stonecrandall Chapter 331 Ash: A Trade-off? Sorry, I'm stronger now!
Chapter 331 Ash: A Trade-off? Sorry, I'm stronger now!
Chapter 331 Ash: A Trade-off? Sorry, I'm stronger now!
No matter what kind of woman she is, there is usually only one thing she is most sensitive about: her age!
Whether you're a hero or a villain, it's absolutely unacceptable to have your age deliberately distorted and increased, especially since, although Star is one of the four members of Team Galactic, her age is definitely not that old.
Among the four executives of Team Galactic, she is the relatively young one, only in her early twenties, about the same age as Lorelei. Being called "auntie" by a fifteen-year-old boy is an age jump, which is impossible for any of the Galactic Stars to accept.
In a fit of anger, she even revealed that she was one of the four executives of Team Galactic, which was exactly what Ash wanted to achieve.
"So it's Team Galactic's four top executives. Looks like we've caught a big fish this time. If we can catch you, we should be able to find out where Cynthia is." Ash twisted his wrists and his head, making a series of "crackling" sounds.
Although he didn't know the internal structure of Team Galactic, the fact that he was called one of the four executives meant that he was probably similar to the four executives of Team Rocket, meaning the executives with the most power below the leader.
Unless the leader of Team Galactic also came to the Orange Islands, this person named Hostar should be the leader of Team Galactic's distribution in the Orange Islands.
If we defeat and capture her, we can extract information about Cynthia from her.
"A big fish? So, releasing Dark Lugia was your intention. Even if you, a young man, released Dark Lugia because you wanted to show off, Lorelei would never have let you do it if she knew. The reason she agreed was because she knew you had ulterior motives for releasing Dark Lugia, right?"
"So what if it is? But you guys, knowing it's a trap, still chose to walk right into it. It seems Lugia is quite important to you!" Ash said noncommittally.
The other party's words clearly indicated that they knew he had taken out Little Lugia, suggesting that Little Lugia was part of a conspiracy. However, the other party was knowingly walking into danger because Little Lugia was a very important Pokémon to them.
Even knowing it's a trap, they still have to come and bring Lugia back, just like Cynthia did.
Cynthia may have known what kind of trap Team Galactic had set, but the information revealed by Team Galactic forced her to go to their base. If she ignored what was happening just because she knew about the trap, she would be unworthy of the title of champion.
"Quite important? Rather than saying that guy is an indispensable tool for us to lure out the God of the Sea!"
Although we have now found other ways to lure out the Sea God, that guy has fused with the power of Yveltal, the God of Death, making him essentially a dual-god.
"The current one is even rarer than the Sea God, so—can you return it to us? Our Team Galactic will give you a very generous reward, whether it's a rare Pokémon, a rare item, money, or a beautiful woman, you can choose whatever you want," Starstar tempted Ash.
As one of the four executives of Team Galactic, she would never resort to soft tactics if she could be forceful. If anyone thinks that her inner self is as weak as she pretends to be, they are sorely mistaken.
To become a member of Team Galactic, one would have to be ruthless. The reason she chose to subtly guide Ash was because she felt Ash's strength exceeded her expectations.
When she was ambushed by six Elite Four level Pokémon, she managed to block all the attacks with just one hand, and this powerful strength made her feel very uneasy.
Even if she knew that Ash was a psychic, there must be a limit to how powerful a psychic can be, right?
There is a limit to the power that humans can grow. Even the world's most recognized superpowered being, Cattleya, is only a Celestial-level spirit.
Faced with a sneak attack from six Elite Four level Pokémon, even if she defended with all her might, Gadria would not be able to escape unscathed, let alone with just one hand.
In contrast, Ash, who had withstood the sneak attack of six Elite Four level Pokémon, remained completely unfazed.
It's hard to imagine that this is something a human could do.
That's why Starstar changed his initial strategy. When hard tactics didn't work, he tried softer methods to get Ash to hand over Dark Lugia.
For Team Galactic, any cost is worthwhile as long as they can get Dark Lugia back.
After Yveltal's power was infused into Lugia and successfully converted into his own, Lugia's significance even surpassed that of the sea god Lugia himself.
Even without a divine title, little Lugia might grow to the point of being comparable to a first-level god with a divine title in the future.
But in reality, before this, Team Galactic had no expectations whatsoever for Lugia to fuse with Yveltal's power. After all, that was the power of another god, and it wasn't so easy to fuse it into another Pokémon, even if that Pokémon was a descendant of the sea god.
And that was indeed the case. After Lugia initially fused with Yveltal's power, although its appearance turned black, the energy within its body was constantly in conflict. If this was allowed to continue, the final result would be that Yveltal's power would devour Lugia's original power.
Little Lugia will not inherit Yveltal's power; he will perish as his own power is devoured.
Team Galactic's plan is to release the dying Lugia to attract the Sea God. If it is the Sea God, he will surely have a way to save Lugia.
In this way, they achieved their goal. Who would have thought that a roadblock would appear out of nowhere, not only destroying one of their branches but also stealing Lugia? That roadblock was none other than the Sinnoh Champion, Cynthia!
Their initial plan failed due to Cynthia's obstruction, so they set a trap to lure Cynthia in, eventually managing to trap her. Although they couldn't do much to Cynthia, it was only temporary.
Both Cynthia's own stamina and the stamina of her Pokémon are limited. If this drags on, sooner or later Cynthia and her Pokémon will be exhausted. At that point, even the Sinnoh Champion will be at their mercy.
