"Senior, are you okay?"
Nemona carefully asked Cynthia.
Cynthia had been standing there without saying a word for ten straight minutes, and Nemona was finding it really hard to keep it together.
She suddenly felt like the Champions from other regions all had insanely messy personal lives.
Champion Steven and Champion Cynthia were both unbelievably outstanding, but first the news broke that Champion Steven's father was going to jail.
And now Champion Cynthia's close friend had joined Team Rocket and become her enemy, making things between them incredibly awkward.
Yeah… Champion Geeta was starting to look pretty good. At least she didn't have all this weird nonsense going on.
"I'm fine. Let's keep looking around, Nemona."
Cynthia finally came back to herself and gave Nemona a faint smile.
Her mood really was a mess, but she didn't want to dump that pressure on this lively, talented junior.
"Mm‑hmm～ Senior Cynthia, they're selling ice cream over there. Let's go grab one."
"Alright."
Nemona and Cynthia walked over to the ice cream stand.
Then…
Nemona, holding her third ice cream that was already starting to melt, stared dead‑eyed at Cynthia, who was still agonizing over which flavor to pick.
So Senior Cynthia… was a hardcore indecisive type too?
...
The next day.
Damian had Caitlin accompany Lillie to the mall, while he himself temporarily split off from the two girls, saying he had something urgent to handle.
Lillie was a pure, clean girl. For the moment, Damian didn't want to drag her into anything else.
He headed back alone to Professor Lund's lab. Under Armored Mewtwo's Psychic control, the main doors swung open easily.
Moving through the place like he owned it, Damian made his way back to the ecological lab and once again saw Professor Lund and Yuuko at work, trying to activate the Deoxys gem‑green crystal.
But clearly, they'd failed.
"Failed again. Is there really no way to revive it? That shouldn't be right."
Professor Lund was baffled. He wanted to research Deoxys's ecological habits—but the prerequisite for that was obviously to revive the gem‑green crystal. Yet in four years, he hadn't succeeded even once.
"Want me to give you a hand?"
A young, flippant voice spoke up.
"Who—hm, it's you?"
Professor Lund froze, turning to see Damian leaning against the wall. His brows furrowed.
"How did you get in here?"
"Walked right in, obviously. No need to stress, Professor Lund—I'm here to help you revive Deoxys."
Damian strolled into the lab and very naturally dragged over a chair and sat down.
"You…"
Professor Lund's brows knit even tighter. He'd already felt yesterday that this boy was implying something, and now it was completely confirmed.
He actually really did know about Deoxys.
"You know how to revive Deoxys?" That was what Professor Lund locked onto.
"I can't say I'm a hundred percent sure, but we can give it a shot."
"What do you want Deoxys revived for?"
Professor Lund shot another question back.
"Power, obviously. Deoxys's strength isn't any worse than a normal Rayquaza. You saw that with your own eyes, didn't you, Professor Lund?"
Damian gave Professor Lund a half‑smile as the man's expression grew uglier.
"Forget it. If that's all you're after, then get out. You're not welcome here."
Professor Lund unceremoniously tried to throw him out. He'd admittedly brought Deoxys's Meteorite back for personal reasons.
But he absolutely didn't want Deoxys's power to fall into someone else's hands—especially not someone like the guy in front of him, who looked wicked and ill‑intentioned.
"Don't look so triggered. You're making me sound like some kind of villain."
Damian didn't mind in the slightest, still sitting there with one leg crossed over the other, the picture of lazy ease.
"And besides, Professor Lund, ever heard the saying 'easy to invite a god, hard to send one away'? You think you can just kick me out? With what?"
A faintly mocking curve tugged at Damian's lips.
Granted, Professor Lund hadn't exactly "invited" him in—he'd just let himself in.
"If you don't leave, I'm calling Officer Jenny!"
Professor Lund's face got even darker.
"Zero sense of the situation." Damian clicked his tongue, smile still squinting and sunny.
"If I remember right, Professor Lund—you've got a pretty young kid at home, don't you?"
"You…! What are you planning?!" Professor Lund's expression changed drastically.
"If you don't cooperate, I can't promise I won't do something to your kid."
"No! That's a crime!" Professor Lund was furious.
"I'm literally with an evil organization. You think I care?" Damian didn't bother hiding anything.
"..."
Professor Lund clenched his teeth, his chest heaving with anger. Yuuko, off to the side, looked deeply worried as well.
"Fine. What do you want?"
In the end, Professor Lund still gave in. He didn't dare gamble with his own child's safety. His boy was still so young.
"Wake Deoxys up, obviously."
Damian stood and looked at the gem‑green crystal.
"I can't do that." For the first time, Professor Lund truly didn't want Deoxys revived.
"No problem. Just go through your usual routine. I'll have Mewtwo cooperate with you guys."
Damian gave Professor Lund a sidelong glance.
"And don't even think about playing dumb little tricks. I know exactly where your kid is."
Total bluff—Damian had no clue where Professor Lund's son was. But it didn't matter.
As long as the line worked on Professor Lund, that was enough.
