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

Aaron's Lucario, of course, cannot disrespect the Queen... but he can!

"Your Highness Eileen... when the fireworks went off just now, were you planning to have the palace guards draw their swords?" Ash's casual remark caused the expressions of everyone in Ordron City to change drastically!

"Not only that, you went to great lengths to sew spirit-material cloth onto your clothes in order to use your spirit-sniffing techniques to control the hostages?"

"Damn it! Attack!!" Before Eileen could speak, one of the guards behind her let out a deep roar.

Even a blind man could see that their plan had been exposed!

Some of the bonsai trees, tables, chairs, and benches in the banquet hall immediately turned back into purple mud. Then some of them began to transform into the shape of flower rock monsters, releasing gusts of eerie winds that howled like ghosts in the hall.

Others transformed directly into various powerful Pokémon and attacked Ash relentlessly!

After that, there were royal guards wielding swords, and female officials baring their teeth and brandishing their claws. Even Monini in Eileen's arms stared with bloodshot eyes and started dancing a swaying dance!

"Let's do it... Alright!" Ash's eyes widened, and the main force took their positions at the same time!

Alakazam used its superpowers to protect the innocent guests, while simultaneously unleashing various crowd control buffs; Pikachu and its companions joined forces to successfully thwart the enemy's first wave of attacks.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Serena and the others, who had been prepared, also sent their partners to join this sudden melee.

"What on earth is going on?!" Lucario was even more confused.

"Luca! (Orudron City has been invaded, and Ash is suppressing the rebellion!)" Jackal explained in a serious tone.

"Invasion?" Lucario clearly didn't believe it.

Queen Irene doesn't seem to be coerced at all... those guys named Ash, they're the ones who seem more like intruders!

However, it quickly overturned its own idea.

"Useless trash, get out of here!" The guard who had overstepped his bounds suddenly attacked, shoving Eileen away from her seat.

It raised its arms and made a strange movement, which brought with it a whistling gust of wind, as if to enhance the power of the mud that had turned into flower rock monsters.

Because of a mishap, they acted hastily, and the riot that was supposed to happen has not yet been completed!

The reason for sewing spirit cloth onto the clothes is to make it easier to capture people with spirit taunts. This way, even if a fight breaks out, Ash will be hesitant to act rashly.

But now, all those 'Flower Rock Monsters' that have transformed have withered away!

"Don't waste your energy, you can't break the seal on this ultimate move." Ash calmly revealed the secret, and Gengar also poked its body out of the ground with a mischievous grin.

Xiao Zhi spent the whole afternoon studying the matter and still couldn't figure out what the enemy's conspiracy was, but he did understand the matter of the Spirit World Cloth.

The only purpose of this thing is to arrest people.

They can either be rolled up and taken directly to the spirit world, or used as a medium to unleash a powerful attack.

So Ash made two preparations: he kept on guard against the invasion of the Spirit World, but entrusted the important task of sealing the opponent's special move to Gengar.

These rotten fish and shrimp can't possibly compete with Gengar in terms of quality.

Even if someone suspected of being the mastermind strengthens the team, it doesn't matter, Ash still has Yulin in his bag.

Adding a Rockruff from the Green-washing stage should be fine, and if all else fails, Gengar can Mega Evolve!

"Hehehe~" A burst of light flashed by, and Gengar let out a series of strange laughs, its control over the banquet hall increasing dramatically once again!

At this point, the enemy's plot had been completely thwarted.

The ball has just ended, and all the innocent guests are here. Without Alakazam's special abilities to manipulate props and take hostages, Alakazam can keep an eye on them on its own.

Once the hostages are no longer holding him back, Ash can attack freely!

A bunch of mud of unknown origin, no matter how fancy its transformations are, its strength is just so-so, and it's not even a match for Ash and his friends.

Now it's his turn to deal with the suspected mastermind.

"You coward, show your true colors!"

With a burst of speed, Ash flashed to the enemy's side, snatched the sword from his opponent, and smashed off his helmet with a punch!

"You are..." Ash was stunned when he saw the chubby face under the helmet.

How could it be the second-generation Himura of Team Magma?!

Moreover, upon closer inspection, Ash discovered that the other party did not have a waveguide!

The same goes for the Ditto in the house. Before they transformed, Ash couldn't sense their aura, and even now, there's only a tiny fluctuation.

"Hmph, you lowly brat... Don't think you've got this in the bag, you can't catch me!!"

The second-generation Himura suddenly let out a chilling laugh, and then his body fell straight backward.

A dark shadow drifted out from his body, gradually taking on a human shape in the air, with a pair of scarlet eyes.

"What exactly are you?" Ash asked with a stern face, but was immediately rebuked by the other party.

"Insolence!" The dark figure trembled with rage. "Who do you think you are, daring to question me, the King? Listen carefully! I am King Pokrantis, who once reigned supreme over the world! This land you stand on, and indeed the entire world, was once my territory!!"

"Oh, it's you. That's not surprising."

Without surprise, nor the trepidation one might expect from a former king, Ash simply nodded knowingly, his face showing obvious disdain.

