The pearl-colored feathers unfurl above the field, as MEGA Altaria flaps its layered wings, looking very much like a floating cloud.
Yet no one is fooled by this gentle appearance.
The dual-type of Dragon and Fairy makes her the nemesis of all Dragon Type Pokemon.
Ash squints his eyes, and the ability of the Eye of Insight quietly flows, painting every inch of Altaria's aura in his mind.
Elite Advanced Level, Pixilate, a Special Attack specialist with Hyper Voice and Moonblast as her core moves.
Even more deadly, his MEGA Dragonite's half Dragon Attribute makes it a sitting duck against Fairy Type moves.
'Dragon Type moves can't touch her, and trading Special Attacks is a disadvantage; this fight can only be won with strategy.' Ash quickly calculates in his mind.
On the sidelines, Lance's eyes haven't left that Dragonite for a moment.
As the Dragon Type Champion, he understands better than anyone how perilous this situation is.
"Dragon and Fairy... Ash's Dragonite is in quite a bind." He mutters to himself.
Cynthia, however, remains calm, her golden eyes gleaming with interest: "Precisely because it's perilous, it's worth watching."
"Let's begin, Ash!" Clair strikes first, deftly pointing ahead, "Altaria, Moonblast!"
MEGA Altaria lifts its neck, gathering a pale pink energy orb in its mouth, which grows larger, emitting a soft yet lethal Fairy power.
In the next second, the orb transforms into a stream of light, shooting towards Dragonite on the field.
If this move hits, with Dragonite's doubled Fairy Type weakness, it's enough to gravely wound her instantly.
"Dragonite, Detect it!"
Ash doesn't let Dragonite take it head-on but uses Aura's perception to clearly map the trajectory of Moonblast in his mind.
In battles of the same level, the strength of Aura Power speaks for itself.
All skill moves, when used with Aura Power, become seemingly slow motion!
As long as the opponent's level doesn't far exceed his, his Pokemon, under Aura Fusion, can almost dodge all skills!
"Sidestep, Extreme Speed!"
MEGA Dragonite's pristine white wings suddenly flap powerfully, and its massive body shifts sideways with speed completely unmatched by its size.
Moonblast grazes past its wingtip, crashing into the barrier behind, spreading a circle of eerie blue ripples.
Yet Dragonite doesn't pause for a moment, using Extreme Speed to surge towards Altaria in the air, its fist cloaked in a layer of chilling frost.
Ice Punch!
"Well done, Ash!" Misty cheers, pumping her tiny fist; Ice Type is super effective against Altaria!
And with Dragonite using Extreme Speed, Altaria has absolutely no room to dodge!
Clair's expression changes; she knows her Altaria is weak to Ice.
"Altaria, Cotton Guard!"
In a split second, the fluffy feathers around Altaria contract, forming a thick cotton armor wrapping itself tightly.
Dragonite's Ice Punch strikes solidly against the layer of cotton armor.
"Bang!"
Ice crystals burst along the fist; Altaria is sent flying over ten meters backward, with a layer of white frost forming on the fluffy feathers.
But that Cotton Guard does indeed mitigate most of the force, allowing Altaria to stabilize her position; apart from a few feathers being frozen stiff, she isn't fundamentally hurt.
The first clash seems to have Dragonite occupying the upper hand.
Just as Dragonite's fist pulls back after missing, an unexpected turn happens.
Altaria, mid-retreat, suddenly opens her beak, and an invisible sound wave booms outward—Hyper Voice bolstered by Pixilate!
The sound wave spreads out from Altaria, leaving no room to dodge.
Dragonite, being the closest, bears the brunt.
The range of Hyper Voice is enormous, and at such close proximity, even with Aura Power prediction, Dragonite finds no way to evade.
"Ooh!"
Dragonite lets out a muffled groan, its substantial body forced back several steps by the sound wave, the scales on its chest tingling.
Hyper Voice from the Fairy Type striking Dragon Attribute Dragonite has tremendous effect.
Ash's body also sways; the Aura Link makes him share part of Dragonite's pain.
With that, it's Altaria who turns the tables.
"Huh..." Clair focuses on Dragonite shaking its head in the field, letting out a slow breath.
Yet during that brief clash, a thought flashes like lightning in her mind.
Something's off.
Having fought with Altaria for years, Clair's perception of power has been perfected.
