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"Boom!"
Venusaur's massive body was directly slammed to the ground by Bulbasaur, creating a violent crashing sound.
Venusaur was completely stunned at this moment. Why?!
Why couldn't his six Vine Whips even touch the opponent, while the opponent's four Vine Whips easily bound him?!
And the force was too great; his two to three hundred jin body was like paper in the opponent's hands.
Now that he was knocked to the ground, his head truly felt dizzy, with no room for thought, and the Vine Whips that had extended outwards involuntarily retracted.
Ash naturally wouldn't miss such a good opportunity. He once again had Bulbasaur use Sludge Bomb to attack Venusaur, and this attack, without any surprise, hit again.
If it weren't for Venusaur's immunity to poison and powder moves, Bulbasaur could have fought even more easily, but even fighting like this, victory was already beckoning to Bulbasaur.
"Dana!" At this moment, the surrounding Ivysaurs couldn't stand it anymore. Venusaur was their benefactor who helped them evolve; even if it wasn't Venusaur's power, it was Venusaur who guided them here.
How could they stand by and do nothing while Venusaur was being beaten so badly?
All the Ivysaurs roared at Ash and Bulbasaur, which made Ash, who was preparing to deliver the finishing blow, freeze in place. Because if he continued to attack, the surrounding Ivysaurs indicated that they would launch an attack on Ash and Bulbasaur.
Ash's slightly excited and happy expression instantly stiffened. No, can you guys play like this? If you can't win, you gang up?
As the surrounding Ivysaurs slowly surrounded them, glaring menacingly, several flashes of light appeared: Rhyhorn, Dratini, Starmie, Golem, and other Pokémon appeared on the field.
"What do you want to do? Venusaur said he would have a one-on-one battle with Bulbasaur. Are you trying to renege on the deal when you're about to lose?" Misty shouted, standing beside Ash and having her Pokémon block one side of the Pokémon.
"This was an unfair match to begin with. Venusaur already had a huge advantage fighting Bulbasaur, and now that he's about to lose, you still won't admit it. Isn't this a bit too much?" Brock also stood up, his face slightly grim.
Even though he loved Pokémon very much, he would never stand by when his good brother was being treated unfairly.
These Ivysaurs didn't stand up and say a word for Bulbasaur when Venusaur was fighting Bulbasaur, but they all came up to threaten when Venusaur was about to be defeated. Although this was a normal reaction from Ivysaurs who had received a favor, it was undeniable that their actions were somewhat shameless.
The group of Ivysaurs who were about to charge forward were completely blocked by Misty and Brock's Pokémon, not daring to advance.
The strongest among them were only at the peak of advancement, while Misty and Brock's Pokémon were generally Superior or even Professional Level. Even though they were numerous, Misty and Brock's Pokémon's advantage in level was enough to deal with them.
The power they exuded was enough to make them not dare to cross the line!
However, with this delay, Venusaur finally flipped over from being on his back. However, his body was now covered in wounds. Three Sludge Bomb attacks, plus one Body Slam attack, meant the damage he sustained could not be light.
After all, Bulbasaur's Special Attack stat had already been maxed out to S-rank. An S-rank Special Attack stat inherently possessed damage output that surpassed his own level.
Ash's Aura boost not only allowed Bulbasaur to reach Professional Level peak strength, but his stats also remained unchanged. This meant that the current Bulbasaur had S-rank Special Attack stats at Professional Level high-tier.
Each of his attacks was even close to Gym Level. Three successful Sludge Bomb hits naturally brought Venusaur's stamina to a low point.
If it weren't for those Ivysaurs blocking, Bulbasaur could have finished off Venusaur with two more Sludge Bombs now.
However, now that Venusaur had stood up, if he were to use Synthesis to recover, it would be more troublesome. It would essentially be starting over, and the opponent would also be prepared, making it not so easy to win.
"Bana." I lost.
Just as Ash was preparing to deal with the opponent's attack, Venusaur suddenly spoke, making Ash and Bulbasaur, who were silently charging up, stumble, barely avoiding the recoil.
What's going on? He surrendered just like that? Isn't there still hope for a comeback?
"You really surrendered? Not going to fight anymore?" Ash gave Venusaur a chance to reconsider, but Venusaur shook his head like a rattle drum, directly refusing Ash's suggestion.
What's the point of fighting? You dodge all my attacks, and I can't dodge any of yours, and our strengths are evenly matched.
If that Bulbasaur's strength was as he initially perceived, it would be fine. Even if he stood there and let the opponent hit him for ten minutes, the opponent might not be able to defeat him.
But during the battle, Bulbasaur's power mysteriously surged wildly!
In the blink of an eye, he was almost as strong as him. The moves he used subsequently even surpassed his own level. This was truly no longer acting; he was openly cheating!
Given that, what else could he say? He gave up!
As Venusaur surrendered, the battle intent and hostility on the faces of the surrounding Ivysaurs slowly receded. Misty and Brock's Pokémon still stood in front of them, wary of them suddenly erupting.
"That was a great match, Bulbasaur!" Ash came to Bulbasaur's side and patted his head, encouraging him.
"Dane Dana." It's because you commanded well, Ash, and with your power boost, Ash, I won't lose.
"Hehe, we also think I commanded well, right? How does it compare to the level at Fuchsia Gym last time?" Ash chuckled and quietly asked Bulbasaur.
Bulbasaur paused for a moment, then shook his head: "Dane, Dane Dane."
[Compared to that time, it's still quite a bit worse. Ash at that time was so amazing that I felt unfamiliar with him, and the power he provided was not on the same level.]
Upon hearing this, Ash's originally smiling face instantly stiffened. Do you have to be so discouraging?
