"Another task? It's been a while since you've given me one."
Ace felt a pang of emotion as the task suddenly appeared. It seemed the System wanted Ace to be the one to heal Mewtwo's injuries this time.
Thinking this, Ace shook his head. He gathered the Aura in his hand, closed his eyes, and began to perceive Mewtwo's memories.
...
After a long stretch of black, Ace felt as if he had entered Mewtwo's body, flying through the air with it.
After a long flight, the darkness in front of Ace's eyes receded, and he found his vision following Mewtwo into a strange world.
Islands of various sizes floated in space, and gravity was all over the place. A waterfall flowed upward, even though he was standing on solid ground.
He flew forward but somehow ended up back where he started.
"Wait! This can't be the Distortion World!" Ace thought, looking at the scene that was both strange and familiar.
As if to confirm Ace's guess, Giratina suddenly rushed out from nowhere. With no intention of communicating, it immediately began to attack Mewtwo.
The scene ended abruptly there. Ace had no way of knowing what the battle was like or why Mewtwo had gone to the Distortion World in the first place.
"This is getting complicated..."
Ace instantly felt a headache. The Distortion World was Giratina's territory. If he were to recklessly enter it, he wasn't even sure if he would come out alive.
"The first priority is to find out what the high-intensity energy inside Mewtwo is so I can treat it correctly."
Ace thought to himself, but he had no instruments to work with at the moment. Besides, the tournament wasn't over yet; the final day was tomorrow.
His options were either to abandon the competition, return home to Kanto immediately to figure out the source of the energy in Mewtwo, and then return to Sinnoh to see what to do next.
Or, take a risk. After all, he had a legendary Pokémon, Rayquaza, with him.
As a Pokémon that had lived for so many years, in Ace's opinion, it should have at least some knowledge.
He could wake up Rayquaza, have it check Mewtwo's condition, and see if it could get rid of the energy.
Ace immediately ruled out the first option. Was it fun to travel back and forth between two regions? It would take too much time. As for using a lab, it would expose Mewtwo, so Ace ruled that out as well.
After a moment of thought, Ace decided to wake up Rayquaza and have it look at Mewtwo's condition.
With this decision, Ace put away the Poké Ball containing Mewtwo. He then released Crobat, told Ralts to temporarily get into its Poké Ball, and let Crobat grab his shoulders. With a few flaps of its wings, Crobat flew Ace out of Jubilife City.
After flying to a remote forest area, Ace finally landed.
Crobat landed with Ace on a tree branch. After he found a stable footing and made sure no one was nearby, Ace took out the Jade Orb from his satchel.
He put his consciousness into the Jade Orb, and soon, he connected to Rayquaza's mind.
"Kid, you're looking for me this often. I swear I'll get rid of you the moment I get out."
Rayquaza, who was sleeping soundly, was extremely annoyed by Ace's sudden intrusion, and its tone was full of menace.
"It's important. Can you put your consciousness outside? I have a Pokémon with a high-intensity energy inside its body. Do you recognize this energy? Or can you tell me how to get rid of it?"
Ace went straight to the point.
Rayquaza was silent for a moment before saying, "Let me borrow your body for a bit."
"Wait! Are there any side effects?"
Ace was a little scared when he heard he had to borrow his body. He didn't want to experience that feeling again after borrowing Rayquaza's power last time.
"...I'll try."
"What do you mean 'try'? Wait! Don't..."
It was too late for Ace to object. Rayquaza's power instantly surged into Ace's body.
Crobat, who was on Ace's shoulder and on guard, suddenly felt a jolt. Without a second thought, it immediately flapped its wings and flew away from Ace's body.
Ace's sclera was now pitch black, with golden pupils that looked around. It looked at Crobat in the air, almost making the Pokémon's feathers stand on end.
"Ace" stretched his body and said with a hint of emotion, "A human's body is really fragile. Let me see what you're talking about."
As "Ace" spoke, Mewtwo's Poké Ball was taken out, and a powerful Dragon-type energy attached itself to it.
"Hmm, this energy... it seems to be from that guy... but it's a small problem."
"Ace" muttered to himself before retracting the Dragon-type energy. His strange eyes instantly returned to normal.
"It's a small problem. It's just some pollution from where that guy lives. You need to find that little thing and have it absorb this energy."
Returning to his own body, Rayquaza showed Ace the way.
Ace was completely confused and asked, "Little thing? Absorb? Who are you talking about?"
"I don't know what Pokémon it is, but I quite like it. It's full of life and can absorb some waste gases and purify the polluted air."
Rayquaza yawned, sounding a little tired. "That's all I know. The rest, you'll have to find on your own. Also, don't disturb my rest for the next few years. I'm very tired!"
After saying this, Ace was instantly swatted away by Rayquaza. It was definitely pure revenge for Ace disturbing its sweet dreams.
Ace felt the world spin and then was back in his own body.
The next moment, Ace clutched himself in pain and crouched down. Crobat felt that Ace was back and slowly descended.
But just as Crobat was about to get close to Ace, his body shattered with a network of cracks like glass, and blood spurted out like a fountain!
The sheer amount of blood loss almost scared Crobat to death.
However, a healing light soon shimmered on Ace's body, and his exaggerated injuries quickly recovered.
After his injuries were all healed, Ace gasped for air. He stumbled and fell from the tree branch.
Seeing this, Crobat immediately flew over, grabbed Ace's shoulders, and caught him.
"Thanks, Crobat," Ace said breathlessly. "I almost died. Rayquaza definitely did that to get back at me. Otherwise, why would the injuries be so dramatic?"
Crobat chirped a few times at Ace with concern. Ace shook his head, and Crobat flapped its wings, taking Ace toward a lake they had passed on the way here.