The sparkling light on Suicune's elegant form gradually dissipated, the mark of Life Dew's healing.
Its wounds closed, its stamina recovered, but the Confusion in its eyes only deepened.
It did not understand.
This bizarre entity encased in metal armor before it had first aided those humans attempting to capture it, and now it had healed it.
And then, declared war upon it.
Suicune could not grasp the logic, but it could sense the opponent's unfathomable, purely battle-born will.
It was a way of existence utterly different from any creature it had ever seen—cold, aloof, and powerful enough to make one tremble.
Mewtwo gave Suicune no more time to think.
It didn't even make an unnecessary move, merely hovering mid-air, its purple eyes gazing coldly at Suicune through gaps in its armor.
The next second, an invisible, immense force materialized out of thin air, crushing down upon the lake surface beneath Suicune!
"Boom—!"
Not an explosion, but compression.
A ten-meter radius of the water's surface abruptly sank, forming a massive depression as if pressed by an invisible giant hand.
Suicune stumbled, nearly falling. It could clearly sense that the force wasn't acting on the water, but directly warping space itself!
This was a warning, and a probe.
A low growl rumbled in Suicune's throat. The incarnation of the north wind would not fear any challenge.
It pushed off with all four paws, its body transforming into a blue phantom, racing across the water's surface at high speed, trailing two white wakes.
It wasn't fleeing; it was gathering power.
As it ran, the water elements of the entire Lake of Rage began to answer its call. Moisture in the air rapidly condensed into countless sharp Icicle Spears, hovering behind Suicune, dense and menacing, exuding biting cold.
"Go!"
With a long cry from Suicune, over a hundred Icicle Spears shot like arrows from a bow towards the airborne Mewtwo from all directions, sealing all its escape routes. Each Icicle Spear contained freezing energy potent enough to solidify steel.
Faced with this heaven-encompassing, net-like attack, Mewtwo simply raised its right hand.
No energy shield, no high-speed evasion.
It merely opened three fingers gently.
*Hum—*
A subsonic wave, inaudible to human ears, spread out.
All the icicles flying towards it came to a complete halt three meters from its body.
Then, under Viper and Dar's stunned gazes, those solid icicles began to disintegrate—not melting, not shattering, but directly reverting to their most primitive state as water vapor, dissipating into the air.
The entire process was terrifyingly quiet.
"This... what kind of ability is this?"
Viper's voice trembled; she felt her understanding of the world being overturned.
Lance's Dragonite and Gyarados were powerful enough, but theirs was a comprehensible strength.
But this thing before her... its abilities were more akin to a deity from myth, where words became law.
Dar said nothing, just staring fixedly at Mewtwo, fine beads of cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
His eyes narrowed even further.
He remembered how Boss Giovanni had stood beside this mecha back at the base.
At the time, he'd merely thought it was a deterrent weapon. Now, he saw how utterly wrong he had been.
This was no weapon.
This was a self-aware, living "god"!
Ariel's heart was also pounding wildly, but not from fear—from excitement and an indescribable awe.
After all, this was a battle between Legendary pokémon!
In terms of sheer caliber, it far surpassed any Trainer battle!
And looking at Mewtwo...
Was this the power of a man-made Legendary?
Using only basic Psychic abilities, it had completely toyed with Suicune's attack.
Ariel knew full well that Mewtwo's most terrifying aspect lay in its learning and evolutionary capabilities.
Every battle was, for it, a collection of data and an optimization of self. It learned in battle, growing stronger through learning.
At this moment, it was learning Suicune.
Suicune, too, evidently realized the strangeness of its opponent. It ceased long-range attacks, opting for a more direct approach.
It lifted its head and let out a long howl. A thick pillar of water surged from the lake, coiling around its body like a water dragon.
Immediately after, Suicune's entire body became enveloped in azure-blue water energy, transforming into a torrent that crashed towards Mewtwo with overwhelming force!
Hydro Pump!
No, this was a desperate, all-out charge combining itself with the move—a power far exceeding Hydro Pump!
This was the dignity of a Legendary, the pride of one of the three Legendary beasts!
For the first time, a flicker of data-stream-like light passed through Mewtwo's purple eyes, as if analyzing the energy composition of this attack.
It did not dodge.
Just as the torrent Suicune had become was about to collide with it, the armor on Mewtwo's left arm suddenly opened.
It extended two fingers, precisely touching the very forefront of the torrent.
Time seemed to hit the pause button at that moment.
Theberserk, mountain-toppling torrent, upon contact with those two slender fingers, simply... stopped.
TheTorrent of energy and absolute force formed a bizarre equilibrium.
"Too... too exaggerated?"
Dar had given up on thinking. He now only wondered if he was dreaming.
Ariel's pupils contracted to pinpricks.
He saw clearly: Mewtwo hadn't blocked the attack with brute force.
The instant its fingers touched the water flow, an even more condensed, purer Psychic force instantly injected itself,collapse the energy structure of Hydro Pump from within.
This was no longer a fight; this was dimensional suppression.
"It ends now."
A cold, utterly emotionless thought echoed simultaneously in the minds of Ariel, Viper, Dar, and Suicune.
Mewtwo seemed to have lost interest in this level of probing.
It withdrew its fingers, letting the now energy-deprived water flow collapse into a spray of droplets.
Immediately after, it raised its right hand. Within its palm, a highly concentrated, dark-purple energyball shimmering with substantial Psychic energy began to coalesce.
The sphere wasn't large, only fist-sized, but the space around it slightlydistortion, as if unable to bear thefear power contained within.
Shadow Ball!
Suicune sensed an unprecedented,fatal threat. All the fur on its body stood on end.
It wanted to evade but found its body locked tight by invisible shackles, unable to even move a toe.
That was Mewtwo's Confusion restraint!
The next moment, that dark-purple energyball vanished.
No, not vanished.
But moved at a speedBeyond the limits of visual capture, directly striking Suicune's body.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull,Ultimate "thud."
Like a water-filled balloon struck by a heavy hammer.
Suicune's elegant, proud form shuddered violently, then flew backward like a kite with its string cut, tumbling over a dozen times across the lake surface before floating limply on the water. Its blue-purple pupils had lost focus, completely knocked out of the battle.
One hit.
Just one hit.
The Legendary pokémon, incarnation of the north wind, Suicune, was defeated.
By the lakeside, a deathly silence.
Viper and Dar stood with mouths agape, throats rattling, unable to utter a sound.
Their worldviews had beenrepeatedly crush, reshaped, andCrush again within mere minutes.
How could there exist such unreasonable might in this world?
Ariel took a deep breath, yet his chest remained oppressively tight.
He knew Mewtwo was strong, but he hadn't imagined that Mewtwo, at this moment, could be strong to this extent!
A single strike had instantly defeated a fully healthy Suicune!
And this wasn't even its peak!
A thought involuntarily surfaced in Ariel's mind.
This monster that constantly learned and grew stronger in battle... when it shed these shackles, when it truly reached its complete form... just how... terrifying would it be?
He looked at Mewtwo hovering in the air, surveying everything like a deity, and for the first time felt an indescribable wariness towards that man, Giovanni.
A man capable of creating and controlling such a monster... his ambitions were certainly not limited to ruling just two regions.