Although what you said was true, compared to Champion Ash, he was indeed quite a bit worse, but the other party was already a Trainer who had reached the pinnacle, how could he compare?
Ash completely forgot that he was the one who first asked Bulbasaur to compare his current performance with his performance at Fuchsia Gym back then.
As for the power increase... the last increase was a possession, completely a power from outside the world. This time, he relied on his own power to boost Bulbasaur, so it would be strange if there wasn't a big difference.
Soon, Ash stopped dwelling on this point. He brought Bulbasaur in front of Venusaur and spoke with a serious expression: "Since I won, Venusaur, can you let me take half of the Seed of Life?"
Venusaur nodded with a complex expression. Pokémon were still very straightforward; if they lost, they lost. They had to honor the bet. He originally thought he could find a loophole and pick on a soft target, but it turned out he had misjudged. This wasn't a soft target at all; this was a tough nut to crack!
Now, half of the fortuitous encounter he had so painstakingly found was going to be taken away.
But the good news was that only half was taken. Venusaur, who was accustomed to the law of the jungle in the wild, still felt somewhat fortunate in his heart.
Under normal circumstances, if he lost, that item would probably be completely taken by the victor, but now the other party was still willing to leave half for him, which was already a blessing in disguise.
Ash came to the huge tree. On the large tree, which was covered in vibrant flowers, there was a branch emitting a strange light.
This branch was hidden among the flowers, making it difficult to detect even when close, as if it had actively concealed itself.
Ash had actually discovered this from the beginning. When the big tree bloomed, Ash, with his keen eyesight, saw the colorful light emanating from this branch on the tree.
The subsequent revitalization of the big tree was entirely dependent on that colorful branch on the tree.
This branch should be Xerneas's power that Champion Ash mentioned.
Ash thought to himself as he directly broke off the branch.
Instantly, the blooming big tree reverted to its original withered state!
After losing Xerneas's life force, this big tree also returned to its original state.
It was originally able to flourish like this because of the life force of the divine being. Now that the divine power had left, the big tree naturally withered.
Ash looked at the branch in his hand. This branch looked like a deer's antler, in a blooming shape.
He had been searching online for information about Xerneas before finding the Incredible Garden. Based on the few images circulating online, this branch was almost identical to Xerneas's horns.
It seemed this should be something similar to the rainbow wing, a divine object split from Xerneas's main body.
Legend has it that Xerneas can grant others eternal life, while he himself turns into a large tree and revives after a thousand years.
This is the Life God, distinct from Ho-Oh. The life force contained in this branch, or antler, is much greater than that of the rainbow wing.
This was still the remaining life force after consuming a lot of it. If it were at its full storage capacity, Ash wouldn't dare to imagine how much life power was contained within this branch.
The reason the Incredible Garden only blooms once a year is that this life branch needs time to absorb the essence of the surrounding world and convert it into life force, requiring a full year of storage time.
Once enough life force is stored, it will release it and nourish other places, be it Pokémon or trees; it's all the same.
However, all of the above were merely Ash's guesses. He wasn't sure of the specifics. He only knew that right now, he needed half of the life branch's original life force to give to Bulbasaur.
This was his ultimate goal for coming here.
But now the problem arose... how could he separate half of the life energy within it?
Before getting it, he had confidently told Venusaur that he only needed half, but now he had no idea how to separate half. Wasn't this just ridiculous?
Helpless, Ash could only go back to the group chat to ask the seniors for help. Fortunately, the seniors were online daily, and regarding Ash's question, Champion Ash immediately provided an answer.
'Just break it in half, isn't that enough?'
This solution completely stumped Ash. What the heck, break it in half!
Is the solution that simple?
This is a divine object, you say break it in half, and it just breaks in half? Will breaking it in half really not cause any irreversible damage to this thing?
Ash also voiced these questions in the group chat, to which Champion Ash replied—completely fine.
Because Xerneas is different from other divine beings, his power is pure life force, and the life branch separated from his body also possesses the same characteristics as him, which are powerful life and recovery abilities.
Even if it's broken into two halves, as long as there's enough time, it will eventually recover.
As for how long... according to Champion Ash's understanding of Xerneas, it shouldn't take more than three years for the life branch to fully recover.
What does this mean? It means that one life branch only needs three years to become two!
Ahem, of course, this is impossible. Even if it's a vital item separated from Xerneas, it doesn't replicate like that.
Its limit is to separate into two parts. If it separates further, its expansiveness has already reached its limit.
So, it's impossible to use this method to create more divine artifacts. While Xerneas's life force is immense, it's not infinite. If it were truly infinite, then the position of the Creator God could be taken by another divine being.
Ash listened, half understanding, but one thing he understood was that he could just break it in half, and it would recover in three years, not the five years he had estimated.
Ash's previous estimate was purely based on his Aura calculations because he found that after the life force in the life branch was depleted, it was also slowly replenishing itself.
So he thought that even if half of the life essence was taken, it might slowly recover; it would just take a longer time.
And initially, Ash had no intention of taking the life branch away. Instead, he wanted to transfer the life force within it to Bulbasaur.
But after getting the life branch, he didn't know how to extract the life force from it, and his usually omnipotent Aura was also ineffective.
Fortunately, he could just break it in half; otherwise, Ash wouldn't know how to explain it to Bulbasaur.
If it couldn't be separated, Ash would certainly not take this thing away. He already felt guilty about taking half; taking it all would be outrageous.
Wouldn't that make him like Team Rockets?
After his doubts in the group chat were answered, Ash returned to the real world, then clenched the branch with both hands, and then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he exerted force!
"Crack!" The life branch split into two halves!