"AAHHH!"
In just an instant, Rayquaza felt its body seize up, its movements stiffening under paralysis.
Seeing this, Mewtwo immediately released the golden head tendrils it had been clutching. Holding its own body steady with psychic power, it hammered down with one Ice Punch after another, striking Rayquaza squarely on the skull.
Each blow left Rayquaza reeling in dizziness, the damage steadily mounting.
"RAAAHHH!"
Rayquaza roared in fury, thrashing violently. Its massive tail whipped again and again toward Mewtwo, desperate to fling the opponent off its body.
At last, after battering itself in its struggle, Rayquaza succeeded. It had thrown Mewtwo loose—but at great cost, even injuring itself in the process.
No matter. In the very next moment, a flash of white light enveloped Mewtwo. With Recover, its body was instantly restored to peak condition.
Then, using a deadly rhythm of Teleport and speed, Mewtwo darted around Rayquaza's massive form, dodging every attack while driving its fists, coated in frost—into the dragon again and again.
With its strength magnified through psychic reinforcement, the strikes grew heavier and heavier, no longer glancing blows but bone-deep, punishing hits. Even Rayquaza began to feel the toll.
"Your speed… is too slow."
Slipping past another strike, Mewtwo Teleported beneath Rayquaza's chin and launched two crushing Ice-type uppercuts straight into its jaw.
"Graaahhh!"
The Legendary Sky High Pokémon saw darkness flash before its eyes as its body was hurled back several meters.
Yet Mewtwo showed no mercy. Teleporting forward, it unleashed a relentless barrage of Ice Punches midair.
Even Rayquaza, so accustomed to dominance—began to falter under this storm of fists.
But then, rallying its primal fury, Rayquaza twisted high into the sky, ignoring the pain. Its serpentine body coiled as it spun rapidly, conjuring a monstrous gale.
Within seconds, the cyclone had become a towering tornado, a natural disaster on par with Kyogre or Groudon.
Seawater was sucked upward, merging into a catastrophic waterspout that raged across the ocean's surface.
The chaotic storm tore through Mewtwo's offensive rhythm in an instant. Razor winds slashed into its body, tossing it helplessly like a leaf caught in the current.
Forced onto the defensive, Mewtwo X raised both hands and conjured a psychic barrier, straining to withstand the hurricane's fury.
Now the tables had turned. While expanding the tornado's might, Rayquaza smashed and slammed its body into Mewtwo again and again, each impact draining its strength further.
Even Mewtwo could feel its stamina ebbing at an alarming rate.
"…That should be enough testing, shouldn't it?"
Paul's voice rang calmly in Mewtwo's mind.
"I've already assessed the limits of my current strength." Mewtwo replied, its focus unwavering even under duress.
"Good. Then don't hold back, activate Ruthless Mode."
This was no ordinary transformation. Mewtwo had long since mastered its brutal power and fused it with the awakened states it had studied from other Pokémon. The result was a perfected, even more terrifying mode—Ruthless Mode.
In this state, Mewtwo's power multiplied severalfold. Combined with its psychic reinforcement, this was the strongest it had ever been.
"Understood."
Drawing a deep breath, Mewtwo closed its eyes. Its body shimmered, shedding the muscular X-form, then shifted into its sleeker, more sinister Mega Mewtwo Y.
When it opened its eyes again, scarlet aura surged outward with crushing psychic pressure.
Escaping or dispersing the storm was no longer beyond it, but Mewtwo had no intention of ending it. Instead, it planned to use the storm as its weapon.
"Blizzard!"
Psychic force held the raging tornado at bay, while Mewtwo's hands gathered an icy bone-piercing power.
The moment the Blizzard unleashed, the tornado itself became its amplifier. The waterspout froze over in seconds, the roaring vortex turning an unnatural shade of glacial blue.
In the blink of an eye, the towering waterspout had become a colossal ice sculpture—its frozen spirals gleaming against the sky.
And within that sculpture, a lifelike Rayquaza, poised mid-attack, was locked in solid ice before its strike could even land.
Outside the frozen monument, Mewtwo Y hovered, gazing at its handiwork with cold satisfaction.
