[Lugia: Is this why you three went crazy and came to attack me?]
[Lugia: If it weren't for Melody, I would have been beaten half to death by you right then…]
[Articuno: Uh… ah… that… that was an accident, boss! A pure accident!]
[Moltres: Yes, it's all the fault of that lard-blinded Zapdos! I got captured, but instead of coming to save me, it ran off to occupy my territory. How cruel!]
Moltres put the slang it had learned from the live broadcast room into practice.
Honestly, it didn't fully understand what 'special meow' or 'B' meant, but that didn't stop it from using them unprompted.
As the saying goes, you don't need to be taught dirty words.~
[Zapdos: Bullshit! How can I rely on you when you got captured so disgracefully?! If I got captured, let's see if you'd immediately occupy my territory!]
[Moltres: I wouldn't do that kind of thing! Anyone with eyes can see I'm a kind bird!]
[Moltres: And after seeing the previous events in the White World, you can understand how friendly I am. After Ash rescued me, I went and saved you right away!]
[Moltres: But what did you do then? You attacked me! Attacked me directly! Let everyone judge!]
In the White World,
Ash rescued Moltres first, then Moltres helped drag Zapdos out of trouble, only for Zapdos to turn around and blast Moltres!
After Moltres's reminder, Zapdos remembered its violent behavior and hesitated, left speechless.
As a hot-tempered old bird, its irritability was understandable, but to attack the Moltres that had just helped it was indeed its fault.
Strictly speaking, this wasn't slander…
This debate ended with Moltres's victory!
[Lance:Ahem, alright, alright, that's all in the past… Speaking of which, which Pokémon do you think Black Ash will use to fight Articuno?]
[Diantha: I find it strange. Why doesn't Black Ash use Pikachu? Winning shouldn't be difficult in that case, right?]
[Volkner: Indeed. Whether it's the Electric typing's natural advantage, or the dimension-striking 'Kirin' technique, or the ability to stay airborne briefly, they're all very suitable for dealing with Articuno… But it seems Black Ash doesn't want to use it!]
[Elesa: I feel… even if Articuno is at the Champion level, even peak or ace Champion level, it shouldn't be an impossible fight for Pikachu, right? Black Ash doesn't seem to want to use Charizard either.]
Articuno is one of the Legendary Birds.
Even if it's not the leader of the Articuno flock, not just any Pokémon can challenge it.
It must be at least at the Elite Four level, right?
And among Black Ash's Pokémon, the one at the Elite Four level, with a type advantage over Articuno…
is Charizard, no matter how you look at it!
Elesa's guess was agreed upon by everyone.
So… who does Black Ash want to send?
...
In a Black World –
Ash led everyone to the Pokémon Center at the foot of Snowpoint Mountain.
Along the way, Ash casually explained to Todd his ability to communicate with Pokémon.
Of course, he definitely wouldn't reveal the full extent of his Aura power.
Although this wasn't his first time meeting Todd,
Ash wouldn't easily reveal his biggest trump card, his Aura power.
Ash also briefly mentioned his encounter with Lugia, his battle with the Legendary Birds, and saving the world in the process…
One mustn't talk nonsense!
Todd also sensed Ash's reservations, so he didn't press for details.
Upon arriving at the Pokémon Center, Ash called Professor Oak and temporarily teleported the Bayleef in his party back, exchanging it for another Pokémon.
Todd looked at the Poké Ball Ash had just received, a doubtful expression on his face.
"Ash, can he… really defeat Articuno?"
"Haha, I don't know. I won't know until we battle."
"Why not use Pikachu? Even if Pikachu might not be able to win… Pikachu is still an Electric type!"
Todd wasn't a Pokémon Trainer. His ambition was to be a photographer, so he didn't know much about Ash winning the Indigo Plateau Conference. However, he still knew a little about type matchups, and he also understood things like… the notorious weakness of common, wild Pikachu.
Pikachu was famously weak… but at least it had a type advantage!
And the one Ash was sending… was at a type disadvantage against Articuno!
"Then you're underestimating him… He can control the power of wind. A blizzard… is also wind!"
Ash looked at the Poké Ball in his hand, a fire called fighting spirit burning in his eyes.
Strictly speaking, this was his first official duel with a Legendary Pokémon!
The first honor will be left to you – Pidgeot!
...
[Winona: Whoa! Pidgeot versus Articuno?! Fast forward! I want to fast forward!]
[Lance: Instead of Charizard, he's using Pidgeot… Pidgeot is indeed strong, but has it broken through to the Elite Four level?]
[Cynthia: Even if it broke through to Elite Four, it would only be newly ascended. Factoring in the Aura power boost, it'd be good to be around high-tier Elite Four. If Articuno is Champion level…]
Legendary, Champion, type disadvantage—these three unfavorable factors combined meant even if Pidgeot could control wind power, it would never be Articuno's match, even if Articuno had no Trainer.
