"Roar!!"
Arcanine didn't give them any time to continue observing. With a sudden burst of power from its four paws, its entire body transformed into a deep red blaze charging directly at Pikachu!
Boom!!
The black rocky ground, already cracked, exploded again, sending a large amount of rubble flying backward. Arcanine's speed at this moment was even faster than before it entered the lava!
This was preparing for one last effort.
Ash still had a smile on his face.
"In that case, Pikachu, we'll face it head-on too! Volt Tackle!"
"Pika!"
Golden arcs of electricity erupted instantly from Pikachu's cheeks!
Crackle—!!
The ever more violent thunder rapidly spread along Pikachu's body, and in a blink, enveloped the small body completely. The dazzling golden light flickered continuously in the volcano's center, even causing fine cracks in the rocks beneath due to the bursting energy.
Pikachu suddenly lowered its body, and in the next instant, exerted force with all its limbs!
Bang!!
The golden figure shot out in an instant!
Arcanine, charging from one direction, was wrapped in deep red flames, while Pikachu on the other side transformed entirely into a furious golden thunderbolt.
The two distinctly colored lights crossed the flat ground at a tremendous speed, then collided head-on in mid-air!
Boom——!!!
The terrifying explosion instantly engulfed both sides completely!
Golden thunder and deep red flames wildly spread in all directions, and the shockwaves from the collision blew large amounts of rubble away.
The magma that was a bit closer churned violently from the intense vibration, and a large amount of scarlet lava was thrown high into the air!
Ash almost immediately stepped toward where Cynthia was standing as soon as the magma flew up, with the blue light in his eyes suddenly intensifying!
Buzz!!
A bright blue Aura Barrier expanded instantly!
The large splatters of lava landed consecutively on the barrier's surface, with the scorching liquid quickly sliding to the sides along that layer of blue energy, not a single drop getting close to Ash and Cynthia.
This kind of temperature of lava is not something that can be resolved by a casual burn if it truly touches a person.
Cynthia stood behind the barrier, her silver-grey eyes never leaving the explosion center ahead.
"How is it?"
"Arcanine's aura is rapidly weakening."
Ash maintained the barrier while carefully sensing the changes in the explosion center.
"This time, it's truly at its limit."
Arcanine was already heavily injured, and now it forcibly used Flare Blitz to collide head-on with Pikachu's Volt Tackle.
Besides the damage from the Volt Tackle, the recoil from Flare Blitz itself would also continue to consume Arcanine's already scarce physical strength.
As for Pikachu, the previous head-on collision and the recoil from Volt Tackle were not entirely absent.
But with Pikachu's current physical strength, this level of consumption wasn't even considered a warm-up.
The light from the explosion gradually dissipated.
A massive grey-black figure was the first to fall from the sky.
It was Arcanine.
The unusual golden light covering its body had noticeably dimmed, and its limbs no longer actively adjusted its position, clearly having lost the power to continue fighting.
Ash was just about to withdraw the Aura Barrier when his expression suddenly changed.
"No way!"
The position where Arcanine was falling wasn't the black flat ground in the middle.
Underneath was lava!
Ash: "..."
What's going on?
When you had the strength, you jumped in yourself, and now that you have no strength left, you're still falling there!
Previously, Arcanine was able to recover by absorbing the Fire Attribute Power in the environment of Firespit Island because it still had enough conscious awareness and strength to actively channel its own energy.
Now, with Arcanine near unconsciousness, Ash wasn't prepared to gamble on a second chance for the newly crowned New King.
"Pikachu, Thunderbolt, push Arcanine back, control your power!"
"Pika!"
Also having been shaken to the other side by the collision, Pikachu quickly flipped its body in mid-air, with golden electric light again lighting up on its cheeks!
"Pika——Chu!"
A Thunderbolt, with its power clearly controlled, instantly streaked across the sky!
The golden electric current accurately hit Arcanine's back from the side, and the energy impact from the thunder changed Arcanine's original falling direction, pushing its large body sideways back to the location of the flat ground!
Bang!!
Arcanine crashed heavily onto the black rocky surface and slid a small distance further before finally coming to a complete stop.
Pikachu also landed nearby and as its limbs just touched the ground, its body gently shook because of the recoil from the previous Volt Tackle.
But it was just one shake.
"Pika!"
Pikachu quickly regained its footing and proudly waved its two little short arms towards Ash.
How was it?
Wasn't Teacher Dapi's collision just now super cool!
Ash almost burst out laughing seeing him, but since it wasn't over yet, he didn't rush to celebrate with Pikachu.
"I know you're awesome, but first check on Arcanine."
"Pika."
Pikachu immediately became serious, walking towards Arcanine with Ash.
Cynthia also came over from behind but didn't get directly close to Arcanine, stopping to one side to leave Ash enough space.
Arcanine truly had completely lost the ability to continue battling.
Yet, the unusual golden light covering its body still existed, although it was much dimmer than at the start, and the black markings had not completely disappeared.
Defeating the king didn't mean the governor's action was completed.