"Crack!"
With a clean snap, the Life Branch split neatly into two.
Venusaur, who had been silently watching Ash's every move, froze in shock.
"Venusaur!! What are you doing?!"
Misty's eyes went wide. "Ash… what did you just do?!"
Her expression was unreadable, halfway between disbelief and horror. Brock's jaw also hung slightly open.
What was Ash thinking? Was this how you took only half of a divine item's power?
Breaking it in half like firewood, wasn't that just destroying it completely?
It wasn't surprising that all three, Misty, Brock, and Venusaur, reacted that way. In normal circumstances, once a Pokémon item broke, it lost all function.
And here was Ash, casually snapping a sacred relic in two!
Ash just coughed lightly and said matter-of-factly,
"Ahem, didn't I say I'd only take half? Look, half!"
He raised the broken piece in his hand like he was showing off a fair trade.
Everyone, human and Pokémon alike, stared at him in speechless disbelief.
If cartoonish black lines could appear on their foreheads, they would have.
Is that how you take half of something?! You just break it and call it a day?
"Don't worry. If you don't believe me, feel for yourself," Ash said confidently, handing one half of the branch to Venusaur and the other to Misty.
Venusaur hesitated, then cautiously extended a Vine Whip and wrapped it around the branch.
The moment his tendrils touched it, his eyes widened in astonishment.
He could feel it, half the life energy of the original branch pulsing steadily within this fragment. And most importantly, that energy wasn't dissipating.
It was stable.
Which meant Ash's utterly barbaric method… had actually worked.
How? Venusaur thought in disbelief. 'How could it possibly be that simple?'
Ash grinned. "See? No problem at all! I told you, it's something I deduced using my Aura Power. How could that be wrong?Split it in half, everything stays balanced. Give it two or three years and it'll be fully restored again!
But remember, that's the limit. Don't try splitting it again."
He made sure to sound casual yet mysterious, neatly covering up that his "inspiration" had come straight from the group chat.
When something defied logic, Ash had two reliable excuses:
If it sounded scientific, blame Professor Oak. If it sounded mystical, blame Aura Power.
Between those two, he could explain almost anything.
Venusaur quietly dropped the thought of breaking his half again after it recovered.
If what Ash said was true, and he didn't seem like the type to lie, then one division was already the limit.
Better to treasure the half he had left.
Ash didn't reclaim the branch Venusaur held. That half was meant to stay here, sustaining the Mysterious Garden as before.
He then placed the other half gently on Bulbasaur's bulb.
Within seconds, the fragment melted into the bulb, glowing softly before merging completely.
And in the next instant, Bulbasaur's entire body erupted in radiant light, the unmistakable light of evolution.
"B-Bulbasaur's evolving?!" Misty gasped.
It was an obvious statement, but at times like this, asking the obvious was human nature.
Misty knew exactly why Ash had come all this way. He had been searching for the Mysterious Garden precisely to find a way for Bulbasaur to undergo a perfect evolution.
Because Bulbasaur had long since passed the ideal window for evolving, any evolution now would likely be a double evolution, straight to Venusaur.
While that would mean tremendous growth, it also carried risks.If the increase in power was too extreme, his natural stats and endurance might not keep up, potentially stunting his long-term development.
That was why Champion Ash had suggested coming here, to find the Life Branch, the only thing capable of ensuring a stable, flawless evolution.
Misty and Brock, of course, had been told the journey was Professor Oak's idea, and hadn't known the true purpose.
Nor could they have guessed how Ash planned to accomplish it, until now.
And now, right before their eyes, Bulbasaur was glowing brighter and brighter, his body expanding with unstoppable force.
Brock exhaled softly. "Don't worry. If Ash and Bulbasaur chose to evolve now, they're ready.
They wouldn't have searched nearly a month for this if they weren't sure."
Ash didn't answer. He just watched quietly as Bulbasaur's silhouette grew, his eyes reflecting the brilliant light.
Within moments, Bulbasaur's form swelled far beyond normal size, even larger than the Venusaur beside him.
The radiant light gradually faded, revealing its new form, a powerful, towering body, a vast flower blooming proudly upon its back, and limbs sturdy enough to shake the earth.
Bulbasaur had completed his final evolution, Venusaur!
This time, Bulbasaur had undergone a double evolution, just as Champion Ash had predicted.
However, under the influence of the Life Branch, this evolution didn't overload his body or distort his abilities.
In fact, every one of his stats remained at its absolute maximum.
Six-Dimensional Abilities: Physical Attack A (A), Special Attack S (S), Defense S (S), Special Defense A (A), Stamina S (S), Speed A (A)]
Three S-ranks and three A-ranks, his Defense had now joined the elite S-tier.
This meant that Venusaur had officially earned one of the "tickets" to the Divine Tier.
A ticket, but not yet entry.
