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Giovanni's actions were so outrageous that even Champion Ash found them unbelievable. What kind of person is he? To deal with a Newbie, he sent out a Champion-level Pokémon, which Ash could tolerate, but then he directly sent out Mewtwo. Does he have any shame?
Although Mewtwo's level is at the peak of Champion, his strength has definitely touched the God-level domain. Even though he hasn't officially entered it, his physical quality is there, so calling him a quasi-God-level is not an exaggeration.
To let a Newbie Trainer who debuted just over three months ago face a quasi-God-level... Haha, even if Newbie Ash cheated, Champion Ash found it incredibly absurd.
Aura Hero Ash: Good heavens, your Giovanni is truly shameless to the extreme. What good does it do him to bully the weak and win against you?
Newbie Ash: Actually, it's like this...
Ash described the events that transpired in Viridian Gym as briefly as possible. After learning that Giovanni had used Arceus's contract, members of the group chat began to pop up.
This item had appeared in other parallel worlds, but its number was absolutely rare among the rare. Once used, it was absolutely impossible to break without God-level power.
Even with God-level power, it depended on the specific specifications... In short, it was an extremely perverse, mandatory item.
And Giovanni used this mandatory item to set a wager, thereby forcing Ash to serve Team Rockets.
Now, the Champion and Aura finally understood why Giovanni was so shameless. Compared to gaining Ash, what was face? All he wanted was to guarantee a hundred percent victory in this battle!
If Ash hadn't had the 'Heavenly Proxy' ability, he would have probably been taken down by Giovanni. After all, with Ash himself banned, where would he get Pokémon to contend with a quasi-God-level? He must be dreaming!
Aura Hero Ash: Alright, I understand the situation. I'll take this one. Has your Riolu evolved?
Newbie Ash: Not yet, but it's on the verge of evolving.
Aura Hero Ash: Okay, then leave it to me. Give me ten minutes, and I'll give you a perfectly evolved Lucario!
...In the real world, about three minutes passed, and Ash slowly opened his eyes. During this time, Giovanni didn't rush Ash, but quietly watched Ash's meditative state.
In his opinion, Ash might just be mentally preparing to join Team Rockets, as the current situation was already equivalent to a dead end.
Ash had no other choice but to accept his fate.
Closing his eyes, mentally preparing, and delaying his defeat by a few minutes, that was all it was.
Seeing Ash open his eyes, Giovanni's mouth curled into a slightly sinister smile: "What, are you ready to join Team Rockets? Don't think of any other crooked ideas. Arceus's contract is absolute; even gods must abide by its rules. For mere humans to try and break it is utterly foolish. I will soon know the secret of that further evolution!"
"You're a bit noisy." Ash's eyes glowed faintly blue, and a slightly cold voice emerged from his mouth.
Under Giovanni's frozen smile, he tossed out a Poké Ball and softly said, "I choose you, Riolu."
With a flash of light, Riolu appeared on the field. Ash's second Pokémon was Riolu, which surprised everyone present, including the two Elites watching the live footage.
"How can it be Riolu? Is Ash crazy?!" Gary exclaimed as soon as he saw Riolu.
After learning that Ash's special ability was Aura, Gary specifically searched online. He couldn't find any humans with Aura, but he did find Pokémon with Aura, including Riolu.
Leaving aside that the Pokémon named Mewtwo looked very much like a Psychic-type, Riolu hadn't even evolved yet. How could it contend with a Pokémon of Mewtwo's caliber? Was Ash giving up on treatment?!
"What is Ash thinking? Although Riolu is no longer what it used to be, sending him into a battle of this level is too..." Even Brock, who had been traveling with Ash, couldn't help but wonder from the bottom of his heart.
At such a critical moment, sending out a Pokémon that hasn't even reached its final evolution, isn't that just handing the opponent a victory?
"Wait, Brock, do you remember Ash saying earlier today when he was chatting with Lorelei that this battle... might again have the help of the God of Victory?" Misty didn't join the other two in questioning or wondering, but recalled something Ash had said to Lorelei today.
Perhaps in the battle against Giovanni, there would again be the favor of the God of Victory?
At that time, both of them had taken Ash's words as a joke. After all, is Victini something you can just summon? Is Victini your family or something?
But from Ash's current action of sending out Riolu to battle, it seemed that what Ash said today was not without purpose, but rather well-prepared.
Think back to the last time Ash sent out a Pokémon in its initial form for a battle—who did he fight?
Elite Koga in a type-disadvantage battle!
When Bulbasaur was still a Bulbasaur, Ash used him to contend with Koga's Crobat, and even won. In other words, Ash had a precedent!
This time, Ash still brought out an unevolved Riolu, facing an enemy they felt was simply impossible to defeat, even though this enemy was much stronger than when they faced Elite Koga.
It could even be said that the two sides were not on the same level.
Back then, Bulbasaur was at least Superior-level, but now Riolu is only at the peak of Advanced, and facing at least a Champion-level Pokémon. Isn't this even more despair-inducing than facing Koga back then?
However, if Ash could make Riolu unleash the same power that Bulbasaur did, then even against Mewtwo, he might not be unable to win!
The power Bulbasaur unleashed was definitely the strongest power Misty and Brock had ever seen. Even Elite-level Pokémon were like chickens and dogs before it, and ordinary Champion-level Pokémon couldn't do such a thing.
According to their estimation, it would require at least Champion Mid-level power or above to achieve that.
So, if Riolu could truly unleash that level of power, there might still be hope of victory!
"To send out a Pokémon that hasn't even reached its final evolution, Mewtwo and I are really being underestimated by you, Ash!" Giovanni said, laughing in anger.
At this critical juncture, Ash really gave up everything, resigned to fate, and brought out a Pokémon that absolutely could not win. Giovanni, on the contrary, felt disappointed.
