Chapter 1420

"Lucario, Mega Evolve!"

Ash raised his wrist, and the Key Stone on the Mega Ring instantly burst into dazzling light, resonating strongly with the Mega Stone on Lucario, shooting out golden lightning that intertwined with the blue lightning from the Mega Stone.

The intense light completely enveloped Lucario, triggering a transformation: its fur became fluffier and wilder, the black markings on its head and limbs grew especially sharp, and its aura power surged, forming a visible pale blue field around it.

More importantly, Ash's own body was similarly enveloped in the same strange blue glow, identical to Mega Lucario's!

"Awoo."

Mega Lucario slightly raised its brows, its imposing figure filling everyone's view.

The host shouted: "Ash Trainer is the first to use the system! Lucario has completed Mega Evolution!!"

Among the champion trainers, Ash's number of systems is second only to Baimu, equal to Dawu.

The battle has reached this point, with both sides having revealed four Pokémon each—now it's time to show one of them.

"Aura..."

Zhurong's expression turned solemn; how could she not recognize this power? After all, she too is a Lucario trainer.

Moreover, she also possesses the extraordinary Mega Lucario Z!

Indeed, is Ash also an Aura Guardian?

Zhurong looked at her regenerating Menas—though she couldn't restore it to perfect condition, at least it was mostly recovered.

Without hesitation, she commanded Menas to strike first: "Water Cannon!"

"Mimikyu!" Menas responded, and fine water vapor around its body instantly compressed into a high-density stream before its mouth; the Water Cannon erupted with a boom!

Boom!

A thick, fluorescent blue water column, carrying immense impact force, tore through the air with a howling sound, crushing straight toward Mega Lucario.

The air was slightly distorted by the water column's pressure, and the ground soaked into a deep groove.

Ash shouted fiercely: "Shadow Clone!"

"Roar!"

Mega Lucario didn't retreat—it advanced, stepping into the water column, and in an instant split into dozens of illusory clones, indistinguishable from real to fake, scattered like stars across the entire battlefield.

Each clone carried genuine aura energy, leaving Menas and Zhurong unable to tell real from fake.

As the first clone was shattered by the water cannon, the misdirected column crashed heavily into the ground, exploding in a large spray of water, and the two nearest clones also dissipated.

Menas strained to reorient, its sapphire-blue water column sweeping sideways, but it never even touched the hem of Mega Lucario's clothing—everything destroyed was merely a decoy.

Taking advantage of the clones' cover, Mega Lucario's feet kicked off the ground rapidly, its body becoming a pale blue afterimage, blinking into motion alongside the clones as they surged from all angles toward Menas.

"Bullet Punch!"

Ash shouted loudly, Mega Lucario inhaled deeply, its fists wrapped in pure bright silver light, forming countless dense fist shadows that hammered Menas' torso in rapid succession, leaving no gap for evasion or breath.

Whoosh—

The fist wind tore through the air, so fast it left only layers of afterimages, each punch carrying fierce force.

Zhurong shouted: "Water Ring!"

"Mimikyu!"

Gentle ripples rose around Menas, forming a clear blue-green ring that suddenly expanded, sweeping away the Mega Lucario clones continuously throwing punches, leaving only the real one.

Bang!

Water exploded!

Mega Lucario's genuine heavy punch immediately shattered the churning water ring.

Although Menas had been twisting its elegant, slender body throughout, the barrage of fist shadows remained too swift, and several heavy punches landed hard on its body.

Dull impact sounds rang out in succession; Menas was slammed by immense force, its body suddenly sinking, and the water vapor it tried to gather for the ring dispersed again.

But using this force, Menas regained distance from Mega Lucario in an instant and launched a counterattack.

"Water Cannon!"

"Mimikyu!"

It directly sprayed a refined, high-pressure water stream—thin yet extremely penetrative—forcing Mega Lucario to dodge sideways at extreme speed, scraping the ground and carving out small pits.

Menas seized the moment to keep retreating, continuously firing water lines; Ash wouldn't let it go: "Aura Sphere!!"

"Roar!"

Mega Lucario leapt into the air, evading the water surge, its aura power rapidly gathering in its palms, condensing into a brilliant azure Aura Sphere, the sphere compact and full, containing vast power, and shot straight at Menas.

Zhurong calmly received the attack: "Mirror Coat."

A layer of crystalline, transparent light appeared on Menas' surface, smooth as a mirror, firmly catching the incoming Aura Sphere.

"Mimikyu..."

It let out a muffled grunt.

Mega Lucario's output far surpassed before, and Menas immediately felt it hard to withstand.

Fortunately, the earlier regeneration had laid a foundation, giving it the resolve to endure; between breaths, it reflected all that immense aura power back!

