"Shame it doesn't have much punch, though."
As Damian finished speaking, the Hydro Pump was abruptly halted by an invisible wall of psychic power, unable to advance an inch.
Seeing that Suicune still dared to attack, Armored Mewtwo slowly raised its arm. Under its psychic control, Suicune's body was lifted higher and higher.
Five meters, ten meters, twenty, all the way up to a hundred.
"W‑whoa…"
Watching the legendary Suicune get manhandled like that with zero ability to resist, Erika couldn't help clicking her tongue softly.
Just how strong was this Mewtwo?!
Suicune thrashed violently, but it was useless.
It had never imagined it would one day be "flying" this high.
Gulp—
Even Suicune, staring down at the ground that had shrunk to the size of a toy set, couldn't keep a faint, unfamiliar flutter of panic from rising in its chest.
The next second, a massive force yanked Suicune straight down in a vertical freefall.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, Suicune slammed into the ground, the impact shaking the earth and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
The brutal drop wasn't any weaker than taking a full‑power hit from a high‑tier move.
Armored Mewtwo's expression didn't flicker.
It simply waved its arm again, and from within the not‑yet‑cleared dust, Suicune floated out under psychic control.
Its once‑sleek, elegant form was now clearly scuffed up and disheveled.
"How about now? Feeling a bit clearer in the head?
Randomly snarling at people like that really isn't a great habit, you know."
Damian's tone was still very gentle.
"Suicune…"
Suicune let out a low, subdued cry.
"Oh? You're saying Entei and Raikou aren't anywhere nearby?
Suicune, lying like that really calls for a proper lesson."
"Suicune!"
Suicune was confused as to why this human could understand it, but it still answered Damian.
"So it really is like that, huh?
All right. I'm willing to believe you, Suicune."
Damian propped his chin on his hand.
Suicune had sworn that Raikou and Entei truly weren't in the area.
In its heart, Suicune let out a sigh of relief.
"As long as you swear in Ho-Oh's name, I'll believe you.
How about it?"
"Suicune??"
Suicune's pupils shrank.
Swear in Lord Ho-Oh's name?
That was… a bit much, wasn't it?
"What's wrong? Not willing?
Or are you lying to me, Suicune?"
Damian smiled brightly at Suicune.
Raikou and Entei not being nearby?
He didn't buy that for a second.
With a human blessed by Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing having appeared, the Legendary Beasts had to be monitoring him.
In the movie, they'd all manifested around Ash as well.
That was their duty.
And their assessment would decide whether Ash qualified to head toward the rainbow's end or not.
Since Ash hadn't been guided by Marshadow to Mt. Tensei yet, that only meant the Legendary Beasts definitely were still observing him.
"…"
Suicune fell silent.
"I get that you want to protect your colleagues.
So let's do it this way instead—can you call Ho-Oh over here?"
Damian eased off a little.
"Suicune!!"
Suicune's cry was clearly more agitated this time.
Wasn't that even more outrageous?!
Even if it didn't think this guy could be stronger than Lord Ho-Oh, how could it drag Ho-Oh out over something this trivial?
Lord Ho-Oh was surely very busy on a day‑to‑day basis.
How could it possibly be free to handle a human whose heart wasn't even pure?!
"This doesn't work, that doesn't work—
Suicune, looks like I've been way too soft on you."
Damian's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Suicune!"
Suicune met Damian's eyes without the slightest hint of fear.
It would never bow to darkness and evil!
"Very nice.
Got some backbone, I see."
Damian raised a brow and gestured lightly toward Armored Mewtwo.
Electric arcs started crackling across Armored Mewtwo's armor, then lanced straight toward Suicune.
An Electric‑type Thunder!
Boom!
Thunder crashed into Suicune.
It let out a pained growl as the lightning ravaged its entire body.
One second, two seconds, three…
The Thunder didn't let up.
Only after a full five seconds did Suicune's aura finally sag into utter weakness.
Seeing that, the lightning around Armored Mewtwo slowly faded.
Suicune dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
"Ultra Ball, go."
Damian pulled out an empty Ultra Ball and hurled it at Suicune.
The Ultra Ball traced a perfect arc through the air, striking Suicune dead‑on.
The instant it made contact, the ball split open; Suicune turned into a beam of red light and was drawn inside.
The caught had begun!
Erika watched, a little excited.
This was the first time she'd seen someone try to caught a Legendary Pokémon right in front of her.
Beep~
The Ultra Ball's indicator light flashed once—
And only once.
The ball was forced open, and Suicune burst out, landing back in its original spot.
"Failed, huh."
Erika blinked.
"Yeah. Legendary Pokémon have really low caught rates.
If their hearts are resisting you this hard, even dozens of Poké Balls might not be enough."
Caitlin explained quietly.
Catching Tapu Lele had gone pretty smoothly for her.
But that was because she and Tapu Lele had made a deal in advance—if Caitlin defeated it, Tapu Lele would willingly become her Pokémon.
Under those conditions, getting it into a ball was trivial.
Suicune was different.
Its approval of Damian was extremely low.
In fact, it actively rejected him.