While Pokémon with triple-S potential were vanishingly rare, in a world with billions of Pokémon, a handful still existed. Yet no one had ever witnessed a Pokémon truly ascend to godhood through natural evolution alone.
The closest known case might be Leon's Charizard.
Rumor held that even a Champion at full power couldn't defeat it, that no one had ever seen it fight seriously.
Many believed Leon's Charizard might already stand at the threshold of the Divine Tier, though no one had yet confirmed it.
As for Ash, he now possessed four Pokémon whose potential reached triple S or higher, Venusaur included.
Still, the Divine Tier was far ahead.
To dwell too much on such things was dangerous; knowing too much could paralyze ambition.
That was why the senior members of the group never told him everything, some knowledge, they said, only weighed you down.
Better to focus on moving forward, one step at a time.
Even so, this evolution had granted Venusaur tremendous gains.
Normally, evolution offered only a small level boost at such heights, but Bulbasaur's case was different.
By the time he had entered the Mysterious Garden, he had already absorbed the Life Branch's aura, raising his level.
After that, merging with the branch and evolving twice in succession propelled his level second only to Charizard's, while even Gardevoir could only barely keep up.
The old Venusaur gazed at Ash's newly evolved partner with a complicated look. A glimmer of envy flashed in his eyes.
He had once tried to merge with the Life Branch himself, but it had never responded, no matter how much he tried to absorb its energy, it simply rejected him.
All he could do was passively draw the faint traces of life energy it released each year.
He couldn't understand why this Venusaur could accept it so easily. Perhaps the Life Branch had chosen him.
Maybe… it had always belonged to this human's Bulbasaur.
The thought crossed his mind like a whisper of intuition, but he quickly shook it off. Whether true or not, the remaining half of the Life Branch was his to protect. If he gave that away too, the Mysterious Garden would truly wither and die.
"Venusaur." Congratulations, my kin.
"Venusaur!" Next time we battle, I won't need my Trainer's help!
Ash's Venusaur faced the old Venusaur, eyes burning with fighting spirit. With his current triple-S aptitude and Ash's command, he could now stand as an equal even without Aura Power.
The old Venusaur's mouth twitched, a helpless grumble escaping him.
The Old Venusaur had long realized that the truly powerful one wasn't the Bulbasaur, it was the Trainer standing behind him. But to Venusaur, a Trainer and their Pokémon were one entity. There was no reason for a Pokémon to fight alone against the wild when their partner stood beside them.
"I'm sorry, Venusaur," Ash said softly, stepping forward. "I took your Life Branch… and I hurt you. Let me heal you first."
He reached out, placing his palm gently on Venusaur's broad petals.
Venusaur shifted slightly, lifting one massive foot as if hesitating, but then set it back down. He didn't move away.
This human said he wanted to heal him. Venusaur didn't know what that meant exactly, but… somehow, he could tell the boy wasn't lying. Even if it didn't work, perhaps it was worth trusting him, just this once.
A soft green light began to flow from Ash's hand. The gentle warmth of Tokiwa Power, the Viridian Force, spread through Venusaur's body, and his wounds began to close at an astonishing rate.
For Grass-type Pokémon, Tokiwa Power seemed to have an even stronger effect. In barely a minute, Venusaur's injuries were completely gone.
Even Ash himself was stunned.
Sure, Tokiwa Power was attuned to nature and Grass-types, but this was far beyond normal.
Had his Viridian Power… grown stronger again?
Was it because he'd been using it more often lately, letting it evolve with him?
Unable to find an answer, Ash withdrew his hand and smiled. "You're all healed."
"Venu…" Venusaur murmured in disbelief, feeling vitality surging through his body stronger than ever before.
Just moments ago, he had been on the verge of collapse, yet now, he was back to full strength. It was nothing short of a miracle.
And it wasn't just recovery. He could feel something more, his long-stagnant bottleneck had loosened. With a bit more training, he might even break through.
Normally, it might have taken him years to reach this point. This unexpected blessing filled him with awe and gratitude.
All traces of resentment vanished from Venusaur's heart. He looked at Ash with deep respect.
"Venusaur !" Human, thank you, for lending me your Helping Hand!
Ash scratched his cheek awkwardly. "Hey now, I'm the one who hurt you in the first place. Why are you thanking me?"
He couldn't help but laugh bitterly. He injured Venusaur, yet Venusaur was thanking him. What kind of situation was that?
"Venu, Venusaur." 'Let's call it even,' Venusaur said, vines stirring. 'You helped me loosen my bottleneck, that alone is priceless. I have nothing else of equal worth… but I did find something once. You humans seem to like these shiny gems.'
A vine extended from Venusaur's body, curling to reveal a sparkling orb held delicately at its tip.
Ash lifted his hand, about to refuse out of politeness, but when he saw the orb clearly, his hand froze mid-air.
That orb...
...
stones PLzz
Read chapters ahead @keepsmiling 818 p@reon