Although she didn't know where her suddenly surging power came from, Ash always managed to come up with some strange things, ever since their first meeting, she was aware of it.
At that time, the blue dog she didn't take seriously evolved and became something that could impress her. Later, during a battle against Ash on New Island, even though that dog didn't display its power again, Ash's own strength shocked her.
Today, it's her turn to enjoy the benefit of power surge. After her power surge, she effortlessly defeated the Divine Domain Peak, and after the power dissipated, Mewtwo felt its own strength had increased.
Her original strength was already close to breaking through to Intermediate Divine Realm, just a step away.
The consecutive battles today directly allowed Mewtwo to break through that last step, reaching Intermediate Divine Realm.
Each small level within Divine Domain Level is vastly different from one another; ordinary Divine Domain-level Pokemon might take five to ten years to upgrade one level, but being with Ash, she took only three months to sense a breakthrough.
Now, in the fourth month, she directly broke through the bottleneck and reached a new realm.
However, today's gains weren't just that. After the massive power suddenly flowed into her body and receded, Mewtwo felt part of the energy remained within her.
If she absorbs and assimilates that part of the energy, she might again ascend to Divine Domain High Level!
For someone who has just leveled up, it's an incredible event, brought to her by Ash.
Though Mewtwo really wanted to ask Ash why her power suddenly surged to such an extent, since Ash didn't directly tell her, she guessed it related to Ash's secret.
Ash carries a secret she can't see through, related to the rapid growth of his Pokemon and her temporary power boost, and when Ash commanded her initially, she felt as if Ash had become a different person.
Such a power boost involves a deep secret; since Ash hasn't told her, it's possibly not the right time yet, so she refrains from asking further.
As for how Ash would explain to Lorelei and Cynthia, that's up to him~
Mewtwo's escape left Ash a bit flustered facing Cynthia and Lorelei, but ultimately he managed to get by with some awkward excuses.
His reason was clumsy: it was due to Mewtwo's initial MEGA Evolution, triggering the latent power of the Mew Gene within, hence acquiring strength beyond its own temporarily, but this power only activated during its first MEGA Evolution.
Once used up, it was gone.
Afterward, Mewtwo returned to its previous level, though after several battles against legendary creatures, Mewtwo's level did rise to Intermediate Divine Realm.
Ash's awkward explanation was believed by Lorelei and Cynthia on the surface, but whether they actually believed it or not, only they know.
After saying goodbye to Ash, he and his companions stayed on Asia Island for a while, experiencing the local customs, and since the Three Divine Birds had already returned, the weather around Asia Island had normalized.
Little Lugia finally officially became Ash's Pokemon. Information from Team Galactic was correct; the Little Lugia with Ash was indeed the child of Sea God Lugia. Seeing his child stained black, Lugia was not angry but expressed gratitude toward Ash.
He understood the feeling of bearing that Dark Power and knew how difficult it was to integrate that power within one's body. Little Lugia was now completely normal and showed no rejection toward the power, proving Little Lugia had fully integrated that power within its own body.
Clearly, Little Lugia couldn't have achieved this on its own; it was thanks to Ash.
Little Lugia's situation wasn't the same as Lugia's own; when Lugia was invaded by Dark Power, although on the surface it turned black, it was because the power suppressed its strength and didn't fuse with its body.
Without any other disturbances, Lugia needed about thirty minutes to return to normal.
But with those humans, it's hard to say what they'd do in thirty minutes, possibly even taking Lugia back to their base to strengthen control. Without Ash, both Lugia and its child would encounter unspeakable disaster.
Therefore, Ash was like a savior to Lugia and its child, which is why Lugia chose to entrust Little Lugia to Ash, and even gave his own life feather, the Silver Feather, to Ash.
Before saying goodbye to Lugia, Ash asked about the GS Ball. The GS Ball was crafted using the combined power of Ho-Oh and Lugia. Ho-Oh's whereabouts are unknown, but Lugia was right there.
Unfortunately, Lugia knew nothing about it, suggesting the GS Ball was merely made using the powers of the two legendary beasts, unknown to them.
Even though Ash presented the GS Ball to Lugia, Lugia couldn't open it but did inform Ash of its usage. It's a Pokeball filled with the power of time and space, specifically for capturing Pokemon with that power.
Upon mentioning the power of time and space, Dialga and Palkia naturally come to mind. Dialga controls time, and Palkia controls space. Could this Pokeball be meant for capturing them?
But that can't be right; there's only one Pokeball, can't capture two Pokemon with it.
The clues ended there; Ash decided to bring the GS Ball back to Professor Oak for further investigation.
But before returning to Pallet Town, Ash had somewhere else to go—the Ganju Island in the Orange Archipelago. He intended to battle Yuji, the chief trainer of this year's Orange Archipelago, at the Pummelo Stadium.
Typically, challenging the chief trainer requires collecting enough Southern Cross Star badges, but Yuji proactively issued the challenge to Ash, delivered through Lorelei.
The reason was that Yuji seemed interested in Ash and, upon learning he was in the Orange Archipelago, wanted a battle but lacked Ash's contact information.
Thus, Yuji reached out to his distant relative, current Elite Four of Kanto and Johto League Champion Dragon Taming Lance.
Upon learning this, Lance contacted Lorelei, knowing she was with Ash. Coincidentally, the notice arrived the night the Orange Archipelago incident concluded, so the next morning, Lorelei informed Ash of Yuji's challenge.
Originally planning to return directly to Pallet Town, Ash changed course and headed to Ganju Island.
Ultimately, they left Asia Island four days after the legendary beast battle event, having had fun for two days. With important matters resolved, there was finally time to relax; no need to rush.
Traveling from Asia Island to Ganju Island didn't take long, just half a day by Lapras.
Upon reaching Ganju Island, Ash and companions headed straight to Pummelo Stadium. After being obstructed by the guards, Ash reported his name for them to find Yuji.
Without badges, only Yuji's personal presence could confirm the battle could commence.
Normally, with badges, one simply registers at the Pokemon Center, which notifies Pummelo Stadium for battle preparation.
Without badges, Ash had to personally seek out Yuji.
Fortunately, Yuji seemed to have instructed the guards to promptly inform him upon hearing Ash's name.
Soon, Yuji quickly came before Ash and his companions.