"What a pitiful child~"
Lucas offered a half-hearted sigh of sympathy, not even pretending it was sincere.
Then Lucas shifted his gaze back toward the coastline.
Just a minor character, really.
This wasn't the original anime.
The so-called "protagonist halo" didn't exist here—it was nothing more than a figure of speech.
If Goh could survive getting hit by Shadow Lugia's attack… then Lucas swore he would livestream himself pole dancing.
Seriously.
Compared to the insignificant Goh, what truly drew Lucas's attention was the battle happening ahead between the former and current Indigo Elite Four.
Unfortunately, though, it was clearly an unequal fight.
With Shadow Lugia on his side, Lance's strength utterly eclipsed that of N and the others.
"LUUUUUU~"
Just then, a long, resonant cry suddenly rang out through the sky.
"What was that?"
Marnie, who had been holding her camera up to record, froze upon hearing the sound. She lifted her head, looking toward where the call had come from.
It was a voice she knew very well.
At the horizon—two gleaming white figures were approaching rapidly, streaking across the sky.
"Lugia!"
Lucas recognized it instantly.
It was Lugia!
After they returned from Mahogany Town, the two Lugia had departed and gone back to the Whirl Islands. Only the little Lugia had stayed behind, it had simply reunited with its parents for a bit but wasn't taken away.
Maybe the Lugia couple thought leaving the little one to stay with Lucas for the time being wasn't a bad choice.
"They really came after all," Lucas muttered.
"Of course they did," Green said with a pout. "That Shadow Lugia is their clan leader and right now it's being controlled and doing evil."
She knew about Shadow Lugia's origins; Lucas had explained it to them.
Lugia was, at its core, a kind and gentle legendary Pokémon.
But now that Shadow Lugia was destroying human cities…
Naturally, they would come to try to stop it.
The two Lugia flew swiftly, and in a matter of moments, the Lugia pair had arrived opposite Shadow Lugia, gazing at it with complicated eyes.
"Lugia? Why are there so many Lugia…?"
Blue's expression was a masterpiece of disbelief.
In all his life of over a decade he had never even seen one Lugia.
Today he'd seen three.
"These two seem to be on our side," Zinnia said softly as her eyes glimmered, studying the two white Lugia confronting the dark one.
There was no concrete proof, but judging from their aura, these two clearly did not belong to the same "faction" as the evil black Lugia… probably?
"Zekrom…"
N spared the Lugia only a glance before his expression turned anxious.
His Zekrom had sunk into the sea earlier and still hadn't resurfaced. Damn it!
Why was his black dragon always the one getting hurt!?
"Luu… gia?"
Lance frowned slightly. He didn't know why these two legendary Pokémon had suddenly appeared.
But then—his expression shifted.
Shadow Lugia was becoming agitated!
"SCREEEE!"
Its scarlet eyes flickered with a terrifying light, and the sinister red glow erupting from its body intensified.
The once murky aura of malice was transforming into something far more violent.
Its gaze locked onto the two Lugia.
A shrill, piercing cry tore from its throat.
"Calm down! Lugia!"
Lance tried desperately to soothe it.
But for some reason, ever since Shadow Lugia saw the two Lugia, its emotions were spiraling completely out of control.
The obedient, responsive Shadow Lugia was slipping away—losing its sanity.
Lance's expression darkened.
His control over Shadow Lugia depended entirely on the augmented power from the Gym Badges, amplified by Cobalt Island. When he summoned Shadow Lugia, all that energy had been injected into its body.
That power made Shadow Lugia stronger and allowed Lance to control it.
But now, with Shadow Lugia's emotions in full rebellion, his control was fading rapidly.
Damn it! Why!?
No amount of soothing helped.
The overwhelming resentment surging out from Shadow Lugia continued to rise.
A purple-black aura gathered at its mouth—
Dark Pulse!
The wave of dark energy shot straight toward the two Lugia.
"Air Slash!"
"Hydro Cannon!"
A calm male voice suddenly echoed in the minds of the Lugia.
Without hesitation, the two acted.
Lugia beat its wings, summoning a violent cyclone.
At the same time, Mother Lugia unleashed a massive jet of water.
BOOM!
Cyclone and water collided with the Dark Pulse, detonating violently.
"SCREEEEE!"
Shadow Lugia shrieked in frustration as its attack failed.
Black energy rippled around its body, and the air became suffocating with pressure.
"Damn!"
Lance clenched his jaw, trying frantically to reestablish his mental connection.
But the only response from Shadow Lugia was a tidal wave of hatred and malevolence.
This was bad—very bad.
Shadow Lugia was about to lose control entirely.
With a decisive motion, Lance threw out a Poké Ball, summoning Aerodactyl, and leapt from Shadow Lugia's back.
He alone knew best how terrifying Shadow Lugia truly was.
He would never have tried using such a creature if the Badges hadn't given him the ability to control it. As Giovanni had warned—this monster had nearly no rationality left.
"What's going on…?"
Blue was completely confused.
Everything was happening too fast—none of it made sense.
"That human can no longer control that dark Pokémon," a deep telepathic voice rumbled through their minds.
"Zekrom! Are you alright!?"
At the sound, N lit up with joy.
Zekrom rose from the ocean, battered but intact.
"I'm fine. I'm used to it by now," Zekrom said blandly, sounding like someone who had already lived through too much.
