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

However, no one saw that after they left, Dream's gaze was gradually turning fierce...

Chapter 980 The Hero of Waveguides, Charge! The Tree of Beginning!

"Wow!"

On the outer edge of a canyon on the opposite side of the circle, just as Ash and his friends stepped onto solid ground, a clear phoenix cry rang out from the sky.

Ho-Oh flapped its gilded wings, circled once, and then landed in front of Ash.

“Ash, I’ve done a quick survey, and there are indeed many humans imprisoned here.” Ho-Oh explained urgently. “They are probably imprisoned in different holes inside the tree, and there are fossil Pokémon guarding them… I didn’t get too close for fear of alerting them.”

Following the narrow canyon into the distance, you will enter the base of the Tree of Beginnings, which is heavily guarded by Ho-Oh from the sky.

"The enemy is trying to gradually wear me down." Ash quickly deduced the enemy's intentions.

If he wants to save everyone, he must fight his way up from the bottom up, little by little.

But the more he fights, the more he will lose strength, and the more burdensome he will become. Even if the little intelligent device can send people away at any time using the ring, it will still take a lot of effort.

The same goes for those fossil Pokémon. They were originally innocent Pokémon, but they were controlled and ended up standing against Ash.

Ash might also feel restricted when fighting them…

It can only be said that the enemy is completely overthinking things.

As Ho-Oh explained the general situation of the Tree of Beginning, Ash began to plan his next move... However, Lucario suddenly started looking around, and his expression became increasingly sorrowful.

This canyon in front of us is the very place where it was sealed away back then!

“Oh, right, there’s something else,” Ho-Oh said curiously. “I sensed a faint aura in Yggdrasil. It wasn’t a dreamlike creature, but rather something like a human… and the aura’s rhythm is very similar to yours.”

"Looks just like me?" Xiao Zhi couldn't help but be surprised.

"Yes, I think she should also be a waveguide user..."

"Impossible!" Lucario suddenly interrupted irritably. "How could a Aura User possibly appear in a place like that? And these people... they're simply..."

"Lucario, can you control your emotions a little?" Ash interrupted. "You came here on your own, so please don't cause trouble."

"Ugh...yes." Lucario lowered his head in frustration.

"This is where Aaron sealed you, right?" Ash suddenly asked.

"How did you know?!" Lucario suddenly looked up.

The castle was in too much chaos at night to explain its situation.

“I’m also a Waveformer, so it’s not surprising that I know about you.” Ash looked around and quickly found a Time Flower nearby.

He waved a waveguide, and flowers quietly bloomed, recreating a scene sealed by time.

A thousand years ago, Aaron suddenly sealed Lucario into a cane, and then escaped on Pidgeot...

The direction he was heading was the end of the canyon in front of him, which was the Tree of Origin!

What followed was chaos and turmoil, with humans and Pokémon of all kinds, clad in armor of different colors, surging in like a flood, eventually turning into a chaotic and endless battle...

"No...drink it!!" Lucario was enraged by the sight before it, but before it could release its energy indiscriminately, Ash's Jackal pounced on it and slammed its head to the ground with its paw!

"Let me go!" Lucario tried to struggle, but the latter's claws remained unmoved.

"Don't waste your energy, you're no match for it." Ash shook his head calmly.

One thing needs to be clarified: Aaron's Lucario was sealed away for a thousand years, not trained for a thousand years. Its memories and strength are still stuck in the state they were a thousand years ago.

Aaron is indeed very strong as the hero of Aura. The Lucario he trained may reach the level of a champion... but he is only a champion.

"Lucario, I'm asking you now as a Waveform user... what stage have you and Aaron reached in your Waveform training?"

"hateful…"

"Answer my question!!" A furious shout mixed with Aura instantly shook Lucario to his core.

"Third stage." Helpless, it could only answer with frustration.

"Tell me, what is the content of the third level?"

“The power of the Aura will burn in the form of flames, and the Aura user will completely entrust their power to their partner, thereby achieving a state of unity of mind and giving their all…” As he spoke, Lucario’s voice gradually softened.

“Yes, the true essence of the third stage is for the Aura user to give all their power to their partner…” Ash’s tone was full of emotion. “Since you’ve been through it all and know that Aaron is willing to entrust his life to you, why can’t you trust him?”

“Why…” Lucario murmured to himself, then his voice turned into a sorrowful question, “I want to know why too… Lord Aaron, why did he seal me away, why did he want me to leave the castle and Lady Lynn?!”

"If one day I have to use the power of the fourth-order aura, I will seal my Lucario away and then leave my loved ones behind..." Ash sighed softly.

"Because I don't want them to see me leave..."

The training manual that Yaxuan passed on to Cynthia did not contain any information about fourth-order aura, but Ash could roughly imagine that it was probably the same as what Aaron had done.

