Facing the onrushing Gyarados, Ash didn't retreat even half a step.
Nor did Greninja.
The Aura Link between them became clearer than ever in that instant; Ash could clearly feel that what was coming from Greninja wasn't fear, but a battle spirit burning ever higher.
"We can still get stronger, right, Greninja!" Ash shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing clearly across the trembling arena.
"Krokaa!!" Greninja raised its head in response, that cry piercing straight through the roar of Gyarados.
At the very moment his voice fell, a sky‑piercing water column suddenly erupted beneath Greninja's feet.
The water column was thick and overwhelming, surging upward with the force of crashing mountains straight toward the open skylight at the top of the Gym; spray exploded outward, shrouding the entire field in a hazy mist.
Inside the water column, Greninja's silhouette began to change as well.
A huge X‑shaped scar appeared on its back, as if something had once been attached there; the tongue around its neck stretched longer, drifting in the water like a cape.
A dark red cross mark appeared on its head, and the sides of its ears turned black; on closer look, it actually bore a few similarities to Ash!
Those scarlet eyes, even through the water column, clearly showed the razor‑sharp gleam contained within.
At this moment, their bond turned into power!
"This is—!" Lance sprang up from his seat, the usual calm on his face now replaced by sheer shock.
Misty and Serena almost stood up at the same time, their eyes wide and round as they stared fixedly at that increasingly unfamiliar figure inside the water column.
Even the always composed Cynthia showed a rare flicker of emotion between her brows.
She subconsciously took out her Key Stone from her pocket; that stone, which would usually resonate with a Pokemon's Evolution Stone, was now completely unresponsive, as quiet as an ordinary rock.
"This isn't Mega Evolution…" Cynthia murmured under her breath, her golden eyes full of curiosity and scrutiny.
Since the Key Stone gave no reaction, it was clearly not the MEGA Evolution she knew.
But then how was she supposed to explain this change happening to Greninja?
It was obviously a further form, a kind of evolution she had never heard of, never seen before.
What shocked her even more was that the aura of that Greninja within the water column was skyrocketing, becoming so strong she could barely get a read on it.
As for what level it had actually reached…
Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly; even she couldn't clearly sense that upper limit.
A Professional Junior Level Pokemon was actually making a Champion Trainer like her unable to perceive its upper limit—saying it out loud would sound completely absurd, yet it was happening right before their eyes.
Lance was the same; he focused on sensing it for quite a while, then slowly shook his head, his face heavy and grave.
If even the two of them at Champion Level couldn't see through it, then that Greninja's power at this moment had probably broken through some shackle of common sense.
"Just how many trump cards does that Ash still have…" Lance said with a wry shake of his head.
Dawn, though she didn't 'spring to her feet on the spot', was just as stunned; her mouth hung wide open at the scene before her, unable to utter a single word.
Why did it feel like Ash and Greninja had fused into one? She'd had that impression from the start, but it hadn't been this strong.
Now, however, there was this sense of complete fusion, no distinction between the two.
So this is…the power born from the bond between humans and Pokemon?
On the other side of the field, the excitement on Clair's face had already frozen, replaced by a thick layer of shock.
Her lips moved soundlessly as she stared at that figure wrapped in the water column, for the first time feeling something she could not put into words.
That Greninja, which had forcefully risen from Professional Junior Level to Gym Beginner Level, now seemed to truly possess the lethal strength to threaten Gyarados!
"Gyarados!" Clair suppressed the tremor in her heart and shouted sharply.
But her shout came too late; Gyarados, wreathed in Giga Impact, was already crashing down toward where Greninja stood like a purple comet.
Yet at the instant before the two sides collided, Greninja merely gave a light twist with the tip of its toe inside the water column.
"Kra‑la—!"
The floor beneath its feet shattered with a crack, spider‑web cracks instantly spreading across the spot where it had been standing.
The next moment, Greninja's figure vanished from where it had been, as if it had evaporated into thin air.