In an instant, the azure light ball shot back at Mega Lucario in midair at even greater speed!

"Roar!?"

"See through and dodge it!"

Ash's command made Mega Lucario's eyes glow blue, allowing it to shift direction midair and dodge.

Yet, while it avoided the frontal rebound of the Aura Sphere, it didn't expect the latter to explode violently behind it!

Bang!

The visible shockwave sent Mega Lucario flying forward, as if deliberately throwing itself into Menas' embrace.

When it landed, its feet slid several meters on the ground due to inertia before barely stabilizing, its aura power briefly disrupted, breath slightly ragged.

Zhurong seized this moment of weakness: "Menas! Go!"

"Mew!"

Menas's tail suddenly tensed, indigo-blue light wrapping around its tail fin, making it like a large umbrella, sweeping out with the force of rain beating on plantains, fiercely lashing toward Mega Lucario.

This Dragon Tail was so fast it reached the extreme; even though Satoshi shouted "Shadow Clone," Mega Lucario couldn't dodge in time.

All it could do was cross its fists, trying to gather Aura to form a defensive barrier, but the Dragon Tail instantly shattered it, heavily striking its body.

"Guh!"

With a dull thud, Mega Lucario, as if hit by a boulder, was swiftly flung into the air, rolling over ten times before turning into a blue light and flying back to Satoshi's waist.

【Dragon Tail】, Forced Switch!

Satoshi: "Ah!?"

Pikachu: "Pika-chu!?"

The host exclaimed: "Mega Lucario has been forced out of the battlefield!"

The audience stands instantly erupted—was Mega Lucario driven away at this crucial moment?

Clearly, Menas had the advantage here!

Obviously, the actual situation on the field was not as optimistic as they thought.

Satoshi's Poké Ball at his waist opened uncontrollably, a white light flying into the field.

"Wow!"

A huge, sturdy Gyarados entered the field, dazed and unaware of the situation, looking around blankly with its round eyes.

Finally, it looked toward Menas across from it.

Host: "Satoshi's fifth Pokémon enters the field! Gyarados appears!"

"Self-Regenerate."

Under Zilan's command, Menas used Self-Regenerate for the second time to recover.

Undoubtedly, Dragon Tail was meant to give it space to recover; otherwise, with Mega Lucario's output, Menas would struggle to withstand the next Aura Sphere.

Seeing this, Satoshi immediately abandoned the idea of switching, "Go, Crunch!"

Seize the sickness, take its life—at least interrupt Menas's recovery; don't let the opponent's stamina, suppressed by Mega Lucario, recover.

"Wow!"

Gyarados launched a fierce charge, its strong hind legs pushing off the ground, bursting with astonishing speed.

Bluish water appeared in its massive jaws, its huge body surging forward with unstoppable momentum, rapidly approaching Menas.

As it ran, the ground was kicked up with flying gravel and dust.

Zilan naturally wouldn't let Gyarados bite down, even though Menas resisted Water-type, but she understood its trait was Strong Jaw, and Crunch had an extra boost.

"Menas! Charm Voice!"

"Mew!"

Menas finished Self-Regenerate, its throat slightly vibrating, releasing fan-shaped rings of invisible pink sound waves forward.

Gyarados, in the midst of its charge, being honest and pure-natured, didn't know how to dodge, and just dove straight in.

Its spirit was inevitably eroded by this eerie pink sound wave, suddenly feeling dizzy.

Even so, Gyarados's speed didn't decrease; enduring the Charm Voice eroding its body, it grit its teeth through the mental discomfort and let out a roar.

"Wah!!"

Having successfully approached Menas, Gyarados opened its huge mouth, strong water suction bursting from its mouth, lower jaw bluish-clear, and fiercely bit toward Menas!

Menas lightly flicked its tail fin, its body light and agile, stepping back rapidly to increase distance, avoiding Gyarados's Crunch range, denying the opponent a close chance.

"Chase it!" Satoshi shouted, Gyarados turning into a relentless hunting dog, frenziedly biting and chasing Menas.

Ultimately, it couldn't withstand such relentless pursuit, preferring to suffer itself rather than let go, and was suddenly bitten on the tail.

"Bang!"

"Water mist exploded!"

Still not letting go, Gyarados's head violently shook, twisting Menas's large form, then hurling it away!

"Thud!"

Menas crashed heavily to the ground, letting out a painful groan.

After consecutive fierce battles, it was exhausted to the limit; even though Crunch lost its first-strike power-doubling effect, it still felt dizzy.

——Menas was clearly nearing its limit!

This wasn't just visible to Zilan as a trainer; Satoshi, the host, and even many spectators could see it.

"Dragon Pulse!"

Zilan unexpectedly chose not to switch.

