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Trick Room is a space-type move. Once used, it essentially changes the rules of an entire space, so using this move requires a long period of charging.
If Protect is the fastest priority move, then Trick Room is, without a doubt, one of the slowest moves.
Unless your Pokémon can reach the God Domain Level, the time required to use Trick Room is extremely long. Even if your opponent is two major tiers below you, you won't be able to use Trick Room before them.
However, once Trick Room is used, the boost for teams suited to its spatial rules is immense.
Inside Trick Room, faster Pokémon will move slower, and slower Pokémon will move faster. This means that speed-oriented Pokémon, which some Trainers pride themselves on, will become complete burdens within Trick Room.
Conversely, some Trainers specifically pair Pokémon with the Trick Room characteristic, meticulously training a team of extremely slow Pokémon to ensure they always move first within Trick Room. This is the rarely seen but incredibly powerful — trick room team!
Ash had only heard about this battle strategy from the big shots in his group. Due to its rare appearance and the fact that every Ash in parallel universes preferred fast-paced attacks, there wasn't much detailed information about this fighting method.
For Ash in parallel worlds, including the current Ash, there was no need for the hassle of setting up a Trick Room. His Pokémon were inherently extremely fast; even some Pokémon that appeared bulky were incredibly agile and quick.
Therefore, Ash didn't need a move like Trick Room, nor did he have Pokémon compatible with it.
But conversely, the Trick Room move happened to be quite effective against Ash.
All of Ash's Pokémon are speed-oriented. Even the relatively slower Blastoise isn't actually slow. Encountering Trick Room would be like encountering a mortal enemy from the heavens.
That's why Ash's expression changed drastically, and he ordered Blastoise to stop the opponent from using that move. Unfortunately, he ultimately couldn't prevent it.
The activation of Trick Room also meant that Ash almost lost the initiative. Ash finally understood what the E-rank in the opponent's attribute values meant; it turned out to be an attribute value specifically lowered to adapt to Trick Room.
As for how it was lowered... just as there are ways to increase ability values in the world, there are naturally ways to decrease them. This requires finding specific items.
That's why trick room teams are even harder to form. Besides naturally slow Pokémon, finding items that reduce a Pokémon's speed attribute is also a very troublesome matter. Who, in their right mind, would bother with such a complicated thing as a trick room team?
"Judging by your expression, Ash, you must also know the effect of Trick Room, right? I must say, that was a very powerful Hydro Pump, but it ultimately couldn't stop my Trick Room from activating. The moment Trick Room was set up, the winning formula was already written. Prepare yourself, Ash!" Conway said with a chuunibyou-like expression, adjusting his glasses.
Immediately after, Conway recalled Dusknoir and then took out a second Poké Ball, throwing it out: "Go, Shuckle!"
With a flash of light, a Pokémon that looked like a small turtle appeared on the field. Its shell had many small holes, resembling a pot, just like its name suggests.
Shuckle's popping little head wore a determined expression, and after releasing Shuckle, Conway quickly made tactical arrangements: "Time is limited, Shuckle, quick battle! Continuously use Withdraw, then use Power Trick!"
"Shu~~" Shuckle's small head and body immediately retracted into its tiny shell, and a glow lit up on the surface of its pot-like shell. This indicated that Shuckle's defense had increased.
Shuckle is a Pokémon with extremely terrifying defense and special defense, ranking among the best of all Pokémon. However, this Pokémon has very low speed and very weak attack power. Most people train it as a rotation Pokémon or a Pokémon to inflict negative status conditions on opponents.
But from Conway's command, it's clear that his Shuckle isn't a defensive counter-attacker but an offensive powerhouse!
"Trick Room turns Shuckle's speed from the slowest level of Pokémon into the fastest, then uses Withdraw to increase Shuckle's defense, and finally uses Power Trick to swap defense and attack, making Shuckle an offensive powerhouse that is almost the fastest among its peers. Is this your strategy, Conway?" Ash murmured, a gem quietly appearing in his palm.
Conway's battle method could be anticipated by anyone who understood the principles of a trick room team and had some knowledge of Shuckle. After so much guidance from the experts in the group, Ash certainly had this much knowledge.
So he could easily analyze Conway's intentions. However, analysis is one thing; even knowing the principle, one still needs a way to break it.
Ash's choice was... to break it with force!
So what if it's an all-out offense? Who's afraid of whom?!
"Blastoise, MEGA Evolution!!" If you start with Trick Room, then it's perfectly reasonable for me to start with MEGA Evolution, right? Playing dirty? Then let's see who's dirtier!
"Kame!!" Blastoise roared, and the mega stone within its body emerged, resonating with the key stone in Ash's hand, forming an energy link. The former's body glowed with dazzling colorful light.
This scene caused ninety percent of the surrounding audience to immediately stand up, because this light was, without a doubt, the light of evolution!
Could Blastoise evolve again? How is this possible!!!
As the light dissipated, the Blastoise on the field had completely transformed into a different appearance. Its original two thick cannons on its back had become one even larger cannon!
Furthermore, Blastoise also had two smaller cannons on its hands for auxiliary attacks. Its body size also increased by several points compared to its original form, and its ability changed to Mega Launcher. When using pulse-based moves, their power would be amplified. This is Mega Blastoise!
Mega Launcher, combined with Blastoise's inherent familiarity with Aura, allows the power of pulse-based moves to be greatly enhanced. After MEGA Evolution, Blastoise is an undisputed ultimate artillery platform!
Blastoise's dramatic transformation caused an uproar throughout the entire venue. They had never heard that Blastoise could evolve again!
If a fully evolved Pokémon could evolve even further, the implications would be entirely different. It would mean that many Pokémon that had reached their limits could break through their own limits and reach a higher level by evolving one more stage!
