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Gary had briefly glimpsed Primeape's strength before, estimating it to be only around the Superior high level; even if it had improved since he last saw it, it would, at most, be Professional low level.
This level was only comparable to the mid-to-low tier Pokémon he currently possessed, unless Ash used his strange techniques to boost the Pokémon's power.
But then, why bother sending out Primeape? Was it just to let Primeape make an appearance? Or was he using him as a whetstone for Primeape?
Regardless of the reason, Gary was currently annoyed. What happened to going all out? Was he sending out this thing to humor him? He certainly hadn't done this when battling Ritchie and Conway!
Ash had only used a bunch of his B-team Pokémon when fighting that random competitor in the top 8, yet even against the relatively weaker opponent Ritchie, Ash had brought out his two aces, Pikachu and Charizard.
Even his third Pokémon, Butterfree, was a top-tier fighter from Ash's B-team. So why was he sending out Primeape against him?!
Although Gary had repeatedly claimed he would have a chance to win if Ash used his B-team Pokémon, in reality, he didn't want Ash to use them against him. As a childhood friend and rival, he preferred a full-power battle with Ash, not a match against Ash's incomplete strength.
Just as Gary's expression grew unpleasant, Ash smiled and said to him, "Do you remember? I told you yesterday I would show you a new power that belongs to me."
Gary: ?
It seemed there was such a thing. He had thought Ash was talking about a new type of MEGA Evolution. If a new type of MEGA Evolution appeared, he might be surprised, but he wouldn't be overly astonished anymore.
After all, he knew the MEGA Evolution system inside and out. Even if Ash had other Pokémon capable of undergoing MEGA Evolution, he wouldn't be too surprised; Ash already possessed more than just one or two MEGA Evolution Pokémon anyway.
"Watch closely! This is Primeape's brand-new evolution. Primeape, it's time! Evolve on this stage, before the eyes of the world!!!"
"Hoo-cha!!" Primeape placed his hands on his waist, let out a long howl toward the sky, and an unparalleled burst of colored light erupted from his body!
Under the shocked gaze of countless people, his body grew larger. After a moment, the light slowly dissipated, revealing Primeape's true form after evolution.
Primeape's body had completely transformed; his originally fluffy white fur had turned gray, and his hands and feet had changed from brown to deep black.
Long, snow-white hair, resembling that of a malevolent spirit, grew upward from his head, and his powerful black eyes turned a blood-red color!
His arms became thicker, and one of the black iron cuffs originally locked onto his hands was shattered, while the other remained cracked and dangling from his wrist.
The overall appearance had changed drastically from before, and the newly evolved Primeape gave off an extremely terrifying vibe, looking exactly like a fiend returned from hell!
Gary gasped in shock, his pupils shaking as if experiencing an earthquake. His mouth trembled incessantly; he wanted to say something, but he was too stunned to speak.
After a brief silence, the surrounding audience erupted in a massive clamor.
"Holy cow! What is that?! Is that Primeape's MEGA Evolution?! This appearance... should I call it cool or eerie?"
"No, no, that's not MEGA Evolution. Tech experts online recently analyzed that MEGA Evolution requires two items, and a beam of connecting light appears between the Pokémon and the Trainer, which Primeape didn't have just now."
"That's right, Primeape's transformation looks more like a normal evolution... But how could Primeape possibly evolve?!"
"Exactly. MEGA Evolution is one thing, but a normal evolution... Isn't that a bit too outrageous? If this is Primeape's normal evolution, doesn't that mean..."
"Doesn't that mean Ash has discovered a brand new form of evolution!!"
"This evolved Primeape looks so scary, but he also gives off a stronger feeling. A child targeted by his gaze would probably start crying within three seconds."
"..."
The people around them discussed Primeape's evolution heatedly. Initially, some guessed that Primeape had undergone MEGA Evolution to achieve its current form.
But they were immediately refuted by knowledgeable fans.
Although these fans were not powerful Trainers themselves, they were very familiar with MEGA Evolution because they were the first to Surf the internet for information.
