If Gengar were present at this moment, he would definitely feel a sense of empathy.
At last, there's someone who understands what he felt back then!
And compared to Magmar, Gengar was actually harder to accept because he had lived for over two thousand years. What strange situations hadn't he encountered? But a human like Ash he truly had never seen!
Even if humans in ancient times were physically stronger, they might only have the power to deal with ordinary Pokemon. Once a Pokemon reached the Elite Level, it was no longer something humans could challenge.
But what about Ash? He knocked down an Elite Advanced with just one punch, what kind of joke is this!
At this moment, Ash, who shattered the Fire Blast in the air, suddenly launched himself off the air with his feet, using the powerful impact to shoot towards Magmar on the volcanic pillar like an arrow from a bowstring.
"Dodge quickly, Magmar!" Blaine, true to being a Trainer with Elite Level proficiency, managed to react immediately and instruct Magmar despite the shocking scene that had just left them all stunned.
Unfortunately, Magmar's mental resilience wasn't as strong as Blaine's. In fact, his mindset had already collapsed.
Seeing his Fire Blast shattered by the opponent's punch, without any moves involved, the exaggerated power gap left Magmar faintly feeling a 'shattered spirit.'
So Blaine's command couldn't be delivered to Magmar in time, and Ash had already reached Magmar's side!
"Goodbye." The faint words echoed in Magmar's ears, and the next moment, Magmar felt a heavy blow to his stomach, immediately losing consciousness.
Ash slowly retracted his fist from Magmar's stomach without even glancing at the volcanic wall shattered by the follow-up impact of the punch. Instead, he let Magmar lean on his shoulder.
Magmar had already lost the ability to battle, solely because of Ash's punch just now.
However, when Magmar leaned on Ash, Ash's clothes were nearly ignited!
Although Ash's body itself wasn't afraid of Magmar's body temperature, his clothes weren't so resilient!
Originally intending to play the cool, silent expert, Ash quickly enveloped himself with Aura Power, isolating the heat from his entire body; otherwise, all his clothes would be set ablaze!
Despite this minor hiccup, the outcome did not change. This battle's victory belonged to Ash!
Standing across in the Trainer's seat, Blaine's face was full of complex expressions, unable to speak a word.
Freakish... Too freakish!
He had never seen such a freakish human before! Even that Superpower User, Sabrina, whom he met at the Trainer convention, was nothing compared to Ash!
Even the so-called Psychic Elite from the Unova Region, said to be capable of destroying a small town when going berserk, probably wouldn't last even a round against Ash!
No wonder Ash claimed he was confident in protecting Gardevoir. No wonder he said his strength was the strongest in the team. He was genuinely sincere, without a hint of deceit!
"I lost. As promised, I'll give you the two MEGA Evolution Stones, and I won't persuade you to hand over Gardevoir to the League either," Blaine said, taking out his Pokeball to withdraw Magmar.
It's clear that Blaine had completely conceded. If even Ash's power couldn't safeguard Gardevoir, handing over to the League wouldn't make any difference.
After all, the League couldn't possibly have a Champion Trainer guarding Gardevoir day and night, and as long as it wasn't a Champion Trainer personally protecting, who could match the power Ash currently possessed?
So now, Ash is the best candidate to protect Gardevoir.
Given the power Ash just displayed, at least it was Champion Level, if not more so, and even an average Champion Level couldn't shatter Fire Blast with sheer brute force!
Magmar's power was indeed at the Elite Peak, with a comprehensive Ability Value development, making a claim of beating Champions not an exaggeration. Even if a mid-tier Champion's Pokemon came, they couldn't easily intercept his Fire Blast.
Calculating from this perspective, Ash's strength is terrifyingly boundless.
Withdrawing Magmar, the group didn't linger around the volcano any longer since the intense battle earlier had already caused slight volcanic activity.
Cinnabar Island's volcano is sensitive; any tremor might trigger an eruption. Yet in an unknown corner, Ash used Aura Power to forcibly suppress the rising magma.
The reason the Divine Domain Level is called so is because they have the power to control nature, even to counteract it.
So for Ash, suppressing a volcano is naturally no big deal; if Blaine knew about this, he might just freeze up for ten minutes...
…
Dozens of minutes later, the group returned to the small house where Blaine lived. Blaine brewed a new pot of tea for them, and they sat down together, the atmosphere suddenly turned silent.
On the way back, no one spoke. Ash quietly whispered a couple of sentences to Gary and Misty, but seeing the strange atmosphere, he didn't continue talking.
Just after the battle, everything was fine; what caused it to suddenly become so sullen? Ash couldn't understand either.