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The power unleashed by Super Blazefire Ability was undeniable, but a side effect came with it: Monferno's rationality began to be gradually swallowed.
In the Aura Fusion state, Ash and Monferno were one in mind and body. Monferno's thoughts, ideas, and physical condition were all under Ash's control. Similarly, Ash was in the same state with Monferno.
But after Monferno erupted with Super Blazefire Ability, Ash felt Monferno's consciousness become so faint it was almost imperceptible, with only a raging will remaining in its mind. Besides that, he felt nothing.
Perhaps this was the price of Super Blazefire Ability, power gained at the cost of rationality.
'Monferno, don't lose to this power! This is your own power; you cannot be devoured by it!'
Ash's shout echoed in Monferno's heart. Monferno's crimson eyes trembled, and its movement, which had been ready to charge at Gengar, stopped abruptly.
'That's right, control it! This is your power; you should control it. As long as you can control it, you will gain power no less than that bestowed by gods, so don't lose!'
'Paul must be watching us nearby. Don't you want to show him your power? Let's show him together how strong the potential within your body truly is!'
"Ho..." A hoarse sound came from Monferno's mouth.
Monferno's fists had been tightly clenched since entering the Blaze Ability state, but now Monferno's hands began to slowly open.
Rationality was gradually returning to Monferno's brain. If it weren't for the Aura Fusion, and Ash's voice couldn't reach Monferno's heart, Monferno would have long since gone berserk, unleashing its power without restraint until it was completely exhausted.
But now, with Ash's voice, Monferno's rationality gradually returned. He felt the worry in Ash's heart, and a sense of guilt arose in his own heart. He had made his Trainer worry again... "Ho!!!" Monferno, whose hands had opened, clenched his fists again and let out a long howl to the sky. The flames on his back burned even more intensely and vigorously, and the soaring fire almost reached tens of meters into the sky.
In stark contrast to the explosive power, Monferno's crimson eyes had returned to their original state. He looked at Ash, giving him a thumbs-up with one hand.
"Well done, Monferno, it's our turn to counterattack!!" Ash also happily clenched his fist and waved it, encouraging Monferno.
At this moment, Giselle, as if waking from a dream, spoke: "Your Monferno's Blaze Ability is truly terrifying. It doesn't look like it only boosts Fire-type moves by fifty percent... But he is, after all, only at the Advanced Peak. He's still a bit lacking to battle a Professional Level Gengar."
When Monferno lost his rationality just now, it was actually her best opportunity to attack. Giselle was not the kind of person who would have an opportunity but not seize it, demanding fairness.
Being unable to control power was inherently a mistake of the opposing Trainer and Pokémon. Isn't it natural to seize such an opportunity?
But she had also been hard-controlled by Monferno's Super Blazefire Ability for tens of seconds. It was her first time encountering that level of Blaze Ability, so she was stunned on the spot.
Thus, she missed the best opportunity to defeat Monferno, and she would not have thought that it was her only chance to defeat Monferno... "How will we know if we don't try? Monferno, Fire Punch!!" Ash smiled and gave Monferno the command. He was as excited as Monferno at this moment.
Just how strong was this Super Blazefire Ability? Today was a good day to test it out!
"Ho-cha!!" Monferno's clenched fists suddenly ignited with scorching flames, then he stomped his feet, and his entire figure burst forth like an arrow from a bowstring!
Only a lingering afterimage trailing brilliant flames flashed across the field. The next second, Monferno appeared in front of Gengar, who was floating in mid-air.
Gengar's cunning smile, which had always shown his white teeth, suddenly froze. This speed was simply too fast?!
"Boom!!"
Before Gengar could react, Monferno's fist slammed down like a meteor!
A deafening roar sounded in mid-air, and the ghostly purple figure fell like a meteor from the smoke in the sky, crashing heavily onto the ground of the arena, creating spiderweb-like cracks on the field.