"I knew it. A modern villain wouldn't be so lacking in self-awareness."

Honestly, for a queen of a small country to invite both Ash and Lance, two champions, and then dream of capturing them all...

Calling him brain-dead is actually a compliment.

Chapter 978 The Hero of Waveguides, Mysterious and Unpredictable

King Pokrandis, this is also an important plot point in the original Advanced Generation series.

Legend has it that in Kanto, some thousand or even several thousand years ago, there existed an extremely powerful empire. Its ruler at the time, King Pokrandice, was so ambitious that he even attempted to use the power of Ho-Oh to rule the world.

But he ultimately angered Ho-Oh, and the entire country was destroyed as a result.

However, King Pokrandice managed to escape. In order to seek revenge, he used a stone sphere to seal Ho-Oh and imprisoned it in an underground ruin near present-day Pewter City.

However, the truth is that the stone sphere contains the evil soul of Poclidis himself.

In the modern era, Ash, eager to dominate the Battle Frontier, in his attempt to challenge the final Frontier Brain, Generation, inadvertently stumbles into the ruins, unsealing the stone sphere and becoming possessed by the evil spirit of Pokrantius.

Fortunately, during the battle against the Stone Regiment of Age of Gods, Ash was inspired by his companions and awakened his true self, which allowed him to expel the enemy from his body.

At the same time, Ash Ketchum also contributed a widely circulated dark-themed meme~

Returning to the current situation, this black mist claims to be Pokrandice, and he has possessed the second Homura... This clearly indicates that Team Magma, after infiltrating Kanto, has already dug up Pokrandice's ancestral grave.

So, where is the Crimson Flame Pine now?

Feeling that things were somewhat confusing, Ash didn't make any rash moves. Instead, he secretly created a tiny ring under his feet and used telepathy to communicate with the other person.

The dark figure that claimed to be King Pocrantis didn't seem to have any intention of escaping immediately, and continued to dart about in mid-air.

(The other party is acting with impunity, confident that Phoenix King isn't here and that you lack the means to directly destroy a soul.) The management spirit secretly reminded him.

This arrogant and conceited behavior is quite in line with the original character design of King Pokrandis.

When he possessed Master Zhi, wasn't he exactly like this?

They spout off about how they, as labor and capital, want to rule the world, completely forgetting that they are merely a remnant soul that has usurped the throne.

"King Pokrandice, I'm quite curious..." Ash paused, feigning confusion, "Where did you put all those people in Ordran Castle? And how did you create these things that look like Ditto?"

As the chaotic battle came to an end, Ash discovered that everyone in the castle except Queen Irene had been replaced.

Ministers, guards, and maids, even many tables, chairs, benches, and vases, were all replaced with these shape-shifting objects.

The reason they are described as similar is that they are not true Ditto, and they are not even Pokémon.

Its main body is a purple puddle of mud, with almost no perceptible waveguide, and it can freely transform into inanimate objects such as tables and chairs.

However, if it transforms into a human or a Pokémon, it can only have one form, and a corresponding aura will appear.

Like the genetic monsters in a science fiction movie... Ash has always been suspicious, feeling that they are not something that King Pokratis could have created.

"Hmph, you lowly brat, have you finally witnessed my might?" Pokrandis laughed triumphantly... but he was actually a little scared inside.

These useless people, who in his eyes weren't even servants, were definitely not his creations.

When he first saw these things, he couldn't help but be surprised... A thousand years have passed, and these lowly people, who are like ants, have really developed this trick called 'technology' into something quite interesting.

"Pokrantius, if you don't want to be sealed away again, you'd better shut up!" Ash's tone suddenly turned cold. "Where did you take those people from the castle?!"

"Hahaha! That's right, that's the feeling!" The shadowy figure suddenly burst into maniacal laughter. "You lowly brat, are you experiencing the feeling of helplessness now...?"

"They... have been taken to the Tree of Beginning!" A weak female voice suddenly came from the middle of Pokrandis' disgusting performance.

It was Eileen who spoke; she seemed to have broken free from the other person's control.

“He secretly infiltrated the castle and replaced everyone with that horrible monster!” Eileen pointed at the dark figure in mid-air, her voice filled with terror. “He captured everyone in the castle and took them to the Tree of Beginning, threatening me to obey his orders and lure you into a trap… From then on, I have been controlled by him, and even my will has been taken over!”

"The Tree of Beginning?!" Ash frowned and turned to look outside the door. From his angle, he could see the huge canopy in the distant night sky.

For some inexplicable reason, he had a very bad feeling!

"You wretched piece of trash, you have no right to speak here! Just like your ancestors, you only deserve to be my playthings!" the shadowy figure roared, then turned to Ash. "That's right, those ants in this city are now imprisoned within the Tree of Beginning... You lowly brat, if you have the guts, go and rescue them!"

"So you're still alive." Ash nodded knowingly, his eyes immediately turning murderous. "Then you have no reason to exist!!"

"What…"

"Screech!!" A dazzling golden ring suddenly rose from behind Ash, and a phoenix cry filled with boundless rage completely overwhelmed Pokrandice's astonishment. The blazing holy fire instantly entangled its soul!