Ash had experienced how tricky the move Trick Room could be during the Indigo Plateau Conference. At that time, even though his level completely crushed the opponent, he was restricted everywhere because of Trick Room.
However, back then, Ash could rely on the gap in raw strength to directly break Trick Room. To put it simply, Trick Room is just a psychic-type move. Generally speaking, there are two ways to break it: one is to use Trick Room again to reverse the rules of the space back to normal.
The other is to wait for the duration of Trick Room to end.
Previously, Ash had Gardevoir use brute force to break it because of that God-level move; otherwise, relying solely on Gardevoir's level, there would be no way to forcibly break a space-type move.
But now, facing a Champion Intermediate Level Slowbro, even if Gardevoir were to use Psystrike, it would be impossible to shake Trick Room in the slightest, unless Mewtwo were brought out.
God-level moves are not omnipotent either. This kind of space-type move involves rules; breaking it is not that easy.
In other words, even the current Lugia has no way to deal with this Trick Room, unless Lugia could reach the God Domain Level—then she might have the capital to forcibly break it.
For now, even if she is a Mythical Pokémon, she is helpless against Trick Room.
Ash had actually noticed earlier that Slowbro seemed a bit off, as if it were charging up for something. Even with Light Screen for defense, it was a bit too strange to make no response at all when facing Dark Pulse.
It turns out it was holding back something big!
Trick Room can be interrupted, but not by a move like Dark Pulse. Originally, Lugia's move was just a probing attack; she hadn't even used her full power, precisely to prepare for the opponent's counterattack.
Who could have thought the opponent had no intention of counterattacking at all? Lorelei might have even guessed his probing move.
"Trick Room is active, and now the rhythm has completely shifted to Elite Four Lorelei's side! It's certainly surprising that contestant Ash brought out the legendary God of the Sea, but it seems this God of the Sea hasn't fully grown yet. Could it be that today Elite Four Lorelei can achieve the feat of 'God-slaying'?!"
The announcer appeared exceptionally excited, as if he were the one fighting on the field.
No one expected such a situation to occur in an exhibition match. The appearance of the legendary God of the Sea undoubtedly ignited a frenzy at the scene. Even if this God of the Sea was somewhat different from the legends, and even if the God of the Sea didn't seem fully grown, the God of the Sea was still the God of the Sea!
She is the totem of faith for the residents of the Orange Islands. In the Orange Islands, eighty percent of the people believe in the God of the Sea. But besides that eighty percent, there are also people who believe that humans can transcend the gods.
Today's battle might become proof. Regardless of whether the God of the Sea is fully grown, if he loses, it will give those who believe in human supremacy a powerful reason.
Another thing is—humans, as beings, instinctively want to pull down high-ranking existences. Seeing a high and mighty god fall is much more interesting than watching the God of the Sea win—at least, that's what many people think.
So even some who believe in the God of the Sea want to see Little Lugia lose in this battle. After all, this match doesn't involve the survival of humanity, nor does it involve the survival of the God of the Sea.
In that case, watching the God of the Sea lose seems quite interesting.
"Next is the final touch. Slowbro, use Rain Dance!" Lorelei waved her small hand and gave the final setup command—Rain Dance!
In the cloudless blue sky, dark clouds suddenly formed. In less than a second, a pitter-patter of rain began to fall from the sky. This rain was confined only to the field and did not affect the area outside.
If Slowbro wanted to, it could have summoned dark clouds covering the entire island, but there was no need to waste that kind of effort. It only needed to limit the weather move to the field to gain the boost for itself.
Now, Rain, both screens, and Trick Room are all active!
The time and the place are on Lorelei's side; all that's left is the human factor!
"This is really troublesome, to have the opponent set up so much. But this little difficulty won't defeat us, right, Lugia!"
"Woo-oh!!"
"Good, that's the spirit! Use Dark Pulse once more!" Ash swung his arm, pointing his finger at the distant Slowbro as he shouted loudly.