Professor Lund glared at Damian, this shameless bastard—but…
He still obediently walked over to the console and started operating the equipment. Besides cooperating, what else could he do?
There was nothing he could do.
Under Professor Lund's control, the lab's machines spun up, energy steadily gathering.
At the same time, deep purple flames flickered in Armored Mewtwo's eyes. It raised its arm toward the gem‑green crystal as an immense psychic power condensed.
Boom!
The next instant, the machine's energy and Armored Mewtwo's Psychic struck the gem‑green crystal at the same time. The blinding light was enough to make them squint.
Seconds ticked by. Damian narrowed his eyes. He could see it—within that flood of energy, the gem‑green crystal was finally reacting.
Around the crystal, Pokémon "flesh" and structure started to grow and twist, as a completely new Pokémon formed rapidly.
Crack～!
The glass container shattered completely, light slowly dimming.
Once the machine's energy dispersed and Armored Mewtwo cut off its Psychic, a humanoid Pokémon stood in the center of the ruined tank.
Its shape was very similar to a stereotypical alien's. Its arms were two orange‑and‑blue tendril‑like whips, and embedded in its chest was a green crystal gem.
Deoxys—had awoken.
"It actually worked?!"
Professor Lund stared in shock at the awakened Deoxys. It was almost identical to the one he'd seen four years ago.
The difference was that the one back then had a purple crystal in its chest, while this one's was green.
"Not bad. Looks like its mental state's solid too."
Damian was pleased as he looked over this Deoxys—or rather, Deoxys Individual Two.
Deoxys lowered its head slightly, its gaze sweeping slowly over the three humans in the lab before finally settling on Armored Mewtwo.
The main reason it had been able to fully awaken this time was the constant Psychic stimulation from that Pokémon. Otherwise, even if its mind was a bit clearer, its body definitely wouldn't have been fully revived yet.
Deoxys Individual Two nodded to Armored Mewtwo to express its gratitude.
"..." Armored Mewtwo stayed silent and didn't respond.
After thanking it, Deoxys bent its knees slightly. It was getting ready to leave.
"You're going to look for your teammate?" Damian more or less guessed its train of thought.
This Deoxys Individual Two had a fairly decent personality. Individual One had actually had a good temper too.
In the movie, it had only attacked LaRousse City to search for its teammate.
Deoxys nodded.
"Your teammate probably hasn't revived yet. I don't recommend you doing that right now. Otherwise, you're just going to repeat your teammate's mistake." Damian said to Deoxys Individual Two.
"?" Deoxys tilted its head in confusion.
"You and your teammate came from outer space. As far as Rayquaza's concerned, you're both non‑native species—and you're not on its 'whitelist.' You're intruders."
Damian laid it out in more detail.
Rayquaza was a Legendary Pokémon with an extremely strong territorial instinct. It treated the sky itself as its territory.
For a Pokémon like Deoxys descending from space, Rayquaza was naturally hostile—especially when Deoxys's own power was this impressive.
Because of that, Rayquaza automatically slapped a 'blacklist intruder' label on Deoxys.
If it didn't pick up on Deoxys's aura, fine. But the moment it did, Rayquaza would come charging at top speed.
Then it would destroy these "intruders from space."
Deoxys Individual Two looked even more lost. Intruder? It didn't have any such intention at all.
"Whether you meant to or not doesn't matter. What matters is that Rayquaza thinks you did. As far as it's concerned, that makes you an intruder."
Damian shrugged.
Tons of people absolutely loved Rayquaza. But in truth, as the tyrant of the skies, the Rayquaza line was incredibly domineering.
In the movie, if the two Deoxys hadn't let go of their grudge and saved that Rayquaza from being overwhelmed by the robots, it never would've accepted them.
Most Dragon‑type Pokémon were hot‑tempered and overbearing. Especially a terrifying legend like Rayquaza, powerful and with no natural predators.
Deoxys Individual Two shook its head. It didn't really believe this human's words. Plus, its urge to find its teammate was too strong.
It couldn't wait another second.
Deoxys vanished from where it stood and reappeared on the lab's roof.
"Tsk～ It really doesn't believe me."
Watching that, Damian couldn't help letting out a laugh. This Deoxys seriously wasn't afraid of dying, huh.
Then again, imagine someone telling you that a powerful creature wanted to kill you for an "invasion" you'd done absolutely nothing to commit.
It was perfectly normal for Deoxys Individual Two not to buy it. After all, it had no idea what Individual One had gone through.
Right now, standing on the lab roof, Deoxys slowly closed its eyes and released its Psychic as far as it could.
It was going to locate its teammate's position first.
"It's using its senses to scan."
Damian and Armored Mewtwo had stepped outside as well. Watching Deoxys's movements, Armored Mewtwo spoke up.
Damian glanced up at Deoxys Individual Two, then at the clear, blue sky.
"Yeah. Rayquaza's on its way."
What Deoxys was doing was basically turning itself into a giant flashing lightbulb, going "Please notice me" to Rayquaza.
~~~
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