In the real world, everyone had involuntarily come to regard Black Ash's world as their own.
In truth, fundamentally, they were the same world—equivalent to the same Prime World in two different greater universes. The difference was simply that Rainbow Rocket had appeared in Black Ash's world, while in theirs… it hadn't yet.
To be honest, without Red's help, they truly didn't know how they could resist Rainbow Rocket.
The strength of that organization inspired only one word—despair.
Of course, now… they weren't as worried.
At the very least, there were no signs of Rainbow Rocket appearing in the White World. And the livestream that had come to their world had shown them everything happening in the Black World. Combined with the occasional rewards the livestream gave for asking questions, as long as it stayed longer and provided more rewards, they might yet be able to resist Rainbow Rocket!
After all, some of the livestream's rewards were quite incredible.
For example, the Free Evolution power gained by Ash's Bulbasaur.
This was clearly a power that should be completely impossible in the real world. So… if this livestream existed, even if Rainbow Rocket invaded, there was still hope of resistance!
Of course… if Rainbow Rocket also had such a livestream, that would truly be the worst-case scenario.
However, the Black World in the image truly had no external aids.
In that case, the Red card plug-in served that purpose!
Only thus could a glimmer of hope be found amidst despair.
If they followed the White World's path to deal with the Black World's crisis…
Haha, might as well sleep. They'd suggest finding a better tombstone.
…
In the Black World —
Ash's interrogation of Vicious wasn't over yet.
After learning why Rainbow Rocket had expended so much time,
Ash and everyone's tense hearts finally relaxed a little.
The other party actually wanted to use this method to secretly undermine them—which meant… even if they invaded this world five years later, victory still wasn't guaranteed, even if Ash and his Pikachu hadn't collected all the Legendary powers by then.
At this moment, Ash still had many questions he wanted to ask Vicious…
"Why did you come to capture Celebi?"
Yes… Vicious's original purpose in coming here had been to capture Celebi.
He never expected to confront Ash, or even Red!
What a coincidence… the Chosen Ones of both worlds were gathered here,
And Vicious had fallen into the sand, trapped here.
"Because I needed Celebi's time power to locate Dialga."
"After finding Dialga and attempting to capture it, I could then find Palkia."
"In this way, as long as I killed this world's Chosen One and used Palkia to cooperate from within, our organization could arrive in this world in about half a year."
Hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
Unexpectedly, Rainbow Rocket could still rely on Palkia to come to this world early.
If Vicious truly found Palkia, wouldn't the other side be able to come over at will?
"At the same time, Dialga's time power is a level above Celebi's. Not only can it travel through spacetime, it can also change the future by altering the past."
"If this world's Chosen One grew to a point where I couldn't deal with him, I could borrow Dialga's power to travel back to when he was still immature and kill him directly."
Ash: …
Good grief, such an operation existed?!
Wasn't that cheating?!
Traveling back to a time before he'd grown and killing him directly, so he'd die in the future…
This method was simply unsolvable!
Think about it carefully…
Celebi's power didn't seem able to change the future through the past. Neither Sammy nor Red had changed past and future through their encounters with him this time. For example—if Celebi's time power could change the future through the past, then theoretically he should have been changed by now, because Red had traveled back from the present to meet him in the past.
But Dialga's time power could change the future by altering the past.
This kind of time rule was simply cheating!
Fortunately, Vicious hadn't succeeded…
"What is that Corruption Serum in your hand?"
"A bottle of the serum that can corrupt Legendary Pokémon. I used it on this world's Lugia. Unexpectedly, that Lugia had the potential to turn dark. While being corrupted, it also underwent Dark-type transformation."
Ash thought of the power within A-Jing's Aura that had disgusted him so much.
That should be the corruptive power Vicious had used to control Dark Lugia, right?
Evidence was the Dark Lugia Vicious had brought—the Aura within its body was saturated with this power!
Ash didn't dare eliminate it rashly, because compared to the corruptive power in A-Jing's body…
Vicious's Dark Lugia contained a simply incomparable amount of corruptive power.
