On the field, Lucario struggled to stand up, but the massive damage had made his body tremble uncontrollably.
His stamina bar was visibly depleted.
The situation that had just dominated was instantly overturned by this earthquake move.
Lucario's stamina was now far behind Gigalith's.
Raihan looked satisfactorily at the Lucario lying on the ground, grinning at Ash.
"Ash, your Lucario is indeed well-trained, but... in this battle, I still have the upper hand."
"Gigalith, use Stomp to finish him off!"
Gigalith let out a deafening roar, and its massive body suddenly leaped into the air.
Its two-ton body flipped in mid-air, limbs filled with power, stomping down on Lucario lying on the ground.
If that stomp landed firmly, its power would be more terrifying than the previous earthquake.
In the audience, Misty and Serena held their breath simultaneously, Ash... wouldn't end like this, right!
Dawn's little face was also a bit pale at this moment; she didn't want... she didn't want to see Ash lose!
Even though they had just met not long ago, she had a considerable fondness for this boy, and she felt as if she had known him for a long time.
Therefore, she didn't want to see this boy lose, even though this was just the first round.
But just as everyone thought the stomp was going to land, Lucario's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened.
He didn't wait for Ash's command; his whole body instinctively rolled sharply, his blue-black figure rolling several meters along the ground.
"Boom—!"
The stomp landed solidly on the ground where Lucario had been lying.
The entire field trembled, stones flew into the sky, and a huge pit sent a wave of aftershocks.
The edge of that aftershock grazed Lucario's body, sending him flying a few more meters before stopping.
But compared to being stomped directly, these residual shock damages were barely acceptable for Lucario.
Raihan raised an eyebrow and sighed sincerely.
"Not bad, kid, your Lucario took that earthquake and still reacted so quickly."
"I was thinking of finishing him off with that move, but he managed to evade."
Lucario on the ground slowly supported himself to stand, his chest heaving heavily, his body covered in scars.
Ash glanced at his Pokemon, whose fighting spirit had not diminished, but rather grew more intense.
Yes, exactly, this level of attack, how could they admit defeat!
They've come this far, going through battles even tougher than this countless times; Lucario had once defeated Champion Junior Level's Electivire at Elite Advanced Level.
Having reached a higher level now, there's no reason to lose!
"Gym Leader Raihan, if it's about competing resilience, Lucario and I won't lose to anyone."
"You've used up your moves, it's our turn next."
Raihan's smile slightly stiffened; he didn't think Lucario could do anything now.
That Pokemon's stamina had already hit rock bottom; standing up was a miracle.
Ash... was just swaggering!
"Lucario, Double Dragon Pearl!"
Ash's voice came.
Raihan was stunned.
"Double Dragon Pearl?"
He instinctively searched his mind for information on this move but found nothing.
Not only was it absent from Pokemon's skill list, but even in his extensive knowledge as a top trainer, there were no records related.
What is this?
On the field, Lucario's tired eyes suddenly shone with a faint blue light.
He slowly raised his hands, and on both sides of the air, a bluish Dragon-type energy gathered independently.
The two energies stretched slowly, and in the blink of an eye, formed into two lifelike Eastern dragons, coiling beside Lucario.
Dragon Pulse—two of them!
Raihan's mouth dropped open.
Next, between Lucario's hands, two light blue Energy Balls gathered.
Aura Sphere—also two!
The two energy dragons formed by Dragon Pulse suddenly opened their mouths, swallowing the Aura Spheres, then soared into the sky, circling above Lucario's head.
A combination of four moves!
"Hiss—"
Raihan drew a breath, instinctively stepping back half a step.
What the heck! Is this cheating!!
In the audience seats, Clair jumped from her seat: "Using four skills at once?!"
"Not only using them simultaneously but controlling these four skills after releasing them!" Even Lance's voice trembled.
"This can't be described as unbelievable—it's unprecedented and unmatched!"
Lance stated that he's seen everything, but when he saw Lucario controlling four skills and doing so effortlessly after release, he declared—this, he truly hadn't seen!
Cynthia slightly narrowed her eyes, her golden pupils full of shock.
"A Pokemon able to use skills to such an extent, it's unheard of. Ash's Lucario was hiding this much until now?"
Misty, however, grinned, looking proud and said, "This is just the beginning."
"If Lucario MEGA evolves into another form, it can even use eighteen skills at the same time!"
"However, that form has a greater burden on stamina; after using it, Lucario will be exhausted himself."
"And now, in this MEGA evolution state, four skills are his limit."
"Ten... eighteen?!" Lance suddenly turned his head, his face frozen, "Does he have another MEGA evolution form?!"
The shock brought by Lucario is already countless.
Every Pokemon in Ash's hand is so astonishing, and this Lucario is no exception.
Moreover, compared to the previous Pokemon, this Lucario feels even more surprising to him.
Cynthia opened her mouth, initially wanting to ask clearly, but before she could speak, Lucario in the center of the arena already moved.
"Go!"
Ash's voice fell.
The two energy dragons carrying Aura Spheres suddenly let out a roar and flanked Gigalith in the center of the arena from both sides.
"Gigalith, use Stone Edge to block--!"
Raihan ordered hastily.
In front of Gigalith, a stone wall composed of sharp stones instantly exploded, trying to block the two divine dragons.
However... when the two energy dragons hit the stone wall, the originally iron-hard sharp stones shattered like tofu.
"Boom--!!"
The two divine dragons pierced through the stone wall and hit Gigalith's chest.
In the next moment--
"Boom!!!!!!!!"
A world-shaking explosion suddenly erupted in the center of the arena!
