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Volcarona was the first to falter.
But that was to be expected. After all, Volcarona had been cooped up for so many years, lacking much actual combat experience. It relied solely on its innate advantages to crush Pokémon weaker than itself. Fortunately, it had withdrawn early; otherwise, it would have been hit by the pitch-black storm Dark Mewtwo subsequently unleashed, sent flying like Ho-Oh's guard, and eroded by the storm.
Like a whirlwind scattering clouds, the black-purple air currents spun at high speed, even dispersing the clouds below. This was the result of psychic waves stirring the air, a testament to Dark Mewtwo's immense psychic power.
The surrounding Pokémon hovered high in the sky, encircling it, panting heavily, exhaustion clear on their faces. While recovering their strength and energy, they waited for the next opportunity to strike.
For a moment, silence fell over the top of the Tree of Beginning.
Not even the sound of wind could be heard.
In the sky, the golden sun rose higher and higher, signaling the arrival of dawn.
Sunlight streamed through the hole Dark Mewtwo had blasted, illuminating the Tree of Beginning.
It was like a path reaching towards heaven. Even the crystals on the Tree of Beginning sparkled in response.
From this, it was evident that this tree, like its counterpart in the original story, ran purely on solar power.
The scene was harmonious.
The exchange that had just taken place had successfully exhausted both sides immensely.
Especially during the final storm, even Gyarados—the only one who had entered the battle at full strength—was forced to retreat and temporarily halt its offensive.
Mo Ye stood firmly atop its head, his left hand gripping the dark dragon horn, his right hand holding a sword, seemingly unaffected by the storm. At that moment, his expression was grave, his brow deeply furrowed.
Perhaps he hadn't anticipated Dark Mewtwo being this powerful, this troublesome—so much so that they couldn't overpower it even after a prolonged assault!
Fortunately, however, Dark Mewtwo was not unscathed. The prolonged stalemate with Mew, its previous outburst, and the encirclement had all taken a heavy toll on its energy. If not for the dark matter continuously supplying it with power, it would have collapsed long ago!
Currently, Dark Mewtwo's stamina was on the verge of depletion. It bore numerous wounds from fire, impact, lightning, and ice attacks on its body. Yet, even so, its face remained filled with hatred and anger, refusing to show weakness!
"Hmph! No matter how many of you there are, you're nothing more than a bunch of sneaky characters!"
Dark Mewtwo suddenly spoke.
"You—"
"Mew!"
Mew, looking like a pink kitten, opened its mouth and interrupted Dark Mewtwo's words. Although it didn't speak human language, Mo Ye could completely understand what it meant.
—Don't listen to its nonsense, gang up on it!
Anyone with a modicum of sense would know that Dark Mewtwo speaking at this moment was not trying to gain the upper hand with words or communicate with the others. It was simply trying to reveal that it could communicate, hoping to lure the surrounding Pokémon into holding back and talking with it, thereby allowing it to recover.
It was a good idea. Against a somewhat foolish protagonist group, it might have worked.
Unfortunately for Dark Mewtwo, it was facing Mew—an ancient creature that had lived for who knows how long. Mew wasn't interested in any of that nonsense. Half its home had been stolen, the disaster had already happened, and now it was saying "stop fighting" just because it said so? What a joke! My reinforcements are here! Prepare to die!
The surrounding Pokémon then rushed at Dark Mewtwo a second time. Its scheme having failed, Dark Mewtwo roared with unwillingness, manipulating psychic waves to stir up the winds and clouds as it resisted them.
Below, Li Xiang's expression was somewhat hesitant.
He didn't know if he should tell them that Dark Mewtwo might still have a second stage transformation—Mega Evolution.
After all, Dark Mewtwo currently had neither a Key Stone nor a Mega Stone, so the possibility of Mega Evolution didn't exist. But since Dark Mewtwo could unleash dark matter, what was so strange about it being able to Mega Evolve? The Genesect movie never explicitly showed a Mega Stone either.
Then again, the battle above was so intense, and he was hundreds of meters away—how was he supposed to convey this information?
His gaze involuntarily fell on Volcarona, which was basking in the sunlight and rapidly repairing itself with Morning Sun.
Regardless, in such an urgent situation, rather than worrying about how to explain how he knew afterwards, it was more important to make sure everyone stayed vigilant.
With that thought, Li Xiang patted Starmie and said in a low voice, "Take me over there!"
A light flickered in Starmie's chest gem, as if it was contemplating whether to obey.
"Hurry up!"
Li Xiang urged impatiently.
After weighing the options repeatedly, Starmie ultimately reluctantly led him, carefully flying towards Volcarona's position.
Volcarona had just healed most of its injuries and was about to rejoin the battle when Li Xiang stopped it.
"I have a feeling something's off with Dark Mewtwo. It seems to still be holding back power. Make sure to tell the others to finish this quickly and not give it any chance!"
Li Xiang spoke rapidly.
Volcarona was a bit stunned. Before it could even ask how he knew, the battle above had reached an intense stage, forcing it to take flight.
Quiver Dance combined with Fiery Dance, the scorching flames forming a terrifying fire tornado that swept towards Dark Mewtwo!
In the sky, countless energies coalesced into one, as the black storm once again surged, sweeping across heaven and earth.
The wind howled!
