Chapter 1422

"Awoo!"

Mega Lucario snapped its eyes open, and amid the astonished cries of countless spectators, its body floated up out of thin air.

A pale blue light was seen enveloping its entire body; the vast Aura radiance dispersed all of Musharna's Dream Mist, revealing a terrifying presence that inspired both awe and reverence.

The announcer shouted: "Lucario awakens! Dream Eater interrupted! Ash's voice has awakened his partner!"

Instant sleep, instant wake!

This situation is considerably rare, yet it has been realized once on Ash—

The Lily of the Valley Conference semifinals, Sceptile versus Tobias's Darkrai; at the final moment it regained consciousness and took its head with a single Leaf Blade.

The scene is almost a perfect reenactment of that moment.

Without a doubt.

The moment Mega Lucario awakened, glaring with furious eyes, the hour of the hunt had arrived!

It fixed its gaze on the Spinning Shadow Ball not far away, its features gradually turning ferocious, sharp canines bared without reservation, like Anubis from myth, intent on casting the sinner's soul thoroughly into the underworld.

"Wuu—"

"Gah!"

Flannery's Pang Yan Guai was so frightened it didn't dare laugh; the Shadow Ball quickly converged, attempting to return to the Seal Stone.

How could Ash and Mega Lucario let it go; they shouted in unison: "Aura Sphere!"

"Awoo!"

Mega Lucario roared, mobilizing every bit of Aura power it could sense within its body, gathering it into its palm; in the blink of an eye light waves spiraled, and a massive, blindingly bright Aura Sphere rapidly took shape!

Its motion shifted from holding both arms level to raising them high, making the Aura Sphere even more massive, nearly occupying a quarter of the battlefield — more than enough to attack even a Gigantamax Pokémon.

The radiance it released even made the entire arena exceptionally dim, as if it had stolen the sunlight belonging to the sun directly above.

Ash likewise raised both arms high, as if bearing the same weight as Mega Lucario; clearly this earth-shaking Aura Sphere also condensed his will and Aura.

Hummm—

The air let out a low hum, the energy contained within seeming capable of destroying heaven and earth!

Tsutaja was shaken to the core, realizing the situation was dire; after a brief hesitation she quickly said: "Pang Yan Guai! I'm counting on you!"

As her words fell.

Purple-black smoke seeped from the ring-shaped patterns around Pang Yan Guai's body, hastily enveloping itself.

Ash keenly sensed the anomaly, but Mega Lucario had already roared and slammed the upraised super-giant Aura Sphere down at it; at a glance it looked exactly like a colossus crushing down, and Pang Yan Guai's body was instantly swallowed whole, without a trace left!

Boom—!!

The deafening explosion completely engulfed the battlefield in an energy shockwave; light was devoured leaving only a vast white expanse, dust flew everywhere blotting out the sky, nothing could be seen clearly.

The protective barrier trembled violently, attesting to the super-giant Aura Sphere's horror.

The announcer couldn't help but say: "What an exaggerated strike; does Pang Yan Guai have any chance to continue fighting?"

After a short while, the flying dust settled, and the field returned to calm.

Mega Lucario stood firmly in the center of the field; in the sunken ground not far away, Pang Yan Guai's Spinning Shadow Ball was gone, leaving only a toppled Seal Stone.

"Awoo..."

It looked at its opponent that had already lost the ability to battle, panting heavily, clearly having expended no small amount itself.

But it was all worth it; it had successfully defeated Pang Yan Guai, and avoided falling into the same plight as Alice's Dragonite.

Ash let out a breath of relief, and Tsutaja also let out a breath of relief.

Kenji entered the field.

But before he could finish judging Pang Yan Guai's condition, a stream of black-purple energy surged from the cracks of the Seal Stone, eerily spiraling in midair, then at a speed even Mega Lucario couldn't react to, it plunged into its body.

"Awo? Awo!!"

Intense cries of pain twisted Mega Lucario's expression; every hair on its body stood on end as if struck by lightning; it tried to break free, but its stamina drained away like flowing water, and before long it collapsed face-down on the ground, losing consciousness.

Ash's eyes widened, "Lucario!!"

"Destiny Bond! It's Destiny Bond!" the announcer shouted repeatedly: "Pang Yan Guai used Destiny Bond to take Lucario with it!"

Kenji declared: "Pang Yan Guai and Lucario have simultaneously lost the ability to battle!"

The audience seats erupted in an uproar!

What an utterly unexpected scene — Pang Yan Guai actually took Mega Lucario with it!

Being able to take Mega Lucario down is absolutely a guaranteed profit!

Ding!

On the big screen, the icons under both Tsutaja's and Ash's portraits dimmed one Pokémon simultaneously.

