Pokémon: Simultaneous time travel, this Ash is too versatile!

Chapter 279 A Vast Disparity in Strength? A Super Flame Voluntarily Ignited!

In trainer battles, reading the enemy's moves is crucial. From the very first Pokémon you send out, you're already strategizing, and the quality of your first Pokémon greatly influences the subsequent battles.

That's why Shinji sent out Magmortar when he anticipated that Ash might send out Bulbasaur, instead of continuing to use Torterra to overpower Ash.

Although Ash surprised everyone by sending out Infernape, Magmar still held an absolute advantage against Infernape. Although there were some issues in the process, the result was the same, and Magmar was still able to firmly maintain the initiative.

In this situation, Shinji didn't intervene. Instead, he had Ash recall Infernape. How is this any different from letting Ash win?
That's why Ash was so surprised that the cold-blooded and ruthless Shinji would actually go easy on him. Has the sun risen in the west?

"No need. Infernape has been preparing for this battle for a long time, and he wants you to see his powerful side." Ash shook his head, politely declining Paul's offer to go easy on him. He hadn't picked the wrong Pokémon; this first Pokémon was indeed Infernape.

Upon hearing this, Shinji's expression grew even colder: "I know you can unleash Infernape's potential, but now is not the time for him to step onto this stage."

Ash's face showed a slightly strange expression: "Shinji, you're not... worried about Infernape, are you?"

Judging from Shinji's behavior, he seemed to be worried that excessive failures would be too much of a blow to Infernape, which is why he repeatedly tried to dissuade him. However, Ash was a little skeptical that Shinji, who was so cold-blooded and ruthless towards Pokémon, would actually care about Infernape in this way.

Did he have a change of heart after abandoning Infernape?
Ash's words seemed to hit Shinji's true thoughts. His face instantly fell, and his aura became even colder: "I just wanted to battle you at your full strength. Since you're going to use this kind of Pokémon to fool me, then wait until I completely defeat you and then regret it after the battle."

"Mammoth, Flamethrower!" After uttering these harsh words, Shinji finally decided to stop holding back. He launched the first attack, intending to defeat Infernape in one fell swoop, thus sparing Infernape some suffering.

Just as Ash said, he was indeed thinking of Infernape. After seeing how Ash and Infernape got along, something in his heart quietly changed.

Although he can't completely change his current personality, Ash's behavior has indeed affected the impact of that Pyramid Battle on him.

It turns out that it's not only brutal training that can give spirits power, and there's more than one way to gain power...

After Infernape became stronger, Shinji felt no regret or jealousy, only a slight sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex feeling of mixed emotions, including regret and sadness). He realized that he was indeed not suitable to be Infernape's trainer, because even if he changed, he would never be able to treat Pokémon the way Ash treated them.

He does have a soft spot in his heart, but he expresses it differently than Ash. Just like what he said to Ash during the battle, even though he didn't want Infernape's newly built confidence to be thwarted, he insisted that Infernape was not worthy of being his opponent.

Saying the same thing in two different ways can sound particularly jarring.

However, he now understands that Ash is also a stubborn person. He insists on letting Infernape fight this battle. Since that's the case, let them fight. Even if they experience setbacks, that's Ash and Infernape's problem, and it has nothing to do with him.

The Magmortar's two thick arms were aimed at Infernape, and scorching flames spewed from its thick gun barrels, with two pillars of fire attacking Infernape from both sides!

Given the level difference between the two, once Infernape is hit by this flame, even if it doesn't lose its ability to battle, its stamina should be almost depleted, even if the effect of the fire type on it is only slight.

Ash's eyes lit up with a long-lost blue light at this moment, and a surge of power instantly emerged from Infernape's body, slowing down the flames attacking from both sides in his view.

"Infernape, get out of the way!" As soon as the voice fell, Infernape leaped with its agile body, dodging the Flamethrower that was attacking from both sides.

But the Magmortar relentlessly pursued him, swinging its two thick gun barrels, the flames moving with its arm movements. The Infernape in the air had no room to dodge and was about to be hit by the flames.

"See through!" In the air, the most suitable command is to use Protect rather than See through, because even if you see through it in the air, there is no way to dodge. However, Ash still chose to have Infernape use See through, which is a bit puzzling.

But soon, Infernape provided the answer.

Faced with the approaching flames, Infernape spun around in the air, turned sideways, and then suddenly met the two flames with both hands. Somehow, the two flames grazed past Infernape's palms, crossed behind Infernape, and shot towards the surrounding audience seats.

"Bang!!" The flames slammed into a transparent barrier, scattering countless sparks. Many of the spectators in the stands looked shaken; they genuinely thought the flames were about to hit them and cause an accident.

But the league was clearly prepared for this situation. The official protective shield, which had not been activated in previous games, was finally activated in the finals because they knew that the level of the finals was not the same as the previous games.

The surrounding protective barrier is impenetrable unless the power exceeds that of a Heavenly King. Even if something goes wrong, the Heavenly Kings will intervene, so the audience has a comfortable viewing environment.

If you pay so much money and still have to experience a nerve-wracking feeling, then the service is somewhat lacking and not worth the expensive ticket price.

As flames slammed into the barrier, Infernape in the sky fell to the ground, and Ash's voice rang out: "Infernape, use Mach Punch!"

"Whoa!" The Infernape's feet, which had just touched the ground, suddenly exerted force, propelling its entire body forward like an arrow. In an instant, it arrived in front of Magmortar, its fists flying out like bullets, creating countless fist shadows in front of Magmortar.

