"Dodge?!"
Gurkinn was momentarily doubting his ears.
The Aura Sphere is a homing skill that locks onto the opponent's Aura, unless it's countered by a more powerful skill head-on, or there's some obstruction in between. There isn't any other way to block it; this is common knowledge known to everyone.
But what did Ash just say? He actually told Lucario to dodge? Even if Lucario uses some skills to counter, it's better than asking him to dodge, right!
However, in the next second, Gurkinn's pupils suddenly contracted.
Ash's Lucario stood still on the field, unmoving, until the moment the giant Aura Sphere was about to hit him, his body slightly shifted to the side.
The Aura Sphere didn't change direction as Lucario sidestepped but continued forward, finally whizzing past his body and crashing into the wall at the back of the Gym.
"Boom!!" The Champion Level Aura Sphere directly blasted the entire wall of the Gym apart, making the whole Gym shake unsteadily. Some debris continuously fell from above, but soon the entire Gym stopped vibrating.
It seemed as if something had stabilized it.
Gurkinn's eyes widened; his attention wasn't on the oddity of the Gym but rather on how Ash's Lucario managed to dodge the Aura Sphere.
He actually dodged the Aura Sphere!
The Aura Sphere had no reaction to Ash's Lucario's dodge; what was going on? Did a bug happen?
"Great opportunity, Lucario, Aura Sphere!"
Ash's voice pulled Gurkinn's thoughts back to reality; he looked sharply at the field, only to see Ash's Lucario already condensing a deep blue Aura Sphere between his hands, with a much darker color than usual, the Aura density extremely high.
"Quick, dodge!" Gurkinn instinctively shouted.
But it was too late.
Ash's Lucario suddenly launched the Aura Sphere, which dragged a deep trajectory of light in the air as it flew straight towards Gurkinn's Lucario.
Gurkinn's Lucario's vertical pupils narrowed, also trying to sidestep. His Aura perception was equally keen, and for him, this skill's speed was as slow as a turtle; dodging should be no problem.
However, in the next instant, the Aura Sphere drew a peculiar arc in mid-air, precisely catching up with the dodging Lucario, hitting him head-on!
"Ugh—!"
Gurkinn's Lucario grunted, sliding back several meters, with wisps of white smoke rising from his chest fur. Although this strike wasn't enough to cause serious damage, it did indeed hit.
Despite having a complete level advantage, he actually took a hit first?!
The entire field was dead silent.
Korrina's eyes widened, her mouth agape enough to fit a Pokeball.
"Why... why can Ash's Lucario dodge the Aura Sphere but Grandpa's can't? They're clearly the same type of Pokemon, and Grandpa's Lucario is at a higher level! If Ash's Lucario can do it, why can't Grandpa's?"
Brock and the others didn't answer Korrina's question because even they didn't know why.
Even after traveling with Ash for so long, this was their first time encountering such a situation.
The Aura Sphere locks onto the Pokemon's Aura for a guaranteed hit, and generally, it's absolutely impossible to dodge. Ash's Lucario must have done something unknown to guide the Aura Sphere away.
Gurkinn slowly collected his shocked expression, but the admiration in his eyes didn't diminish in the slightest: "Kid, you even managed to dodge the Aura Sphere. Could you explain to this old man how exactly you did that?"
Asking for someone's battle trick during a fight is clearly uncommon, but Gurkinn was indeed very curious.
"Actually, it's fine to explain," Ash said with a smile, "The Aura Sphere hits because it locks onto the opponent's Aura. But what if the opponent's Aura position changes at the moment of impact?"
Gurkinn was taken aback.
Change the position of the Aura? How is that possible?
Be it humans, Pokemon, or other living beings, they all possess Aura. Aura is the Source of Life for living beings, existing within their bodies.
If a living being hasn't changed position, how can the Aura change position?
"Gurkinn, think about what kind of power creates the Aura Sphere?"
"Of course, it's Aura... wait, you're saying that at the moment the Aura Sphere was about to hit Lucario, Lucario separated part of his Aura from his body and guided the Aura Sphere away?" Gurkinn reacted halfway through speaking.
Separating Aura from the body isn't impossible; isn't the Aura Sphere created using this principle?
But separating Aura from the body to guide away the Aura Sphere isn't something ordinary Pokemon can do!
The Aura Sphere is a skill move with a fixed Aura output method. To separate Aura from the body and guide the Aura Sphere, one must first hide their Aura within.
Otherwise, the Aura Sphere will surely attack towards the stronger Aura.
In other words, Ash's Lucario not only separated part of his Aura but also concealed it, eventually managing to dodge the guaranteed hit Aura Sphere.