Both now have only three Pokémon remaining.

The revealed Pokémon are Tsutaja's Roserade, and Ash's Gengar and Pikachu.

It is certain that Tsutaja will definitely send out Garchomp; the uncertainty lies in the last one.

Ash's circle of friends and family are nervous to the extreme; in the preparation room Baimu lightly tapped the armrest, thinking some things are ultimately unavoidable.

The difference is, in the original plot the one ambushed by Destiny Bond was Pikachu; now it has become Mega Lucario, the key Pokémon that would later defeat Garchomp.

How will the match proceed from here?

Garchomp is a Ground-type Pokémon; even with Ten Million Volt Thunderbolt, Pikachu cannot affect it—

Ugh.

Hard to say.

Baimu recalled scenes of Pikachu defeating Ground-type Pokémon more than once, and felt that even a Champion's Pokémon might not escape Pikachu's curse.

As for how it gets electrocuted, you don't need to worry about it.

Even Electivire's Ability can be pierced by electricity; Ground-type is surely much the same.

Queen Leiguanwang turned her head and said, "Uneasy?"

"Joking?"

Baimu raised an eyebrow, "I'm just thinking about which method he'll use to win the match."

"Hope so."

Queen Leiguanwang was inexplicably arrogant; clearly both sides had gotten three knockouts, yet she acted as if Zhulan was about to win.

Inside the arena.

Ash worked hard to calm his mood after Mega Lucario's defeat, recalling it into its ball, "Good work, Lucario."

It had already done well enough, not only defeating Menas but also waking from the Pang Yan Guai's Hypnosis, just didn't expect the Pang Yan Guai to use Destiny Bond at the last moment.

But by then the Aura Sphere was already like an arrow leaving the bow, unable to be stopped.

Being able to defeat the opponent is a good thing!

Ash's gaze looked toward Zhulan on the opposite side.

Zhulan smiled faintly and recalled the Pang Yan Guai, "Well done, great job."

For Ash, Mega Lucario's battle record was good enough, but wasn't the Pang Yan Guai the same?

Being able to defeat a Mega Evolved Pokémon is nothing short of a huge victory!

At this moment, both sides stood on the same starting line, each with two systems remaining.

Zhulan's side had Mega Evolution and Gigantamax, Ash's side had Z-Moves and Gigantamax, three Pokémon remaining, who to assign these two systems to was very worth considering!

The host also said, "Both sides have lost three Pokémon, the match officially enters the second half, so who will achieve final victory? Let's wait and see!"

Bang bang!

Two Poké Balls were thrown out and opened.

Appearing on the field were surprisingly Roserade and Gengar, these two Pokémon who had appeared before.

"Gah!"

"Rida~"

After a brief rest inside the ball, Gengar, who had taken a sneak attack, although not at full status, at least no longer looked like it was playing dead as it had when leaving the field.

And Roserade's condition was clearly much better; it had indeed been forced off the field by Pikachu, but overall it had only taken half an Iron Tail and a small amount of Thunderbolt shockwave.

The two Pokémon gazed at each other from afar, a new round of fierce battle instantly igniting!

Ash: "Shadow Ball!"

Gengar took the initiative to attack, its chubby claws rubbing together in front of it to gather a pitch-black, deep Shadow Ball, within the sphere countless phantoms seemed to surge, carrying an eerie, terrifying feeling.

"Gah~!"

It violently flung it, smashing it toward Roserade!

Zhulan's eyes narrowed slightly, immediately giving the command: "Roserade, Bullet Seed!"

"Rida!"

Roserade raised both arms, countless fine green seeds spraying from its two bouquets, dense as a bullet net of full fire coverage, whistling away with sharp air-tearing sounds.

In the blink of an eye, Shadow Ball and Bullet Seed collided, like bullets meeting a missile, setting off a deep rumble!

Rumble!

The seeds were instantly torn into fragments, and the Shadow Ball's scale also shrank drastically, visible shockwaves spreading outward ring by ring, the ground's dust swept up, forming a turbid column of air.

Smoke covered the front of both Pokémon, and seeing this Ash said, "Sneak over, Will-O-Wisp."

"Gah~!"

Gengar sneakily passed through the smoke and dust, but Zhulan's side wasn't without reaction either.

She guessed Gengar would definitely sneak close, so she shouted: "Leaf Storm!"

"Rida!"

Roserade's arm leaves danced wildly, countless sharp green leaves gathering in front of it, rapidly rotating to form a huge green storm!

Whoosh—

The storm carried fierce airflow, like an emerald green long dragon, diving straight at the sneak-attacking Gengar, blocking it with powerful wind force the moment it approached.