Why were Legendaries called Legendaries?
Was it just because they were rare?
That was only one reason; the most important thing was the immense physical strength of Legendaries!
At the same level, a Legendary's physical strength was generally far superior to ordinary Pokémon!
It was like the difference between bosses and common mobs in online games.
The boss's level might be similar to the mobs, but its health bar was completely different!
Therefore, at the same level, Legendaries had an advantage, even if ordinary Pokémon were commanded by a Trainer.
[Articuno: That little guy isn't Champion level. It lives in the Snowpoint Mountain of this region… If I remember correctly, it should be in its 'newborn' stage. To survive, it probably only has what you humans call mid-tier Elite Four strength.]
Newborn stage… Mid-tier Elite Four… Were these two concepts that could be equated?
Did it have some misunderstanding about 'newborn'?
Wasn't 'newborn' basically childhood?
Were there mid-tier Elite Fours in childhood?!
All the Elite Fours and Champions present felt numb.
[Diantha: A Legendary is a Legendary… High physical strength, fast growth, strong starting point. It really has 'invincible' written all over it. No wonder so many people flock after Legendary Pokémon.]
[Articuno: Ah… you might have misunderstood. The 'birth period' for us Legendaries is relatively long. Generally, the 'growth period' comes after the 'birth period,' which is what you call around peak Elite Four level, and the 'complete form' reaches Champion level.]
[Articuno: As for whether they can reach Champion level, that depends on their own efforts. So, although the Articuno in the footage is still in its 'newborn' stage, it has already lived for several years.]
[Lugia: Yes, we Pokémon called 'Legendaries,' while we have stronger physical strength at the same level and a high growth floor, our growth rate isn't very fast, and our starting point isn't very high. Just think about my children.]
With Lugia's reminder, everyone remembered the baby Lugia from the Whirl Islands.
The baby Lugia didn't know how long it had been born, but clearly… its strength might not even be at Gym Leader level!
This alone contradicted the 'high starting point' idea, so…
The world was relatively fair. Although Legendaries were strong, they also had quite a few limitations.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be only those few Legendaries at the very top of this world.
[Cynthia: Having said that, if it's only mid-tier Elite Four, that doesn't mean it can't be beaten…]
The gap between mid-tier Elite Four and Champion… wasn't just a little.
The latter had no hope of winning at all, but the former… the hope was quite high!
[Winona: I wonder how Black Ash's Pidgeot has grown! I'm really looking forward to it!]
As a dedicated Flying-type Gym Leader and a fan of Pidgeot,
Winona was very interested in a powerful Pidgeot!
In this world, Ash's competitive spirit seemed to be reignited, and she even wanted to have another battle with Ash!
This was how Trainers communicated!
At the same time, time in the Black World passed in the blink of an eye.
It really did—because the image on the black screen dimmed, and then it was the next day.——
...
In a Black World – At the same time the next day, Ash and his group arrived at Snowpoint Mountain.
Todd held his camera with great interest, ready to capture the elegant scene of Articuno battling!
After a moment, Articuno slowly appeared before them!
Amid the drifting fine snow, Articuno chirped towards Ash, indicating Ash could release his Pokémon to battle.
Ash wasn't polite to Articuno.
He took out Pidgeot's Poké Ball, glanced at the distance obscured by wind and snow, a flash of a smile in his eyes, and then threw Pidgeot's ball.
"The decision is yours, Pidgeot!"
"Pidgeoooot——"
The brave bird appeared on the field, the aura it exuded no weaker than Articuno's, and it even seemed more noble!
Articuno looked at the relatively common Pokémon that appeared before it, a trace of doubt in its eyes.
This Pidgeot… seemed different from ordinary Pidgeot!
Not in terms of strength, but in terms of aura…
As a Legendary, forget strength for a moment. In terms of aura, it had always been far beyond ordinary Pokémon—noble, graceful, beautiful… but that Pidgeot actually overshadowed it in aura. How was this possible?
"Still spacing out? Pidgeot, Agility!"
"Pidgeot——"
While Articuno was dazed, Ash directly ordered Pidgeot to use Agility.
This was his favorite combat style—blitz attack!
Speed up, speed up, speed up, then attack like a storm!
Of course, he could also use defensive tactics and stall, but Ash didn't like that very much. He preferred all-out offense!
Pidgeot chirped, its figure continuously shuttling through the blizzard.
Its whole body turned into a streak of brown lightning, arriving in front of Articuno in the blink of an eye!
"Steel Wing!"
"Screech——"
Silvery-white energy covered Pidgeot's huge wings, and then, those massive wings suddenly swung out, the tremendous force directly slicing through the drifting snow!