Since Ash had not yet publicly released detailed information about MEGA Evolution, the data available online consisted of conclusions drawn by researchers based on video footage, but they were largely accurate.
Namely, MEGA Evolution is a process that requires items to be completed, and also requires a special connection between the Trainer and the Pokémon. During the evolution, a gem will appear on the Pokémon's body, and a connecting beam of light will form with the Trainer.
These were the currently known prerequisites for MEGA Evolution.
Ash's Primeape, however, simply shone with the ordinary light of evolution, and none of the conditions associated with MEGA Evolution appeared. This meant... Primeape had undergone a normal evolution!
But Primeape was widely known as Mankey's final evolution. How could there be another stage of evolution above it?
If there was, it should have been discovered long ago.
In the stands, Professor Oak also shot to his feet, his eyes glued to the evolved Primeape—or rather, Annihilape!
Ash had previously told him that Primeape had the potential for further evolution, but he had dismissed it as merely Ash's conjecture. He had thoroughly researched Ash's Primeape, and from a genetic standpoint, the Primeape form was the pinnacle of its genetic chain, making further evolution impossible.
However, Ash's Primeape did possess something unique: he could use a Ghost-type move called Focus Punch.
That move was one that other Primeape had not learned; it seemed Ash's Primeape was the exception.
Yet, inferring a brand-new evolution for Primeape based solely on that move was somewhat rash. Even when Ash claimed he had detected this result using Aura, Professor Oak only believed him three parts out of ten, remaining seven parts skeptical.
After all, while Aura was strong, it wasn't omnipotent. The idea that it could even detect a Pokémon's evolution seemed too incredible.
But now, it was as if two invisible slaps had landed on his face—Primeape really did evolve!
Furthermore, a single-stage evolution and a two-stage evolution are completely different things. A single-stage evolution certainly doesn't provide as much of a boost to a Pokémon as a two-stage evolution. For Pokémon that can only evolve once, their post-evolution boost is massive, sometimes comparable to a Pokémon evolving twice consecutively.
Primeape originally had only a single-stage evolution, and he wasn't weak after evolving once; his growth was only slightly less than that of some Pokémon's second-stage evolutions. Now that Primeape had a second stage of evolution, he might even be able to rival Pseudo-legendary Pokémon!
However, all of this was merely Professor Oak's speculation. He now desperately wished for Gary and Ash's match to end quickly so he could reach tomorrow's finals, and then immediately return to his research lab to study the brand-new Primeape!
This was a completely new existence, distinct from MEGA Evolution!
In the special spectator area, the Elite Four and Steven all stood up, watching Annihilape on the field. In just two days, Ash had given them far too many surprises.
First, it was the ability to perform a secondary MEGA Evolution, and now he had revealed Primeape's brand-new evolution.
The Indigo Plateau Conference seemed to have become Ash's personal showcase. Lance and the others had long predicted Ash would win the Champion title of the Indigo Plateau Conference, but they never expected the process to be like this.
"Primeape's evolution... This Ash fellow always manages to conjure up strange and wonderful things. It truly proves the saying—heroes emerge in youth!" Lance exclaimed involuntarily.
If he didn't know Ash's age and background, Lance would have thought Ash was Arceus transformed into a human, coming down to play among mortals. The endless stream of new things was just too much!
"Primeape's brand-new evolution, huh... He looks quite cool! I should get Ash to help me get one too. He should still be Fighting-type after evolving, right?" Bruno said, rubbing his fists together with an expectant look.
"Heh, what does it matter if he's Fighting-type or not? Don't you have Pokémon other than Fighting-type?" Lorelei retorted sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Bruno.
Although Bruno was the Fighting-type Elite, his Pokémon weren't all Fighting-type; he also possessed an evolved Steelix. Therefore, Bruno didn't need to worry about whether Annihilape retained the Fighting attribute; he could adapt to it either way.
