Pokémon: Raising Abandoned Pokémon into Legends

Chapter 321: Godly Battle (Two-in-One)

A clear, resonant cry pierced the sky. A Pokémon radiating rainbow light emerged from the clouds.

Its appearance stunned both Mewtwo Y and Mega Rayquaza, who had been locked in battle. At the same time, the raging fire in Viridian Forest was extinguished by an invisible force. Many weak Pokémon that had perished in the flames saw their burns heal before their eyes, and they slowly opened their eyes.

"As expected—Ho-Oh has arrived." Rio marveled at the rainbow-feathered giant—no, at Ho-Oh beneath the rainbow light.

In the world of Pokémon, among the most mysterious guardian-level legendaries, Ho-Oh had to hold a place. Just compare how many times Lugia had appeared versus Ho-Oh, and you could see just how elusive it was. Heck, even Arceus seemed to show up more often than Ho-Oh. It was always heard of but rarely seen. Whenever trouble struck Kanto, it was usually Lugia who appeared.

And now, Ho-Oh’s appearance was truly impressive. With just its rainbow light, it had extinguished the flames and revived many Pokémon that had died in the fire—though they hadn’t resurrected as Entei, Raikou, or Suicune.

"What are you doing, Rayquaza? This is Kanto’s territory. Why have you come here to destroy the Pokémon’s habitat? I demand a reasonable explanation." Ho-Oh’s voice echoed in Rio’s mind—a resonant, magnetic female voice.

"What explanation is needed? A despicable human tried to capture me and killed my followers—and this human deceived me." Rayquaza explained, its telepathy also reaching Rio.

"This human deceived you?" Ho-Oh followed Rayquaza’s gaze to Rio.

"Lady Ho-Oh, don’t listen to Rayquaza’s nonsense! I didn’t deceive it—it threatened me!" Rio quickly defended himself. With two guardian-level legendaries before him, if Ho-Oh sided with Rayquaza, he’d be in serious trouble.

"You didn’t deceive me? You promised to destroy the Pokémon Association, the Devon Corporation in Hoenn, and the Belari Family in Sinnoh within a year! It’s been over a year, and I haven’t seen a single thing happen!" Rayquaza glared at Rio.

"Lady Ho-Oh, did you hear that? It said—" Rio started to argue, but realized Rayquaza wasn’t human and quickly corrected himself: "—it said that as a regional guardian? One year for me, an ordinary human, to destroy the most powerful organization, the wealthiest company, and the oldest family in the human world?"

"Then why did you agree?" Rayquaza shot back.

"What do you think?" Rio’s acting skills kicked in as he gave an impassioned explanation:

"Lady Ho-Oh, let me ask you: a year ago, a human boy visiting Hoenn for the first time was intercepted by Rayquaza high in the sky and given two choices."

"First: help it destroy the Pokémon Association in Johto, the Devon Corporation and Greater Mauville Holdings in Hoenn, and the Belari Family in Sinnoh."

"Second: die!"

"How could I have chosen otherwise? Refusing meant death. Wouldn’t you call that coercion?"

Ho-Oh turned its gaze to Rayquaza. Hearing it that way, the boy hadn’t intended to deceive—he had been coerced. If it was coercion, Rayquaza had no right to come after him.

"Rayquaza, do you have anything to say? If you agree with what’s been said, then leave Kanto. I don’t wish to fight you."

Feeling Ho-Oh’s pressure, Rayquaza’s expression hardened—and its anger grew. It had beaten Groudon and Kyogre into submission. How dare Ho-Oh threaten it?

"And if I refuse?" Rayquaza wasn’t about to leave. It had now sensed Rio’s threat. In just one year, Rio had grown this strong. It feared that if they met again, Rio would take revenge—after all, its coercion had been excessive.

"Then you are my enemy." Ho-Oh’s body ignited with golden flames. The heat was so intense that the air temperature soared, and within seconds, Rio was drenched in sweat. Unlike Charizard’s purple Sacred Fire, Ho-Oh’s flames were more magnificent and seemed far more powerful.

"If you want a fight, then fight! I’ve fought two-on-one before!" Rayquaza scoffed at Ho-Oh’s flames. In Hoenn, it had dominated Groudon and Kyogre—there was no way it would lose to just Ho-Oh and some Pokémon called Mewtwo.

"Ho-Oh, stay back! This is my fight! Don’t interfere!" A surprising voice rang out—Mewtwo’s telepathy. It didn’t want Ho-Oh interfering in its battle with Rayquaza.

Ho-Oh froze—it hadn’t expected this unknown Pokémon to refuse its help. Wasn’t it afraid of being beaten to death by Rayquaza?

"Mewtwo, you need Lady Ho-Oh’s help." Rio spoke up at the right moment.

Mewtwo shot him an unhappy look. Rio glanced at Gengar, who understood and carried Rio over to Mewtwo.

Rio whispered: "If you really want a one-on-one with Rayquaza, there’s no rush. Let me capture it first—then you can fight it however you want. But not now. Ho-Oh is here. Even if you win against Rayquaza, it’ll likely be a narrow victory—and I also want to capture Ho-Oh. What then?"

Mewtwo’s eyes widened, wanting to argue but finding no words. Finally, it looked at Ho-Oh, who seemed eager to join the fight.

"Fine. Together." Mewtwo telepathically told Ho-Oh.

Ho-Oh looked at it strangely. For some reason, it felt mocked by Mewtwo’s expression.

Before it could dwell on it, Rayquaza—seeing Ho-Oh and Rio’s side reach an agreement—struck first. A Dragon Pulse quickly formed in its mouth and shot toward them. Ho-Oh responded with its divine move, Sacred Fire.

