Chapter 264: Rayquaza, Become My Pokémon!
Rayquaza let out a deafening roar.
The sheer volume made Asahi's head buzz painfully.
Clearly, Rayquaza was not responding to Asahi's friendly greeting in a friendly manner.
Watching from the side, Gary couldn't help but complain in his mind:
[You literally woke it up in the rudest way possible. How could you expect it to be friendly?]
[Gardevoir Supreme: I heard that.]
[Gary: …]
Crap. He forgot they were still linked via telepathy.
Gardevoir silently observed the two, glancing between Asahi and Gary.
The way they both accidentally voiced their inner thoughts through telepathy… If she didn't know better, she might have suspected they were related by blood.
Meanwhile, Rayquaza's roaring finally subsided. Its icy gaze locked onto them, and inside its gaping maw, energy began gathering—it was preparing an attack.
Seeing this, Zinnia wasn't afraid. In fact, she was elated.
To her, this meant the Dragon God was about to punish Asahi for intruding upon its domain!
But just as she was about to enjoy the spectacle, she realized something was off.
Wait… why was she included in the attack's range!?
Before she could react, Rayquaza unleashed a dazzling yellow energy beam.
At the last moment, Mewtwo flicked a hand, pulling Zinnia aside just in time. The attack barely missed her, its residual heat curling the ends of her hair.
"If I hadn't saved you, you'd be dead right now," Asahi stated matter-of-factly.
Zinnia stood frozen, disbelief written all over her face.
"Why…?"
Asahi chuckled, stepping forward.
"Rayquaza doesn't see you as an ally. To it, you and I are the same—intruders who disturbed its slumber."
He looked up at the massive dragon, eyes shining with excitement.
"Gary, take the prisoner and step back."
He rolled up his sleeve, revealing the mark of Mewtwo's cells.
"Because now… it's my fight."
Asahi reached out toward Rayquaza.
"Rayquaza, become my Pokémon!"
Rayquaza let out a furious roar, its piercing gaze fixed on the arrogant human who had dared to challenge it.
Without hesitation, Rayquaza responded with action.
Its emerald-green body suddenly coiled, drawing in the surrounding air. In an instant, multiple compressed air blades formed and slashed toward Asahi.
"As expected, a battle is inevitable…" Asahi wasn't surprised. He raised his hand and commanded, "Mewtwo!"
Whoosh!
Mewtwo swung its massive, psychic-imbued spoon.
Wrapped in its powerful psychic energy, the spoon danced through the air, effortlessly shattering the incoming air blades into harmless gusts of wind.
Seeing this, Rayquaza's gaze locked onto Mewtwo.
It had clearly not expected this unknown Pokémon to deflect its attack so easily.
But Mewtwo didn't stop there.
Following Asahi's command, it raised its hand, its eyes glowing with an intense blue light.
"Psychic!"
Buzz—
Psychic energy distorted reality, warping the air itself. Mewtwo's Psychic attack surged forward like an overwhelming tide, crashing toward Rayquaza.
Rayquaza sensed the danger.
This opponent was different from any it had faced before.
With a roar, Rayquaza's body markings began to glow faintly. It then opened its mouth and exhaled a powerful gust of wind.
The gale rapidly condensed in midair, forming into a towering tornado imbued with Dragon-type energy.
The swirling dragon-infused twister clashed with Mewtwo's invisible Psychic force, causing a series of sharp crackling sounds as the two opposing energies collided and neutralized each other.
Asahi frowned slightly.
Through his Aura Vision, he could see that Mewtwo's Psychic attack was clearly at a disadvantage against Rayquaza's counter.
Rayquaza was even stronger than he had anticipated!
And this was just its base form.
As expected of the ruler of the skies…
Without hesitation, Asahi issued a third command to Mewtwo via telepathy.
At the same time, he revealed the bracelet on his wrist and placed his hand on the Key Stone embedded within it.
"This is…?" Behind him, Zinnia's eyes widened in shock.
She hadn't expected Asahi to have access to Mega Evolution as well…
Although Mega Evolution was no longer exclusive to the Draconid people after all these years, the fact that Asahi possessed this power—combined with his deep understanding of her people—made her recall a suspicion she had before.
Could Asahi actually be a lost descendant of the Draconid tribe?
But Asahi paid no attention to her reaction.
His full focus was on Mewtwo.
"Mewtwo, Mega Evolve!"
Mewtwo's body was instantly engulfed in radiant light.
With the loss of Mewtwo's psychic support, its Psychic attack was quickly overwhelmed by Rayquaza's tornado. The twister was about to slam into the glowing sphere surrounding Mewtwo when—
A slender arm suddenly extended from within the light.
With a single, effortless motion, it swiped at the incoming tornado.
A tidal wave of psychic energy surged forward, completely engulfing the twister.
Boom!
The tornado instantly shattered!
Zinnia was left utterly stunned.
"It's Mega Mewtwo Y!" Gary exclaimed.
He had once faced Mewtwo's Y form in battle. Though that experience had been nothing short of a brutal lesson, seeing Mega Mewtwo Y now filled him with a deep sense of security.
In the sky, the now smaller and sleeker Mewtwo Y locked eyes with Rayquaza, its battle intent unmistakable!
