In the Black World — a blue dragon-shaped shadow burst from the explosion's smoke, then shot toward Lugia like a falling meteor!
After using Aeroblast once, Lugia would indeed need time to gather power for a second use.
The opponent clearly had no intention of giving Lugia that time!
So Lugia swiftly dispersed the charging Aeroblast and beat its wings to evade the attack.
However, Dark Lugia using Dragon Rush was far faster!
Lugia dodged as fast as it could, yet Dark Lugia clung to it like a ghost, closing in relentlessly!
Flying close over the sea, Lugia felt the murderous aura behind it growing closer and couldn't help but glance back.
It had the Flying type, for sea's sake!
For a corrupted dragon to outpace it? Simply outrageous!
Whoosh—
The airflow above sea level seemed summoned, suddenly gathering around Lugia.
Instantly, Lugia's speed increased another notch!
Lugia had now used its Ocean Current authority to employ an effect similar to Tailwind.
However, the move Tailwind might boost speed by 10% or 20% at most. Using its divine authority could double it!
In the blink of an eye, Lugia put distance between itself and the Dragon Rush-charged Dark Lugia.
Even with its tough hide, it dared not let Dark Lugia strike it head-on!
A direct hit would mean severe injury, if not worse.
With its speed increased, Lugia launched quick attacks like Air Slash and Swift in the gaps, but all were deflected by Dark Lugia's Dragon Rush state.
It was embarrassing… weak moves couldn't break its defense, and powerful moves needed charging time…
It could use Protect to block the Dragon Rush, then counterattack, but… Dark Lugia could also use Protect!
The situation was a stalemate… a complete deadlock!
"I'll create an opening for you, Lugia! I'll break through that Dragon Rush protection! But it'll take some time!"
Really?
It wasn't that Lugia doubted Ash.
It just seemed… utterly unrealistic!
That was a Dragon Rush used by a Legendary-tier being.
Ash and his Pikachu together might not break it. This was a Legendary's move!
Just as the combined might of the three Legendary Birds couldn't break its signature Aeroblast, the Dragon Rush used by Dark Lugia, while slightly inferior to the divinely empowered Aeroblast, was still immensely powerful.
Therefore… Ash must be out of his mind to think he could break it!
If it were that easy, Lugia wouldn't be sweating bullets while being chased.
"No harm in trying."
Ash looked at Pikachu, also standing on Lugia's back, and nodded.
Pikachu immediately understood.
The tactic agreement between them had reached the point where a glance conveyed everything.
"Lugia, make as wide circles as you can, but don't go too far. Gain some altitude."
Currently, Lugia was circling over the sea.
Though Dark Lugia had been in pursuit, the circular path kept them over the Whirl Islands.
Following Ash's instruction, Lugia, previously skimming the waves, suddenly shot upward, its body sheathed in azure light. Dark Lugia, transformed into a divine dragon, followed without a second thought.
The current Dark Lugia was a mad dog attacking anything in sight.
The stronger the opponent, the more likely it was to be targeted!
So now, aside from Lugia, Dark Lugia had nothing else in its eyes!
It would chase Lugia down and tear it apart!
That was its remaining instinct.
Though… wasn't that a kind of love?
Ahem, just kidding. At least Lugia didn't want that yandere-style affection right now.
Lugia, having risen from sea level, didn't go too high, just to a normal cruising altitude.
As Lugia continued its flight, golden lightning began striking the thunderclouds repeatedly.
The clash between the two Legendary-tier beings had churned the weather into a storm: rain poured, thunder roared, waves rolled.
This environment, however, made one technique easier to use—
Thunder Kirin!
But this time, the users weren't just Pikachu, but Pikachu and Ash!
Ultimately, Thunder Kirin was a move Ash had taught Pikachu.
Initially, he could only use it through Aura Fusion with Pikachu, relying on Pikachu's electric power to succeed.
His own power was Aura, a Fighting-type energy, unusable for Thunder Kirin… until the Unown granted him mysterious power!
Now he was a full-type Pokémon! Converting to Electric-type to use Thunder Kirin wasn't difficult.