People who give up immediately when faced with difficulties have no hope of success. No matter how high their talent is now, if the character issue remains unresolved, their life will be just mediocre.
Why did Giovanni go through so much trouble to use Arceus's contract? Wasn't it to twist Ash's mindset towards Team Rockets without changing Ash's talent and character?
If he won, then Ash's future mindset would naturally lean towards Team Rockets, rather than him thinking of rebellion while doing things that help Team Rockets.
If it was only to that extent, he could have Mewtwo use hypnosis to achieve the same.
However, what he aimed for was to preserve Ash's growth potential, to allow Ash to grow into a Champion, or even surpass Leon, and lead Team Rockets to become the strongest organization in the world!
Ash's current performance, however, made him very disappointed... "Not even fully evolved? While that doesn't matter, if you want to see the final evolution, then I'll show you. Riolu, evolve." Ash... or rather, Aura Ash's voice remained calm.
At his command, Riolu's body instantly erupted in brilliant light!
Before everyone's eyes, Riolu's body began to grow, eventually reaching a height of nearly 1.8 meters, and only then did the light dissipate from his body.
Evolution—Lucario!
Unlike Riolu's cuteness, Lucario gives off a feeling of handsomeness, elegance, agility, and great reliability.
Compared to Riolu, Lucario's entire body had grown, and the hard, stone-like parts on his forearms had also grown into sharp short spikes.
Ash's word-is-law once again stunned his companions on the scene. "Dude, are you the God of Evolution? You say a Pokémon should evolve, and it evolves?"
The reason Giovanni used to criticize Ash just now was directly rendered null and void at this moment.
You said I used an unevolved Pokémon against you? Well, I'll just make the Pokémon evolve.
Although this newly evolved form was only slightly stronger than its unevolved state and still weak in front of Mewtwo, Giovanni was left speechless by Ash's action.
He had lost count of how many times he had been slapped in the face today. This young man must be a professional face-slapper.
However, Riolu's evolution into Lucario still made Giovanni notice something was off. Ash's demeanor didn't seem like he was giving up on treatment at all.
If he had truly given up, would he still be so calm now? Would he still directly let Riolu evolve?
At this moment, Giovanni, like Misty, thought of the scene when Ash battled Koga, and combined with what Misty just said about the favor of the God of Victory... This guy isn't cheating again, is he?
"What, does my Riolu evolving into Lucario make you so unhappy, Giovanni?" Aura Ash casually rotated his wrist, his tone flat and sarcastic.
He was still adapting to this new body. He could only say that it truly lived up to the power of the chat group. This body almost completely inherited his Aura, and coupled with Ash's own cultivated Aura, in terms of personal strength alone, this world's Ash was already stronger than him.
However, if they were to fight, this world's Ash might not necessarily be his opponent. After all, fighting, besides physical quality, also depends on fighting experience. In his own world, he constantly sparred with those Legendary Pokémon, so their experience levels were not comparable.
"To be able to control a Pokémon's evolution with a single word, it seems you haven't given up hope... What, are you going to use the same trick you used against Koga? You're not going to say the God of Victory has come to favor you again, are you?" Giovanni said sarcastically, implying, 'Don't use some excuse about the God of Victory to put me off. Whether Victini is around, how could I not know?'
Ash raised his eyes and did not answer Giovanni. Then, he slowly made a gesture with both hands in front of him, with his index finger, middle finger, and thumb connected, forming an inverted heart shape.
Lucario also mimicked Ash's action, and a powerful, latent force began to rise within their bodies.
The latter felt the power surging within his body, and for a moment, he felt it was incredibly unbelievable.
He made that gesture with Ash, merely thinking that Ash wanted to merge the Aura within him with the power within his own body. But the power rising within him didn't seem like Ash's Aura merging in; instead, it felt like his own inherent power!
As the power surged within him, Lucario felt that he was hundreds of times stronger than when he had just evolved!
After evolving, his level reached Superior High-level, skipping two stages in one go—this was the result of his accumulated efforts.
His original plan was to evolve after reaching Advanced Initial-level, and then use the evolution to instantly boost himself to Superior Peak-level. However, Ash made him evolve now, so he didn't reach his expected goal.
However, Lucario didn't mind, because just by standing on the field, he could feel the pressure from Mewtwo. That terrifying oppressive Aura was something he, unevolved, simply couldn't resist.
Even if he evolved, he would still be no match for the opponent. If Ash's Aura combined with his, there would still be a one in ten million slim chance of fighting the opponent.
But now, as that power surged within him, the pressure Mewtwo had put on him instantly vanished!
A moment later, Lucario opened his eyes and incredulously squeezed his claws. This power gave him a very unreal feeling.
His whole body felt as if it were floating on clouds. What an incredibly powerful force!
Lucario, having just gained this power, couldn't control it very well yet, so some of the power leaked out. When Giovanni saw the power leaking from Lucario's body, his expression instantly became extremely grim.
Although this power was only crudely revealed, it was completely on par with the currently restrained Mewtwo. What was going on? How could that Lucario, who was originally only at Advanced Peak and at most Superior Mid-High after evolving, suddenly possess such power?
Is it Ash's special ability? No, although Ash's special ability can amplify a Pokémon's power, from his intelligence and the information gained from the previous battle, that ability couldn't amplify a Pokémon to this extent.
So where did the power on Lucario's body come from now? Could it really be that so-called God of Victory? Nonsense! Even if Victini appeared, its power in Viridian City would surely be as dazzling as light in the dark night; Mewtwo couldn't possibly fail to sense it.
And now, within Mewtwo's perception, no unfamiliar power had appeared around them. The power on Lucario's body seemed to have appeared out of thin air!
What kind of trick is this?!