Chapter 67: Crushing Ai Lan! Alliance Insider!

Too awesome!

Is this really Ash?

Clemont silently pushed up his glasses, shocked, looking at Ash with his aura fully unleashed.

Yurie widened her eyes and opened her mouth, her gaze full of longing.

Ash is so awesome!

Ash...

Serena blankly stared ahead,

Standing on the Battle Castle, on the blue-stone-paved ground, Ash radiated an unmatched confident and domineering aura,

His eyes held obsession, and even more, bewilderment.

Ash like this was still the first time Serena had seen him.

However, when Serena's gaze swept over the nobles, united against a common enemy, their faces full of gratitude and excitement, she suddenly understood: Ash was standing up against injustice.

No wonder he seemed so different from usual, his sharpness fully exposed.

Ash truly is…… a truly great personality! He truly lives up to being Ash!

A young woman with a somewhat married-woman aura suddenly had a flush of scarlet on her cheeks, a white mist faintly rising above her head, her eyes glazed, not knowing what she was thinking.

Nana silently looked at the unfamiliar Ash before her, a hint of confusion appearing in her dark red, indifferent eyes,

She, lacking common sense, did not know what Ash's purpose was in doing this.

However,

This straightforward, flamboyant Ash instead made Nana relate more, seeing herself in him,

Meanwhile, as everyone sighed,

Ash inquired of the Battle Castle's butler, and under his guidance went to the transporter, contacting Professor Da Mu to have Fire Dragon brought over from Kanto.

Accompanied by the opening of a precious ball as red as blood,

Like a fire dragon from Norse mythology descending, wings unfurled, its overwhelming aura swept over the Battle Castle,

Ai Lan's Fire Dragon sensed immense danger, its eyes narrowing.

Roar!

Ash's Fire Dragon let out a roar, nearly deafening the old butler's ears.

Then an even more shocking scene unfolded for the old butler,

The Fire Dragon actually lowered its head and used Fire Blast on Ash.

Afterward, Ash, as if nothing had happened, smiled and patted the Fire Dragon's head.

This this this...

Facing the old butler's bewildered expression, Ash grinned and said, 'My clothes are fire- and electricity-proof, no need to worry.'

Old butler: '?'

Is this a matter of clothing material? You, a human, ate a Fire Blast and were unharmed, yet you didn't mention a word?!

【Pokemon】: Fire Dragon (Male)

【Trait】: Solar Power (under clear skies and strong sunlight, Sp. Atk increases to 1.5x, but loses 1? 8 of max HP every 30 seconds)

【Level】: lv100 (Champion Peak)

【Skills】: ……,

【Individual】: 6v

【Base Stats】: Total 534, HP 78, Attack 84, Defense 78, Sp. Atk 109, Sp. Def 85, Speed 100,

【Held Item】: Charcoal (boosts Fire-type moves by 20% power)

This is Ash's old Fire Dragon,

Nowadays, its stats have been raised to the limit attainable,

Only missing an encounter like Skin God to raise its level to the legendary realm.

【Can Be Strengthened】

【Trait】: Solar Power 1 (under clear skies and strong sunlight, Sp. Atk increases to 1.5x)

【Strengthening Mission: Defeat Rocket Team】

Glancing at the strengthening effect and mission,

Strengthening 1 directly removes the HP-draining negative status, this is perfect!

Thinking of this, Aura Sense fully activated,

Locked onto the position of the Rocket Team trio hidden in the cloud layer.

Pointed, he had the Fire Dragon unleash a Fire Blast at the trio; a scorching fire pillar shot up to the heavens, like lightning tearing the sky, its range spanning over ten thousand meters!

Boom!

With an explosion, there was a faint feeling of something hateful, a familiar feeling came with a meow!

This scene made everyone feel extremely terrified,

Ai Lan's eyes also showed a hint of astonishment and vigilance.

【Strengthening……】

……

【Can Be Strengthened】

【Trait】: Solar Power 2 (under clear skies and strong sunlight, Sp. Atk increases to 1.7x)

【Strengthening Mission: Defeat Gym-level or higher Fire/Flying type Pokemon】

A new mission appeared,

Ash turned his head and glanced at Alan's Charizard.

Level 88, Elite Four tier, meets the mission requirements.

Great!

Both sides stood on opposite ends of the battlefield.

Alan stared directly at Ash and his Charizard, clenching his fists.

"Your Charizard is strong, but I won't lose!"

Seeing Alan's demeanor shrink, Ash shook his head, "Don't be like that; I still prefer your rebellious, unruly self—snap out of it."

"You... fine, fine, fine! I hope after the battle you can still be so boastful!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Alan began to regret them.

He had already realized that Ash's Charizard was stronger than his.

Ash gave him a deep look.

With the referee's signal, both spoke at the same time,

"Sunny Day!"

"Protect!"

Charizard flapped its wings, took off, activated Sunny Day, intense sunlight bathed the battlefield, raising the temperature considerably.

