As the gale raged with unbridled fury, the arena's temperature plummeted, frosting over the cracked stone beneath their feet. Shivers swept through the shivering spectators.
"Rock Blast!" Feng Che commanded with a cold scoff.
A cluster of massive stones materialized around Rampardos, whirling violently before rocketing straight into the pillars of howling wind. A thunderous roar shattered the air as the wind spouts detonated under the barrage, sending sharp, jagged shrapnel hurtling toward the white Mega Gyarados like a volley of arrows.
The white Mega Gyarados threw back its head in a deafening roar. Marshaling the turbulent drafts, it wove a dense barrier of pressurized air, turning aside the incoming barrage of rock.
"Air Cutter!"
From its sweeping dorsal wings, the white Mega Gyarados unleashed a storm of crescent-shaped wind blades, each over a meter long.
"Rampardos, combine Smart Strike with Horn Drill!"
The horn atop Rampardos's crown extended like a sacred blade, spinning with dizzying speed. As the scything wind blades crashed down, they split cleanly in half against the spiraling horn, the severed gusts plowing into the earth and kicking up dense plumes of dust.
"Rampardos, use Rock Tomb on yourself to launch into the air—strike down that Mega Gyarados!" Feng Che shouted over the din.
Drawing upon the power of stone, Rampardos summoned a colossal pillar of earth that vaulted it straight toward the heavens. Reaching the apex of its leap, it locked onto the white serpent.
Caught off guard, the white Mega Gyarados had no room to maneuver.
Rampardos's spinning horn pierced clean through the leviathan's hardened scales, biting deep into the living flesh beneath. A jolt of blinding agony wracked the serpent, and it thrashed wildly in midair to shake off its assailant. Rampardos dug its claws into the surrounding scales, refusing to yield an inch.
The violent thrashing only worsened the wound; dark crimson blood gushed from the puncture, staining the serpent's snow-white scales a ghastly red.
"Unforgivable... How dare that filthy beast defile my masterpiece!" Poison Dragon's fists shook with murderous rage. "Mega Gyarados, Aqua Tail!"
Gritting through the excruciating pain, the white Mega Gyarados cloaked its serpentine tail in a surging torrent and slammed it ruthlessly against its attacker. Struck by the overwhelming impact, Rampardos lost its grip and was sent hurtling downward, crashing violently into the stone floor below.
High above, blood erupted like a geyser from the gaping hole in the Gyarados's side.
"Mega Gyarados, Aqua Ring!"
Enduring the throbbing ache, the leviathan conjured shimmering rings of restorative water around its body. The torrential bleeding slowed to a trickle, leaving behind a jagged, hideous scar.
That hideous blemish served as an unbearable reminder to Poison Dragon that his proudest creation had been ruined by Feng Che.
"Mega Gyarados, Outrage!"
Poison Dragon had completely lost his patience. Under the influence of Outrage, this Mega Gyarados's destructive power would multiply several times over—at the direct expense of burning its own life force.
I have plenty more subjects back in the lab, Poison Dragon thought, licking his lips with cruel detachment. A damaged masterpiece is no better than scrap. It's time to throw it away.
"Feng Che, that man intends to discard this Gyarados," Mewtwo warned telepathically, deeply disgusted by Poison Dragon's disregard for life. "To him, it is nothing more than a broken toy. He plans to burn out its very life force to drag Rampardos down with it."
The Dragon Clan here in Unova runs far deeper than it looks—illicit experiments are practically a family tradition, Feng Che mused, rubbing his chin. This is the perfect excuse to root them out entirely. Once I bring the clan to heel, I can leverage their strength to claim the Champion's throne. After that, dealing with Team Plasma will be child's play.
High above, the Gyarados's body swelled, its resonant draconic roars whipping the atmosphere into a violent frenzy. Storm clouds choked out the sky as howling tempests swept up walls of gritty dust.
With its eyes burning a manic, blood-red hue, the Mega Gyarados lost all semblance of reason. Its wings spanned wide enough to cast a shadow over half the battlefield. Spouts of wind spiraled violently from the arena floor, and scything gusts over two meters tall orbited the serpent like a vortex of blades—resembling an ancient, wrathful storm god descending from the heavens.
High above the shroud of thunderclouds, Zekrom looked down on the spectacle in pure irritation. Well, well... What an arrogant display. It acts even more imposing than I do.
Oh? So that's what Zekrom is thinking—the Dragon of Ideals is actually watching, Feng Che noted with a faint, mocking smile. Splendid. Once I win this Dragon Festival, if anyone dares question my victory, I'll summon Zekrom straight out of the sky. Let's see who carries more authority: the Second Elder, or Zekrom itself.
"Rampardos, Rock Blast!"
Rampardos slammed its heavy left foot into the arena floor, raising colossal slabs of bedrock from the cracked earth. Caught within the tempest of wind blades, spiderweb fractures spread across the summoned stones. When they violently detonated, jagged rock fragments hurtled directly into the airborne gale, the clash of stone and wind filling the air with acrid smoke and the heavy thuds of falling debris.
"Rampardos, Heavy Slam!"
Attempting the aerial tactic once more, Rampardos launched itself skyward, but the Mega Gyarados anticipated the move. A swirling Aqua Tail caught Rampardos squarely, smashing it right back down into the arena floor.
Rampardos shook its head to clear the haze; its cranium was exceptionally thick, and the concussive blow had dazed it for barely a second.
"Mega Gyarados, unleash every ounce of your power—Hyper Beam!"
Spreading its colossal dorsal wings, the white serpent gathered four blazing conduits of raw energy across its crest. As they converged into a catastrophic pillar of white-hot destruction, a colossal beam cascaded down from the heavens. It looked like an apocalyptic judgment, the shear force punching clean through the bedrock of the battlefield.
"Hahaha! Your Rampardos is finished!" Poison Dragon sneered triumphantly. "I love that look on your face—despising me, yet powerless to stop me! Your Pokémon are mine for the taking!"
"I'm afraid you spoke too soon," Feng Che replied coldly. "My Pokémon aren't so easily broken. Rampardos, Dragon Pulse!"
From deep within the blinding glare of the Hyper Beam, an earth-shattering draconic roar erupted, shaking the entire stadium to its foundations.
"Impossible... How could that brute endure a point-blank Hyper Beam from my Mega Gyarados?!"
As the blistering radiance cleared, Poison Dragon gasped in shock: though singed and scorched from head to foot, Rampardos stood proudly on the shattered earth, its posture unshaken.