Gyarados's unstoppable Giga Impact slammed savagely into the empty ground, blasting up a storm of dust and rubble, crashing heavily into the barrier and sending out ripples in dense concentric waves.
But in the end, that blow still missed.
"Where did it go?" Clair held her breath, trying to locate Greninja, but found no trace of it.
The next instant, Greninja's figure ghosted into view high in the air behind Gyarados. "Right behind you!"
As Ash's shout fell, a blinding ring of light flared beneath Greninja's soles, and its entire body plummeted like a falling streak of light from the heavens.
Aerial Ace!
"Boom!!"
Its kick landed solidly on the top of Gyarados's head.
That massive body was driven straight down by the kick, smashed into the ground and blasted out a huge crater; shards of stone flew, and the entire Gym shook violently!!
Gyarados let out a howl of excruciating pain, that single kick nearly costing it half its life; even those scarlet eyes had become somewhat unfocused.
"How is this possible…" Clair muttered to herself, her pretty face full of disbelief.
Lance slowly sat up straight, his eyes shining brightly, while Brock gasped, unable to close his mouth for a long time.
"That speed... that strength... the Pokemon that was just being pressured by Air Slash, has in an instant trampled the Gym Peak-level Gyarados underfoot?"
This earth-shattering change made everyone present feel their scalps tingle.
Even with MEGA Evolution, such a terrifying gap shouldn't exist.
Could it be that Ash's Aura Fusion combined with MEGA Evolution caused a miraculous reaction? But that's not right either. The maximum limit of Ash's Aura Fusion has always been one major Level, which is already an extremely terrifying increase.
Not to mention, Greninja hasn't even undergone MEGA Evolution. Lance also noticed Cynthia took out her Key Stone, but it didn't emit any light or reaction, indicating that Greninja's transformation wasn't MEGA Evolution.
Moreover, he didn't see the Key Stone on Ash shining, no matter how you look at it, this doesn't seem like MEGA Evolution.
So the question came, if Greninja's enhancement has nothing to do with MEGA Evolution or Aura Fusion, what exactly has brought such terrifying amplification to Greninja?
On the field, Ash didn't give Gyarados any chance to breathe. His and Greninja's intentions had now merged into one, their thoughts of pursuing victory coinciding perfectly.
"Greninja, Cut!!"
"Kokaa——!"
Upon landing, Greninja flipped its hands abruptly, forming two kunai made of rapid water currents, sparkling and razor-sharp in his grasp.
This was a combination of Water Attribute strength—the Water Cut!
He sprang into action, turning into a shadow dashing toward the still-down Gyarados. The two water kunai whipped through the air, slicing across Gyarados's massive body.
Amidst the mixed splashes and the crisp sound of scales cracking, Gyarados's physical strength was further diminished, its attempts to rise were completely suspended in place.
But Greninja's onslaught didn't stop there.
His figure flashed again, circling to Gyarados's rear, kicking off from the ground, darting forward like an unsheathed blade.
Night Slash!
Dark energy gathered in his hands, hitting Gyarados's critical point precisely.
"Roar——"
Gyarados let out a final unwilling low roar, its massive body crashed to the ground, raising a curtain of dust, unable to rise again.
Its eyes closed tight, it had evidently lost its fighting ability, plunging the whole Gym into a deathly silence, where even the sound of a pin dropping could be heard.
Clair was frozen in place, staring at the fallen Gyarados, then at the Greninja standing enveloped by a flowing water on the field, with her mind blank.
What... what happened?
Why, in the blink of an eye, was the Gym Peak Gyarados so thoroughly defeated by the opponent!
Is this for real?
Just now, Greninja was even finding it hard to dodge Gyarados's attacks, even though it later sneakily used Dig and Cut, it didn't cause much damage to Gyarados.
But once that surging water enveloped Greninja's body, everything turned completely upside down.