Li Xiang didn't know if his words had prompted any vigilance in them. He only knew that Dark Mewtwo, under the encirclement of the many Pokémon, had successfully entered a phase of being beaten.
Yes, Dark Mewtwo was incredibly strong. Based on its portrayal in the movie, it could alter the environment and unleash attacks that could shatter stars. But it wasn't invincible; the original Mewtwo had even been brought to the brink of death by human technology. By this point, it had already been locked in a stalemate with Mew for a long time, and its various aspects were depleted.
Relying on its exhausted, battered body to simultaneously fight five or six opponents was already astonishing.
Li Xiang personally felt this exceeded the portrayal in the anime.
In the anime, it was mostly one-on-one, king versus king. It was rare to see a group of Legendary Pokémon ganging up on one. Even rarer was a scenario like Dark Mewtwo, surrounded and attacked by Pokémon of the same tier, yet still holding its own.
What particularly captured Li Xiang's attention was Mew's fighting style.
Unlike in the anime, where it simply relied on psychic waves with a very ordinary fighting style, here, Mew very cleverly used Transform to turn into an ordinary Mewtwo, using its opponent's abilities against it.
From this, it could be seen that Mewtwo becoming Dark Mewtwo wasn't a genetic-level change. Otherwise, Mew should have transformed into Dark Mewtwo instead. After all, it genuinely had the complete genetic makeup.
On one side was the black storm, on the other a white storm—the difference was stark.
Moreover, Mew's form seemed to inflict a certain amount of psychological damage on Dark Mewtwo, which kept roaring continuously, disregarding its own consumption.
Waiting was tedious.
Li Xiang, on one hand, was anxious about whether Dark Mewtwo would suddenly Mega Evolve, while on the other hand, he hoped Mo Ye and the others would quickly defeat it.
The basis for any dialogue had to be established with one standing and one lying down—preferably with the one lying down utterly immobilized.
So Li Xiang waited and waited.
Finally, it seemed the end was near.
There was nothing else he could do. He could only watch from the sidelines; there was no room for him to intervene.
The experiences he had encountered along his growth path had been very strange.
At twelve, he encountered Buzzwole, back when he had been a trainer for less than half a year.
At thirteen, he met visitors from another world and nearly lost his life underground, with no Pokémon by his side.
Now, at fifteen, he had directly leaped to a battle among Legendary Pokémon—a conflict so intense that even the head of the Elite Four could only join the group effort rather than carry the team. It was like something from the special movie "Mewtwo Strikes Back."
He remembered that Ash's first death had been in that movie, right? Rushing between Mew and Mewtwo's attacks, he had turned to stone. Fortunately, he was revived by the tears of the Pokémon.
Yes, the sincere tears of Pokémon could save a protagonist's life.
Li Xiang had been deeply moved by that scene when he was a child.
Up above, the battle was nearing its end.
Even though Dark Mewtwo was still roaring, its anger undiminished, the energy within it had already reached depletion. It seemed the dark matter had its limits.
Besides, this thing was the strongest man-made Pokémon, not the strongest Pokémon overall. Bearing the title of a Legendary Pokémon, it was, in reality, simply a biological weapon of destruction. Without Mega Evolution, being repeatedly surrounded and worn down, it naturally succumbed.
It briefly lost consciousness and was held by Mew's psychic waves, prevented from falling from the sky.
With this source of dark matter gone, the Pokémon below would likely gradually awaken, and the three lakes would be safe.
The matter was essentially settled.
Such an exaggerated disaster, all stemming from a single Pokémon—it was hard to know what to say.
It was somewhat similar to the one that could cause region-wide torrential rain disasters yet was brought down by poison.
With everything resolved, a group of Pokémon flew towards his position.
"Mew..."
Mew opened its mouth, glanced at Li Xiang and Mo Ye, and rubbed its neck.
"Ahem, thank you, thank you all for your help. We've finally caught this counterfeit."
A clear, youthful voice sounded in their ears.
Mew stretched out its little paw and gently patted Dark Mewtwo's head, sighing wistfully, "If this had dragged on any longer, it might have become a real disaster."
'If it heard you say that, it would probably explode again,' Li Xiang thought silently.
To be honest, Dark Mewtwo had really wreaked havoc here. It had affected the three lakes, turned the Tree of Beginning upside down, and even had the three Regis turned against them.
As he was thinking this, suddenly three massive Pokémon flew up from below, their bodies glowing.
It was exactly the three Regis.
They were quite large, appearing to be over four meters tall. He hadn't noticed it earlier, but these guys had really grown well.
"Hm..."
The leader was Registeel. The seven dots on its face were flickering wildly.
"It's alright. Go attend to your own matters. Quite a few of the crystals are probably dead. Quickly go and drive away the dark aura."
Mew waved its little paw, as if instructing the servants at home.
The three Regis then rumbled downwards.
"Please, follow me."
Mew beckoned everyone, leading them into the Tree of Beginning through an exposed entrance.
Mo Ye descended to Li Xiang's side. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."
Li Xiang shook his head, watching as Gyarados reverted to its original form.
This was the first time he had witnessed Mega Evolution in person. So the Mega Stone was behind the horn.
"Roar?"
Gyarados looked at the little boy curiously poking his head around, rather puzzled.
"Nothing, nothing."
Li Xiang shook his head.