"Vana!" Let the battle begin!
"Go, Bulbasaur!" Ash said as he closed his eyes, channeling the Aura Power from within his body.
Aura resides within my heart!
The powerful Aura infused into Bulbasaur's body, and in an instant, Bulbasaur's overall strength shot up to the Professional Peak!
After acquiring that life force, even though Bulbasaur didn't evolve, its overall physical qualities improved, elevating its level to the Elite Peak.
Previously, the Aura Power could only manage to elevate Bulbasaur to the Professional Middle Level at best.
The enhancement from Aura Power is linked to the Pokemon's own level and endurance capacity.
Though Bulbasaur hasn't evolved, and even if its Ability Value is high, its capacity is very limited. However, after the recent life transformation, its endurance has reached a new level, allowing for a major breakthrough.
Initially, Venusaur thought about going easy on Bulbasaur since it was at a much higher level, but upon sensing the strength emanating from Bulbasaur, it was stunned.
No way, what is this? It was clearly much weaker than me a moment ago, and now in the blink of an eye, it's elevated to almost the same level as me? That's not scientific!
Even with that mysterious Seed of Life, it took Venusaur several years to reach this level of strength!
What's up with this Bulbasaur? How did it suddenly seem like a completely different Pokemon?!
"The opponent is also a Grass Type Pokemon. We can't use Sunny Day or Grassy Terrain, as that would buff the opponent. Plus, Grass Type moves only have one quarter of the power against Venusaur, so the best combat strategy is... poison!"
Ash didn't rush into an attack, but calmly analyzed the situation.
The teachings from the masters in the group were not in vain. Charging in recklessly would be a disservice to their guidance.
The opponent shares the same attributes as Bulbasaur, and its overall Ability Value is superior as an evolved form, but now their levels don't differ much.
In this scenario, using Sunny Day or Grassy Terrain to boost Grass Type Pokemon would actually benefit Venusaur more.
Therefore, in this battle, we can't set the terrain, nor can we allow the opponent to set the terrain.
"Bulbasaur, Sludge Bomb!" Ash commanded Bulbasaur to attack first with a Poison Type move that deals normal damage.
"Dane Hu Xia!"
Bulbasaur leaped into the air, aimed the seed on its back at Venusaur below, and spewed a large mouthful of ghostly purple poison!
Venusaur stomped its foot, and countless green plants surged up from the ground!
The plants were covered with countless thorny spikes, which would likely pierce and wound anyone they touched!
The ultimate Grass Type move, Frenzy Plant!
This Frenzy Plant was somewhat different from the one Bulbasaur used before; there were no spikes on Bulbasaur's version.
Bulbasaur's Frenzy Plant seemed intended for control and binding, whereas Venusaur's was purely an offensive skill.
Numerous plants rose, directly blocking the descending poison.
However, Grass Type moves have low resistance against Poison Type moves, and in an instant, the numerous plants that had sprung from the ground were corroded and decayed by the poison.
Yet, more than half of the thorny plants continued to fly towards Bulbasaur!
"Dodge with Vine Whip." Ash's expression remained unchanged as he calmly commanded.
Although in mid-air, Bulbasaur couldn't change direction out of thin air, but there was a ready-made stepping board!
As the Frenzy Plant encircled Bulbasaur, it extended two Vine Whips, striking the plants and using the rebound force to propel itself away.
The Frenzy Plant pursued relentlessly, but Bulbasaur, with its Vine Whip, danced like in mid-air, and none of the attacking vines managed to touch it.
Venusaur was stunned; how could a skill with such a large area not even touch that little creature? What a joke!
It was as if the opponent could completely predict all of its attack directions and always leap out of attack range just in time.
The plant swayed for a full minute, unable to touch Bulbasaur even once, and by this point, the duration for Frenzy Plant had ended.
The thorny vines on the field slowly disappeared, and Venusaur gasped heavily.
Even for a Professional Level Venusaur, the consumption of such a major move like Frenzy Plant was considerable.
Not being able to touch Bulbasaur with such a wide-range skill was a heavy blow to Venusaur.
At this moment, Bulbasaur landed back on the ground as the vines disappeared, and the seeds on its back began to accumulate energy.
"Sludge Bomb!" Ash continued with the strategy of using Poison Type moves, as other moves couldn't deal enough damage to Venusaur.
Bulbasaur leapt once more, and the poison liquid stored up quickly spewed from the seed on its back. This time, Venusaur couldn't use a move to block it, nor could it move itself.
Frenzy Plant may be powerful, but strong moves come with considerable side effects; after using Frenzy Plant, there's a period of immobility.
While some Pokemon can shorten this stiff period through training, generally, wild Pokemon don't have planned efforts to shorten stiffness.
Moreover, using Frenzy Plant so recklessly wouldn't happen if there was a Trainer present.
This is the difference between having and not having a Trainer.
The poison spewed from Bulbasaur's back showered over Venusaur, and the bubbling purple toxin forced a painful cry from Venusaur.
But all it could do now was endure the continual erosion of the Sludge Bomb, without any means of countering it.
"Keep using Sludge Bomb!"
As Bulbasaur landed from the sky, Ash commanded once more.
The dark purple liquid spewed forth again, with very short intervals between the moves, and Venusaur hadn't broken free from the stiff state yet, so was hit by Sludge Bomb once again.
However, after this round, Venusaur regained its freedom and extended six Vine Whips toward Bulbasaur from the petals on its body.
It had observed Bulbasaur's movements carefully. Since it was dodging so well, Venusaur intended to bind it, leaving no room to evade!
Yet, as the six whirling Vine Whips reached Bulbasaur, they still couldn't touch it even once.
"If the vast Frenzy Plant couldn't hit my Bulbasaur, why would you think Vine Whip could?" Ash retorted, leaving Venusaur speechless.
Exactly, if such a wide range of Frenzy Plant attacks was avoided, how could Vine Whip not be?
Under the observation of Aura Power, this lumbering attack was basically like hitting a punching bag that couldn't fight back when it met Bulbasaur.
Even if Bulbasaur were at the Professional Junior Level, it could render Venusaur helpless.
"Bulbasaur, use Vine Whip to flip Venusaur!" As Bulbasaur dodged the attack, Ash loudly instructed, reversing the use of Vine Whip on the opponent.
If the Vine Whip struck Venusaur, it wouldn't do much harm, but it was meant to restrain Venusaur's actions.
At Ash's command, four Vine Whips extended from Bulbasaur and tied around Venusaur's feet. In the next moment, Bulbasaur exerted force, hoisting Venusaur up with its Vine Whip and flipping it over before slamming it down hard!
"Boom!"