"Press the advantage, Flamethrower!!"
Monferno in the air received the command, opened his mouth, and suddenly inhaled a puff of Haze. Then, scorching flames erupted within the smoke. The flames didn't look like a Flamethrower at all; they were practically an explosive inferno!
A move comparable to a powerful Fire-type ultimate attack directly hit Gengar on the ground. The moment the scorching flames struck the ground, a blinding orange-red wave of fire directly exploded, and the tongues of fire spread like overgrown vines along the spiderweb cracks, scorching the ground within half a meter around to a charred black.
Gengar himself was completely engulfed by the flames. The flames spread across the field, causing the temperature of the entire arena to steadily climb. The surrounding audience even felt a seasonal temperature comparable to a scorching summer day in the middle of winter, and many people took off their jackets.
Paul remained in the same posture, staring intently at the situation on the field, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Not only had its level increased, but the Super Blazefire Ability that he had never been able to activate was instantly unleashed in Ash's hands. This was merely Ash and Monferno's first battle, and it was so easy to activate that power?
Perhaps... it wasn't that Chimchar was acting against him back then, but rather that his compatibility with Chimchar was indeed poor, and his training methods were not suitable for Chimchar.
Moreover, when Chimchar unleashed Super Blazefire Ability back then, he clearly lost his rationality. Now, with the second eruption, he once again lost his rationality, but for some unknown reason, Monferno's lost rationality returned due to something Ash did.
This was something only Ash could do. If it were him, even if he didn't want to admit it, he probably would have only been able to suppress the opponent with brute force in the previous few eruptions of Blaze Ability.
To control that fire, his only method would be to have Chimchar continuously use that fire; there was no other way.
As for how Ash did it... it should be related to that special power within him. That's not a power just anyone can have.
On the field, the flames gradually subsided, and Monferno also descended from the air, standing steadily on the ground, his eyes fixed on the center position. Two consecutive bursts of fire, and he wondered if they could take down Gengar.
The previous punch and spray had almost exhausted all the power in his body. He had just evolved, his strength had been forcibly raised, and being in the Blaze Ability state meant he was nearing exhaustion. Finally, using the power of Super Blazefire Ability would consume stamina even faster.
It could be said that all the debuffs were maxed out!
If Gengar still didn't fall, then he had no choice. With his current stamina, let alone Flamethrower, he might not even be able to use Spark.
The smoke dissipated, and Gengar stuck out his tongue, his entire body spread out like a large 'X' on the field, motionless.
After a moment, the referee announced: "Gengar is unable to battle, Monferno wins!"
He won!
An Advanced Peak Pokémon even defeated a Professional Level beginner! And this was after just upgrading to Advanced Peak; its abilities in all aspects couldn't truly be considered Advanced Peak. Under these circumstances, it still won, all thanks to Super Blazefire Ability!
"A super comeback!!! Monferno, who was just retreating, suddenly turned around and one-shot Gengar! Is this Monferno's true strength?" The host's voice rang out, praising Monferno effusively.
In fact, even his extensive knowledge couldn't determine what had just happened. The power Monferno unleashed at the end seemed to be Blaze Ability, but Blaze Ability only boosts Fire-type moves, and even a fifty percent boost to Fire-type moves couldn't increase Monferno's power to that extent in such a short time.
So the host truly didn't know what had just happened. Was that Monferno's true strength, or the power unleashed after Monferno activated its Blaze Ability?
Regardless, Monferno won now, so praising him to the sky was always right. An Advanced Peak Pokémon defeating a Professional Level Pokémon in two moves, shouldn't he be lauded?
In the special audience seating, Leon stroked his chin, a look of interest on his face: "Interesting, Monferno's eruption just now should have been Blaze Ability, right? That Blaze Ability is much stronger than a normal one!"