It was the same as Lance claiming to be the Dragon-type Elite. Look at Lance's team: Charizard, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, Altaria, Kingdra, and Dragonite. Anyone who could see this lineup and then hear Lance call himself the Dragon-type Elite without laughing must be a saint.
Although the first three Pokémon had 'Dragon' in their names, they actually had no Dragon attribute, while Altaria, whose name did not contain 'Dragon', possessed the Dragon attribute.
Three Pokémon on his main team were non-Dragon-types. How dare he call himself the Dragon-type Elite? Flying-type Elite would be closer!
That was because five out of Lance's six Pokémon possessed the Flying-type!
Compared to Bruno, Lance was even less constrained by a single type. Perhaps as long as the name contained 'Dragon', it was suitable for him.
Lance shivered involuntarily under Lorelei's strange gaze. He felt as if Lorelei was thinking something unfavorable about him.
Bruno scratched his head, slightly embarrassed by Lorelei's comment. Indeed, regardless of whether Annihilape was Fighting-type, if he liked it, he would definitely try to catch one, as he wasn't someone who rigidly adhered to his Elite type title.
Anyway, with Lance, the 'Pseudo-Dragon Elite,' leading the way, what did his minor deviation matter?
... The continuous gasps and discussions from the surroundings caused both Ash and Annihilape to curl their lips into smiles.
This was exactly the effect he wanted! Why else would he have held back the evolution for so long? Wasn't it to shock the entire world today?!
Since it was a brand-new evolution, it naturally had to be displayed to the world to make a splash... Though, this was only part of the reason.
Making a splash was one thing, but the other, more crucial aspect was letting everyone witness Primeape's evolution into Annihilape. Only then could the world's rules completely acknowledge Annihilape's existence and grant it a talent blessing.
This was a theory proposed by the experts in his group, and it turned out to be correct, because Ash could see that Annihilape's talent was continuously changing. This change wasn't immediate upon evolution, but began shifting slowly after the surrounding exclamations started.
[Species: Annihilape] [Gender: Male] [Type: Fighting, Ghost-type] [Level: Professional high level] [Ability: Defiant] [Moves: Focus Punch, Cross Chop, Shadow Punch, Outrage, Close Combat...] [Six-dimensional Stats: Physical Attack S (S) Special Attack C (C) Defense C (B) Special Defense C (B) Stamina B (A) Speed S (S)]
In barely ten seconds, all of Annihilape's talents had increased by one level, and his Speed and Physical Attack directly reached the limit of his talent, achieving S-rank!
Before evolving, Annihilape was only Superior peak level. The scope of this evolution was terrifying, nearly spanning a full major level, yet Annihilape's ability values did not show the instability experienced during Monferno's evolution.
Monferno's evolution also spanned three levels, but he couldn't even fully utilize the power of his current level. In contrast, Annihilape was not only stable in level, but his two most important ability values had also reached the peak for his current level.
On one hand, Primeape had been accumulating power for too long; unlike Chimchar's forced accumulation, Primeape actively chose to store power within his body, waiting for the evolution to unleash it all at once!
The other aspect was the ethereal 'World Blessing' mentioned by the group experts. Since Annihilape was a Pokémon appearing in the world in complete defiance of current world rules, two outcomes were possible after evolution.
One was a forced evolution, resulting in the world refusing to acknowledge the Pokémon. This could even lead to Annihilape being unable to advance further in the future, and his natural talent would decrease because he was abandoned by the world. At that point, he wouldn't be Annihilape, but the 'World-Abandoned Monkey.'
The other possibility was that the evolution gained the world's recognition, and because he was a brand-new species, his talent could reach a new height, making his future leveling speed even faster.
The two outcomes were completely different—one was heaven, the other hell. The experts in the group provided a method to reliably reach the 'heavenly' outcome: have Primeape complete his evolution under countless eyes, on a stage watched by the masses, rewriting everyone's understanding that Primeape could not evolve!
By doing this, it was virtually guaranteed that he would receive the world's acknowledgment and soar to great heights!