The shockwave rushed out from the epicenter of the explosion in all directions, instantly blowing away the sandstorm spread across the entire area, debris flying wildly like stray bullets.
The transparent barriers surrounding the gym shook violently at this moment, rippling circles of dense ripples that almost overlapped.
If such a Champion Level attack were free from the restraints of barriers, it could level half the city.
At this moment, all the energy was firmly locked within the arena by the barriers, allowing this explosive power to vent wildly only within.
The ground in the center of the arena was forcefully blasted into a huge pit with a diameter of over ten meters and a depth of several meters.
The ground around the pit was covered with web-like dense cracks, spreading to every corner of the arena.
The layer of sand used to pave the arena was now lifted into the air by the shockwave, turning into a sky-full of swirling dust.
The aftermath of the explosion lingered in the arena for a full dozen seconds before slowly dissipating.
Once the dust cleared, the entire arena was unrecognizable, and at the center of the explosion, Gigalith's massive body lay silently in the gigantic pit.
The red crystal pillars on his chest were completely shattered, brutal scars split open on his hard scales, his eyes tightly closed, unable to move a single inch.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the pit, Lucario was kneeling on one knee, one hand supporting the ground, his chest heaving violently.
His body was covered in wounds, yet he still maintained the state of MEGA evolution.
Compared to Gigalith's unconscious state, Lucario's condition was unknown to be many times better.
The entire gym fell into dead silence, the referee stunned for quite some time before finally reacting and raising the flag in his hand.
"Gigalith is unable to battle! Challenger's Lucario wins!"
The entire gym fell into dead silence.
Raihan stood still, his mind utterly blank.
He couldn't believe that his proud Gigalith had been taken down by a MEGA Lucario of a lower level.
The sense of experience from numerous battles, the calm of a top-notch trainer, all shattered and vanished under the impact of that Double Dragon Pearl.
He was stunned for several seconds before slowly coming back to his senses.
Raihan took out a Pokeball and recalled Gigalith lying in the pit.
"Thank you, Gigalith, that move was not something you could block."
He shrank the Pokeball back to his waist, taking a deep breath along with himself.
Looking across the arena at Ash, Raihan's face twisted into a bitter smile.
"Ash, your move was a bit too much."
"I've lived for so many years and have seen not thousands but at least eight thousand moves, but I've never even heard of anything like that Double Dragon Pearl."
"Honestly, the power released from that strike probably rivals the ultimate moves of the Champion Intermediate Level Pokemon."
The ultimate moves of Champion Intermediate Level Pokemon are already capable of flattening a small hill.
Yet this power emerged from an Elite Peak plus MEGA Lucario, which is hard to accept.
Raihan scratched his head, his eyes full of curiosity, "Kid, how on earth did you come up with such a move?"
If it were before, Raihan would never have asked such a question.
After all, moves are private property of trainers, asking someone how they developed a move is like delving into someone's personal assets.
But now he is genuinely curious, how was this move developed?
Ash didn't mind, he laughed heartily, "It's not that complicated."
"My Lucario has been dealing with Aura since childhood, his control over Aura is far superior to regular Pokemon, and he naturally has the ability to multitask, managing several forces at once."
"So I thought, since he can manage several energies simultaneously, why not combine different moves together to form a new move?"
"That's the origin of Double Dragon Pearl; after all, both Aura Sphere and Dragon Pulse involve Aura, making their combination simpler."
"And although this move sounds cool, it's pretty straightforward, basically just shaping Dragon Pulse first and then using Aura Sphere as the core, simply combining the two."
Raihan listened, twitching the corners of his mouth, his bitter smile deepening, saying it sounds easy!
What does 'naturally able to multitask' mean?
What does 'why not combine different moves together' mean?
This sounds easy, but in reality, countless trainers worldwide, even if breaking their heads, can't accomplish this!
Just the ability to multitask is something only a few Pokemon across the entire Pokemon Realm can achieve.
Not to mention controlling multiple energies of different attributes simultaneously, forming, combining, and firing them according to the trainer's intentions.
Otherwise, such a move that could enhance the power of skills exponentially wouldn't be developed by only Ash.
Such a difficult move, in Ash's words, seemed as simple as eating and drinking… it really made Raihan unable to hold it.
If his Pokemon could reach this degree, defeating Leon wouldn't be an issue, would it!
"The important thing is, I still have to continue the match now."
He took down a second Pokeball from his waist: "Fly in the air, Flygon!"
With a flash of light, a Pokemon with a green body and translucent red wings appeared on the field.
Its eyes were covered with green lenses resembling goggles, its long tail leisurely swaying behind, the dancer of the desert—Flygon.
Ash silently activated his Eye of Insight.
Champion Junior Level.
On the same level as the previous Gigalith, yet the momentum emanating seemed to suppress that big bulky fellow.
All ability values have almost reached the peak of the current level, possibly just a step away from breaking through to Champion Intermediate Level.
Ash turned his gaze back to his Lucario on the field.
Currently, Lucario, though still maintaining the MEGA form, his chest heaving heavily, breathing heavily and roughly.
Continuing the battle would only deplete Lucario's strength.
In his present state, at most he could wear down Flygon's Physical Strength.
His Pokemon pool is still quite sufficient; there's no need for Lucario to strive hard.
Moreover... he intends for each of his partners to have an opponent, Lucario surpassing one Pokemon has already met his 'performance'.
Therefore, Ash raised the Pokeball, the red light flashed and recalled Lucario. "Lucario, return for now."
He placed the Pokeball on his chest and softly spoke, "You've worked hard, you fought this battle beautifully, the rest is up to your partners!"