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Misty shook her head, denying her own guess. That kind of thing was simply impossible, right?
It was more likely that Pikachu learned Aura Sphere from Ash, but she hadn't seen Pikachu learning any Aura Sphere from Ash during this time.
And even if Pikachu learned Aura Sphere, why would Ash make the same pose as Pikachu? For coolness?
Of course, that was impossible.
In reality, Misty's guess was correct. The reason Pikachu could learn Aura Sphere was because Ash and Pikachu entered a state of one heart, one mind.
One application of Aura Power is that Aura is in my heart, which means combining one's own Aura with the Pokémon's Aura.
This not only enhances the Pokémon's strength but also allows the Pokémon to possess some Aura-related powers, such as the power to Detect through mist and sense Aura when dealing with Team Rockets before, and now, the Aura Sphere used in the battle against Geodude!
However, Pikachu alone, of course, couldn't use Aura Sphere. This skill is a manifestation of advanced Aura control. Pikachu couldn't even sense its own Aura, let alone control it.
But with Ash, that was a different story.
Ash inherited all of Aura Hero Ash's abilities. Even if he couldn't fully master them yet, he could still be considered a master of Aura control. After entering a state of one heart, one mind and sharing consciousness with Pikachu, Ash could naturally guide Pikachu to unleash Aura Sphere.
However, this operation was still quite difficult. Ash would enter a 'fusion' state with Pikachu whenever he had free time in Viridian Forest, practicing Calm Mind and Aura control.
So, the behavior Misty saw, where Ash and Pikachu seemed to be resting with their eyes closed, was actually their exclusive special training.
The reason for this special training was also proposed by Aura Hero Ash in the group chat.
Ash told the big shots in the group about the Pokémon he had and the moves they knew.
Tactician Ash judged that even with Butterfree's hypnosis tactics, Ash would struggle against Brock because Brock's Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon inherently had extremely high defenses.
It would be best to use special attacking moves or super-effective moves to deal enough damage.
However, the special attacking moves Ash had were either resisted by Normal, Bug-type, and Flying-type attacks, or were Electric-type attacks that couldn't damage Ground-type Pokémon at all.
It wasn't impossible to defeat Brock with the Pokémon he had, but the battle would be dragged out for a very long time, requiring constant rotations to wear down and torment the opponent, slowly grinding them down to death.
Ash's Pokémon were all too low-leveled. If such a prolonged battle occurred, and any mistake or excessive stamina consumption happened, Brock would only need to hit Ash's Pokémon once, and the battle would be over.
Type-disadvantage battles are like this: a combo looks fierce, but the opponent only gets a scratch. The opponent retaliates with one move, and the battle instantly reverses.
To play with a type disadvantage, one must bear the risks of a type disadvantage. When the level cannot completely overpower the opponent, a type disadvantage is an overwhelming disadvantage, and this cannot be changed.
So, Aura Hero Ash proposed an idea: let Pikachu learn a Fighting-type move, Aura Sphere!
Fighting-type is super effective against Rock-type. If Pikachu could use Aura Sphere, then it would have a move that could deal powerful damage to the opponent.
However, theoretically speaking, Pikachu simply couldn't learn a move like Aura Sphere. Even for Fighting-type Pokémon, Aura Sphere is an extremely difficult and powerful move to learn. Pikachu, regardless of its learning aptitude or level, could not possibly learn that thing.
But, Aura users are existences that break theories!
As long as Ash and Pikachu's synchronization was sufficient and they could fuse their Aura even further, Pikachu would have a chance to use Aura Sphere!
The final result was as presented to everyone: Pikachu successfully used Aura Sphere and successfully dealt heavy damage to Geodude!
"What are you posing for? Hurry up and finish it off! Use Quick Attack!" Seeing Pikachu posing, Ash couldn't help but lose his composure. If you want to show off, wait until the battle is over, okay? If the opponent counters in a wave, you'll really have nowhere to cry!
Upon hearing this, Pikachu quickly turned its body and charged into the dissipating smoke with a leap. Immediately, a muffled sound echoed from within the smoke. Geodude was blasted out of the smoke, rolled twice on the ground, and fell weakly.
Seeing Geodude's Aura gradually weaken, Ash finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, even he had been careless at first, thinking that Aura Sphere could directly defeat Geodude.
But the knowledge he had crammed during this time and Geodude's unyielding Aura had warned him.
Brock's Geodude's ability was Sturdy. Pokémon with the Sturdy ability, when taking a hit that exceeds their maximum endurance while at full health, will forcefully retain one last sliver of HP.
Under the enhancement of Ash's Aura fusion, Pikachu's Aura Sphere had the power to one-shot, but the opponent had the Sturdy ability, so it endured the attack.
Fortunately, the opponent hadn't recovered from the heavy blow of Aura Sphere and was eventually finished off by Pikachu's Quick Attack.
Brock silently recalled Geodude. In this battle, he hadn't even touched Ash once before Ash ended the battle.
Compared to the previous duel with the young man named Gary, this battle was even more frustrating. Geodude was either asleep or slowed down. Those abnormal statuses left Geodude unable to retaliate at all; it was too disgusting.
"What was that move just now?" Brock didn't immediately send out his second Pokémon but instead asked about the move Pikachu had just used.
As a Gym Leader, although Brock was young and his knowledge relatively shallow, that was only compared to an average Trainer. For a Rookie Trainer to use a move he had never seen before was simply an incredible thing.
Moreover, this move had heavily damaged the very defensive Geodude. Brock even felt that if it weren't for the Sturdy ability, Geodude would probably have been instantly knocked out by that move.
So, was this move also super effective against Geodude? Otherwise, it wouldn't have caused so much damage to Geodude.
"Aura Sphere, a Fighting-type move." Ash didn't hide it from Brock and frankly told him the move Pikachu had just used.
But this only deepened Brock's confusion: "Aura Sphere... I've never heard of that move. But if it's a Fighting-type move, Pikachu shouldn't be able to learn it, right? At least not a Pikachu of your level."
Although Brock didn't have Ash's Insight Eye, as a Gym Leader, he had extensive experience and could roughly judge the opponent Pokémon's level during battle.
Pikachu's level was intermediate. For a beginner, this level was already quite high, but an intermediate-level Pikachu should be completely unable to learn Fighting-type energy-based moves.
Just where did this strange boy and this Pikachu come from?
In the game, Pikachu can use TMs to learn physical Fighting moves like Brick Break and Focus Punch, but it cannot learn special attacking Fighting moves, let alone Aura Sphere.