If Ash used the same method on Vicious's Dark Lugia as he had on A-Jing's corruption, there was a real chance he would be the one purifying Dark Lugia, or Dark Lugia polluting him…
"How is the Corruption Serum made? How can it be lifted?"
Ash looked at A-Jing, who was holding down Dark Lugia with hopeful eyes, and continued questioning Vicious.
Even if it was a partner from another world, A-Jing definitely wanted to save him. Moreover, after defeating this Dark Lugia, the other party might become a fighting force for them.
Even if it was just a Legendary-tier being, that would be a very strong new asset.
However, what Vicious said next completely dashed Ash and the others' hopes.
"There is no way for a completely degenerated Legendary to recover. The only path awaiting them is death."
"The raw material of the Corruption Serum is the Corrupted World's power generated after Boss Giovanni's world successfully defiled Arceus and darkened the entire universe."
"Therefore, even a Legendary-tier being has no way to resist this serum and can only be controlled by us obediently."
"The only way to alleviate it is to use the Prime World's origin power to disperse it before the Pokémon are completely tainted. There is no other way."
Ash subconsciously looked at his palm.
The Prime World's origin power… that should be the power hidden within his Aura, right?
No wonder he usually couldn't sense any hidden power within his Aura.
It turned out that power's quality was much higher than his own. Presumably… it was because of his so-called identity as the Chosen One that his Aura contained this power.
This was why Red and Vicious could recognize his identity at once, while even he, the person involved, remained in the dark.
Here came the question…
Now that Dark Lugia couldn't return to normal, what should they do with him?
If they just let him go… that would undoubtedly be releasing a tiger back to the mountain.
Showing kindness to the enemy now would be cruelty to themselves in the future.
This wasn't a normal battle… this was a war!
In truth, Ash and the others already had the answer in their hearts, but… they couldn't bring themselves to do it, and didn't want to.
If Red had been here, he might have simply raised his sword and killed Dark Lugia directly. The original Red had naturally been a kind-hearted person like Ash, but… the current Red was no longer as innocent as before. Having experienced life's ups and downs, watching his partners die one by one before his eyes, how could Red still be as kind as before? At least when it came to enemies, he would never have such a kind mentality. Kindness to the enemy is cruelty to oneself—this was… war!
But now Ash could still hesitate… after all, he hadn't experienced what Red had.
Just as Ash was still considering how to deal with Dark Lugia and Vicious,
Vicious's dull face suddenly began twitching violently!
"Ahhh!"
"Sabrina! Stop the hypnosis now!"
Ash didn't know what was happening to Vicious, but he knew Sabrina's mental link was still connected. His first thought was to have her切断 the hypnosis, otherwise whatever strange reaction was occurring might affect her.
Sabrina obeyed Ash without hesitation, instantly withdrawing the hypnosis covering Vicious.
Then, everyone watched as Vicious clutched his head and rolled on the ground.
After a moment, Vicious finally calmed down.
Ash narrowed his eyes, sensing something strange…
The aura Vicious now gave off… wasn't quite right.
It was a stronger temperament… like a completely different person!
Vicious stood slowly, arms drooping, head tilted to one side. There was no light in his eyes—just like when he'd been hypnotized before.
But Sabrina had clearly already withdrawn her mental power…
"Red? No… I should say, the Red of this world?"
Ash: !!!
Sure enough, someone had changed!
Though he didn't know who had infiltrated Vicious's mind, one thing was certain—the other party must come from the same place as Vicious!
Otherwise, he wouldn't have mentioned the word "Red," nor would he have referred to "this world's Red"!
"So you've met the Chosen One. No wonder Vicious fell into trouble… The Psychic Lock was broken too. It seems you extracted quite a lot of information from Vicious…"
Vicious tilted his head, staring at Ash and the others with dull eyes.
In just a few seconds, the entity possessing Vicious had figured out what Ash and the others had done.
His reasoning ability was not to be underestimated.
At this moment, a fierce light flashed in A-Jing's eyes. Her pitch-black wings became coated with emerald energy, the energy forming a massive, unparalleled claw that fiercely slashed at the Dark Lugia beneath her!
Shrrrk—
The sharp dragon claw instantly tore through Dark Lugia's wings.