They knew that the Alliance had sent many people to search for them, but given their method of concealment, as long as they didn't show themselves, the Alliance might not be able to find them even if they turned the Orange Islands upside down.
Just then, Ash and Lorelei appeared and had an exhibition match.
In this otherwise unremarkable exhibition match, their experimental Dark Lugia unexpectedly appeared!
The little Lugia that should have been devoured and dissipated by the power of death is actually still alive, and has even absorbed Yveltal's power of death into its own, becoming a divine beast with dual divine powers!
His future potential is unpredictable. Possessing the power of two divine beasts means that he has the opportunity to inherit the power of two divine positions!
A divine beast that carries two divine roles is something that has never been seen or even heard of. Even the leader of Team Galactic, who has seen countless grand occasions, never imagined that such a thing could happen in the world.
Therefore, reclaiming Dark Lugia has become Team Galactic's top priority.
Why did they plot against Lugia, the god of the sea? Besides the god's fighting prowess and symbolic significance, they also needed his power to deal with other gods.
But now they have a second option: to capture Dark Lugia. For Team Galactic, capturing Dark Lugia is many times easier than capturing and controlling the Sea God—at least that's how they see it.
While Dark Lugia is still weak, they can completely control it. Even if it grows stronger, it will still be unable to escape their grasp. Therefore, turning to Dark Lugia is a better choice than dealing with the uncertain God of the Sea.
The trainer currently training Dark Lugia is just a kid. Even though this kid defeated a trainer with champion-level strength in an exhibition match, Lorelei didn't actually use her full strength.
If Lorelei were to go all out, Ash's power would be no match for her.
For Team Galactic, Ash can't possibly be more troublesome than Cynthia, right?
Therefore, upon seeing Dark Lugia appear and gain control of its power, which was only at the Champion level, Team Galactic immediately began to plot, and ultimately arrived at Orange Island that very day to confront them.
They knew that Ash and Lorelei had deliberately revealed Dark Lugia to lure them out, but Lorelei and the others never expected that Team Galactic would come knocking on their door that very day.
Moreover, it was the disguised leader of the Orange Islands branch, Hoss, who came to their door. With a surprise attack and Hoss's formidable strength, and with Ash being such a naive young boy as his target, how could they not capture him easily? Lorelei couldn't possibly still be in Ash's house in the middle of the night, could she?
However, the final result was quite unexpected for Xiaozhi. Xiaozhi's handling of the situation was not as naive as he appeared. Faced with her sneak attack, Xiaozhi seemed to have anticipated it all along.
But the most important point is that Ash was able to block an attack from six Elite Four level Pokémon with his bare hands, and he still looked so relaxed and carefree, with no injury whatsoever!
This terrifying difference in strength is why Starpie took the initiative to lower himself and negotiate with Ash.
Ash smirked, "What a joke! How could I possibly give up Lugia for something like that? As for you, if you tell me Cynthia's whereabouts now, I might let you off the hook. Otherwise, once I catch you and have Lorelei interrogate you, I can't guarantee what kind of treatment you'll receive."
"Cynthia—since you're not interested in the conditions I just offered, let's change them to something you are. We'll release Cynthia, and you'll return Lugia to us, how about that?" Upon hearing this, Huoxing immediately changed the terms.
Since Ash isn't interested in any of the previous options, let's find a condition that Ash is interested in, which is the question Ash raised earlier: Cynthia's whereabouts.
For them, the Sinnoh Championship is a bargaining chip that can be exchanged for countless things in the League. Of course, the best option is to eliminate Cynthia directly. If Cynthia is released back, it would be like letting a tiger return to the mountains, and who knows how much trouble it would cause their Team Galactic in the future.
However, if they could exchange Cynthia for Lugia, it would be a great deal. They would only need to hide and lie in wait for a while to nurture Dark Lugia, and once it emerged, it would be invincible!
Upon hearing this, Ash's face darkened further: "First of all, you didn't give me the option to negotiate, and now—I'm stronger!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Ash instantly appeared behind Hoss, grabbed his arms with both hands, bent them behind his back, and forcefully pinned him down. In the blink of an eye, Hoss was kneeling with his hands tied behind his back.
Just now, Huoxing deliberately created a distance, with a gap of at least thirty meters between them, but in the blink of an eye, Xiaozhi got close to her, and she couldn't even see Xiaozhi's shadow.
What kind of monster is this?!
After the six Pokémon released by the leviathan reacted, they saw that their trainer had been captured. Not only were they helpless against Ash, but even if they could beat Ash, with the leviathan in Ash's hands, they could not pose any threat to him.
Just as Ash said, right now he's the stronger one!
Reasoning with villains won't work; you have to use force to make them realize reality. This is something Xiaozhi learned from the group.
Although he had only been traveling for a little over seven months, Ash was no longer the kind of upright, impulsive young man he used to be. When it came to changing the situation, he would adapt. Just like now, he ignored the six Pokémon of the planet and targeted the planet himself.
"Secondly, both Cynthia and Lugia are living beings, not emotionless pawns. Besides, when did Lugia become part of your Team Galactic? How dare a bandit say such a thing? Don't you have any shame?"
"Now can you tell me where Miss Cynthia is?"
As Ash finished speaking, Star felt her arms, which were bent behind her back, begin to ache. This was Ash warning her: "Now I am the knife and you are the fish on the chopping block. You should know what choice you have to make."