"Where are you looking?!"
BOOM!
Just when everyone thought Ash had been obliterated by Mewtwo's Dark Aura Sphere, a furious roar erupted from behind the clone Pokémon.
In the blink of an eye, Ash's battered yet determined figure appeared behind Mewtwo. With a fierce shout, his fist smashed straight into Mewtwo's face.
"Ungh—!" Mewtwo grunted as he was hurled backward by the impact. That punch wasn't ordinary—it carried every ounce of Ash's will and power.
The crowd below gasped in disbelief. Relief flooded through Ash's companions when they realized he was alive and uninjured. But not everyone was pleased. Team Rocket's Jessie and James, as well as the scheming Ito father and son, were clearly unsettled.
"H-How?!" Mewtwo muttered, touching his bruised cheek. "That attack should have vaporized him! How is he completely unharmed?"
Ash didn't answer. Instead, his crimson eyes flickered as he whispered under his breath,
"Izanagi... two and a half minutes left."
He vanished in an instant.
"Shave!"
With blinding speed, Ash reappeared before Mewtwo, launching an upward kick straight toward its chin.
"Teleport."
Mewtwo's eyes glowed blue, and its form blinked out of existence just before the kick connected.
"There you are!" Ash snarled. The moment Mewtwo rematerialized behind him, Ash followed using Moon Step and Shave, closing the distance instantaneously.
"How… how can he sense where I'll appear?" Mewtwo thought, startled, as Ash's next strike slammed into its jaw.
BANG!
Mewtwo reeled back as a glowing blue Aura Sphere exploded against its chest, sending it crashing through the air.
The reason was clear—Izanagi.
Through its power, Ash's perception had transcended limits, bending reality to his favor. Every unfavorable condition became advantageous; every attack that should have missed instead struck true.
"Cough… cough…" Mewtwo staggered, feeling its psychic energy destabilizing. Despite nearing the threshold of a true Legendary Pokémon, it had yet to fully ascend, its form wavering between mortal and divine.
"This power…" Mewtwo's sharp mind analyzed the human before it.
"His mental energy… it's changing. Not normal… not human."
"One minute and fifty seconds left…" Ash muttered.
His eyes narrowed, and he vanished again, body flickering like a mirage. Mewtwo mirrored him with another teleport, and the two began to clash in rapid succession.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sky erupted with light and shockwaves as human and Pokémon reappeared and vanished repeatedly, their battle shaking the heavens.
"Keep using physical attacks…" Ash thought grimly.
"Izanagi's strong, but it drains my mind and Aura too fast. In just over a minute, 70% of my strength is already gone."
He glanced briefly at the Full Restore Capsule in his hand but didn't use it.
"If I take it now, I'll recover fully… but Izanagi will end immediately. No… I have to finish this before time runs out."
"Aura Fist!"
Mewtwo's psychic voice echoed as it struck Ash in the abdomen with a gleaming Aura-infused punch.
"Ah—!" Blood burst from Ash's lips. His body convulsed from the blow—then vanished.
When he reappeared, the injuries were gone. Completely healed.
"What—?! That wasn't an illusion! I felt the hit connect!"
Mewtwo's eyes widened in disbelief. Psychic energy flared violently around it, and with a snarl, it unleashed three Dark Aura Spheres in rapid succession.
"Still have a minute and a half left…"
Ash murmured. His pupils spun with scarlet light as he dodged between the blasts with Shave, his movements tracing afterimages through the air.
"Too close… I can't use Susanoo again—it drains too much energy."
As the final Aura Sphere exploded behind him, Ash skidded to a stop midair, Aura flaring around his body like blue fire. His eyes locked on Mewtwo, and his voice rang out, calm and fierce:
"This battle isn't about creation or clones, Mewtwo. It's about who decides their destiny—"
He clenched his fist.
"And mine… isn't over yet!"
Although Ash's strategy for conserving energy was clever, Mewtwo was far from foolish.
It fired Dark Aura Spheres in rapid succession, forcing Ash to stay on the defensive. Each blast tore through the air, cutting off every angle of approach.
Ash tried several times to use Izanagi to turn his injuries into illusions and counterattack—but each attempt was thwarted by Mewtwo's instant Teleportation.
The battle reached a critical point.
Only thirty seconds of Izanagi remained.
Ash was gasping for breath, his Aura nearly drained. Across from him, Mewtwo floated silently in the air, psychic energy crackling around it. Even it showed signs of fatigue—its immense mental power beginning to waver.
"No choice…" Ash muttered, his voice hoarse but resolute.
"I'll have to gamble everything on this. I can still use the Full Restore Capsule afterward if it fails—but these last thirty seconds… will decide it all."
Mewtwo narrowed its eyes.
The crimson glow in Ash's left eye began to swirl, energy gathering violently around him. A blood-red Aura wrapped his body, pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Hm? What's he doing now?" Mewtwo thought warily.
"That energy… it's the same as before, when he summoned that strange construct…"
Mewtwo tensed, psychic power surging like a storm as it prepared for anything.
Ash clenched his fist, his voice echoing across the battlefield:
"Take this, Mewtwo—Yasaka Magatama!"
With the last of his ocular power, Ash summoned the spectral form of Susanoo, its massive outline flickering behind him. From its right hand, it unleashed three spinning, magatama-shaped energy spheres glowing with red and blue light.
They shot forward at blinding speed, spiraling straight toward Mewtwo.
The technique drained everything. Ash's left eye faded from crimson to dull gray as his body went limp. His Aura collapsed, and he began to plummet from the sky.
"Barrier of the Mind!"
Mewtwo reacted instantly. Psychic energy exploded outward, condensing into a protective green sphere around its body. The Yasaka Magatama slammed into it with a deafening BOOM!
The explosion lit up the heavens.
The resulting shockwave swept across the island, clearing the storm clouds that had hung over the battle. The rain stopped; sunlight pierced through.
When the dust settled, the sky was calm again.
Mewtwo hovered there, its breathing uneven. It glanced down at its trembling hands pressed to its chest—its psychic barrier was cracked all over, webbed with fractures. A single touch would shatter it.
"…Tch. That… human…" Mewtwo muttered under its breath.
"To think he forced me to defend with all my strength."
Below, Ash's unconscious body fell freely through the air—his cloak torn, his Aura flickering weakly.
Yet even as he descended, there was the faintest trace of a smile on his lips.
...
TN:
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