Only seeing Menas rapidly condense dense dragon flames in its mouth, continuously rolling and compressing, its body twisting into a ferocious, terrifying fire dragon head, shooting straight toward Gyarados!

"Boom!"

The condensed flame dragon roared forward; Satoshi didn't dare delay, immediately shouting: "Water Gun!"

"Wow!"

Gyarados opened its large mouth, suddenly shooting a bluish water column at the flame dragon; they collided in midair, erupting in a deafening roar!

"Boom——!!"

The air trembled, shockwaves swept the battlefield, both Gyarados and Menas were shaken apart.

Gyarados staggered backward, falling down, propping its jaw on the ground to barely stabilize its swaying body, fine scales on its surface shattered by the impact into tiny cracks, internal qi and blood surging, yet it didn't retreat—instead, its ferocity was further aroused.

"Wow!"

"Excellent! Dragon Rush!"

Satoshi without hesitation launched a speed-attack combo; since Gyarados was in peak condition, now was the perfect time to attack!

Whoosh!

Azure flames coiled around the Gaburador's body, spreading in an instant to form a gigantic flaming dragon head rivaling Dragon Pulse in scale.

In the next moment, the Gaburador leapt up abruptly, its entire body turning into a fierce dragon silhouette; borrowing the gravity and explosive force of a dive, it hurtled straight at Milotic!

The imposing pressure unique to Dragon Dive swept across the field, wind pressure whipping up dust into a sky-full of dancing turbid wind columns!

Zhulan ordered without a change of expression: "Pull it apart! Dragon Pulse!"

A non-specialty type clashing head-on with a specialty type — she really was going all out.

"Mii—Gyo!!"

Milotic gathered all its strength, condensing a washtub-sized Dragon Fireball in its mouth; the moment it transformed into a roaring dragon head, it fired without the slightest reservation!

Roar!!

Two distinct roars reverberated through the arena simultaneously, but Dragon Pulse did not charge straight at the diving Gaburador's face as the audience expected — instead it precisely curved mid-air, striking the Gaburador's flank!

"Wah!?"

The Gaburador lost its center of gravity; its resentful Dragon Dive veered off course, failing to hit the dodging Milotic and instead slamming heavily into the open ground, shattering it in an instant.

Thud!

Rubble flew; the Gaburador fell, rolling several circles before stopping.

Yet it immediately struggled up, turned its head, and launched another charge.

Satoshi also said: "Continue using Dragon Dive!"

He believed Milotic was about to give out; the two Dragon Pulses just now were likely its final attacks.

"Wah!"

The Gaburador leapt again, stubbornly initiating a low-altitude rush; Milotic retreated repeatedly, always keeping a safe distance from the Gaburador and using Dragon Pulse to disrupt Dragon Dive's landing point.

Back and forth they went; the prolonged exchange made the Gaburador's movements increasingly sluggish, massive stamina rapidly consumed in the continuous charges.

Satoshi began growing anxious; the swaying Milotic, weakened by exhaustion, looked to him like a piece of fatty meat — visible but unobtainable.

He desperately wanted the Gaburador to bite it down in one go, unable to resist touching the Gigantamax Band.

But if he let the Gaburador Gigantamax, and Zhulan took the chance to switch out Milotic, what then?

He had to think of a way!

After brief thought, Satoshi shouted: "Gaburador! Hydro Pump!"

"Milotic, Hydro Pump!" Zhulan followed close behind.

Both Water-type Pokemon fired crystalline blue water columns forward simultaneously; Milotic, more adept at special attack, was surprisingly matched evenly with the Gaburador at this moment!

Proof the latter was truly a candle flickering in the wind!

Bang!

Water mist curled through the arena, covering most of the field; Satoshi knew his chance had come.

"Gaburador! Dragon Dive!"

Using the water mist as cover, seize the chance to launch a final attack on Milotic!

"Wah!"

This time, dragon flames surged around the Gaburador's whole body; pouring out every ounce of strength it shot straight into the heavens, violent flames wrapping its form and turning it into a gigantic flying dragon!

However.

When it plunged toward the ground and the water mist consequently dispersed, Milotic was nowhere to be found.

A thought struck Satoshi in his bewilderment; he snapped his head up, catching sight of Milotic higher up, its mouth storing massive flames, which it suddenly fired at the back of the Gaburador's head!

Boom—!!

Gunpowder smoke swept the entire field!

Satoshi watched this scene in disbelief; as the smoke and dust slowly settled, the battlefield returned to calm.

The Gaburador's side-lying figure kept enlarging in his pupils.

"Gaburador is unable to battle! Milotic wins!!"

?? PS: Mother hospitalized, keeping vigil by the bed, insufficient rest turned brain to mush; please forgive any errors, truly no energy left to self-check