The power that Greninja displayed was beyond her ability to discern the Level, Gym Intermediate? Advanced? Neither, that power seemed to have reached Elite Level!
But how is this possible, a Professional Level Greninja achieving Elite Level in just one battle... even dreaming doesn't work like this!
On the sidelines, Serena covered her mouth, stars glimmering in her eyes, only half a day later found her voice again: "Won, won? Ash actually won?!"
Misty nodded heavily, yet the daze on her face simply would not fade away.
She had been beside Ash for so long, thinking she had already became accustomed to the various miracles he created, yet the scene before her eyes still left her speechless.
Ash turning the tide wasn't unusual, but generally, even when Ash turns the tide, it's usually a hard-fought battle, but to suddenly go from taking a hit to completely overturning the opponent—
This was the first time even for her to witness!
Brock exhaled a long breath, muttering: "A Greninja that only completed its evolution yesterday, has dealt with a Gym Peak Level Pokemon in an almost instantaneously decisive manner, Ash has gained another incredible Pokemon!"
Dawn was utterly engrossed, staring dumbfoundedly at Ash and Greninja on the field, even forgetting to breathe.
The boy of her age, and the Pokemon in perfect sync with the Trainer, imprinted a profoundly deep mark on her heart.
It turns out that the bond between humans and Pokemon can grow this strong.
Cynthia slowly put away the unresponsive Key Stone, waves of difficult-to-calm emotions surged within her golden eyes.
"Relying solely on the pure bond, bypassing the conditions set by Evolution Stone and Key Stone to let the Pokemon evolve?"
Lance turned his head to look at her, his tone filled with undisguisable amazement: "Cynthia, did you know Greninja would turn out this way?"
Cynthia shook her head: "This is the first time I've seen it too."
"But I can confirm, that the root of this evolution doesn't lie within the Pokemon itself, but in the extraordinary bond between it and Ash."
Of course, the Greninja itself definitely has something strange, but... if the Trainer is not Ash, it undoubtedly couldn't achieve such a transformation just now.
So this is power realized by both Greninja and Ash together.
"To transform the connection between this boy and a Pokemon into such a real power... the possibilities of the Pokemon Realm are indeed still far from being fully explored."
In the center of the arena, Ash let out a long breath, the fatigue on his face concealed beneath a radiant smile.
In fact, he had long known that Greninja possessed this special evolution.
Even back when Greninja was still a Froakie, he already understood its future potential, and the big shots in the community also mentioned that Greninja was special, its uniqueness perhaps second only to Pikachu among all of Ash's Pokemon.
It's not that Ash's other Pokemon aren't special, it's just that this Greninja is too unique.
Greninja had just completed its evolution yesterday, so it had never undergone such an evolution in actual combat before.
He could feel that the bond between him and Greninja was not enough to fully achieve that form— the special evolution named Bond Evolution!
Even an incomplete Bond Evolution was enough for Greninja to unleash more of its power, even to the point of wielding it with ease. If it were a complete Bond Evolution... it might be able to unify all of his strength!
What does this mean? It means that even if at that time Greninja only had Gym Level standards, it could also erupt with Divine Domain Level power!
Because Ash's strength is so overwhelming, only Mewtwo is currently capable of integrating that force of Ash.
Moreover, the power of Bond Evolution is not just merely the sum of two entities' forces, but a merging of the two to ascend to a brand new power!
When Greninja reaches Divine Domain Level, the combined forces of both could instantly surge to the Divine Domain Peak, or even... Quasi-Creator Level!
This is the potential of this power.
"Hiss!" As Ash pondered, he suddenly sensed a void in his body, and the water surrounding Greninja on the field exploded abruptly!
Greninja closed his eyes and collapsed onto the ground, evidently, he had lost his battle capability.
This scene puzzled everyone...
What is happening? Just now Greninja was full of energy, how did it suddenly lose its battle capability?
Ash sensed the void within himself and roughly understood what had happened.
'Bond Evolution... really drains physical strength.'
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