Yet its eyes did not relax. Even trapped, Rayquaza still clung to Mega Evolution, its life force weak but undeniable—Mewtwo could sense it through the faint pulses of aura within.
"End it. Psystrike!"
Paul's voice gave the final command.
Mewtwo floated to the frozen Rayquaza's head, placing its hand on the ice. In an instant, a surge of devastating psychic energy exploded outward.
"BOOM!!"
The entire sculpture shuddered violently, then erupted in a detonation like a battlefield demolition. Shards of ice scattered across the ocean like shrapnel, raining down in deadly silence.
From within the blast, Rayquaza could no longer maintain its Mega Evolution. Its form reverted with a fading white glow before collapsing, unconscious, into the endless sea—adrift among the floating ice.
"…Poké Ball, go."
Paul wasted no time. He hurled the capsule, its arc tracing a perfect parabola toward the fallen Rayquaza.
But just before impact—an abrupt anomaly.
A submarine burst from beneath the waves, firing a specialized energy net that batted aside the Poké Ball and ensnared Rayquaza in its grasp.
At the same time, its cannons launched dazzling flash bombs skyward, blinding the entire field. Another net shot toward the Legendary Keystone.
When the light faded, Dialga and Palkia had already shattered the net aimed at the stone with contemptuous ease.
Failing in that attempt, the submarine wasted no further time. With Rayquaza captured, it immediately dove beneath the ocean's surface and vanished from sight.
The entire operation lasted less than five seconds.
Meanwhile, in a hidden base, a massive screen flickered to life. Lysandre listened as his recovery squad reported:
"Boss, the Trainer's Pokémon were too strong. We failed to secure the Keystone. But, we successfully captured Rayquaza."
"…A bit reckless. This risks drawing suspicion. But still… well done. Get Rayquaza to our Kalos facility at once."
Lysandre's voice was calm, yet collected.
Of course, such a large-scale act would invite suspicion. But the submarine was dispatched by an unknown organization. What did that have to do with Lysandre's Research Institute?
He was, after all, a man of peace. A beloved philanthropist of Kalos. Surely he would never commit such a vile act as stealing another Trainer's Pokémon.
And besides—his institute specialized in aerial research, not submarines. Preposterous accusations! Baseless slander!
If anyone was to blame, surely it was those remnants of Team Aqua and Team Magma from Hoenn…
Still…
"The Keystone retrieval failed. That could hinder Project Z… Perhaps it's time to proceed with Projects X and Y in parallel. We must secure Yveltal or Xerneas."
His eyes glinted coldly.
"…Or maybe I should forge a new plan altogether. One that fuses Rayquaza into the Z-Project. A true path… to peace."
"Such nerve."
Back at sea, Paul's face hardened.
Whether or not capturing Rayquaza truly mattered to him was irrelevant.
What mattered was that someone had dared to steal the Legendary Pokémon from right under his eyes.
That—he would not forgive.
"In a broad daylight… they actually dared to steal a Pokémon?!" Akari gasped, eyes wide in shock.
"We have to chase them down and take Rayquaza back!"
She had never imagined such a thing, someone using advanced technology to snatch away a Pokémon. And not just any Pokémon, but one someone else had already battled and defeated.
Her astonishment quickly gave way to anger.
"Don't rush…" Paul exhaled slowly, his gaze locking onto the helicopter flying several kilometers away.
In most other worlds, a situation like this would be troublesome—without following the submarine, there'd be no way to reclaim Rayquaza or track down which organization was responsible.
But in the anime world… Paul knew exactly whose submarine that was.
Even if he couldn't track them directly, he could always head to Kalos and trouble little Hoopa again—let it help fish Rayquaza back out.
"First, let's recover the Giant Rock." Paul said calmly.
He pulled out his Arc Phone and submitted the mission report.
"Congratulations, Trainer. Mission successfully completed. Please choose one of the two available rewards."
Rotom's voice chimed as the reward selection screen appeared.
Paul didn't hesitate, he immediately chose the Phone Storage Expansion reward. Placing the device against the Giant Rock, he absorbed it directly into the Arc Phone's storage space.