"Woo-oh!!" Lugia tilted her head slightly, and a dark surge once again condensed in her mouth.
"Dodge it, then use Hydro Pump!!" Lorelei's expression tightened as she responded.
Even with Light Screen, it's impossible to take the opponent's attacks endlessly. Taking that Dark Pulse just now was only to set up Trick Room. Now that Trick Room is active, Lorelei has more than ten ways to avoid Lugia's attacks.
The pitch-black surge pierced through space, hurtling toward Slowbro. The rain falling from the sky was completely dissipated by the Dark Pulse!
But at the moment Dark Pulse was about to hit Slowbro, Slowbro actually vanished. In the next second, Slowbro appeared at Lugia's side, with dense water elements already condensed in its mouth.
"Slow!!" A violent torrent of water spewed from Slowbro's mouth. The surrounding rain turned into the power of the Hydro Pump, coiling around it. The already powerful Hydro Pump was boosted by another level, and the size of the water column grew a full circle thicker!
"Protect!" At this distance and with a Hydro Pump of this speed, there was no other way to respond except for Protect.
Under Trick Room, Slowbro's speed was completely reversed; its originally extremely slow speed was now at its peak, while Lugia's was the exact opposite. So now, Lugia had no way to dodge Slowbro's moves.
A pale black barrier lit up, firmly blocking the surging Hydro Pump outside. The terrifying torrent caused countless streams of water to fly through the space. If hit directly, even with Lugia's thick skin, she would likely suffer significant damage.
After all, this is a Hydro Pump boosted by the rain!
"Slowbro, Calm Mind."
"Lugia, Nasty Plot!"
Calm Mind can boost special attack and special defense by one stage, while Nasty Plot directly boosts special attack by two stages!
One side was balanced in offense and defense, while the other pushed offense to the extreme.
Even when facing the opponent's Trick Room, Ash still chose to max out the offensive aspect— "Nasty Plot? Dark Pulse— why do these moves feel a bit strange?" Lorelei's eyebrows furrowed slightly, a look of confusion appearing on her pretty face.
Her understanding of Lugia wasn't extensive, but she knew that Lugia was a Pokémon with the dual types of Psychic and Flying.
Using Dark Pulse at first could be explained as a move intended to target the psychic-type Slowbro, but now even Nasty Plot was being used—power-boosting moves also have types, and Nasty Plot is a dark-type move. Although it can raise special attack by two stages, for a Psychic Pokémon, it's far less comfortable than using Calm Mind.
The most significant difference is that the time it takes for a psychic-type Pokémon to use Calm Mind versus Nasty Plot is at least double.
Taking Slowbro as an example, using Calm Mind takes about 0.5 seconds, but using Nasty Plot would take a full second.
Some psychic-types can't even learn Nasty Plot. Lugia is a Mythical Pokémon among psychic-types, so knowing Nasty Plot wouldn't be too surprising, but choosing Nasty Plot over Calm Mind isn't a good choice.
Although many thoughts flashed through Lorelei's mind, in reality, not even a second had passed. Just as Lorelei wanted to take advantage of finishing her reinforcement first to strike Lugia a heavy blow, Ash shouted ahead of her: "Lugia, use Dark Pulse!"
It was still Dark Pulse, but with the boost from Nasty Plot, the power of Dark Pulse had nearly doubled!
Terrifying power condensed in front of Lugia, and the entire field began to tremble. Even though Mewtwo was using a protective shield to isolate the battlefield, the spectators outside could still feel the terror of the power in Lugia's mouth.
"Boom!!" When Lugia unleashed the Dark Pulse, Slowbro had only just barely finished using Calm Mind!
"How is that possible? Why was it so fast?!" Lorelei's pupils contracted as she shouted in disbelief.
In this situation, even with Trick Room, Slowbro didn't have time to make any defensive or dodging maneuvers.
The Dark Pulse directly pierced through the Light Screen and once again slammed heavily into Slowbro!