Not only must we give up all our waveguide power, but we must also give up our lives!

"Lord Aaron, could it be that he..." At this moment, Lucario finally understood. It broke free from its restraints, flipped over, and leaped up, covering its face in pain and regret.

"Lord Aaron!!" Lucario suddenly knelt on the ground, letting out a long, mournful howl towards the sky as if in catharsis.

"Now that you've figured it out, let's move on." Ash stepped forward and patted Lucario on the shoulder. "The Tree of Beginning is the final direction Aaron will take. You probably also want to find out the whole truth, right?"

"Okay... let's go!" Lucario wiped away his tears and regained his original imposing manner.

"That's for the best." Xiao Zhi nodded in satisfaction.

He couldn't let Lucario's emotions get out of control indefinitely, so he preferred to take some time to try and resolve Lucario's inner conflict.

"Next, it's time to make the real charge!" Ash and Serena exchanged a glance, then Ash jumped onto Ho-Oh's back with the two Lucas on his back. At the same time, Serena released Yveltal and Diancie!

Two giant birds spread their wings one after the other and glided sideways into the canyon, stirring up a storm inside the Tree of Beginning!

boom!

The fierce wind blew the fossil Pokémon that were trying to intercept them to pieces, and Serena seized the opportunity to have Yveltal unleash Deathwing!

A dark energy swept across the land, turning entire lawns and fossil Pokémon on them to stone!

On Ash's side, Alakazam immediately launched a Poké Ball, using its psychic powers to grab the hostages scattered around, quickly gather them together, and then throw them into the ring that Ash had opened.

"Let's go to the next area!" Ash didn't waste any time and directly commanded Ho-Oh to fly upwards until it rushed into the tunnel inside the giant tree.

“Those Pokémon…” Lucario seemed a little reluctant.

"In urgent situations, we must act expediently," Ash explained in a deep voice. "Let's petrify them first. In the end, I will return all their life force, and then I can also remove their mental control."

Upon hearing this, Lucario stopped hesitating, knowing that this might be the best way.

After jumping off Ho-Oh and Yves' backs, the group began to advance upwards. Ash used Aura to locate the route with the most hostages.

As for the hostages on the other side routes, he sent Latias, Alakazam, and other Psychic-type Pokémon to rescue them.

The group pushed straight uphill, and the fossil Pokémon were either instantly defeated or suddenly kidnapped as hostages, making it impossible for them to resist their advance.

Even if there are pursuers behind them, as long as they dare to catch up, Y God can petrify them even through the ball!

"The efficiency is acceptable..." Xiao Zhi was quite satisfied with the progress of the process.

For some reason, the Tree of Origin did not activate its defenses, nor did it send out those suspected immune cells to devour them as foreign objects.

Although there are many of these fossil Pokémon, they are not particularly powerful, and we can usually handle them.

If you add the three pillars from the movie, I'm afraid... wait a minute!

Ash, who was rushing forward, suddenly woke up. He hadn't seen the three legendary pillars since the beginning of the race!

Thinking about it more carefully, Mew doesn't seem to have mentioned their whereabouts; it only implicitly acknowledges that all the Pokémon on the Tree of Beginning have had their minds controlled...

But the Three Pillars are immune to mind control!

Chapter 981 The Hero of Waveguides, Betrayal... and Reunion

Something's wrong...

As he continued to surge upwards, Xiaozhi became increasingly convinced that something was amiss.

The Three Pillars are the guardians of the Tree of Origin and the bodyguards of the Dream. Even if the Dream dislikes them, it shouldn't leave them completely uninformed.

Ash thought about it repeatedly and concluded that Mew had grouped them with other Pokémon... meaning they were under the control of an enemy.

But this is impossible!

The sacred pillars have no heart. Whether it is the true eternal giant created by Regigigas himself, or the various attribute sacred pillars derived from them, they are essentially golems driven by energy, not living beings in the true sense of the word.

They cannot be controlled by mind control, or even brainwashed by Poké Balls!

The Regirock captured in Age of Gods is an example of this; the Poké Ball can only provide a home for Regirock, and cannot restrain or control it in any way.

The reason why the Pyramid Pharaoh was able to subdue the three sacred pillars in succession was simply because he was a human recognized by that set of sacred pillars!

Therefore, trying to subdue the three sacred pillars and make them attack Mewtwo is clearly not a viable option.

Moreover, Ash hadn't seen many signs of battle along the way; the enemy's occupation of the Tree of Beginning seemed more like a blitzkrieg.

The Three Pillars, what exactly...?

"Hmm... what is that?!" Ash suddenly stopped as he passed through one of the tunnels filled with crystals.

He stared intently at the crystal wreckage in front of him, then suddenly lunged forward and pulled out a huge, ice-crystal-like arm!