So trying to caught Suicune was never going to be easy.
"Whaaat?"
Erika couldn't help clicking her tongue again.
Dozens of Poké Balls? That was insane!
Damian tried two more balls after that, but as expected, the water dog refused to give him face.
The Ultra Ball light would flash once and then—
Pop. Suicune broke right back out.
"All right, all right.
I don't have the patience to play this little game with you."
Damian snorted.
He threw out another Ultra Ball, pulling Suicune inside once more.
"Mewtwo, lock it down with psychic."
Deep purple light flared in Armored Mewtwo's eyes.
A blue psychic grip clamped around the Ultra Ball, holding it so tightly that Suicune couldn't break free at all.
"?!"
Erika stared, stunned.
Caitlin also gaped in shock.
Wait—
You can do that?
This method of caught was… feral.
In no time, the Ultra Ball's indicator light turned solid green, showing that the caught was complete.
"Nice. Suicune's caught."
Satisfied, Damian stooped to pick up the Ultra Ball.
This Suicune had really thought it was going to burn through dozens of his Ultra Balls?
Not happening.
"Did you aught that? If you ever want to caught a Pokémon yourselves, you can use this trick.
For those really unruly ones, it's very practical—I've tested it myself."
Damian even waved the Ultra Ball in front of Caitlin and Erika, sounding completely sincere.
"Is… is that allowed?"
Erika's eyelids twitched wildly as she asked, hesitant.
Using a Poké Ball was the final step in a Trainer truly caught a Pokémon—
And the last line of defense for a wild Pokémon resisting a Trainer.
Using psychic to clamp down on the ball like that felt more than a little extreme.
"What's not allowed about it?
I beat it, which means I qualify to be its Trainer.
All I did was skip the repetitive ball‑throwing part."
Damian answered, utterly matter‑of‑fact.
Caitlin fell into thought.
Honestly… Damian had a point.
"Rooaar!!"
Right then, a powerful roar rang out.
"Hm?"
Damian turned his head.
Not far away, a brown‑red figure leaped from a hilltop and landed heavily in front of them.
A majestic, imposing silhouette.
Orange‑red fur.
Thick, powerful limbs ringed with metal bands.
A golden plate on its forehead shaped like a three‑leaf clover.
Billowing white smoke streaming from its back.
"Entei!"
Erika's eyes lit up.
This was another of the Legendary Beasts—Entei!
"Rooar!"
Entei bared its fangs at Damian, snarling with barely contained fury.
"What are you yelling for?
I beat Suicune fair and square and caught it."
Damian tilted his head.
Entei was demanding he release Suicune.
What a joke.
"Rooar!!"
Entei's roar only deepened.
It had seen everything just now.
If Suicune had been caught normally, that would've been one thing.
Even if it hurt to lose a teammate that could no longer stand alongside it for Lord Ho-Oh, Entei would've respected its comrade's choice.
But this was different.
"Rooar!!!"
"What do you mean Suicune was forced into it?
Entei, I really don't like that tone."
Damian clicked his tongue.
"The bond between Trainer and Pokémon deepens over the course of a journey.
This is Suicune's first day meeting me.
It's totally normal for it to still be a bit wary of me.
But I believe it'll gradually come to accept me."
His voice was slow and unhurried.
Just like with Tapu Fini—
"Even if it lost Ho-Oh, it has me now.
I'll stand by its side as a teammate from here on out.
We'll absolutely become great partners."
Entei froze.
Why did that sound so… off?
No—that human was just spouting nonsense!
"Rooar!!"
Entei glared daggers at Damian.
It had clearly seen that human order the armored Pokémon to clamp the Ultra Ball with psychic.
Suicune wasn't going to be caught—until he cheated.
"I only skipped a redundant step.
I've got two hundred Ultra Balls on me.
Suicune was going to get caught sooner or later.
I just didn't feel like wasting time for nothing."
Damian spread his hands, looking innocent.
Entei roared again.
"I get how it feels to suddenly lose a teammate.
You've been working together for over a hundred years, after all.
If that's how you feel, I've got a solution that works out for everyone."
Damian looked Entei straight in the eye, the corners of his mouth curling higher.
"You're worried Suicune might get mistreated with me, right?
No need.
If you really can't relax…
Why don't you join my team too?"
"??????????????????"
Entei stared at the human, full of question marks.
What was that supposed to mean?
Not only had he caught Suicune, he was now eyeing it as well?
A bad feeling crept over Entei.
Maybe it really shouldn't have shown up here.
Armored Mewtwo stepped forward, those eerie purple flames in its eyes flickering as it gazed coolly at Entei.
"Family should stick together, don't you think, Entei?
By the way, you know where Raikou is, right?
Why don't you call it over too?"
Damian's grin turned positively radiant.
Talk about buy one, get one free.
He'd just been wondering how he was supposed to find Entei and Raikou.
If he could nab the whole trio of Legendary Beasts, he refused to believe Ho-Oh wouldn't appear.
And if even that didn't make Ho-Oh show up, then that overgrown roast bird was seriously unfit to be called a "leader."
~~~
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