The pitch-black energy of the Dark Pulse was like a physical blade, gouging into Slowbro's plump pink body. Slowbro's round head slumped abruptly, the light in its small eyes instantly dimming, and its heavy shell let out a crisp "crack" under the energy impact.
Its short, thick limbs stiffened in vain, and its massive body was like a boulder caught in a gale, flying backward toward the edge of the field at an alarming speed!
With a dull thud of air being torn apart, the shell on Slowbro's back was the first to hit the pale protective shield. The energy barrier, strong enough to withstand God-level attacks, vibrated violently, with visible ripples spreading like water waves, but this force wasn't enough to shatter the shield.
Slowbro was bounced back several meters into the field by the counterforce, falling heavily onto the water-logged ground, splashing countless droplets of water and broken stones.
The situation on the field suddenly took a turn for the worse. After Lorelei had set up for so long, she was actually reversed by a single Dark Pulse!
The heavy damage this move dealt to Slowbro was unparalleled. If Slowbro hadn't used Calm Mind to boost its special defense, and if the Light Screen hadn't weakened the attack, Slowbro would likely have lost its ability to fight by now.
This was the power of Lugia going all out. The first Dark Pulse was just an appetizer; now, with the boost from Nasty Plot and Lugia's full effort, the true power of a god was on display!
"Holy crap! This is the power of the God of the Sea! Forget all that flashy setup, I'll just break it with raw strength!"
"Elite Four Lorelei set up for so long and suppressed Ash for so long, only to have it reversed by one move. Is this what a Mythical Pokémon is? It's just beyond unreasonable!"
"Wait, brother, don't be a hater, okay? What does this have to do with being a Mythical Pokémon? Isn't it because Ash himself is amazing? Even with Elite Four Lorelei's Trick Room active, he was able to seize the opportunity to attack first and heavily damage the opponent. Besides, although the God of the Sea is a god, Ash's is clearly still in its infancy, only having Elite-level strength. Isn't this power something Ash gave her? Why attribute it all to the God of the Sea!"
"Exactly! You're just dismissing all of Ash's hard work with one 'Mythical Pokémon' comment? Are you even human!"
"But then again, isn't the God of the Sea supposed to be psychic-type in the legends? The reason the God of the Sea is called that isn't because he has the power to control the ocean directly, but because he can use his Psychic powers to manipulate ocean currents, thereby influencing the sea. But why is this God of the Sea so proficient at using dark-type power!"
Among the hundreds of spectators, there were many knowledgeable ones who knew the legends about the God of the Sea.
For a psychic-type God of the Sea to be so proficient in using dark-type power was quite unusual, because the arch-nemesis of the psychic-type is the dark-type!
These two types are practically incompatible, like a Water-type Pokémon being skilled at using Fire-type power—it's more or less ridiculous.
And this was why Lorelei was caught off guard by Lugia. Who could have thought Lugia's speed in using Nasty Plot would be so fast? And who could have thought that after using Nasty Plot, she would use Dark Pulse with even greater speed?
All these surprises added up to Lorelei suffering a major setback.
"I see—it seems this is the hidden mystery of your Lugia. This Lugia shouldn't be Psychic and Flying-type, right?" Lorelei said, her red lips parting slightly after a moment of reflection.
At this point, Ash had no intention of hiding it. He nodded with a grin and replied, "That's right, my Lugia's types are Dark and Flying, so she's perfectly at home with dark-type moves!"
Dark and Flying—her types really did change!
No wonder her speed and power in using dark-type moves were so great; it turns out those are Lugia's STAB moves.
It was also a stroke of luck that she hadn't used a single psychic-type move to attack Lugia; otherwise, she would have known this long ago, and she wouldn't have had to suffer such a big loss.
"I never expected such a mutation to occur in Lugia. I thought only the appearance had changed, but even the types have changed. You've really given me a huge surprise, Ash," Lorelei said with a look of emotion, but her expression immediately returned to being serious in the next second.
"But now that I know Lugia's secret, it's our turn to counterattack. Slowbro, use Ice Beam!"
Lorelei finally began to use ice-type moves to attack!