Golden flames met the dragon-energy shockwave midair. Pressure radiated in all directions. The two moves were evenly matched.

Case closed—Ho-Oh is definitely not a match for Rayquaza in single combat. Just from that exchange, Rio had his answer. Ho-Oh was likely around the same level as Lugia, Kyogre, and Groudon. On its own, it was probably stronger than base-form Mewtwo, but weaker than Mega Evolved Mewtwo.

On the other side, Mewtwo also frowned. It had expected Ho-Oh to be stronger. Seems like this was all there was to it. When it was created, Fuji had fed it knowledge about legendary Pokémon—including Ho-Oh. So it knew Ho-Oh’s strongest move was its Sacred Fire.

"Ho-Oh, that’s all you’ve got?" Feeling Ho-Oh wasn’t much of a threat, Rayquaza taunted. Then it used its divine move, Dragon Ascent—body blazing gold—and charged straight at Ho-Oh.

"Caw—!" Ho-Oh let out a clear cry and spat more golden flames. The flames met Rayquaza’s charge, but were split in two by Dragon Ascent. The attack grazed Ho-Oh’s wing, drawing a pained cry.

But Rayquaza wasn’t done. After hitting Ho-Oh, it quickly turned and charged at Mewtwo. However, Mewtwo had anticipated this—it had been gathering Psystrike since Rayquaza targeted Ho-Oh. A dark, solidified psychic sphere formed above Mewtwo’s head. As Rayquaza closed in, Mewtwo hurled it.

Mewtwo Y’s strongest divine move clashed with Mega Rayquaza’s strongest divine move. The resulting shockwave dwarfed anything before. Though Psystrike was also pierced by Rayquaza, Rayquaza took significant damage. After the collision, it tumbled through the air, dazed.

Ho-Oh stared at Mewtwo in shock. It couldn’t block Rayquaza’s attack—but this unknown Pokémon could.

"With that kind of power, how could you have been coerced?" Ho-Oh’s confused voice echoed in Rio’s mind. It couldn’t understand how someone with such strength could be threatened with death by Rayquaza.

"Uh..." Rio didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t exactly say that his team and power had undergone a complete transformation in one year—that a year ago, he’d be beaten by Rayquaza, but a year later, if he deployed his full force, Rayquaza would be the one pinned down. After all, his current top-tier fighters—Gengar, Greninja, and Lugia—hadn’t even joined the fight yet. As for Regigigas... well, summoning it might be less useful than Groudon, who at least had Precipice Blades. If he told the truth, Ho-Oh might even defect and help Rayquaza take down this "legendary collector" first.

"With that kind of power, how were you coerced? I’d like to know too." Rayquaza chimed in, having recovered from Mewtwo’s Psystrike.

Rio’s mind raced, searching for the best response. But Mewtwo, seeing Rio hesitate, grew impatient with all the scheming.

"Why waste words? Just tell them the truth: a year ago, you didn’t have me, you didn’t have Lugia, you didn’t have Old Ghost who can manipulate time, and you didn’t have Greninja at full strength. But now you do. You have all of us—enough to take them both down. That’s why you dared to ignore this overgrown worm." Mewtwo cut in.

"Enough talking, Rio. If we’re going to fight, let’s fight properly. Call Lugia—let’s have a real brawl!"

Mewtwo’s words made Rio’s eyes widen. He had been racking his brain for a way to smooth things over with Ho-Oh and Rayquaza.

"Lugia? You captured the Sea Guardian Lugia?" Ho-Oh, ever perceptive, latched onto that detail. Its gaze toward Rio grew wary.

Rayquaza, meanwhile, looked enlightened. No wonder Rio, who had been so obedient a year ago, now didn’t take it seriously at all. He had even recruited Lugia.

"That’s right. I captured Lugia." With the cat out of the bag, Rio stopped hiding it. He pulled out a silver-white feather and a Luxury Ball. The feather was Lugia’s feather. The Luxury Ball released Charizard. Rio placed the feather at Charizard’s mouth, and a burst of flame ignited it.

After the flame caught, Rio smiled: "You’ll see it soon."

"As for what comes next—you’ll have to face the four of them first." Rio tossed out two more Poké Balls—Greninja and Aerodactyl. He stood on Aerodactyl’s back, while Greninja stood on Charizard’s back.

Ho-Oh and Rayquaza exchanged glances. The two former opponents now found themselves on the same side. The battlefield had shifted once again.

It was now Mewtwo Y, Gengar, Greninja, and Charizard versus Ho-Oh and Mega Rayquaza.

The battle was kicked off by the battle-hungry Mewtwo—six consecutive Aura Spheres, three aimed at Ho-Oh and three at Rayquaza. Ho-Oh blocked with Sacred Fire; Rayquaza swept them away with Dragon Tail.

Meanwhile, Gengar dissolved into black mist. Greninja entered Bond Evolution. Charizard wanted to Mega Evolve too, but since Bond Evolution and Mega Evolution couldn’t coexist, it had to settle for being Greninja’s ride for this battle.

"Mewtwo, you and Greninja and Charizard focus on Rayquaza. Gengar, you handle Ho-Oh alone. And move the battlefield away from Indigo Plateau." Rio gave tactical commands.

In his view, this was the best arrangement. Mewtwo had to face Rayquaza—only it could. If Mewtwo went after Ho-Oh, Greninja, Gengar, and Charizard would suffer against Mega Rayquaza. While strong, they probably couldn’t outlast it.

"Got it! Leave it to me. I’ve been wanting to fight the legendary Lady Ho-Oh for a long time!" Gengar was thrilled to agree.

It hurled a Shadow Ball at Ho-Oh.

"Lady Ho-Oh! Fight Old Ghost!"