The terrifying pressure bore down on Articuno, which seemed to react only now.
It flapped its wings violently, but it seemed too late!
"Skraaa——"
Steel Wing… missed?!
Ash looked at the afterimage of Articuno that was split in half in the sky and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Snow Cloak is indeed troublesome… but I'm not helpless! Pidgeot, Sunny Day!"
Everyone: ???
Sunny Day?
Using Sunny Day in a match? How insane is it to counter Snow Cloak with Sunny Day?
First Pikachu uses Rain Dance, now Sunny Day for competition, right?
"Pidgeot——"
A blazing red light emanated from Pidgeot's body. The fine snow falling on it silently melted into water, and then, the red light shot straight into the sky!
Instantly, the surrounding wind and snow paused, revealing the brilliant, scorching sun!
In the snowy area, the wind and snow stopped only over the battlefield between Pidgeot and Articuno.
And because of the halted snow, the Articuno hidden within the wind and snow was forced to reveal itself.
Ash smiled and commanded loudly,
"I found you! Pidgeot, again! Agility plus Wing Attack!"
"Pidgeot——"
Pidgeot turned into an afterimage again, rushing toward Articuno as swift as the wind!
Articuno clearly hadn't expected a Pidgeot to know a move like Sunny Day!
This way, its Snow Cloak Ability would have no effect.
And because of the two Agility uses, Pidgeot's speed had nearly doubled!
Although Articuno's level was much higher than Pidgeot's, what Pidgeot excelled at was speed.
Now with its speed doubled, even with the level difference, Articuno couldn't dodge Pidgeot's attack!
"Boom——"
The Steel Wings, tempered a thousand times over, struck Articuno's graceful figure hard!
"Whoosh——"
"Boom!!!"
The ice-blue figure fell like a meteor, crashing hard into the ice and snow not far away!
"It actually… suppressed Articuno?!"
Todd's hand holding the camera trembled slightly.
Regarding the battle between Pidgeot and Articuno, he had actually imagined it.
In his imagination, even if Ash's Pidgeot wasn't completely outmatched, it should have been the one being fiercely suppressed. But… this opening with Sunny Day, followed by a Steel Wing sending Articuno crashing down!
It was completely different from what he'd imagined!
"It's still early… That Steel Wing didn't do much damage to Articuno."
Ash's calm voice reached Todd's ears.
Todd was stunned and asked,
"Uh… huh? Isn't Steel super effective against Ice?"
Say what you will, this non-Trainer photographer had a good grasp of type matchups.
"It is super effective against Ice, but… it also depends on the Pokémon's stats and level!"
Ash's answer left Todd a little confused, but it didn't matter. The next second, he understood what 'didn't do much damage' meant.
A loud cry sounded from the thick snow, followed by a sudden blue light shooting out from the snowdrift!
Even the people nearly a hundred meters away felt the cold contained within that icy blue light!
Misty, wearing her down jacket, couldn't help but shiver.
"Dodge it, quick!"
Ash shouted timely, but the speed of the Ice Beam was too fast.
Even as Pidgeot flapped its wings to dodge, it was grazed by the icy light, and some frostbite appeared on Pidgeot's wing.
After the soaring icy blue light disappeared, the beautiful ice-blue figure sprang from the snow. The Articuno now had a clear mark on its chest. Judging by its appearance, it was just as Ash said—basically unharmed.
Moreover, that Ice Beam just now was Articuno's powerful counterattack!
Pidgeot and Ash's expressions gradually grew serious, and then the two sides began an extremely fierce offensive and defensive battle!
The duel of wind versus wind, the collision of light versus light, the confrontation of body versus body.
Relying on its control of heaven and earth's winds, its speed pushed to the limit, and the advantage of the weather, Pidgeot barely managed to fight Articuno to a standstill.
...
[Professor Oak: Something's not right…]
[Volkner: Huh? What's wrong? Being able to achieve this against Articuno is pretty good, right? Even though Articuno is only mid-tier Elite Four, the average mid-tier Elite Four probably couldn't defeat it.]
[Cynthia: Professor Oak must be saying something's off about Black Ash, right? So far, Black Ash… hasn't used Aura Fusion yet!]
Hearing this, everyone immediately realized the incongruity. That's right… where was the Aura Fusion?
Pidgeot couldn't compare to Articuno in terms of physical stats. If they fused, they should be able to easily counter and suppress it, right?
PS :
Sunny Day: The move used by Pidgeot to clear the blizzard and negate Articuno's Snow Cloak Ability.
PS 2: I've been consistently releasing chapters for many days now, and If you want to support my work and read the complete fic (all chapters ), you can check out
my P@treon. -> patreon.com/Sagamaster789
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Sagamaster789