When he first gained this conversion ability, Ash had tested it successfully!
But… an ordinary Thunder Kirin wouldn't suffice against Dark Lugia. Otherwise, with his current Aura, he could create a Kirin capable of severely injuring a sub-Legendary-tier being in under three seconds!
To break Dark Lugia's Dragon Rush defense… required a larger scale and more natural lightning!
That was why Ash had Lugia circle.
By now, Ash and Pikachu had entered Aura Fusion.
Not only did Pikachu's Electric-type moves gain immense power, Ash could also slightly control the lightning they blasted into the sky.
The plan was this:
Pikachu used Thunderbolt and Thunder to gather lightning, while Ash concentrated and coalesced it all.
Only then… could they possibly break Dark Lugia's defense!
Time passed second by second.
Misty and the others watched anxiously as Lugia and Ash circled the sky, periodically emitting golden lightning.
They didn't know what Ash was doing, only that he was being pursued by Dark Lugia.
The latter's terrifying power was visible: where it passed, rain vaporized, winds howled, waves churned.
Even at a distance, they could feel Dark Lugia's murderous intent.
But their anxiety was useless.
This level of battle was beyond their intervention.
Misty, Sabrina, even Brock clenched their fists.
Again… whenever something happens, Ash has to take the lead…
Even after all their growth, compared to Ash… they still fell far short!
This feeling of powerlessness was crushing.
"Gulp… Have you noticed… the lightning in the sky is getting stranger?" Hiro accidentally spotted something odd and swallowed hard.
At his reminder, everyone looked away from Ash to the sky.
They saw that the unknown golden flashes had, at some point, turned blue. The blue lightning didn't strike down but lingered in the air, dyeing the entire sky from dark black to an eerie blue!
They'd been so focused on Ash, they'd missed it entirely.
Seeing the blue lightning, Misty and the others understood—they even realized why golden lightning periodically flashed around Lugia.
"It's Thunder Kirin! Ash is preparing Thunder Kirin!"
"This charging time… is much longer than before!"
"Well, the opponent is Dark Lugia, a terror that rivals the Sea Guardian!"
Misty, Brock, and Sabrina analyzed the situation.
The Team Rocket trio recalled the last time Ash used this move against the ancient beast and paled.
If Ash hadn't shielded them then, they'd have been vaporized!
Only Hiro looked confused.
Thunder Kirin? What Thunder Kirin?
On the battlefield, after minutes of gathering, the lightning in the sky had reached its peak!
Any more, and even Ash would lose control.
As said before, Thunder Kirin's power primarily came from natural lightning; Pikachu's electricity was merely the primer.
Its greatest weaknesses were environmental dependence and preparation time.
But if those conditions were met, its power could multiply severalfold, even tenfold!
Now, the primer's power alone nearly overwhelmed Ash, whose strength already rivaled a sub-Legendary's.
The complete Thunder Kirin's power would be…
"Ready, Lugia! Lure Dark Lugia to that spot!"
Using his Aura, Ash indicated a location for Lugia.
The center of the Whirl Islands, to the right of the four isles—where the heavenly lightning was strongest!
Lugia didn't reply but accelerated, arriving at Ash's designated spot in under ten seconds.
There, Lugia halted for the first time.
Instantly, Dark Lugia closed in, its terrifying murderous intent palpable, the azure dragon descending with claws bared.
The oppressive force made Ash's skin prickle.
At the same moment, Ash and Pikachu's raised right hands swept down.
The clouds, nearly dyed blue, were torn asunder!
A blue Kirin, radiating unparalleled power, manifested in the sky!
Twice the size of the azure dragon, the Kirin loomed.
Dark Lugia, about to bite down on Lugia, sensed a lethal threat.
It looked up abruptly and charged on instinct!
Now… the terrifying beast of azure lightning descending from above posed a greater danger!
Its priority shifted to the Kirin above.
"By thunder—be purged!"
"Pika-chuuuu!!"
"Roooar!!"
The thunder-formed Kirin shook the heavens with its roar. It brandished sharp claws and opened a god-slaying maw, as if to devour the dragon-formed Dark Lugia!
