Even though Marowak isn't her strongest Pokemon, it's definitely the one she's cared for the most, so no matter the situation, Giselle would always bring Marowak into battle; this is her determination.
However, bringing Marowak, whose strength hasn't kept up, leads to such a situation. In the Quartz Conference where strong trainers gather, and especially now facing Ash, being defeated instantly was actually expected.
But being defeated instantly by a just-evolved Monferno was not part of Giselle's plan.
Giselle took a deep breath, put Marowak's Pokeball back into her pocket, and then took out a new Pokeball: "I'll leave it to you, Gengar!"
A flash of light, and a ghostly purple Pokemon appeared on the field, a Ghost Type Pokemon—Gengar.
"This Gengar... is it that Gastly from before?" Seeing Gengar, Ash felt a familiar sense, though he couldn't remember all the Pokemon he had encountered and battled before.
But during Ralts' debut battle, the Pokemon he fought left some impression on Ash.
Even though Gastly had evolved into Gengar, Ash still felt a familiar aura from the opponent.
"That's right, he was that Gastly who lost to your Ralts back then. Now he has completely transformed, becoming powerful and incomparable. Originally, I intended to use him against your Gardevoir, but let's deal with your Monferno first."
Giselle proudly lifted her smooth chin, showing great confidence in her Gengar's strength.
This Gengar originally belonged to the academy, but after that match, he followed Giselle, and the academy treated Giselle very favorably, directly giving that Gastly to her.
Thus, Gastly became Giselle's Pokemon.
Subsequently, under Giselle's training, Gastly exhibited extraordinary potential, evolving repeatedly in just a few months and continuously increasing in strength. Just a few days ago, Gastly had already advanced to the Professional Level!
Such a speed of improvement is truly terrifying, only slightly weaker than Gary and Misty. Of course, compared to Ash, there's no comparison.
Initially the same level as Gastly, Ralts has now reached Elite Advanced Level, almost reaching Gym Peak, creating a vast difference like night and day.
So Giselle's talk of having Gengar take revenge on Gardevoir is completely wishful thinking.
However, with Gengar's strength, dealing with Monferno should indeed be a piece of cake...
After evolving, Monferno's strength surged, reaching the Advanced Peak, but it's still far from Professional Level. Even with Ash's Aura Power enhancement, at most its strength is at Elite Advanced Level.
Having just evolved, a Monferno jumping two levels can't possibly withstand a full Aura infusion.
To have its strength reach Elite Advanced Level is already quite a stretch; otherwise, Marowak would have been defeated even faster before.
But now, facing a Professional Level Gengar, it's a bit inferior.
"Monferno, can you do it?"
"Hoo!" Monferno's fists glowed as it performed a set of Speed Punch in the air, a slight look of excitement on its face.
This is the move it newly learned after evolving, Mach Punch.
It's clear that this victory greatly boosted Monferno's confidence, and the evolution also added more confidence. The motion and posture of throwing punches were completely different from when it was still Chimchar.
Perhaps being around Paul, always battling opponents of higher levels yet constantly losing, had worn away much of his confidence, making this battle's victory so exhilarating for Monferno.
Monferno also sensed the gap between itself and Gengar, a gap that was vast, even with Ash's power boost, winning would still be very difficult.
But he still wanted to try, challenging his limits and drawing out the power within!
"If that's so, then go, Monferno, use Flamethrower!" Ash dismissed the idea of recalling Monferno into the Pokeball, waved his hand, letting Monferno attack first.
"Dodge, then use Shadow Ball." Giselle calmly commanded.
In an instant, Gengar in the sky vanished, and the Flamethrower missed. Then Gengar appeared beside Monferno, and the Shadow Ball in its hand formed instantly, thrown out!
"Flame Wheel!" The speed of a Professional Level compared to the current Monferno was too fast. Now still using Flamethrower, Monferno couldn't possibly dodge, and had to use a move to block it.
"Hoo!" Monferno maintained the output of Flamethrower, curling his body into a ball, and the Flamethrower wrapped around its body, transforming into a wheel of fire!
The scorching flames clashed with the dark Energy Ball, exploding on the field with a loud bang!
Amidst the smoke, Monferno flew backwards from the smoke, rolled dozens of times on the ground, and barely stopped at the edge of the field.
Ash also clutched his shoulder, stepping back a few paces, a look of pain on his face.
"The gap is this big... However, battling with an Advanced Level against a Professional Level is indeed quite demanding. Monferno isn't completely familiar with his power yet, his strength at this level not fully unleashed, otherwise..."
Ash muttered with some unwillingness.
Actually, if Monferno could hone all his ability values to the limit at his current level, challenging a Professional Junior Level from an Advanced Peak position wouldn't be a problem.
But he just evolved, not to mention refining his ability values to the peak, he couldn't even fully utilize the power of an Advanced Peak, and Ash's Aura Power couldn't fully enhance it to 100%.
In this situation, wanting to battle a Professional Level is a bit of a pipe dream.
The earlier collision took away about 70-80% of Monferno's physical strength; another strike like that would probably knock him out till nightfall.
"Monferno, let's change our strat… huh?" Just as Ash wanted to change tactics for Monferno, he suddenly sensed a surge of power rising in Monferno, a power very fierce, almost instantly filling Monferno's entire body!
"Hoocha!!" The Monferno originally lying on the ground suddenly had its eyes turn crimson red, then quickly jumped up from lying down, pounding its chest with its large fists, the flame on its back forming a large character, spreading across the field!
The Blaze triggered!
But this Blaze was fiercer than anything seen, the entire arena became scorching hot at this instant, and Ash's eyes were a bit dazed, seeing such a fierce Blaze for the first time.
Is this the Super Blaze that the Eye of Insight detected? Far stronger than regular Blaze.
Normal Blaze increases Fire Type damage by 50%, yet Monferno's Blaze increased it by at least 100%, and was still rising!
Other than the firepower increase, Monferno's overall qualities were continuously rising, and the bonded Ash could immediately feel that Monferno's strength and speed were both being greatly enhanced, though defense and physical strength remained unchanged.
It's a pure increase in offensive power, far superior to Blaze, but not comprehensive enough.
When this power erupts, it indicates Monferno is nearing its limit. Even if it can unleash powers far beyond its level, it won't last long.
Yet that is not the most crucial point—the most crucial point is... Ash is starting to feel Monferno slipping away!