The Giant Metagross hung in the air, its blue metal shell wrapped in that thin film of Psychic energy, the faint purple shimmer giving it an almost otherworldly quality against the dark of the cave. It watched Jacob and Darkrai with the particular stillness of something that had never needed to hurry.
Jacob studied it back.
Metagross were among the most intelligent Pokémon in existence. That wasn't a figure of speech — their neural network was genuinely comparable to a supercomputer in its processing capability. Battling one at this level was less like fighting a Pokémon and more like fighting a combat algorithm. Every position it took was optimal. Every scrap of energy it used was accounted for. It revealed nothing that wasn't intentional, and it made no move that hadn't already been calculated two steps ahead.
That was what separated Metagross from other Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. A Garchomp hit hard and moved fast. A Tyranitar absorbed punishment and hit harder. But Metagross brought something closer to perfection — not raw power alone, but the intelligence to deploy it without waste. It was, in a very literal sense, built for battle.
That said, no Metagross started out this way. The one in front of him had earned every bit of this through years of accumulated experience — thousands of battles, each one adding to its internal record of moves, opponent patterns, speed values, damage calculations. Every defeat it had ever suffered had been processed, analysed, and filed away so it would never happen the same way twice. It was effectively a learning system, growing more complete with every encounter.
And this particular Metagross had no variant colouring, no unusual ability, nothing exotic about it. It was simply a Metagross that had fought long enough and hard enough to reach a level of mastery that most Pokémon never approached.
Jacob had a deep respect for that.
"Darkrai — stay alert."
As he said it, the Metagross moved.
Psychic energy bloomed across its body again — that same thin, controlled film — and its speed surged as it closed the distance toward Darkrai in a single burst.
Faster than before.
Jacob confirmed it now. That was definitely Agility — the move was simply executed with such restraint that the energy signature barely registered until the speed increase made it undeniable.
He ran through his options quickly.
There was really only one move suited to this moment.
"Darkrai — Foul Play!"
Foul Play — a Dark-type physical move with a distinctive mechanic: rather than drawing on the user's own Attack stat, it used the opponent's. The stronger the target, the harder the hit landed.
Against this Metagross, that was significant.
Darkrai's physical Attack was average at best — respectable for a Legendary Pokémon, but not the foundation of its battle style. Throwing conventional physical moves at a Metagross with this level of Defense would accomplish very little. But Foul Play bypassed that entirely. The Giant Metagross's own immense physical strength would be turned against it, and with Dark-type being super effective against the Psychic typing, combined with Darkrai's same-type attack bonus, a clean hit would deal serious damage.
Dark-type energy erupted around Darkrai as it launched forward to meet the incoming Metagross.
The Metagross's forelimbs blazed with Fighting-type energy — the same move it had been relying on, Hammer Arm, the only Fighting-type move in its current arsenal.
Jacob noted the limitation with some interest. Wild Pokémon accumulated moves through level and instinct rather than through TMs and deliberate training. This Metagross had developed extraordinary mastery over the moves it knew — but the range of what it knew was naturally narrower than it could have been with a trainer's guidance. It could have learned Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Earthquake. With proper development it would have had answers to almost anything. As it stood, it was working with a shorter hand than its intelligence deserved.
The two closed on each other and collided.
Boom.
The exchange was almost even. Darkrai took Hammer Arm and absorbed it — steadied itself — and the Foul Play landed cleanly, the impact visibly registering on the Giant Metagross in a way that none of Darkrai's previous moves had managed. The Dark-type energy hit differently when it was hitting with the target's own power behind it.
Darkrai had marginally the better of it. The STAB bonus made the difference.
Neither of them had time to press the advantage.
A streak of pale light tore in from the left side of the cave, moving fast, and smashed into the far wall with a crack that shook loose debris from the ceiling. A large crater opened in the rock face.
Both Darkrai and the Giant Metagross turned to look.
The Crystal Metagross lay against the base of the wall, motionless. It had lost the ability to battle.
Jacob blinked. He hadn't even been tracking that fight.
Iron Valiant walked into view from the direction the Crystal Metagross had come from, its double-bladed weapon held at its side, its gaze settling calmly on Darkrai and the Giant Metagross.
The Giant Metagross went very still.
Its eyes locked onto Iron Valiant, and Jacob watched something happen behind those scarlet pupils — a rapid, silent calculation. Metagross processed information at supercomputer speed. It had felt Iron Valiant's aura the moment it entered the cave. Now, with a clear line of sight and full attention, it was running the numbers.
The result was not in its favour.
For the first time since the battle began, Jacob saw the Giant Metagross consider retreat. A Pokémon of its intelligence had no illusions about unwinnable fights. Against Iron Valiant, its projected win rate was effectively zero. The logical response was to disengage.
But it didn't move.
Because alongside the intelligence, there was something else — a pride that the Metagross had also earned through those thousands of battles. It was a king of this Underground World. It didn't run.
Jacob watched all of this play out across the Metagross's posture and decided.
"Metagross." He spoke directly to it, his tone easy. "Let's make a deal."
He paused to let it focus on him fully.
"You and Darkrai — one-on-one. Iron Valiant stays out of it entirely." He gestured toward Iron Valiant as he said it. "If you win, I walk away. Iron Valiant won't move to stop you, and I won't attempt to catch you. You go free."
Another pause.
"But if you lose — you come with me. You become my Pokémon."
He met the Metagross's gaze and held it.
He meant every word of it. Catching an adult wild Metagross by force was one thing — making it a genuine partner was another entirely. A Metagross that had fought this hard and developed this far wasn't going to give its loyalty to someone who simply overpowered it. But one that had been offered a fair contest, and lost on those terms — that was different. That was a Metagross that could respect the outcome.
And Jacob genuinely wanted this one. The personality — arrogant, controlled, utterly without panic — was the mark of something exceptional. Given a trainer's resources and guidance, the moves it was missing, the development it hadn't had access to in the wild, it had everything it needed to become what Iron Valiant already was.
The Giant Metagross looked at Iron Valiant. Then at Darkrai. Then at Jacob.
It gave a single, slight nod.
"Then it's settled." Jacob turned to Iron Valiant. "Stand down. This is Darkrai's fight — don't interfere."