BOOM!
Seizing the moment while Mega Rayquaza's attention was locked onto the blazing White Kyurem, the Sword Hero, Zacian, rushed in at extreme speed, closing the distance in an instant. The massive blade it held came crashing down on Mega Rayquaza's back with tremendous force.
Behemoth Blade!
"ROOOAAR!!"
Mega Rayquaza let out an enraged, agonized roar—but before that roar could fully echo across the sky, a thunderous explosion followed immediately after.
A torrent of golden energy erupted upward, completely engulfing Mega Rayquaza's body, battering it again and again with overwhelming force.
"Blizzard!"
White Kyurem's dragon cry resounded through the air. A violent blizzard swept across the heavens, swallowing the already-reeling Mega Rayquaza whole.
The frigid winds, sharp as blades, scraped fiercely against Mega Rayquaza's body. Layer after layer of frost rapidly formed, freezing its already-wounded body stiff.
"Rayquaza for the finishing strike! Dragon Ascent!"
Rayquaza's serpentine body soared high into the sky, green light gathering around it, a powerful aura overflowing from its form.
With a sharp roar, a streak of green energy tore through the air and smashed into Mega Rayquaza with explosive force.
The finishing touch!
Mega Rayquaza's cries of pain rang out without pause. Suffering consecutive heavy blows in rapid succession compounded its already weakened state, pushing it past its limits.
Its massive body was slammed out of the sky and crashed violently into the ground. The earth shook heavily upon impact.
A thick cloud of dust rose—but was swiftly scattered by a gust of icy wind as Reshiram descended slightly.
"It looks like it's been finally defeated," Reshiram remarked.
Sitting on Reshiram's back, Lucas lowered his gaze to the crater where the now-unconscious Rayquaza lay. Even its mega evolution had been forcibly dispelled…
Well—it wasn't surprising. After all, it had been attacked on all sides by Kyurem, Zacian, and its child.
Even if young Rayquaza hadn't joined the battle afterward, Kyurem and Zacian alone, paired with Lucas' battlefield command, were already more than enough to subdue the wild Mega Rayquaza.
What good is high strength?
When fighting outnumbered, unless one carried some ridiculous cheat-code-like immunity, like the Creation Llama Arceus holding its Creation Plates, the chances of winning were slim.
Anyone's stamina has a limit. The same applied to legendary Pokémon.
When you're forced to defend multiple angles, leaving openings everywhere… well, the simplest truth remained: ganging up is the best way to defeat someone stronger.
"Lucas is amazing! Everyone is amazing!" Hoopa in its small, cute, and pitiful form, clapped excitedly, its admiration overflowing.
It couldn't fight in its current weakened state, but even it could feel how overwhelmingly powerful this Mega Rayquaza was. In terms of sheer presence, it wasn't inferior to its own Unbound form.
Yet such a mighty Mega Rayquaza had been defeated so quickly under their combined assault.
"Father… I swear I didn't do it on purpose…"
Young Rayquaza looked pitifully at the heavily wounded Rayquaza. It could already imagine what would happen once Rayquaza regained consciousness…
Sob sob… what a tragic future.
"What now? Are we going after Calyrex?"
Zacian didn't even spare the younger Rayquaza a glance. It acted pitiful, but everyone saw how hard it attacked earlier—no one fought more aggressively than that little guy.
Zacian turned its cold gaze toward the rest of the battlefield, eyes lingering sharply on Calyrex atop Glastrier.
It still remembered.
At the start of the year, Calyrex insisted on confronting it head-on—all for the sake of protecting Eternatus.
Even though Zacian no longer hated Eternatus nearly as much as it once did, Calyrex's overbearing attitude back then had thoroughly irritated its proud self.
Now that it had a legitimate excuse to beat Calyrex down… of course it would take it!
"Sure. Then next we'll take down Calyrex and Groudon"
Lucas nodded, making no objection. After all, there were only four targets left:
Primal Kyogre, Primal Groudon, Giratina, and Calyrex.
Primal Groudon was battling Red Core Zygarde. Though Groudon had started to overpower the red core, it wasn't a major problem.
Eternatus was also being suppressed by Giratina, but Eternatus's tough hide meant it could hold on.
Only Dawn Wings Necrozma was struggling. Because it was fighting two opponents at once, its disadvantage grew with every passing moment.
Visible wounds had already started appearing across its body.
But just as Lucas was speaking, a spatial ring silently appeared beside him.
"Zacian!"
A bone-chilling sense of danger surged behind him—at the same moment, a draconic blast erupted from the spatial ring!
Lucas immediately shouted a warning toward Zacian.
Zacian's eyes hardened. With lightning speed, it moved in front of Reshiram, drawing its decayed sword in a flash of light.
Sacred Sword!
The razor-sharp attack collided directly with the Dragon Pulse, but shockingly, Zacian couldn't immediately cut the blast apart!
"This level of Dragon Pulse… is it from the Black Rayquaza?"
Reshiram quickly retreated while Lucas frowned at the explosion of energy.
Only a powerful legendary could unleash a Dragon Pulse that matched Zacian's Sacred Sword.
And the spatial ring was clearly Evil Hoopa's work…
meaning it had absorbed Black Rayquaza's attack.
Lucas looked toward the battlefield where Black Rayquaza and Evil Hoopa were fighting—and saw Black Rayquaza lying on the ground, momentarily stunned, while Evil Hoopa's massive form sank halfway into another spatial ring.
