Under the effect of Shadow Sneak, Giratina's figure completely vanished.
This move of his, just like the exclusive skills of the two dragons of time and space, involved a certain mysterious law.
Even if the Reverse World was sealed off, he could still use it without any hindrance.
A dragon-shaped shadow filled with oppressive might cut through an unknown space. All the Trainers present broke out in cold sweat.
Most of the Pokémon began to tremble, as though they had encountered their natural predator. They stood protectively before their Trainers, growling "Wuuu… Wuuu…" in warning.
Ash's Pikachu had a flicker of seriousness flash across its large eyes. Sparks danced in the pouches on its cheeks as it stared toward a certain point in the empty air, its two little paws clenched into fists.
Beedrill, Swinub, and Delibird all reacted the same way.
Only, compared to the slightly wary Pikachu, they looked more like they were hunting prey.
Suddenly, Beedrill moved first.
Its wings beat rapidly, and by the time everyone could see clearly again, Beedrill was already in front of Giovanni.
Brilliant green energy shimmered along its twin stingers, its entire body turning jade-like and brimming with powerful Bug-type energy.
Pft!
Before the other Trainers could even see what happened, Beedrill's twin stingers shot backward.
At that same moment, Giratina, who had just ended its Shadow Sneak state, appeared exactly where Beedrill's stingers were aimed.
He'd been predicted by Giovanni and Beedrill.
Feeling the sting pierce into his body, Giratina actually forgot to attack and froze on the spot.
'What… what is this?'
'A tiny Beedrill, how could it possibly pierce my defense?'
Unlike Giratina's confusion, the Trainers who witnessed the first clash between Beedrill and Giratina were completely fired up.
All the Trainers now gathered on Lily of the Valley Island were those strong enough to have passed Gym Leader trials.
Combining that with the Sinnoh region's recent announcement following the defeat of the two dragons of time and space, nearly everyone could guess Giratina's identity.
The Reverse Dragon, Sinnoh's true calamity, the third god who crushed the first two divine beings... No matter which title you picked, any one of them was enough to mark a world-ending boss.
Yet before Giovanni, this dragon had been predicted.
"Who is this man? He actually predicted a god's attack?"
"That's insane! Predicting is one thing, I mean, people joke about 'psychic reads' and all that. But… but this Beedrill was trained to the point it can injure a god?"
Each Trainer was more stunned than the last, completely dumbfounded.
'Is this a joke?'
Among all the Champions, only Cynthia had ever faced a god head-on.
And even then… wasn't this about the same level as the Sinnoh Champion herself?
Yet this unknown old man had actually fought a god, and landed the first hit.
During the time it took for them to exchange a few astonished remarks, Beedrill never stopped moving.
Under Giovanni's precise command, its figure kept disappearing and reappearing, occasionally switching position through its Poké Ball.
Just one Pokémon, and Giovanni made it feel like an overwhelming army.
Giratina was dumbstruck. Truly dumbstruck.
He'd lived for countless years, yet had never seen such a powerful Trainer.
He could feel it clearly, this Beedrill wasn't especially terrifying. Its speed and attack power were impressive, sure, but nothing divine.
Yet with this Trainer's support, it was somehow unleashing strength not inferior to a god.
A bizarre thought surfaced in his mind. If the ones here had been those two idiots instead of him, they might have had no choice but to use their divine authority just to teleport this Trainer away.
Giratina's mouth twitched. He decided to avoid the edge for now.
Just a mere Beedrill, he'd come back for it once it ran out of energy.
When Giratina vanished into the air again, effectively driven off by Giovanni, the Trainers who had once traveled to Kanto suddenly had their eyes light up and shouted his name aloud.
"Didn't expect the Kanto Gym Leader Giovanni to be this strong, this is Champion level, right?"
"The Bug Catcher has finally stood against the gods! You saw that, Butterfree? Starting tomorrow, we're training eighteen hours a day!"
"New year, new goal, I'm going to follow Master Giovanni and become an intern Trainer in his Gym!"
While the crowd cheered, Elder Pryce, sitting in his wheelchair, couldn't help but feel his head ache.
'This damned guy… this was supposed to be such a solemn situation, and people are actually being inspired to join his Gym?'
'Then what about me, huh? I once captured Ho-Oh! And I still had to sneak around stealing kids, what does that make me? A clown?'
Pryce suddenly felt full of pent-up frustration with nowhere to vent…
"ROOOAR!"
Just as Pryce was about to leave in anger, a roar like something from another world echoed through the air.
Before he could react, the Swinub at his side had already looked up.
The next second, endless shards of ice gathered, and Swinub reshaped itself into the form of Giovanni's Mewtwo.
One paw raised, a piercing blizzard instantly erupted, smashing into a point high in the sky.
BOOM!
With a loud crash, the just-reemerged Giratina was trapped in a shell of ice, staring in disbelief at the Mewtwo-shaped Swinub on the ground.
His face was full of question marks.
'The hell?'
'Has the world gone insane?'
Right now, Giratina felt like his worldview was being crushed underfoot again and again.
Wasn't this world supposed to revere gods above all?
How had it changed so much that everywhere he looked, there were ridiculous Pokémon and absurdly strong Trainers?
He distinctly remembered James saying that the two dragons of time and space had nearly destroyed Sinnoh.
Could it be that all these other Pokémon had gotten buffed by Arceus, and only he, sealed away in the Reverse World, had been left behind?
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense, and the more it made him despair.
The Dragon of the Underworld felt the sky collapse upon him.
He decided to try one last time. If it didn't work, he'd just rush out the moment Axel appeared and voluntarily dive into his Poké Ball to become Rayquaza's underling.
'Destroy the world?'
'Destroy my ass!'
After all these years, he'd only ever wanted to destroy the world. But now that he was out, other than beating James' crew and that squid king, he hadn't won a single fight.
With that dismal thought, Giratina slipped back into Shadow Sneak, his gaze sweeping over the Trainers on the field.
Finally, his attention fell on a rather unique-looking Pikachu.
If Giratina remembered correctly, this kind of Pokémon was as common as stray dogs on the street (according to Game Freak, though apparently that was later deleted).
Sure, this Pikachu seemed braver than most, it even dared to glare at him.
But unless the world had gone completely mad, there was no way he could lose to a Pikachu, right?
The more Giratina thought about it, the more confident he felt. His massive body surged forward, roaring out curses.
'Pikachu, damn it, I choose you!'
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