Pokémon, Ash is going to become a perfect man from now on.

"Of course, if you win the league championship this time, as your father, I'll definitely show my appreciation by giving you a precious gift!"

...

As Ash sets off again to leave Pallet Town, he recalls someone's parting words and struggles to suppress the urge to sever his father-son relationship with that person.

No... even raising sons frugally and daughters lavishly shouldn't be done this way, right?

Good grief, you gave Lila an iron dumbbell right off the bat, and now I'm running out of food?

However, despite his inner grumbling, Ash wouldn't be jealous of Lyla because of it.

That's his sister. Not only in his family, but in the whole of Pallet Town, Lila is like a little princess. You can't spoil her enough.

Let alone a mere pseudo-legendary Pokémon, even if Lyra wanted to catch a legendary Pokémon, Ash could instantly give her a power boost!

Lila was deeply grateful for all the care and attention she received, which only strengthened her resolve to do something in return for Ash…

Let's start by becoming pioneering minds.

She has an older brother who takes meticulous care of her, so naturally she has to be a sensible younger sister so that her brother can travel without any worries!

Based on this idea, Lyra's training as a trainer was naturally not lax at all. Each of her four hands had recognized Ash as a master, and various training plans had been officially launched since she left Pallet Town.

"I knew it... these siblings are just like each other." Looking at the training scene that was just like yesterday, Xiao Lan felt as if she was seeing a female version of Xiao Zhi.

They train just as hard and have clear goals!

"Lyla has the talent to become an excellent trainer. If she really wants to participate in the League Tournament, even if she only trains for a month, she can achieve good results. Moreover, she won't just blindly imitate me; she will definitely develop her own style later on."

Ash has a lot of confidence in Lyla, especially in her achievements as the Frontier Brain.

In the original anime, the highest-ranking Frontier Brain in the Battle Frontier is undoubtedly Shinji, who subdued the three Regiments; however, in the manga, the highest-ranking one is Lila.

Ash was certain that if Lyra continued to develop in this way, she would eventually surpass that pyramid pharaoh!

"So it's a good thing she didn't want to participate in the tournament, so you have one less formidable rival, right?" Xiao Lan said with a grin, but at the same time she was a little puzzled. "But I'm curious, the tournament starts in a month, wouldn't it be better if you stayed in Pallet Town? Xiao Shigeru stayed behind for special training."

“We can’t let our guard down, especially at times like these,” Ash explained. “I have to personally review the defenses of Pallet Town and the surrounding towns, otherwise I’m really worried… Besides, some potential threats need to be addressed in advance.”

"Hidden danger?"

"Yes, it's on Mount Portolo nearby."

This is a plot point that Ash suddenly remembered while inspecting the defenses of Pallet Town. Although it was resolved lightly in the original story, if Ash hadn't intervened and had allowed that uncontrollable conflict to erupt, it could have brought a disaster to Pallet Town!

“What… is happening over there?” Lyra, who was training her Pokémon, suddenly froze. She stared blankly at the distant mountain peak, where a huge black vortex seemed to be spreading out!

Accompanied by bursts of lightning and thunder, endless dark clouds began to surge in all directions, as if to dye the daytime into a mysterious night!

"Isn't that the direction of Mount Potalo? What happened?!" Xiao Lan asked in surprise.

"Let's go over there first." Xiao Zhi anxiously led the two of them up the mountain.

He thought he had acted early enough, but the archaeologists still managed to dig up the mess first.

Mount Portolo is another high mountain located outside Pallet Town, opposite Mount Miacha.

This mountain has few resources and few Pokémon inhabit it, but it hides two... no, three ancient Pokémon that are currently sealed away!

In the original story, the ancient Alakazam and Gengar were awakened by the archaeologist and the main protagonist respectively, and began to fight each other on Mt. Portola, which even threatened to affect Pallet Town at the foot of the mountain!

Finally, while they were making a huge fuss, they were hypnotized by the ancient Jigglypuff's song and fell into a deep sleep.

The problem now is that the one who awakened the giant Jigglypuff in the original story was the pink imp who had been following Ash and the others... It has now been captured by Blue!

This is why Ash was so eager to get involved in the story, but he was still a step too late!

...

"Those two Pokémon...they're huge!"

The three hurriedly arrived at the mountaintop, and when Lila saw the two enormous creatures locked in fierce combat, she was immediately shocked and her eyes widened.

In comparison, Little Blue, who had seen giant stinging jellyfish before, was somewhat better off, but was still secretly terrified by the destructive power of the two behemoths.

They are all stronger than the giant stinging jellyfish...and much stronger!

That eerie Gengar exuded a chilling aura. Every Shadow Ball it unleashed seemed to distort space, devouring everything in its path, from earth and rocks to trees!

Alakazam was not to be outdone. Not only could it unleash invisible blades powerful enough to slice through mountains, but it could also create all sorts of bizarrely shaped coral-like rock formations at the point where the illusionary beam landed, seemingly trying to trap Gengar inside!

When their ultimate moves collide, countless black lightning bolts are generated with the explosion, as if even space itself is being shattered!

"It seems that everyone here has been devoured..." Xiao Zhi did not disturb the two enormous beasts that were fighting each other for the time being, but instead carefully looked around.

Apart from the three of them, there was no one else on the mountaintop at this moment, only some bombed tents and car wreckage remaining in a corner.

The group of archaeologists in the original story were probably all devoured by the dumbbell-shaped black crystal controlled by the ancient Gengar.