"Uncle lost ground? Impossible…"
Rayquaza was stunned. Although knocked down, Black Rayquaza wasn't severely injured—clearly, it had only been temporarily staggered.
But even so, that was shocking.
Black Rayquaza's strength was definitely not inferior to its father's and was possibly even stronger.
Yet in a fair one-on-one, Black Rayquaza had been knocked down.
The young Rayquaza's worldview shattered on the spot.
"He can't sit still anymore," Lucas said calmly.
Not surprising—Evil Hoopa's rings couldn't absorb melee attacks, but their functional utility was still terrifying.
Especially in the hands of someone who knew how to use them flawlessly and Evil Hoopa, being the embodiment of Hoopa's own dark power, naturally understood every ability intimately.
With that mastery, it made sense that Black Rayquaza fell behind.
What mattered more was this—
Evil Hoopa could no longer hold back.
Mega Rayquaza and Zamazenta had both been defeated one after another.
This was terrible news for Evil Hoopa.
A moment later, Evil Hoopa fully emerged from the ring, its massive form appearing not far from Lucas.
Its scarlet eyes glowed faintly, sending chills down spines.
Its oppressive aura was suffocating—heavy, sinister, overwhelming.
"Obstructions…" Evil Hoopa growled, gaze landing first on the trembling Hoopa hiding in Lucas's arms, then slowly sweeping toward Lucas, White Kyurem, Zacian, and the others.
Its deep, rasping voice seethed with fury.
"Tch. Such arrogance from nothing more than a manifestation of malice," Kyurem sneered, baring its icy fangs. Its dragon eyes gleamed with ruthless hostility—it would not tolerate this attitude.
But Evil Hoopa ignored it entirely. Two of its severed arms raised, tracing circles in the air.
"Father!" Young Rayquaza cried.
Lucas scanned his surroundings with full vigilance. Spatial rings could appear anywhere at Hoopa's will—he had to be alert.
But strangely—none appeared around them.
Instead, Rayquaza's cry drew his attention.
Young Rayquaza dove down without hesitation, landing beside the fallen Rayquaza.
"What…?" Lucas froze.
A spatial ring had opened above Rayquaza's unconscious body.
What was Evil Hoopa planning?
Before he could finish thinking, a realization struck him. Lucas whipped his head toward the distance.
And sure enough—
Another ring had opened above Zamazenta.
Unlike Rayquaza, who had Young Rayquaza guarding it, Zamazenta was exhausted and defenseless.
It was sucked into the ring without resistance.
"Damn it!"
Lucas's face tightened.
Evil Hoopa was swapping out its weakened teammates!
Mega Rayquaza and Zamazenta had both lost the ability to fight.
Worthless to Evil Hoopa now.
So, what would it do?
Send them away and summon fresh new legendaries to take their place.
Holy hell—Evil Hoopa was pulling off some truly absurd moves.
It could actually do THAT?
"Zacian! Behemoth Blade!"
"Kyurem! Dragon Claw!"
Now that he understood Evil Hoopa's intention, Lucas acted immediately.
Zacian lowered its body slightly, cold eyes fixed on Evil Hoopa, then launched itself forward like a released arrow.
Kyurem shifted into its Dark form and charged in from the opposite side.
"Begone."
Evil Hoopa's eyes flashed crimson. Three of its massive severed arms rose, wrapped in black energy, and slammed downward.
Hyperspace Fury!
BOOM!
Behemoth Blade clashed against Hyperspace Fury, waves of force exploding outward.
At the same time, a huge mass of dark energy condensed before Evil Hoopa, firing straight at the now Black Kyurem.
Dark Pulse!
Faced with the incoming dark energy, Black Kyurem met it head-on with Dragon Claw.
"This guy… its body is practically designed for combat," Lucas muttered, eyes narrowing.
It was true—Hoopa Unbound's body was terrifyingly optimized for battle.
Six mighty arms, a powerful tail, and the energy core on its chest.
Every arm could use Hyperspace Fury.
Together, they packed overwhelming power.
Separated, they could attack multiple angles at once.
Plus the six spatial rings that could reposition at will…
Its combat versatility was terrifying.
Compared to it, Rayquaza only had two claws, a tail, and a mouth—four attack points, tops.
For the moment, Zacian and Kyurem were successfully held back but Evil Hoopa raised yet another arm.
A new ring shot out, expanding rapidly as the center twisted inward.
Just as Lucas suspected, after sending Zamazenta back, Evil Hoopa could now summon another legendary!
"Who's coming…?"
It was too late to stop it.
Lucas watched the ring, thoughts racing.
Not many legendary Pokémon of sufficient power remained outside.
The most likely candidates were—
Palkia, the Spatial Dragon,
or Dialga, the Temporal Dragon.
Maybe even Ho-Oh or Lugia.
He even briefly considered Shadow Lugia.
But then—
Ripples shimmered in the center of the ring.
A new legendary slowly stepped out, crimson eyes glowing with an eerie light.
Lucas's eyes widened.
Of all possibilities… he hadn't expected THIS one.
"Mewtwo…?"
But it wasn't the standard form.
A slender, streamlined figure—silver and pale lavender tones—
It was Mewtwo in Mega Y form.
(End of Chapter)