Cynthia nodded: "Mhm, before the Blaze Ability eruption, Monferno's power was inferior to Gengar's in all aspects, but after the Blaze Ability eruption, in terms of attack power, Monferno completely surpassed Gengar. Conservatively estimated, that Blaze Ability boosts Fire-type moves by at least one hundred and twenty percent."
The original Blaze Ability boost was probably only about fifty percent, but Monferno's Blaze Ability could reach one hundred and twenty percent, and this was still an estimate. Perhaps it was actually even stronger. This Monferno was truly not an ordinary fierce Pokémon!
"His Blaze Ability not only boosted Fire-type moves, but also improved his physical stats to varying degrees. The most significant was his speed. That speed should already be faster than Professional Level. How can Blaze Ability affect these factors?" This was something even Leon found somewhat difficult to understand.
You could say that the magnitude of the Blaze Ability boost varied due to individual Pokémon differences, but what about this speed boost, this power boost? Is this still Blaze Ability?
"It should be that this Monferno has a rather special physique. The first time I saw him, I thought his potential was very high, but I didn't expect it to reach this level. If he is properly nurtured, becoming a future Champion shouldn't be a big problem. Coupled with the Blaze Ability power within him, it would probably be difficult to find an opponent among Champions." Cynthia also said with a look of emotion.
She had always been optimistic about Monferno's potential. In Ash's hands, Monferno truly unleashed his potential, skyrocketing directly from Advanced Beginner to Advanced Peak in a short period. Although evolution was a factor, his talent also played a crucial role.
But Monferno's battle talent was also ridiculously strong. The battle ability boosted by Blaze Ability could only be described as terrifying, and Blaze Ability is a hundred percent skill boost. If Monferno's Blaze Ability was also percentage-based in its boost, then after his level increased, his Blaze Ability boost would not be inferior in the slightest.
This was also why Cynthia said that Monferno, upon reaching Champion, would find it difficult to have rivals among Champions.
"Oh? You think that highly of Monferno?" Leon raised an eyebrow slightly, somewhat surprised that Cynthia would make such a bold prediction. It was known that Cynthia was always rigorous and wouldn't casually say things she wasn't confident about.
Now she was saying that Monferno could reach Champion in the future, and even find it difficult to have rivals among Champions. He had never heard such an evaluation from Cynthia's mouth. Was this Monferno really that powerful?
"Being optimistic about Monferno is one aspect, but I'm actually more optimistic about that little guy... If it's him, he can definitely fully unleash Monferno's potential. We can look forward to it. In the near future, perhaps an interesting opponent will stand before us." Cynthia's gaze fell on Ash below.
Monferno's potential was one thing; Ash, who could unearth Monferno's potential, was truly remarkable.
Just look at Paul. Not to mention how long Monferno was in his hands, his command style when it was still Chimchar was too violent. He tried to rely on the simplest methods to stimulate Chimchar's power, but it backfired.
Ash, however, activated Chimchar's power within just a few days of catching him. The difference between the two was obvious.
It wasn't that she was boosting others' morale and diminishing her own, but that Paul and Ash indeed had some differences. She was quite curious to see what kind of sparks would fly when the two of them clashed head-on.
"Ash... He is indeed a very interesting person, but he's still a bit too green right now. It will take at least two or three years for him to stand before us." Leon also gave Ash an extremely high evaluation. In two or three years, Ash would only be seventeen or eighteen years old.
Don't look at Cynthia becoming a Champion at eighteen, but she truly possessed peak Champion battle power at twenty, which is now.
And Leon's evaluation of Ash was that by eighteen at the latest, he would be able to reach their current realm, which means having at least one Champion Peak Pokémon. Otherwise, he wouldn't be qualified to stand before them.
Cynthia's lips curved, a beautiful smile gracing her face: "Two or three years... How is it that I feel he'll come looking for us in less than a year?"
Leon: ???
Less than a year? That's a bit much! If Ash could train a Champion Peak Pokémon in less than a year, he'd take down his advertising cape, alright!