Bzzzzt—
The collision of thunder and dragon, Kirin and dragon, made space itself tremble silently. The world seemed to freeze.
The sea stilled, the air ceased to flow, all sound vanished. Then—
BOOOOOOM!!!!
An indescribably horrific explosion detonated in the sky!
Lugia instantly used Protect.
Sabrina, far away, paled. Without a word, she Teleported everyone around her four or five times, retreating over two kilometers in one breath!
The next instant, a terrifying shockwave struck.
The cliff edge where Sabrina and the others had stood crumbled like tofu. The sea itself was gouged a massive hole by the blast!
Fortunately, the wild Pokémon nearby had long fled the two Legendaries' battle.
Otherwise… not a single one would have survived!
The explosion lasted nearly twenty seconds before slowly subsiding, its aftermath lingering for almost a minute.
Lugia withdrew Protect and gazed, stunned, at the slowly healing scar on the sea.
You call this… 'creating an opening' for me?
You didn't actually want to kill my mate directly, did you???
…
In the real world, the barrage that had been watching Ash and Lugia's battle and communication fell silent. The largest gap since the broadcast began appeared—a full minute with no comments!
Everyone was shocked speechless by the world-annihilating scene.
Finally, Lance spoke first.
[Lance]: That… this… ah?
Lance struggled before uttering four words.
[Cynthia]: Is this really something a human can do?
Cynthia questioned Ash's humanity.
[Professor Oak]: Black World Ash isn't human…
Professor Oak denied Ash's humanity.
[Caitlin]: If he's human, I'll eat my hat!
Caitlin completely denied Black Ash's membership in the human race.
[Serena]: So… so amazing…
Serena was at a loss, only able to utter something akin to 'incredible'.
In short… Black Ash had once again succeeded in astonishing the entire world!
They'd tried to raise their estimation of him, but… his actions still far exceeded their understanding!
Was this even human?!
It was bad enough he wasn't human before!
This performance now… was simply beyond extraordinary!
What kind of monster had the Unown created…
[Lorelei]: Rational analysis time. How powerful was that blow?
[Lugia]: It should be close to my Aeroblast… That thunder's power didn't just rely on nature, but also on the energy from my mate and me.
[Ho-Oh]: That Thunder Kirin move essentially harnesses natural lightning. Just now, Ash had Pikachu draw and attract all the weather phenomena generated by my mate's and my battle!
[Lugia]: Wind, thunder, waves, rain—these phenomena were caused by our clash, so they carried the energy of our battle.
[Lugia]: That's why the Kirin held such terrifying power. Otherwise… normally summoning the natural power between heaven and earth should only reach the level of a Legendary-tier being's full-force strike.
[Lugia]: Well, in summary, if Black Ash charges Thunder Kirin normally, it's equivalent to a Legendary-tier full-power attack. Combined with his current Aura surpassing sub-Legendary-tier, this is reasonable…
[Ho-Oh]: Edit, keep editing. I never thought I'd see the day the Sea Guardian talks nonsense.
[Ash]: Um… did Lugia say something wrong?
[Ho-Oh]: Not exactly. The analysis was decent, but… it ended with 'this is reasonable.' Ask it, does it truly think it's reasonable?
[Lugia]: …
It was absolutely unreasonable!
Forget a human launching a Legendary-tier full-power attack; the mere fact of launching such an attack without being Legendary-tier was outrageous!
Let alone that it was done by a human!
Despite Lugia's words on the barrage, if its power weren't sealed, a massive tsunami would have struck the Orange Archipelago to express its inner shock!
So… how did this irrational existence grow to this point?
The world was relatively fair.
Even a Legendary's descendant, born with a high ceiling, had the drawback of slow growth.
But Black Ash… wasn't his ceiling essentially limitless?
PS: I've been releasing chapters daily . Honestly, it hurts seeing almost no support on Patreon after all that work.
If you're enjoying the fic, even a little, supporting me would mean a lot. It helps a student stay independent .
complete fic (all chapters ) are already up on Patreon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789
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