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"What is that?!" Brock and Misty stared at the unfamiliar Pokémon before them, having never encountered anything like it.
"Haxorus!" Ash said slowly, his brow furrowed in concern.
The name meant nothing to Brock and Misty, though they could make an educated guess based on what they were hearing.
"Could it be... Fraxure's evolution?"
"Yeah, that's right. Haxorus is the final evolved form of Fraxure," Ash confirmed with a slight nod. He hadn't expected Fraxure to evolve at this particular moment.
"But something doesn't look right about it," Brock observed carefully.
Even though he knew little about Haxorus, Brock couldn't help but swallow nervously as he studied the creature before them. The dark-colored body already gave off an intimidating presence, but the scarlet glow radiating from its entire form and the red gleam in its eyes made it appear as though it had lost all sense of reason. The sight filled them with unease.
Ash sensed it too—that same oppressive aura he had first encountered back at Mt. Moon.
"Damn it! It's those Team Rocket members again! What are you doing this time? Team Rocket was disbanded already, but you three just won't give up!" Misty had noticed the mechanical Meowth contraption and saw the injured Pokémon scattered around them. She clenched her fists tightly, her voice trembling with anger.
"Shut your mouth, little girl! It's because of you brats that our boss is feeling so down! We're going to defeat you, capture your Pokémon, and help the boss regain his confidence!" Jessie shouted back.
The trio still didn't understand the real reason behind Giovanni's decision to disband Team Rocket. They considered themselves the most loyal members to their boss and refused to listen to anyone's explanations.
"You three are absolutely delusional!" Misty felt like she was talking to a brick wall after hearing their ridiculous reasoning.
"Enough talk! Attack, meow!" Meowth commanded. The mechanical Meowth's shoulders opened up, revealing missile launchers that immediately fired.
Only Haxorus remained standing among the scattered Pokémon, and two missiles streaked directly toward it.
"Look out!" Misty cried out in alarm.
But Haxorus stood perfectly still. The moment the missiles closed in, its eyes flashed crimson. Its arms shot up suddenly, claws spread wide.
BOOM!
As the two missiles made contact, Haxorus caught one in each claw. With just a slight squeeze, it crushed both projectiles in its grip. Under Haxorus's incredible strength, the missiles detonated instantly. The tremendous explosion engulfed Haxorus completely. Misty and Brock's eyes widened in shock as they stared anxiously into the thick smoke.
"Meow ha ha ha! That should've finished it off, right?" Meowth laughed smugly. Catching missiles with bare claws was basically asking for death.
However, Ash frowned as he peered into the smoke. Through the haze, he could hear the sound of heavy footsteps approaching.
On Team Rocket's side, as they watched the dense black smoke, James began to notice something alarming. Within the thick darkness, a pair of scarlet lights gradually appeared.
"Something's not right about this!" James's voice trembled slightly as he stared at those red lights. Meowth and Jessie also turned their attention to the large screen in front of them.
A crimson figure emerged from the smoke once more. It was Haxorus, its eyes and body glowing with that eerie red light. The explosion seemed to have had absolutely no effect on it whatsoever.
"What?! Impossible!" Jessie and Meowth gasped in disbelief. It had taken a direct hit from exploding missiles and came out completely unharmed?
"What's going on?" Not only Team Rocket, but Brock and Misty were equally stunned by what they were seeing.
"That's the power of Outrage," Ash explained.
"Outrage?" Misty wasn't familiar with the term.
"Outrage is a powerful Dragon-type move, but it's also a special state that Dragon-type Pokémon can enter," Ash continued.
Normally, Outrage was simply a move, but for Dragon-type Pokémon, there was a certain condition under which they could enter an Outrage state. When used as a regular attack, Outrage was an offensive technique similar to moves like Close Combat. The user's overall power increased dramatically, allowing them to launch devastating attacks. However, prolonged use could easily cause the user to become confused.
Under special circumstances—such as when enraged—a Dragon-type Pokémon would fall into the Outrage state. Once this condition was triggered, they would immediately enter a confused state. But simultaneously, their strength would multiply several times over. The major disadvantage was that once Outrage took hold, the Pokémon lost all awareness of their actions and knew only to fight.
This state was considered a hidden ability of Dragon-type Pokémon. Once it activated, it became virtually impossible to control.
"I think I've heard that when a Pokémon enters that kind of state, their power increases exponentially," Brock recalled.
"Not only that—they completely lose their sense of reason. And even though they might appear unharmed, all the damage from attacks is still accumulating in their body," Ash said, his expression grave as he watched Haxorus.
After hearing Ash's explanation, Misty and Brock grew worried. In other words, Haxorus couldn't feel that it was injured right now, but the damage was definitely building up inside its body. When it finally regained consciousness, all those injuries and pain would hit at once.
"What should we do?" Misty turned to Ash anxiously.
Ash remained silent, watching Haxorus's back as it slowly advanced toward Team Rocket, one heavy step at a time.
"It's coming! Meowth, attack now!" For some inexplicable reason, Jessie felt a chill of fear looking into those scarlet eyes. As Haxorus drew closer, she called out urgently.
"Leave it to me, meow!" Meowth didn't waste time talking and quickly pressed the button again.
The mechanical Meowth began moving once more. Its eyes flashed red, and two beams of crimson light shot out, aimed directly at Haxorus.
BOOM BOOM!
The twin red beams swept toward Haxorus along the ground. Even before making contact, an enormous explosion erupted, smoke quickly engulfing Haxorus's figure once again. However, as the explosion's roar faded, those heavy footsteps continued without pause.
Team Rocket watched as the figure emerged from the smoke yet again, looking as if they'd seen a ghost. Seeing this, Meowth frantically pressed buttons in rapid succession.
Laser beams continuously fired from the mechanical Meowth's eyes toward Haxorus, triggering explosion after explosion. But Haxorus kept walking straight forward, completely unaffected by the barrage.