However, to Rayquaza, Mewtwo's fighting spirit was nothing short of a provocation.
As a Pokémon with an extremely strong territorial instinct, Rayquaza could tolerate weaker Pokémon and humans occasionally appearing within its domain. But it would never allow a Pokémon of equal power to intrude on its territory.
ROOOAARR!
Rayquaza let out an enraged roar.
Its coiled body suddenly shot into the sky. As it moved, the markings on its body glowed brightly, and a mysterious energy began gathering around it.
"Is that… Dragon Ascent? No… It's Dragon Dance! Stop it, Mewtwo!"
The moment Asahi gave the command, Mewtwo Y had already moved.
Its small frame, now shielded by a protective blue aura, flew toward Rayquaza at high speed. At the same time, Mewtwo's psychic spoon elongated, slamming toward Rayquaza.
Rayquaza, however, had no intention of stopping its Dragon Dance.
Its serpentine body continued to weave through the air, but powerful gusts of wind gathered around it, forming a protective barrier—
Hurricane!
The fierce winds disrupted Mewtwo Y's attack, making it difficult to land a direct hit.
Since evolving into Mega Mewtwo Y, Mewtwo had sacrificed raw power in favor of enhancing its psychic abilities.
Now, under Rayquaza's interference, controlling its elongated psychic spoon was proving troublesome.
Seeing this, Asahi decisively changed tactics.
"Use Psycho Cut!"
Mewtwo Y's psychic energy surged, solidifying into razor-sharp, tangible blades that slashed toward Rayquaza.
The mental blades were incredibly sharp, slicing through Rayquaza's Hurricane barrier like scissors cutting through silk.
Slash!
The Psycho Cut landed squarely on Rayquaza's body.
ROOOAARR!
Rayquaza let out a pained roar, but Asahi didn't look pleased.
Because just before the attack connected, Rayquaza had already completed its Dragon Dance.
The effect was immediate.
Through his Aura Vision, Asahi could clearly sense Rayquaza's power and speed surging dramatically.
Having just enhanced itself, Rayquaza's eyes flashed with a fierce glint as it lunged forward.
In Asahi's vision, all he saw was a green blur.
In the next instant, Rayquaza was right in front of Mewtwo.
Its tail, now cloaked in immense Dragon-type energy, swung violently at Mewtwo Y.
Mewtwo hadn't expected such a drastic speed increase. It had no time to evade.
BANG!
CRACK!
Two sounds echoed almost simultaneously.
The first was the impact of Rayquaza's tail slamming into Mewtwo, sending it flying.
The second was the sound of Mewtwo's protective shield shattering.
Using its psychic powers, Mewtwo barely managed to neutralize some of the force and stabilize itself midair. But as it examined its fractured energy shield, even it was shaken.
Seeing that Mewtwo had managed to withstand its attack, Rayquaza's expression became even more ferocious.
It lunged at Mewtwo once more.
This time, it didn't use its tail. Instead, it extended its claws, aiming to tear through Mewtwo's weakened shield!
Given the shield's current condition, if Rayquaza got a hold of it, it was very likely to shatter completely.
But Mewtwo, now prepared, wouldn't give Rayquaza the chance.
A flash of blue light flickered in Mewtwo Y's eyes.
Its psychic power surged around its body, boosting its movement speed—
Agility!
In an instant, Mewtwo Y became a blur, narrowly dodging Rayquaza's claws.
Then, appearing behind Rayquaza, it slammed into the dragon's body with force.
Rayquaza staggered in the air, momentarily losing its balance.
But as the undisputed ruler of the skies, Rayquaza quickly recovered. Twisting its massive body, it swiped a claw at Mewtwo once again.
The two clashed repeatedly, their figures intertwining, separating, and striking back.
Down below, Gary recorded everything on his phone, feeling quite proud.
He had once battled Mewtwo Y himself. Now, seeing it go toe-to-toe with Rayquaza, didn't that mean, in a way, he had also fought Rayquaza before?
Meanwhile, Zinnia was completely stunned.
She never imagined that Asahi's strange Pokémon could actually fight on equal footing with the Dragon God!
It was simply…
She struggled to find a word that could describe the sheer shock she was feeling.
Only Asahi remained deep in thought.
Through their telepathic link, he could sense that Mewtwo wasn't in an ideal condition.
The problem wasn't power—Mega Mewtwo Y had gained an enormous boost to its special attack, making it more than capable of matching an un-Mega-Evolved Rayquaza.
The issue was stamina.
Compared to Rayquaza, a Pokémon that had lived since ancient times, Mewtwo was still too young. Its endurance was its greatest weakness.
Right now, it was still holding its own against Rayquaza, even gaining slight advantages thanks to its psychic abilities.
But if the battle dragged on, things wouldn't end well for Mewtwo.
And just as this thought crossed Asahi's mind, Rayquaza seemed to realize the same thing.
It opened its mouth, gathering a ball of yellow energy.
Charging—then firing!
A beam of energy shot through the sky, slicing the clouds apart as it raced toward Mewtwo.
This couldn't be blocked head-on!
"Ga~," Gardevoir said, her eyes glowing.
A glowing tablet in her arms shot toward Mewtwo.
Mewtwo blinked in confusion at the floating artifact.
[I'm lending it to you. Return it when you're done.]