Just now, the feedback from Dragonite taking Hyper Voice felt too severe.
If the opponent truly is a Mid-Elite Level Dragonite, such exertion from Hyper Voice shouldn't seem this taxing.
Clair's gaze sharply focuses on Dragonite's chest, slightly heaving from the exchange.
"I understand now..." Her voice is filled with disbelief, "This Dragonite of yours isn't at Elite level at all, is it?"
"At most... it's just a Gym Intermediate Level!"
Upon reaching this conclusion, Clair herself is breathlessly shocked.
On the sidelines, Lance merely nods slowly, not surprised by the answer.
"Clair noticing upon the first exchange is already keen," Lance softly speaks, "Since she didn't step into the arena herself, merely observing, it's indeed difficult to Detect the foundation buried under layers of power."
Ash first uses Aura Fusion to boost Dragonite's power, then applies MEGA Evolution, with formidable strength overshadowing its true level.
But this forcibly boosted power doesn't actually affect Dragonite's Physical Strength.
Its defensive power is also far inferior to other Pokemon of the same Level.
Normally, being hit head-on by that Fairy Type Hyper Voice, a Gym Intermediate Dragonite shouldn't have taken only that little damage.
Looks like it must be related to Ash's Aura Link… what an incredible ability!
Clair took a deep breath, her chest heaving violently.
"Gym Intermediate… you're actually using a Gym Intermediate Dragonite, pushing it up to Mid-Elite Level with that mysterious power, then stacking MEGA Evolution on top to clash head‑on with my ace."
Her tone was full of shock.
"This kind of tactic is simply unheard of."
What kind of Trainer has that many ways to boost a Pokemon's strength!
This is straight up skipping a whole big Level plus a smaller one, and it's even jumping from Gym to Elite—way more ridiculous than going from Pro to Gym!
On the sidelines, Dawn listened in total confusion, but with her heart full of awe.
She might not understand all that Level stuff, but she could tell Dragonite's breathing was getting faster.
"Master, is Dragonite… really tired?"
Cynthia nodded slightly: "You noticed? That's right, it's already forcing itself to keep going."
"A Gym Intermediate body carrying Mid-Elite Level power into a MEGA battle—every second is overexertion. In this fight, Ash has to finish it fast."
Dawn blinked, turning her gaze back to the battlefield.
...
In the center of the field, Ash was of course more aware than anyone of his Dragonite's situation.
Dragonite's breathing grew heavier with each breath, and the arc of its pure white wings was already smaller than at the start.
'Two more rounds at most—this has to be decided by then.' Ash clenched his fists.
But the more critical the moment, the calmer he became.
"Dragonite, watch your opponent and wait for an opening!"
"Wuuoh!" Dragonite raised its head, and an even fiercer fighting spirit burned on that honest, goofy face.
This was its first battle after evolving, and even its first battle after being caught by Ash!
Even if it burned through the very last drop of strength, it still had to win!
Clair, on her side, had already seen through the opponent's predicament and naturally wouldn't give Dragonite any chance to catch its breath.
"Altaria, take to the sky—rapid‑fire Moonblast!"
She was going to leverage her advantage in stamina and slowly grind Dragonite to death!
Altaria beat its wings and soared high, circling near the Gym's ceiling as one pale blue orb after another poured from its beak, raining down on Dragonite.
Dragonite staggered around the field, barely dodging thanks to Ash's Aura guidance, but the more it dodged the slower it became—its Speed was visibly dropping.
One Moonblast grazed its wings and exploded, knocking it off balance.
"Dragonite can't dodge anymore!" Brock shouted, fists clenched tight. "It's almost out of Physical Strength!"
Serena and Misty held their breath at the same time.
Altaria had seized the high ground while Dragonite was getting pinned to the floor and pummeled; this situation looked completely one‑sided.
Clair's lips curved into a faint smile as her beautiful eyes turned toward Ash.
She wanted to see what kind of expression Ash would have in a situation like this.
However… what she saw was an incomparably calm face.
Ash showed no sign of panic at all, his gaze locked onto the field as if he were calculating something.
'This feels… off somehow.'
Clair sensed something was wrong in her heart, yet she couldn't pinpoint exactly what.
"Now! Dragonite, use Extreme Speed!!"
Altaria, firing off Moves in rapid succession high above, thought it was firmly in control, and its attacks grew ever more reckless.
