In wilderness battles, Trainers often used underhanded tactics, directly attacking other Trainers. It was one of the most basic tactics. The League had repeatedly warned that if a Trainer encountered a criminal organization or an enemy in the wilderness, they should first look out for their own safety.
But for Ash, this was simply not a problem. Because among all his Pokémon, only Mewtwo could compare to him, and it was even slightly inferior in some ways.
Indeed, after more than half a year of traveling, Ash's Aura Power had also increased, now reaching Mid god level, and even vaguely touching the door to High god level.
Every Pokémon battle, every Aura fusion, every day of training brought improvement not just to the Pokémon, but also to Ash, the Trainer who followed the Pokémon through training and battles. Therefore, the strongest member of Ash's team now wasn't Mewtwo. It was himself.
Soshima had really picked the wrong person.
Tyranitar was sent flying several meters away by the shockwave generated by Ash's stomp, crashing through several trees before finally coming to a halt. This attack was even more powerful than Pikachu's Thunderbolt. And this was merely the aftershock of Ash's physical strike.
"It's about time you realized reality. You're no match for me. But I've given you plenty of chances. I told you, if you don't leave now, you'll be lying here in this forest." Ash glanced at Tyranitar, confirming that its life wasn't in danger before turning his gaze to Soshima, his eyes filled with coldness.
Under normal circumstances, Ash always smiled broadly at others. Anger was something he'd learned from the other Ashes, and he was becoming more measured. His growing maturity wasn't just about knowing Pokémon and being a skilled Trainer. It also meant he possessed inner steadiness.
Although he remained passionate and kind, he wouldn't be as impulsive, easily angered, or thoughtless as before.
But this time, Soshima's actions had truly angered him. Not only did he disrespect the lives of other Pokémon, he didn't even respect the life of his own Pokémon.
Soshima swallowed hard. He now felt something was seriously wrong. This person in front of him could withstand the shockwave from Tyranitar with his bare hands. He was clearly not an ordinary human. Soshima should have realized this from the beginning.
Being able to directly block the robot's kick was already an action beyond human capacity, but he'd only thought the other party had considerable brute strength. Now, things were getting serious.
That Tyranitar wasn't actually his Pokémon. It was one he'd stolen from someone else using a Dark Ball. The Dark Ball's power completely unleashed Tyranitar's quasi-Legendary strength, further maximizing its potential ceiling.
However, this also meant that from now on, Tyranitar would never have any more room for improvement, and its lifespan would also be shortened.
How much time was left? Simply put, not much. There was no future. Moreover, the recent battle had further shortened Tyranitar's lifespan. That Thunderbolt during the first clash had been enough to render Tyranitar incapable of fighting.
However, Tyranitar could still fight because the Dark Ball was forcibly manipulating its consciousness, preventing it from even losing its fighting ability.
Either it continued to fight or it died. That was the fate of being controlled by the Dark Ball. Even now, Tyranitar still possessed the power to fight. It just needed to keep burning through its own life force.
But compared to Ash, this was meaningless. Even if it could keep fighting, Tyranitar wouldn't be a match. So Soshima definitely had to think of another solution.
"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt." Ash didn't hesitate to have Pikachu aim the attack directly at the Trainer. He knew what directly attacking a Trainer meant. Besides, this guy was running low on options.
"Tyranitar, Self-Destruct!"
Before Ash could finish speaking, the Tyranitar lying on the ground stood up. Even with its arms hanging down and its head touching the ground, something was still supporting it. This was clearly not a bond with its Trainer, but rather being forcibly controlled by some force.
In Tyranitar's current state, using a suicidal charge would likely lead to its own demise. If Pikachu's Thunderbolt landed on Tyranitar at the same time, it would also be fatal.
This guy was trying to use Tyranitar's life to force him to stop attacking.
"If you have the guts, keep attacking. He is just a tool to me. Even if he's broken, I can just replace him with another tool. I wonder if you, this kind little brat, would be willing to let him go." Soshima shouted arrogantly, a ferocious smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
The young man behind Ash couldn't help but curse. This masked guy was more evil than anyone he had ever encountered. How could someone like this exist?
Moreover, what kind of organization was Team Rocket? He'd never even heard of it before.
"Pikachu, hold. I'll handle this." Ash waved his hand, telling Pikachu to stop the Thunderbolt.
Pikachu, already shimmering with golden lightning, suppressed the urge to unleash the electricity, simultaneously absorbing the surrounding lightning back into its body. A normal Pokémon would have probably released the Thunderbolt long ago. Restraining and controlling it was easy to say, but not simple to do.
Ash coldly glanced at Soshima, then instantly vanished, reappearing a second later in front of the charging Tyranitar.
Boom!
Tyranitar's Self-Destruct landed squarely on Ash. The young man closed his eyes in disbelief and turned away. In his heart, he believed that no matter how sturdy Ash's body was, he couldn't possibly escape unharmed if a giant monster like Tyranitar hit him with its full force.
However, in reality, Tyranitar didn't even touch Ash. Because Ash knew very well that even if he could withstand the attack, he knew the damage it would inflict on Tyranitar.
The damage was irreversible. He chose to absorb the impact himself instead.