The massive boulder vanished into thin air. Though many onlookers were shocked, compared to the terrifying battle they had just witnessed, this seemed almost mundane.
"The Giant Rock still holds tremendous power. I'll research it further later. For now… we should ask around about where they've taken my Rayquaza."
Pocketing the phone, Paul recalled Dialga and Palkia, then moved forward with Akari to meet the figures approaching from the sky.
"Meeting you again… your power has become even more terrifying." A familiar voice called out.
The other Paul, the one from this world—arrived first, riding atop his Garchomp. His tone was serious, respectful, yet tinged with awkwardness. After all, it was strange to meet a stronger version of yourself from another world.
"Your strength has grown too. Stronger than I expected." Paul replied coolly.
At this stage, this world's Paul was capable of defeating an Elite Four member. If he entered the World Coronation Series, unless he ran headfirst into the main protagonist Ash Ketchum and his "bond power," he could at least reach Leon.
"Not compared to you, you've already captured so many Legendary Pokémon."
For a moment, this Paul wanted to ask:
'Have you already defeated Cynthia in your world and become Champion?'
But one glance at the Mewtwo calmly hovering behind his counterpart made him drop the idea. That question sounded childish.
"The road forward never ends. Thinking about it isn't enough, you have to act." Paul said firmly.
"I will. Once I return to Sinnoh, I'll challenge the Elite Four and Champion. I'll catch up to you as soon as I can!"
"Don't disappoint me."
"I won't!"
Paul nodded once. "Good. Now, I need to find out who just stole my Pokémon."
His Metagross carried him to the helicopter's side door, where Steven Stone and Alain were waiting.
"Thank you for protecting the Hoenn region." Steven said with gentlemanly grace, inclining his head. "As Champion, allow me to express my gratitude."
But he couldn't help glancing at the second Paul nearby and asking cautiously, "May I also ask about your identity?"
"As you suspect, I come from another world."
Power gave confidence. Paul did not hide the truth.
"I see… I never imagined there would be such powerful Trainers in alternate worlds." Steven mused, nodding in understanding. "As for Rayquaza, I'll have people search immediately. We'll find that submarine and the organization behind it."
This wasn't just to aid Paul, it was also in his own interest. If an unknown group managed to control Rayquaza, it would be a global threat.
Inwardly, though, Steven had his suspicions.
The submarine had tried to capture the Giant Rock after snatching Rayquaza. Very few people even knew of the Giant Rock, let alone that it would surface in the sea here. Among those who could field such advanced submarine technology, aside from his own Devon Corporation, the only other candidate was Lysandre and his lab.
And yet… Steven had always felt Lysandre's sincerity. When the man spoke of peace, his eyes genuinely shone. It was hard to connect him with such blatant theft.
No evidence… but suspicion remains.
"There's no need." Paul said flatly, his voice disturbingly calm. "I know exactly who's behind this. And soon—I'll pay him a visit, and take back my Rayquaza."
"Do you remember me, Paul?" Alain cut in quickly. "I'm Alain, a Trainer striving to become the strongest!"
"The strongest, huh?" Paul shook his head, dismissive. "You're still far from it."
He didn't dislike Alain—on the contrary, he respected some of his qualities. But Alain, as a Pokémon Special protagonist, had the same flaw many heroes did: too naïve, too easy to be manipulated.
For the sake of a single Key Stone and Mega Stone, Alain had let Lysandre lure him in with words about peace and protecting loved ones. He'd worked for him willingly, never realizing the truth.
"I'll work hard to catch up… and then surpass you!" Alain vowed earnestly.
But Paul smirked, answering with a question instead: "Do you remember what I told you last time?"
"What…?"
"A true strong one is always the one forging ahead, not the follower. Not the one being led, and certainly not the ignorant one. Do you really think you're strong right now?"
The question silenced Alain, leaving him unable to answer.
"My Pokémon, I'll find and rescue them myself. I don't need your help."
Without another word, Paul turned away. With Akari by his side, he flew off in the direction of Kalos.
Meanwhile, deep within a hidden base, Lysandre listened to Paul's voice relayed through Alain's earpiece. For the first time in a long while… unease flickered in his heart.
(End of Chapter)
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