Truly—after the past year, if nothing else, his endurance stat had multiplied several times over.
Getting blasted out of the sky?
Whatever. Not a huge issue anymore.
"Judging from its behavior, that Shadow Lugia does appear to be part of their clan."
Zekrom lifted its gaze toward the raging Shadow Lugia above.
Seeing the Lugia pair triggered such an extreme reaction…
There had to be a deep history between them.
"Well, whatever. For us, this is good news," Blue said with a shrug.
Their past or drama was irrelevant.
If Lance couldn't control Shadow Lugia anymore, then that was absolutely a blessing.
Shadow Lugia was far too strong.
With it on Lance's side, they stood zero chance.
But now?
Shadow Lugia was rampaging.
That was great news.
"Isn't that right, Lance?"
Blue tossed a Poké Ball lightly in his hand, smirking at Aerodactyl and Lance not too far away.
You had such fun stomping us earlier, didn't you?
Now you don't even have Shadow Lugia anymore.
Let's see how smug you can be now!
"What a joke!"
Already furious, Lance's face turned even darker at Blue's taunt.
"Just because I've gotten weaker… doesn't mean you've gotten stronger!"
Four minimized Poké Balls appeared between Lance's fingers. His gaze swept coldly over Blue, Red, and the others.
Even without Shadow Lugia, he was no useless weakling.
He was Lance Blackthorn, the one who commands the Dragon Legion!!
Flying-types were unreliable.
This just proved it.
Barely a few days and Shadow Lugia had already gone berserk.
In the end—dragons were the real backbone!
"Today, I'll show you juniors the true might of my Dragon Legion! Dragonite! Dragonairs!"
Two Poké Balls launched forward, expanding mid-air. Four flashes of white light burst out—
A cold-eyed normal Dragonite.
A giant Dragonite.
And two Dragonair.
Even without Shadow Lugia, he was still Lance, the Dragon Master.
Blue, meanwhile:
"..."
"Blue, once this is over," Caitlin said calmly, "please promise me something."
"What is it…?" Blue asked, confused.
"When we return, I will ask my father to hire the most distinguished etiquette tutor available—to personally teach you how to behave with grace."
She threw out a Poké Ball.
Gardevoir emerged.
Good grief.
Blue really was a prodigy at courting death.
Just a few sentences and he had already managed to anger Lance.
Even without Shadow Lugia, Lance was still an overwhelmingly powerful top-tier champion trainer!
"SCREEEEE!"
Shadow Lugia, meanwhile, beat its black wings violently, unleashing a boundless storm of pitch-black winds.
Shadow Storm!
The range was massive—so huge that even both Lugia found the sky difficult to maneuver in.
"Protect!"
The Lugia pair immediately conjured blue protective barriers.
The endless storm swallowed them whole, leaving only the two green glows faintly visible through the darkness.
"This thing's emotions are totally unstable… Isn't it your clan leader?"
During the brief cover of the storm, Lucas asked the two Lugia in confusion.
He didn't understand.
Shadow Lugia was the clan leader—this much was certain.
Lugia had taken care of their leader for nearly a hundred years.
So why was Shadow Lugia reacting like this?
How could it go berserk the moment it saw them?
"Yes, it is the clan leader… however…"
Lugia's eyes dimmed, not surprised by Shadow Lugia's reaction.
"Because of the leader's condition, when it still had moments of clarity, we agreed to keep it sealed away for everyone's safety."
"But as years passed, the leader's consciousness faded more and more…
Until recently, its mind has almost completely disappeared.
Only overwhelming resentment and negativity remain."
Lugia spoke into Lucas's mind, its tone heavy with sorrow.
"I understand," Lucas replied.
So, it had been imprisoned for nearly a century.
In the beginning, while its mind was intact, it had endured it.
But as the malice grew, its consciousness weakened—eventually vanishing entirely.
What remained was pure resentment.
And facing the two Lugia who sealed it away, that long-buried hatred surged free, triggering its rampage.
"This is going to be tricky," Lucas muttered. "To be blunt… I don't think you two can handle Shadow Lugia."
Shadow Lugia naturally countered both Lugia and their strength wasn't even close.
The Shadow Storm faded.
The Protect barriers finally dissipated.
Seeing the Lugia pair unharmed, Shadow Lugia's eyes blazed with murderous crimson.
It lunged at them with a furious beat of its wings.
"That's why we need your help, human."
The Lugia pair retreated rapidly, keeping distance.
If Shadow Lugia got close, they were in serious trouble.
Its psychic immunity made many of their options useless—while one hit from it could be catastrophic.
But this stalling couldn't last.
They needed to calm it down.
And the solution?
A physical exorcism, of course.
"But it's not easy to deal with…" Lucas said helplessly.
"We'll leave Little Lugiain your care!" Lugia said earnestly.
"This has nothing to do with Xiaobai or anything like that, but rather..."
"If you can save our leader, I'll entrust my mate to your care as well!"
"W-Wait—that's not— I'm a serious person, Lugia!"
"My whole family of three will be in your care!"
"Kyurem! Prepare for battle!"
What was authenticity?
Being chosen by the Dragon of Truth meant your words was always the truth.
Really, really true!
"ROOOOAR!"
Kyurem's majestic cry shook the sky.
(End of Chapter)