But this is for the best; without their interference, things might be resolved more smoothly.

"That's... great, they're still here!" While searching around, Ash accidentally discovered a dark gold color and immediately used his psychic powers to retrieve it with great joy.

It was a uniquely shaped object with cone-shaped ends, referred to in the original work as the Golden Eye. In addition, there was a matching Golden Spoon, which was what awakened the ancient land of Hu.

Ash has also located the giant bell used by the ancient Jigglypuff to suppress the ruins.

Everything is ready. Next, we need to deal with these two troublemakers!

Chapter 177 VS. Ancient Gengar, the Exploding Psychic Field!

Alakazam and Gengar, both from the ancient times, are extremely powerful, at least stronger than Tentacruel that was splashed with three cups of vinegar.

However, Ash's crisis was not as serious as the one at the Yumachi Pier.

These two ancient Pokémon are evenly matched, so since their appearance, they have been completely focused on fighting each other and have no time to pay attention to anything else.

Gengar glanced at Ash and his friends with ill intent, seemingly wanting to devour them into the special black crystal as well, but because Alakazam kept attacking relentlessly, it never found an opportunity.

Alakazam, on the other hand, simply ignored Ash and his two companions, treating them as if they didn't exist.

This struggle between the snipe and the clam undoubtedly provided Xiaozhi with great convenience.

He not only secretly dispatched his main force to strengthen them in advance, but also instructed Xiao Lan and Lila to go to the golden bell to wait.

This way, everything will be foolproof. Even if Ash fails to quell the conflict in the end, he can still summon the giant Jigglypuff to clean up the mess.

Let's see who's easier to talk to between these two!

Ash watched this battle for a very long time, so long that Pikachu and Charizard had almost maxed out their own stat boosts, and a section of the peak of Mount Portora was actually shaved off!

At this point, the two Pokémon that had been unleashing their powerful attacks finally showed signs of fatigue. They stopped attacking each other with energy and instead clung to each other tightly, engaging in a weak and feeble close-quarters fight.

"Could you two calm down a bit... If you continue fighting, the whole mountain will be in chaos." Feeling that he could intervene as a third party, Ash tried to release the power of Viridian and began to persuade them from a neutral perspective.

"Huh?" (Is it humankind that has received nature's bounty?)

Alakazam quickly responded to Ash's communication, a clear expression of surprise appearing on its fox-like face, and it unconsciously relaxed its attacks on Gengar...

"Geng!!"

However, Gengar completely ignored Ash's words. Its aura became extremely chaotic in an instant, and taking advantage of Alakazam's distraction, it used a desperate Shadow Ball to severely injure Alakazam!

After that, Gengar turned its huge body towards Ash, glaring with a pair of scarlet eyes as it lunged forward fiercely!

"You can't reach an agreement, huh... then let's fight!"

At his command, Ash's Pikachu, Charizard, and Lucario all moved at the same time!

"Geng!" The giant Gengar suddenly roared triumphantly. It suddenly opened its arms and shot out a beam of red light from its neck, like a Poké Ball ray, trying to devour Ash's Pokémon!

"Alakazam, Teleport!" Ash, who was prepared, naturally wouldn't fall for its trick. Alakazam, without immediately attacking, released an invisible wave that enveloped Pikachu and the other two, instantly teleporting them behind the giant Gengar!

"Pikachu!" "Roar!" "Luca!"

Thunderbolt + Dragon Charge + Comet Punch!

The three main forces unleashed their power simultaneously, slamming their attacks, enhanced to the limit, onto Gengar's back. The immense force even caused it to collapse to the ground!

The rays emitted from its neck, having lost their original target, directly swallowed up a large section of the ground beneath it!

"Psychic interference!" Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ash immediately unleashed his psychic powers together with his Alakazam to suppress the giant Gengar's movements!

"Geng!!" The continuous setbacks seemed to have enraged Gengar. It let out an even more ferocious roar, and a strange black aura suddenly emanated from its body. While eroding its psychic powers, it also summoned a constantly spinning black vortex behind it!

"That's...you guys come back right away!" Upon seeing this familiar yet eerie scene, Ash was immediately alarmed and quickly called all three of his Pikachu back to his side!

This ancient Gengar in front of us is actually summoning the entrance to the spirit world!

"Hey, you big Alakazam over there, how about we team up for now?" The situation was urgent, and Ash immediately sought cooperation. "If I get swallowed by this guy, you'll be its next target."

At the same time, he secretly contacted Xiao Lan with his mental power, and told her to make Pang Ding sing immediately if the situation continued to deteriorate!

"Hu..." The ancient Alakazam, which was lying on the ground with serious injuries, was slightly stunned. It really did not expect that Ash would propose cooperation at this moment.

With its intelligence, it could certainly see that Ash wanted to drag it down with him, but Gengar was indeed its enemy, and the ancient Alakazam would not let go of this opportunity to kick it while it was down.

And it did indeed sense that Ash was constantly releasing his power to heal it, although the effect was minimal, it was still a way of showing sincerity.

Let's cooperate with them for now.

"Hoo!!" Having made up its mind, the ancient Alakazam suddenly roared. Dragging its heavily injured body, it got up again, exerted all its strength to condense a pale blue ball of light, and slammed it down on the Gengar in front of it!

Boom! !

A terrifying sonic boom mixed with invisible waves spread outwards. Ash and Alakazam, who were swept up by this wave, immediately felt extremely energetic. Alakazam, whose Special Attack was already +6, was even more surprised to find that the power of its psychic move had reached a new level!