Ash caught Tyranitar's head with both hands, his stance planted like a rock. That force, enough to shatter mountains, drained through him in a slow, careful transfer, from his shoulders to his waist, down through his legs, into the ground beneath his feet. Then he suddenly heaved with both arms, tossing Tyranitar up into the air.
When Sammy opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a boy no taller than 1.7 meters throwing a nearly three-meter-tall Tyranitar overhead. His mouth hung open. He couldn't get a sound out. What was this Ash guy? Was he even human?
Tyranitar arced through the air and came back down, and Ash caught the massive body and lowered it gently to the ground. The impact made the dirt tremble but didn't so much as crack it.
Then Ash's Aura poured into Tyranitar like a tide, and severed the corrupting force wrapped around it. He'd sensed that force the first time his Aura touched the Pokémon, cutting the connection wasn't hard. The reason Tyranitar had still been able to move after being knocked out was because of it.
"There. You're free now." Ash stood back up, wiped his forehead, and turned his gaze on Soshima. "Your turn. I'm not letting this go."
Soshima wasn't fazed. A satisfied smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah? Good. I wasn't planning on letting you walk out of here either. If I let you go today, I wouldn't sleep well knowing you're out there."
"Look out!"
A clear voice rang out. Ash looked toward it and saw Misty and the others running toward them. The voice belonged to Serena, but she wasn't shouting at Ash. She was shouting at the young man behind him.
Sammy was staring blankly in Serena's direction, not registering what she was saying. A second later, a pitch-black Poké Ball struck Celebi squarely in the chest. Celebi didn't even have time to struggle before it was swallowed by black light and pulled into the ball.
"Hahaha! I've got Celebi! Time-space power plus the Dark Ball's boost, from now on the whole world is under my control!"
Sammy snapped out of it and lunged forward, trying to smash the Dark Ball and free Celebi. A dark figure got there first. Claws flashed, Sammy's hands opened in a spray of blood, and the Dark Ball was gone.
That figure was the Pokémon Soshima had quietly released while Ash was busy with Tyranitar, his real partner, Weavile.
But since even Tyranitar wasn't a match for Ash, Weavile wouldn't be either. So Soshima hadn't planned to fight straight-up from the start. He'd used Tyranitar as a distraction, quietly released Weavile in the confusion, and hit Celebi with a second Dark Ball while Sammy was watching Ash.
Perfect execution. Now, with the Dark Ball in hand, he'd have the strongest Pokémon in the world.
"Not happening!" Ash reacted instantly and lunged for Weavile, closing the distance in a blink. But Weavile was ready and hurled the Dark Ball far away in an arc.
Ash's palm gathered light. A deep blue Aura Sphere shot out like a comet, caught up with the Dark Ball, and shattered it.
Green light broke out of the wreckage, and Celebi was free again. Sammy's heart, which had been in his throat, dropped back into his chest. That was close. Celebi had almost been taken.
"Celebi, come back here!" Sammy shouted.
But Celebi didn't fly to him. It flew straight toward Soshima.
Ash lowered his hand slowly, his expression darkening. Damn it. Still too slow.
"Hahaha! You think smashing the Dark Ball is enough to save Celebi? The power inside the ball has already soaked into Celebi's body, including the part that only answers to me. Celebi's mine now. It's going to conquer the world for me!"
Soshima's laughter carried through the trees. He'd finally pulled it off. Getting Celebi was the first and hardest step in his plan for world domination. Time and space were in his hands now. He could go anywhere he wanted.
But with power like this, why would he run? Priority one was killing everyone here, so no word about Celebi got out. Otherwise the League would be on alert, and even with Celebi, taking over the world would get a lot harder. Wiping this group out here would save him a lot of trouble later.
"Yeah? We'll see about that. Mewtwo, come out!" Ash threw a black-and-gold Poké Ball.
A flash of light, and Mewtwo appeared in mid-air, arms crossed. Having been out of the ball less often lately, Mewtwo's expression was somewhat annoyed.
Aside from eating, Mewtwo mostly stayed inside its Poké Ball. It was a specially made one. Meditating inside let Mewtwo build power much faster than outside, and it could still observe the outside world from within. So unless something specific pulled it out, it stayed inside.
But today's situation was exceptional. Team Rocket agents, a Dark Ball, and Celebi taken, all the things Mewtwo particularly disliked in one place. It had to step in.
"That Dark Ball. It's not the same as Team Rocket's original Dark Ball. You modified it?" Mewtwo's cold voice echoed in Soshima's mind.
Soshima startled and looked around before locking on Mewtwo. "Are you talking to me?"
Mewtwo didn't answer.
"Telepathy? I've never seen a Pokémon that could, wait. I know that shape. You're the ultimate weapon Giovanni built. Mewtwo!" A moment later Soshima placed the name. Mewtwo's existence inside Team Rocket was classified, but since he already had a Dark Ball, it wasn't strange he had Mewtwo's file too. His eyes lit up with greed.
"This is my lucky day. Not only do I get Celebi, I get to take back the original Team Rocket's ultimate weapon on top of it!"
"Mewtwo, hold Celebi off. I'm going to beat this guy into the ground!"
Every word out of Soshima's mouth had pushed Ash further past the line. He couldn't stand still another second.