement of these plates gave a sense of solidity and power, exuding a fierce aura. Its presence alone could make a three-year-old child wail.
Rock and Ground type, and high-level Elite, essentially blocked Charizard and Pikachu from entering the field. If it were mid-to-low level, Ash might try to battle against the type disadvantage, but at the high-level Elite, immune to Electric-type moves, and quadruply effective against Charizard, those two Pokémon simply couldn't contend with it.
Giovanni clearly had studied Ash thoroughly, knowing which two of Ash's Pokémon were the strongest. By sealing off those two, Ash was essentially like having both arms severed.
If he couldn't use Pikachu and Charizard, did Ash have any other way to deal with an Elite-level Pokémon?
Misty and Brock outside the barrier were very worried, while Gary didn't know Ash's specific situation, but based on his understanding of Ash, if Ash were truly in an irreversible disadvantage, his current expression would definitely not be the confident one he was showing now.
"Do you think by sealing off Pikachu and Charizard, I have no other options? This is something I specifically prepared for you, transferred from Oak's Laboratory! I choose you, Venusaur!" Ash threw a Poké Ball, which burst in mid-air, followed by a massive creature crashing onto the field with a violent roar.
Strong limbs, a giant flower bud—this was Venusaur, one of the Kanto starters Ash owned!
Since catching Bulbasaur, Ash had only used Bulbasaur once in a Gym battle during that one 'Prodigy' usage. Apart from that battle, Bulbasaur, and later Venusaur after evolving, had not participated in any more battles.
However, at Oak's Laboratory, Venusaur's strength had not increased any slower than Charizard's.
Charizard's current level was early Superior, but he reached this level after battling Glaceon. Otherwise, normally, he would still be at the professional peak level, like Gardevoir.
And Venusaur was also at this level now. Although still far from high-level Elite, Venusaur also possessed divine power within him. In terms of ability to battle above his level, he was only slightly weaker than Charizard.
"Venusaur... This must be that Bulbasaur from back then, right? I didn't expect him to have evolved into Venusaur now. I wonder if his strength has evolved along with his size. Can you still perform the miracle from back then, Ash?"
Facing Venusaur, who was quadruply weak, Giovanni showed no panic at all, instead leisurely commenting.
With his eyesight, he could tell at a glance that this Venusaur's level wasn't even Gym-level. At this level, even with a quadruple type advantage, it posed no threat to Rhyperior.
Moreover, his Rhyperior was not as simple as it appeared on the surface. Its overall strength was practically on par with an Elite peak.
So Ash was essentially using a professional peak Pokémon to battle an Elite peak Pokémon.
Again, unless Ash showed the miraculous performance he displayed when battling Koga, even if Bulbasaur evolved into Venusaur and his strength made a qualitative leap, he would still be no match for Rhyperior.
"To deal with him, Victini's blessing is not needed. Go, Venusaur... MEGA Evolution!!" Ash raised his right hand, and a colorful gem on his wristband burst forth with brilliant light!
The next second, a large gem also appeared on Venusaur's body, and then the light generated between the large gem and the colorful gem connected. Venusaur's body also began to transform.
The light dissipated in less than a second, and Venusaur revealed a brand new form: sturdier limbs, a pink flower on his head, and a strange pattern appearing on it.
At the same time, the flower on his back also grew larger, and the extending leaves and the central stem grew more robustly.
This was Venusaur's MEGA Evolution form, Mega Venusaur!
Giovanni's perpetually smiling expression, as if everything was under his control, stiffened at this moment. He looked at Mega Venusaur, his pupils seemingly experiencing an epic earthquake, trembling violently.
"What... is this?!" Giovanni asked, his voice slightly trembling. Misty and the others also covered their mouths in surprise, clearly not expecting Ash to have such a hidden card.
They, of course, knew about MEGA Evolution, but they didn't know when Ash had obtained Venusaur's MEGA ite. This kid was hiding things again!
"This kid, always scaring people!"
"Hey, this guy just knows how to make people worry."
"With MEGA Evolution, the chances of winning should be higher, right? I just don't know what's special about Venusaur after MEGA Evolution."
The three spoke one after another, their expressions much more relaxed.
Since Ash could previously contend with an Elite peak Glaceon using a professional peak Charizard, then now, a professional peak Venusaur undergoing MEGA Evolution, with a quadruple type advantage against Rhyperior, and the opponent's level only being high-level Elite. Wasn't this much more advantageous than the conditions when battling Lorelei?
This battle had a very high chance of winning!
...Outside Viridian Gym, Agatha and Lorelei both widened their eyes and mouths, looking at the scene in the video with disbelief.
Since the camera was on Ash's collar, they didn't see the Key Stone on Ash's hand, but they heard very clearly the words Ash uttered—MEGA Evolution!
This didn't seem to be an accidental evolution achieved by Ash, but rather an evolution that already had a name, meaning Ash had already discovered this evolution long ago.
"Venusaur can actually evolve again? What kind of evolution is this? Lorelei, didn't you travel with that boy for a while? Didn't you discover this?"
Lorelei rolled her eyes helplessly, a look of exasperation on her beautiful face: "I only traveled with him for a week, and during that time, it was mostly just training. How would I know something like this?"
Judging by Ash's actions, this was clearly a controllable evolution that would only be used during battle. Ash wouldn't just idly make his Pokémon evolve for no reason, would he?
"It seems this should be like Gigantamax, a battle system applied during combat. Gigantamax ends, or after using three Gigantamax moves, it reverts to its original form. I wonder if this so-called MEGA Evolution will also revert to its original form after the battle ends, or under certain conditions."
"If this evolution can indeed revert, then it would be an unprecedented impact on the Pokémon world!" Lorelei said with emotion.
An evolution that can be freely controlled, its impact on the world would definitely be even greater than Gigantamax!