Meanwhile, Alan's Charizard used Protect, guarding against a possible fierce assault from Ash's Charizard right at the start.

The result proved this was a failed prediction,

but the good news is both are Charizards, and Sunny Day benefits both sides!

However... Sunny Day?

Fire-type moves deal only 0.5× damage to Fire/Flying Charizard; what's the point of Sunny Day?

Alan's thoughts raced,

He realized, Ash's Charizard has the Solar Power ability?

But that would also cause the Charizard's HP to drain faster,

turning what seemed a dire situation into a glimmer of hope for victory.

Protect can't be used consecutively, but can be staggered,

drag it out; as long as he can wear down Ash's Charizard's HP via Solar Power, victory will be his.

"Smokescreen!"

Oh? You're using the timid lizard tactic?

In a short time he could analyze Charizard's ability and exploit it,

Alan knew Charizard well enough, but unfortunately, Ash's Charizard had just overcome the ability's drawback.

Dragging it out would bring Alan not victory, only despair!

As for Smokescreen, under Aura Sense it's utterly useless,

Aura Power activates! It clings to Charizard, granting it Aura boost, instantly revealing the opponent's hiding spot in the smokescreen.

"Dragon Pulse!"

Ferocious dragon energy gathers, with Special Attack boosted 11.5× by Solar Power, greatly increasing its power!

An energy dragon the size of three Charizards dives into the smokescreen.

Alan's Charizard is blasted away, the tremendous impact shattering the edge walls of the battle castle.

"Continue, Dragon Pulse!"

"Protect!"

…… (just ellipsis)

Slowly... Alan finally sensed something off; despite the prolonged battle, Ash's Charizard shows no fatigue.

Could it not be Solar Power?

Was the earlier Sunny Day meant to deceive me?

At this moment,

Alan suddenly feels his intellect being rubbed into the ground, a crushing sense of defeat.

Before the match he talked big; after it he has nowhere to hide.

Alan's hands are trembling,

"Mega Evolve, Charizard!"

In the end, Alan decides to go all out!

However, triggering X Mega Evolution only speeds up the battle's end!

"Dragon Claw!"

"Dragon Pulse!"

Ash's Charizard's Dragon Pulse completely overwhelms Alan's Charizard's Dragon Claw; the doubly effective savage energy utterly crushs and devours the already weakened Mega Evolved X Charizard.

The final all‑out effort only hastens the defeat, turning it into a joke.

Watching his Charizard collapse in the crater, having de‑mega‑evolved, Alan's body trembles.

Meanwhile, the onlookers who witnessed Ash's dominant thrashing instantly get excited.

The nobles previously silenced by Alan begin one by one to criticize him,

this time, Violet does not step forward to speak up for Alan.

Ash also hears a notification that Solar Power has been powered up to level 2.

You really are too lacking in courtesy, Ai Lan!

A sudden voice accompanied the arrival of the oddly colored Gigalith.

Everyone looked doubtfully at the newcomer,

Aside from the strikingly noticeable oddly colored Gigalith, there was a man and a woman,

The man had silver hair, wore luxurious attire, and bore an elegant and noble demeanor—he was Da Wu, who had only recently parted from Ash.

The woman had pink hair, wore a pair of golden sunglasses, black clothing, red leather pants, and possessed an alluring, mysterious aura that was both righteous and wicked.

"Da Wu Champion and Paqila Heavenly King!"

Their appearance caused a stir, for no other reason than that both held exalted status.

At the same time, Paqila also worked as a host-reporter, and besides not stinting on displaying her feminine charm, she had gained quite a few fans.

However, Ash knew,

This woman was no simpleton, collaborating with Fuladali as a spy of the Searing Flame Team infiltrating the Kalos League.

Although they had a last-minute change of heart, at this moment the other party's stance was unquestionably aligned with Ailan.

Ash looked dubiously at Da Wu, asking how he had appeared here.

"The time for the auction mentioned by the black-market merchant has arrived; I deliberately came back to help catch the criminals, and just now I swept them all in one net. From the Paqila Heavenly King I happened to meet, I learned there is a Battle Castle nearby and wanted to check it out."

Ash realized in his mind,

His gaze toward Paqila and Ailan was full of amusement,

Just happened to meet? What a coincidence!

"Could it be… that coming to look is a pretense, and the real aim is to make sure Ailan doesn't cause trouble, getting her locked up in the police station?"

Something Ash did not anticipate,

Paqila actually launched a challenge at him.

The Heavenly King's challenge shocked the entire venue!

Everyone present, except for Da Wu, Serena and Clemont—who had seen Ash overwhelm the Champion—and besides Nana, whose cold personality meant she wasn't too surprised.

Ash's Brain raced, somewhat unable to fathom what this woman was thinking.

However, the timing was perfect,

"With Paqila's challenge, Charizard's solar power can be directly strengthened to stage strengthened to stage 3."