Precisely because of that, its guard kept dropping lower and lower, until all its attention was focused entirely on attacking!
Through Aura Perception, Ash sensed a brief lull in the Energy flow inside Altaria, and he seized that fleeting opening to have Dragonite close in!
"Swish!"
Dragonite beat the twin wings atop its head and on its back, leaving behind only an afterimage!
Clair's expression changed—Dragonite's Speed… it's even faster than before!
Could its apparent exhaustion earlier have been an act? No way!
Judging by Gym Intermediate stamina, Dragonite really should be almost drained by now!
But Clair had missed one thing: a portion of Ash's own Physical Strength was linked to Dragonite. Even if it didn't boost Dragonite as explosively as Aura power did, it was still enough to let Dragonite's Physical Strength far exceed its original Gym Intermediate!
Otherwise, trying to drive Elite Advanced Level power with Gym Intermediate stamina, Dragonite would've collapsed long ago.
"Bang!" Extreme Speed landed solidly on Altaria's body, smashing it even higher into the air.
"Ice Beam!"
Ash didn't hesitate for a second and pressed the attack.
They'd taken a beating for that long—now it was their turn!
Dragonite spread its wings to steady itself after the recoil had thrown off its posture, freezing blue-white light rapidly condensing in its mouth.
The glow was far more dazzling than earlier's Ice Punch, and it was forming at an astonishing speed.
A thick beam of icy blue fired from Dragonite's mouth, wrapped in bone‑chilling cold as it surged straight toward Altaria, which had been knocked into the high sky.
Clair's pupils shrank sharply.
The power level of this beam was leagues beyond that earlier Ice Punch.
"Altaria, dodge—"
Before she could finish, Ice Beam had already struck squarely against Altaria's chest.
"Screee!"
Altaria let out a shrill cry of pain as ice crystals spread like mad over its fluffy feathers, and in the blink of an eye most of its body was encased in white frost.
Its layered wings were frozen stiff, even their flapping slowed noticeably.
Clair's mind buzzed.
Something's wrong—this Ice Beam is more than one tier stronger than Ice Punch.
She suddenly realized she might have overlooked something: for MEGA‑evolved Dragonite, is its Special Attack higher, or its Physical Attack?
From start to finish, Ash had been deliberately hiding that point.
Dragonite's first strike was Ice Punch, a Physical Move; Extreme Speed was also a Physical Move.
That gave Clair a deeply rooted impression—this Dragonite was built around Physical Attack.
Yet the Ice Beam that Dragonite had just fired was plainly far stronger than Ice Punch.
On the sidelines, Lance suddenly let out a quiet chuckle.
"So that's it."
Arms folded, he fixed his eyes on the heavily panting yet still proudly upright Dragonite, his tone tinged with realization.
"After MEGA Evolution, Dragonite's Special Attack is greatly enhanced compared to its original form. From the very beginning, Ash has been intentionally hiding that, making everyone think this Dragonite's forte is Physical Attack."
"In reality, Special Attack is the trump card he kept for last."
Cynthia gave a slight nod, her golden eyes reflecting that icy blue glow in the arena.
"First using Ice Punch as a Feint to mislead the opponent about Dragonite's damage focus, then bringing out Ice Beam at the critical moment for a lethal strike—even when forced into a desperate corner, Ash still refused to expose that fact. He has immense trust in his Pokemon."
Dawn's mouth hung open, her eyes sparkling like stars—she didn't get it, absolutely didn't get it.
So Pokemon battles are this kind of cutthroat mind game?
Isn't it supposed to be 'I use a Move, you use a Move, and we see who lasts longer'?
To be a Trainer… you basically need a steel heart!
On the field, Altaria struggled to flap its frozen wings, trying to break free of the ice's restraints.
That cottony defense had already been worn down by more than half in the previous exchanges and couldn't possibly block Ice Beam's full‑power blast now.
Frost seeped into the cotton that looked like clouds, and Altaria's movements slowed visibly.
Ash had been waiting for exactly this moment.
"Hurricane! Full power!"
Dragonite had no extra stamina left—this strike had to decide the match!
Clair bit down on her silver teeth, her eyes burning with the same resolve. So it's going to be a straight clash, huh? Then we'll see it through to the end!
"Altaria, full‑power Moonblast!"
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