"What did Ash just say? MEGA Evolution? What in the world is that?!"
"What the hell is this?!"
"Hey, hey, hey! We all agreed to progress together, but you guys secretly mutated behind our backs?!"
"Good heavens, it can evolve even further after its final evolution! I've heard of this research, but it should only exist in theoretical knowledge. When did it get developed and used in actual combat?!"
"Everyone was walking just fine, and then suddenly, you mutated and could fly? Is that reasonable?!"
"I knew it! What was that gem glowing on Blastoise's body just now? That must be an item used for MEGA Evolution. I saw it just now, that gem appeared again before Blastoise evolved!"
"Alright, alright, so you can mutate and evolve but won't tell us, huh? How selfish!"
"Tsk tsk, who are you, buddy? Here, I have to say something fair. If Ash discovered this evolution, why should he tell you? Is he your dad, or are you his dad?"
"Exactly. If someone shares it, that's called selflessness. If they don't say anything, that's called perfectly normal. Who are you to demand to be told? Just because of your moral blackmail?"
"..."
With the appearance of MEGA Evolution, countless voices erupted in the audience.
Some were marveling at MEGA Evolution, some were making funny noises, some were detail-oriented, noticing the mega stone that had previously appeared on Blastoise due to Dusknoir's ability.
And then there were those who were purely envious, jealous, and hateful. Those people cursed Ash, saying that he discovered a new evolution but didn't openly share it, instead using it secretly by himself.
But those people didn't consider what obligation Ash had, what need there was, to make such a thing public?
Many reasonable people were not swayed by these individuals and instead angrily rebuked them.
All in all, this public unveiling of MEGA Evolution indeed caused a huge stir. Even Steven, who was watching from the special audience seats, suddenly stood up, his handsome face filled with shock.
Besides MEGA Evolution, what shocked him was the two gems on Ash and Blastoise.
Although the gem on Blastoise was somewhat different from the collectibles he owned, he was certain that it was definitely the same type of item as his collected gems, just with slight differences in detail.
And the colorful gem on Ash was also one of his collectibles, something he called a life stone.
He had given a few of those to Professor Oak; after all, Professor Oak had come to ask for them, and they weren't anything crucial, so he naturally gave them away.
But who would have thought that thing actually involved an evolution that surpassed a Pokémon's limit? This was too fantastical!
Both items were in his hands, but he, of all people, discovered nothing and even gave them away for free!
At that time, Ash had probably already discovered the mystery of this so-called MEGA Evolution. The reason Professor Oak wanted those two types of gems was because of Ash's request, and Professor Oak had told him about it at the time.
Steven hadn't taken this matter to heart at all back then. Ash was, after all, just a newcomer who had debuted a few months prior. He probably wanted those gems just for their looks or for fun. Who would have thought that a young man who had debuted a few months ago could discover the secret of a higher level of Pokémon evolution?
As for whether Professor Oak directed this, that was basically impossible. Not because Professor Oak couldn't discover a higher level of Pokémon evolution, but because Professor Oak wouldn't use Ash as an excuse to deceive people.
If Professor Oak needed them himself, he would say so directly and wouldn't use Ash as a shield. So, wanting those two gems was definitely Ash's idea.
"You all... don't seem surprised at all. Don't tell me even you guys knew?" Steven's mouth twitched as he saw Lorelei and the others' faces showing no surprise, and he asked them.
Normally, upon seeing an entirely new evolutionary form like MEGA Evolution, people's faces would typically show the same shock as the audience and himself.
But the Kanto Elite Four's faces barely showed any surprise; instead, they had a look of 'finally using it.'
In other words, these people also knew about MEGA Evolution?!
"No, no, we only found out recently that Ash could perform MEGA Evolution."
"This evolution was almost entirely perfected by Ash, so before Ash allowed us to make it public, we didn't dare to casually speak about it!"
"Now, he's officially used this evolution in a competition, which means he has announced MEGA Evolution to the whole world."
"More detailed information about MEGA Evolution should be available online later, and it should trigger a new wave of excitement then."
The Elite Four, one after another, completely absolved themselves of responsibility. In reality, what they said was indeed true; this MEGA Evolution was a system mechanism entirely discovered by Ash alone. Even Professor Oak hadn't been of much help.
Perhaps the only help was assisting Ash in collecting mega stones.
Therefore, without Ash's permission, they would not make the matter of MEGA Evolution public. Gary also shared the same idea as the Elite Four, which is why he hadn't used this system in previous competitions.
Such a highly anticipated opportunity, such a system entirely discovered by Ash, should naturally be revealed by Ash himself.
And when Steven heard that this was a system independently completed by Ash himself, his mouth remained agape for a long time, unable to close.
He even suspected if he had misheard. Ash, this rookie Trainer who debuted half a year ago, not only possessed great strength but also discovered a never-before-seen new system.
What kind of freak is this!
...Kalos Region—
Professor Sycamore, currently in Lumiose City, was sipping a cappuccino, leisurely watching the Indigo Plateau Conference match playing on his computer.
Although he had many research tasks, occasional relaxation was necessary. He had heard of Ash's reputation long ago, and recently, the Kanto Elite Four had even visited the Kalos region for certain matters.
So he had some understanding of the Indigo Plateau Conference. It just so happened that he had some free time this morning, so he decided to watch the matches.
Coincidentally, the first match was Ash's. This wasn't Professor Sycamore's first time seeing Ash, but the last time seemed to be five years ago... When Professor Sycamore saw Ash raise his arm, shout "MEGA Evolution," and Blastoise burst into evolutionary light, he immediately spat out the coffee in his mouth!