Due to Sabrina's psychic powers and Ash's Aura Power both being blue, Misty couldn't tell who was actually responsible for that move on the field.
"Hmm, this is a barrier I created using Aura; handling a battle between two Elite-level Pokemon should be no problem. Gengar, fight with your full strength without worries."
"Nons...sense... I've already... used all my strength!!" Gengar pressed both hands against its front, struggling to push the Shadow Ball forward; indeed, driven by Gengar's effort, the Shadow Ball slowly compressed the opposing Psybeam.
In pure numbers, Gengar was somewhat stronger.
Moments later, Gengar's Shadow Ball shattered the opponent's Psybeam, shooting straight at the opponent's face!
"Teleport."
Sabrina calmly ordered.
Alakazam's figure instantly vanished from its original spot; the Shadow Ball missed, hitting Ash's created barrier, causing some ripples but not even shaking before it dissipated the power of the Shadow Ball.
Seeing this, Gengar turned its head and looked at Ash with eyes like it was looking at a monster.
In previous battles, it thought it had understood Ash enough and thought it only lost to Ash because it was momentarily careless, but it turned out that the power Ash displayed was just the tip of the iceberg!
If Ash had set up such a barrier during their earlier fight, not letting him escape, the battle might have ended much quicker!
Misty and Brock also looked at Ash with a ghost-seeing gaze. They knew Ash had the power to create barriers, but this power being capable of directly blocking a full-force strike from an Elite Advanced level Gengar was simply too freakish!
Isn't this equivalent to a Champion-level Pokemon using Protect, and still a large-scale Protect!
Sabrina's icy eyes showed a hint of peculiarity. Indeed, like her, Ash was capable of doing similar things. However, now it was still a battle, and despite her astonishment, Sabrina continued to have Alakazam prepare an attack.
"Why are you looking at me? Concentrate on the battle, up there, Shadow Ball!" Ash saw Gengar staring at him in a daze and quickly spoke up to command.
In battle, you can't get distracted, especially when the opponent is an Elite-level Pokemon. Getting distracted for a moment could be the end!
With Ash's reminder, Gengar quickly gathered a Shadow Ball without hesitation and launched it upward!
The pitch-black energy orb shot out, slicing through the void. Alakazam's figure appeared on the ceiling, and it had long prepared its Psychic, with vast spiritual power surging out to collide with the Shadow Ball!
The second clash of moves was not so easy for the Shadow Ball to blast through the opponent's attack.
On one hand, Alakazam had gathered strength for a bit before using the Psychic, whereas Gengar hurriedly launched its Shadow Ball.
On the other hand, the previous Psybeam's power couldn't compare to the Psychic, so now, with both attacks meeting again, it was Gengar's attack being repelled!
"Gengar, transform into a Dark-type Pokemon!" Seeing the Psychic crush the Shadow Ball and head towards Gengar, Ash commanded once more.
Gengar's eyes shifted, and then it transformed, becoming a massive creature on the field — the Desert Tyrant, Tyranitar!
The Psychic struck Tyranitar, yet failed to inflict any damage. Tyranitar patted its belly, as if saying, 'Is this supposed to be tickling me?'
Seeing Gengar's transformation, Sabrina's expression froze, her cold face showing some confusion. Although she rarely ventured out and knew little of non-Psychic Type Pokemon, she was aware of Pokemon like Gengar that targeted Psychic Types.
Since when could Gengar do what Ditto does? And to transform into other attribute Pokemon without any item support?
"Heh, truly nothing wrong with that. I have to say, you've memorized type advantages well, kid." Gengar wobbled and returned to its original form, smiling as it praised Ash.
Psychic Types cannot harm Dark Attribute Pokemon, but if the level difference is too big, even if type attacks do no harm, the contained energy could still challenge that Pokemon.
As the saying goes, the real world isn't like game data. Type advantages, type immunities, they're not absolute.
Even Ghost Types, if the Fighting Type's power is strong enough, can be harmed by its energy.
"This Gengar is truly absurd. If Ash hadn't intervened himself, even a Champion Pokemon might not have handled it." Brock commented from the side.
There's a world where a trait called Protean allows one's type to change to match a move while benefiting from STAB.
But such transformations require actively using a move to change type. Ash's Gengar is too outrageous, able to transform without any medium or move!
How could there be such an unbelievable breaking the shell dream in the world?
"Alakazam, Teleport." After the initial shock, Sabrina began organizing her offense again.
Alakazam started flickering around the field, its figure erratic, making it impossible for Gengar to capture its presence.
"Psyshock!"
"Gengar!" Though it couldn't capture the enemy's figure, since the opponent was using a Psychic Type skill again, all it had to do was transform back into a Dark Type Pokemon.
Gengar transformed into Tyranitar once more while its eyes kept darting around. As soon as the opponent revealed itself, he could simultaneously be immune to Psyshock and counterattack!
An impact gathered from spiritual power dashed out of the void, but it was directly immune by Tyranitar.
Yet, Alakazam appeared behind Tyranitar at the same time, rapidly forming a green Energy Ball and launching it forcefully!
"Gengar, watch your back!" When Ash saw Alakazam appear behind the transformed Tyranitar without warning, he immediately shouted out to warn, but his voice was still a step too late.
The Grass Type Move Energy Ball hit Gengar in the back hard!
"Boom!!"
Tyranitar's attributes are Dark and Rock, the Energy Ball inflicts terrifying damage to Tyranitar!
A booming sound echoed across the field as Tyranitar staggered from the hit, then reverted to Gengar's form, rolling on the ground and finally hitting the barrier Ash created.
"Hiss! Pain pain pain!! What the heck, you, a psychic Pokemon, using a Grass Type move, that's cheating! Cheating!" Gengar cursed while rubbing its back with its tiny hands.
This attack wasn't particularly damaging considering its S-rated stamina, but it sure was painful!
"If you want to talk about cheating, doesn't transforming into that Dark Type Pokemon count?" Sabrina said with an impassive, flat tone.
How could this guy have the gall to call her a cheater? Such shamelessness in a Pokemon, it was her first encounter.
Meanwhile, Ash appeared to be pondering something, as the brief clash revealed many abilities of Alakazam and Sabrina.
First was Alakazam's ability to multitask.
Teleport, Psyshock, and Energy Ball, these three moves were essentially used within a second of each other.
Especially the Teleport move Alakazam continuously utilized, invisible to the naked eye, kept in sync with the other two moves.
While Ash had seen move stacking techniques, like Gary's Wartortle using them.
However, Wartortle's moves were released sequentially rather than simultaneously.
Releasing moves simultaneously is like drawing a circle with one hand and a square with the other, exceptionally complex. Typically, only Psychics with powerful spiritual power can achieve it, and not just any Psychic Pokemon can.
This Alakazam was truly not easy to handle, but what was even harder was the Trainer backing it.