These punch shadows were created by Infernape's incredibly fast punching speed. In other words, the number of punch shadows represented the number of punches Infernape had thrown. "Bang bang bang!!" Fists rained down on Magmar. With the boost from Aura, Infernape's power was now at the beginner level of a professional class, and each punch was not something Magmar could ignore.

"Flash Charge," Shinji calmly gave the order.

Magmar burst into scorching flames, even melting the ground slightly. Infernape was still bombarding Magmar with Mach Punch, which caught Infernape off guard and burned it with flames. Its fist turned black in an instant, and it quickly retreated due to the high temperature of the flames, stopping its Mach Punch output.

Covering his entire body in flames and forcing the attacker to retreat is a move reminiscent of Shinji. The Inferno Monkey, seeing its opponent engulfed in flames, was momentarily at a loss for how to proceed.

"Charge!" At the command, the Magmortar, like an erupting volcano, charged fiercely towards Infernape, engulfed in scorching flames.

Ash's solution was still to use the Foresight move. Foresight, like Protect, cannot be used consecutively, but Infernape had already used Mach Punch once in between, so Foresight could be used again.

A glint of light flashed in Infernape's eyes. The opponent's fierce speed seemed to slow down in his eyes, but even though it slowed down, the opponent's speed was still too fast for him to dodge.

To the onlookers, the Magmortar was like a dump truck, crushing everything in its path. Using Flame Charge, it scorched the ground black, leaving a trail of pitch black in its wake.

In less than a second, Magmortar arrived in front of Infernape. Infernape tried to dodge, but the flames on Magmortar suddenly exploded, covering an area of ​​almost three meters around it. Infernape's dodge had no way to avoid this area.

"BOOM!!" A violent explosion suddenly ripped open the field, filling the entire arena with flames and the aftershocks of the explosion. A barrier appeared in front of Shinji and Ash, as the shockwave of the explosion had spread to the arena.

Without the protective barrier, the trainers on the arena might be in mortal danger, and this is only a Gym-level attack.

However, given Ash's physique, he might not be seriously injured even if he were hit head-on by Flare Charge...

As the smoke and aftershocks on the field slowly dissipated, Infernape emerged from the smoke, its paws scraping the ground as it slid all the way to Ash, its body bearing several burn marks.

Just now, during the explosion, he used Flame Wheel to defend himself. Since he wasn't hit head-on, and Magmar also spread the force out and exploded on the spot, Infernape's Flame Wheel still managed to block most of the force.

Even so, Infernape was burned in several places, the difference in level between the two was still too great.

As the smoke completely dissipated, Magmortar stood in the center of the arena, with a huge black crater centered on it—the result of the explosion caused by the power of Flame Charge.

At this moment, Magmar looked at Infernape with disdain, seemingly looking down on Infernape's current state. It had only been grazed by Magmar's Flare Rush and it had become like this. If it had been hit directly by Magmar's attack, it might not have even made it to the Pokémon Center in time.

With this level of skill, how could he possibly take his starting position?
That's right, Magmortar had always been Shinji's first Fire-type Pokémon, the main Fire-type in his team. But after catching Chimchar, Shinji shifted all his attention to Chimchar, as if he wanted to train Chimchar to become the new main Fire-type Pokémon.

Moltres didn't really have any objections to this. Shinji's team was all about the winner taking all the credit. But the problem was... Moltres was like a piece of mud that couldn't be helped. No matter how much training it received, it could only reach that level.

Even the amazing Super Blaze that Shinji had mastered couldn't be used at all. It was inferior to him in every aspect. At first, Magmortar didn't have any objections, but later he felt that Chimchar was completely wasting his trainer's time and energy.

No matter how much training is done, no matter what methods are used, Chimchar can't unleash its original power at all, it's like a scam.

He could accept losing his starting position, but he couldn't stand Chimchar squandering his trainer experience like this, so Magmortar still had a lot of complaints about Chimchar.

After Shinji abandoned Chimchar and brought him back to the starting lineup, he never heard from Chimchar again. Who knew that he would see it again during the battle today!
Even though the other party had evolved, Magmortar wouldn't mistake it. That look in its eyes, that familiar feeling, made it absolutely certain that this Infernape was Shinji's little Infernape.

In just a few days, the other party had undergone a complete transformation, not only evolving but also increasing in strength to an incomprehensible degree, though still far inferior to him.

However, what angered the Duckbill Flamemon was that it not only failed to demonstrate its value under Shinji's command, but also made great strides in the hands of the enemy. So what was the point of Shinji's training of it all along?
This is what makes Magmortar angry and intolerant. In his view, the little Infernape did it on purpose because Shinji's training methods were too strict, so he had a problem with Shinji and didn't want to use his power even though he had it.

Now that it's in the hands of other trainers, it's completely different. In fact, if it weren't for Shinji's training, Magmortar wouldn't believe that Infernape could improve so much in such a short time.

Therefore, for the 'ungrateful' Fire Monkey, Fire Beast will definitely unleash all its power to teach it a lesson.

Ash and Shinji had no idea that Magmortar had imagined so much. However, this did not prevent the current situation from being very unfavorable for Ash. He was already in such a state just from being grazed by an attack. How was he supposed to fight back?
"Infernape, unleash the power within you. Don't be afraid of that power; it's your power. Let's master it together!" Ash's words were like a powerful reassurance injected into Infernape's heart.

A look of determination and resolve flashed in Infernape's eyes, which had been somewhat hesitant. The power of Mega Infernape lies not only in its amplification level that surpasses that of ordinary Infernape, but also in its activation mechanism.

If Infernape is willing, it can activate its move as an active move as long as its stamina is below half!
"Ho-choo!!" Blazing flames exploded on Infernape's body, and pillars of fire shot into the sky, engulfing almost the entire arena.

Superfire, start!
(End of this chapter)