Now, even if Vicious could still control Dark Lugia, its combat power was far less than before.
"Oh? You saw me take control of this body and immediately attacked Dark Lugia? Decisive enough. Lugia worthy of being able to turn dark."
"If the original Lugia were here, it would probably hesitate to act because of its kind heart."
The possessed Vicious praised A-Jing.
"But that's all. You didn't kill Dark Lugia directly, which shows you still harbor that unnecessary kindness in your heart! Just like that kid Red."
"To be honest, I quite admire him. Even after death, he managed to improve his strength to such an extent… He truly was the most troublesome opponent I've ever encountered."
"I just wonder… what kind of person is his counterpart in this world?"
Ash and the others didn't answer.
They had already made many mistakes. Revealing information about this world would only make things worse.
Moreover… how had the other party gotten into Vicious?
"Haha, not talking? Fine. We still have time to meet anyway… Additionally, not killing Dark Lugia is your biggest mistake. It allows me to reclaim that power."
"So… goodbye."
With a thought, the Dark Lugia beneath A-Jing suddenly let out a miserable howl!
Then, its body seemed to wither, shrinking as if transformed into a withered old man.
Simultaneously, a jet-black energy surged from its body, finally coalescing into a black sphere. The sphere exuded a disgusting aura. The surrounding flowers, plants, and trees, shaken by the sphere's emergence, instantly turned black, then crumbled to ash…
Mere leaked aura had caused the surrounding vegetation to lose their lives…
What kind of evil, terrifying power was this?
Was the entity possessing Vicious here only to reclaim this power?
"How could I let you succeed!"
Azure blue flames suddenly erupted from Ash's body as he stepped forward to block the dark power.
At the same time, a blue Aura Sphere condensed in his hand—
BOOM!!
The two energies collided with a tremendous roar. The dissipated explosion also violently shook the surrounding woods.
Amidst the collision of energies, the hidden power within Ash's Aura Sphere—the Prime World's origin power—was drawn forth by the corrupted world's energy.
The forces of justice and evil entangled, canceling each other out.
Ash gritted his teeth, twisting his palm violently to add rotational force to the Aura Sphere. At that moment, the condensed dark power finally couldn't withstand it, and was purified without a trace by the Aura Sphere!
Because Vicious was possessed, his face had remained expressionless throughout. But now, even he couldn't hide the shock in his heart.
This world's Red… is his physical body this strong?
He can use Aura to this extent… combined with the world's origin power contained within his Aura… It seems he's an even more troublesome person than Red!
But… it didn't matter. In the end, this world would also belong to Rainbow Rocket.
The possessed Vicious took one last deep look, gasped, and fell from the air. He glanced at Ash, half-kneeling on the ground, then simply closed his eyes. There seemed to be no breath…
"Vicious's Aura… has disappeared."
Ash's face stiffened as he spoke these words with complicated emotions.
Aura was the source of human life. The disappearance of Aura… meant death.
In other words, the current Vicious… was dead.
An evil man's death naturally wouldn't make people sad, but… Vicious's sudden death still left Ash feeling somewhat复杂.
This villain, who had arrived with grand ambitions, had ended up dying by his own people's hands.
That entity who possessed him must have done something—otherwise, Vicious's physical condition wouldn't have killed him.
At the same time, the Aura of the Dark Lugia body he'd brought was also constantly weakening, not far from death…
This was Rainbow Rocket's style… Treating human lives like ants… Truly disgusting!
In a resplendent, beautiful castle, a flat-haired man opened his eyes. Within those eyes seemed to reside endless darkness.
If Ash were here, he would definitely recognize him.
If this man wasn't Giovanni, the leader of Rainbow Rocket, who else could it be?
"That kid… is somewhat troublesome."
Author's Note (PS):
Ah~ Since Rainbow Rocket's appearance, this story has gradually become fantasy. jpg
it will return to the main line of Gyms and League battles later.
Also, there have been relatively few real-world characters speaking in these recent chapters because the plot required it. For continuity and pacing, I reduced their dialogue a little~
I will restore the original balance later.
At the same time, the real world's plot is about to begin advancing.
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