Fortunately it reacted sharply, sensing something was wrong and immediately breaking away to fly high, only then relying on its light, agile figure to dodge the emerald leaf blades shooting like knives.

"Gah!"

Gengar pressed its hands together, clusters of ghostly purple flames igniting, dancing toward Roserade.

Roserade quickly raised its arms, the Leaf Tornado immediately "lifted," rolling toward that row of Will-O-Wisps, instantly extinguishing most of them.

And Gengar's figure was elusive dodging the storm's direct hit, two of the Will-O-Wisps seemingly driven by its movements, spiraling toward Roserade, like a maggot in the bone determined to hit its body.

Rosarde naturally couldn't allow Will-O-Wisps to attach to it, arms violently spreading, also letting the Leaf Storm disperse with it.

Powerful wind force erupted at this moment, successfully driving away the attacking ghostly flames.

"..."

Zhulan watched Gengar's movements, a pensive look on her face.

The opponent was clearly in poor condition, yet could still maintain this kind of movement speed, truly surprising.

Looks like she'd have to think of another way.

A thought reached here, she quickly shouted: "Psychic!"

"Rida!"

Roserade's eyes lit up with brilliant blue light, an invisible force tugged the air, as if twisting it, crashing toward Gengar!

"Gah?"

Gengar couldn't see the opponent's attack, but instinct told it there was a problem ahead, and without waiting for Ash to speak it immediately burst forth with intense, pure, dazzling light!

Hum!

【Magic Shine】!

Multicolored radiance blossomed like a miniature sun, enveloping Gengar's body while also warping the air before it to a degree plainly visible to anyone.

It's a mental power attack!

But compared to Psychic's grasp, it seems like a more direct bombardment!

"Gah-gah!"

Gengar cried out; Magic Shine formed an intense light wave that gradually pushed the invisible Psychic power back.

Boom!

The center point of the two forces suddenly exploded, smoke and dust billowing and scattering in all directions.

"Since that's the case——"

Ash shouted: "Gengar! Psychic!"

He had rarely used this move lately, because Gengar wasn't very adept at using Psychic-type moves, but right now he clearly couldn't worry about that much.

"Gah-gah!"

Gengar's eyes lit up with blue light; mental power spread out like a great net toward Roserade.

Zhulan's command remained the same, "Psychic!"

"Rhi-doh!"

Roserade manipulated invisible force, firing it like a cannon to collide with the net Gengar cast; the contact point instantly twisted, like a tattered rag being mauled, and invisible shockwaves blasted outward!

The announcer shouted: "A clash of void moves! A battle on the perceptual level! The two Pokémon are attacking each other with their minds!"

"So strong……"

Ash clenched his fists; Roserade had clearly used Leaf Storm, lowering its Sp. Atk, yet could still possess this kind of power — truly not to be underestimated.

Zhulan was also surprised; Gengar was actually this tenacious, not showing the slightest decline even now.

Was Pang Yan Guai's ambush for nothing after all?

Both sides rapidly engaged in several more mental power collisions; in this contest of wills, the slightly inferior side soon showed its true colors.

——Gengar wasn't going to hold on.

Ghost-type Pokémon innately lack the stamina of other types, let alone it in poor condition.

Being able to battle Roserade to this extent already counts as remarkably resilient.

Sweat seeped from Ash's temples, "……Go Gengar! Use Will-O-Wisp!"

"Gah……"

Gengar glanced sideways at him, understood its Trainer's plan, and actively charged toward Roserade.

Eerie purple flames drifted around its body, a full nine of them rotating as they pressed toward the opponent; seeing this, Zhulan did not follow Ash's expectation and had Roserade continue using Psychic.

"Right now! Power Whip!"

"Rhi-doh!"

Roserade swung its bouquet; vines flew out from within and intertwined, forming two incomparably thick vines that smashed down head-on at the charging Gengar.

The giant vines whistled, the sound of tearing air especially dull yet with a touch of fierceness.

Gengar dodged sideways at the first moment, but the Will-O-Wisp orbiting it weren't that swift; four were immediately struck down by Roserade's Power Whip, leaving only five to move with it.

Immediately after, vines lashed at it from another spot; Gengar had no choice but to keep dodging.

Vines danced rapidly, nearly forming afterimages.

Gengar dodged repeatedly yet still had several more snuffed out in succession, until the last one around it was also struck down.

The distance between the two Pokémon had also become exceptionally close.

Roserade unhesitatingly swung its long whip; Gengar met it without dodging, and just before Power Whip struck its body, it opened its massive mouth——

There was actually still a Will-O-Wisp hidden in there!

Bang bang!