Julia was sleeping soundly on her bed, wearing cute pink pajamas, a faint smile resting on her lips.
Looking at the adorable Julia, Jacob felt the urge to kiss her, but he knew this was a critical moment and business had to come first. He quickly whispered,
"Julia… Julia."
Jacob called out gently, twice, but his voice was too soft, and Julia showed no reaction at all.
"Wake up. Wake up." Left with no choice, Jacob gently patted Julia's round cheek a few times, and she slowly began to stir.
"Shh!" Jacob quickly covered Julia's mouth, making a shushing gesture.
Still half-asleep and disoriented, Julia suddenly felt a hand pressed over her mouth.
The night was pitch black, and she couldn't see who it was. Julia's heart clenched with fear, and she struggled with all her strength, even opening her mouth to bite down on the hand covering it.
"Ow… let go, it's me!" Jacob gasped, quickly adding, "Don't speak. Just listen to me."
Recognizing Jacob's voice, Julia immediately let go of her bite, her voice trembling. "Jacob… what are you doing?"
Naturally, the fact that Jacob wasn't asleep and had secretly slipped into her room in the middle of the night startled Julia, and her mind raced with all kinds of wild thoughts.
Was Jacob… getting a little desperate?
Last time, the flowers he gave her had something hidden inside them, and now he had actually snuck into her room in the dead of night.
Wait… hadn't she locked the door?
Could Jacob have planned this all along?
Should she go along with it? But his parents were right next door.
What should she do?
Just as Julia's face grew redder and her mind began spinning from overthinking, Jacob's voice finally broke through: "Get dressed quickly. There are enemies outside, and they're already very close. You and my parents need to hide in the basement right now, and no matter what happens, don't come out."
"Huh?" Julia froze for a moment before she understood. "Oh… okay."
"What enemies?" she asked, pausing.
"Hide first, we'll talk later. I don't know who they are either." Jacob's voice came again, urgent. "Hurry."
The night was as black as ink.
The three members of Gods Coffin had already crept close to Jacob's family residence.
"It's time."
Seeing that the appointed hour had arrived, the three of them reached for their Poké Balls at the same moment and threw them out.
In an instant, three powerful Pokémon appeared out of the darkness.
Huxley's Pokémon was, of course, his signature partner, Galarian Moltres.
Preist-4's chosen Pokémon was the Legendary Pokémon under his control, Deoxys.
Deoxys, an alien, humanoid Pokémon, is among the most powerful Pokémon known to exist.
In the anime, Deoxys once battled Rayquaza, trading blow for blow. Even though its body was ultimately destroyed, its terrifying strength was made clear for all to see.
Deoxys has four different Formes, each built around a different strength.
Its Speed Forme gives it the second-highest Speed stat of any Pokémon, at 180, second only to Regieleki.
Its Attack Forme carries a matching 180 Attack and 180 Special Attack, just like Mega Rayquaza.
Its Normal Forme has a frightening spread of 150 Speed, 150 Special Attack, and 150 Attack.
Finally, its Defense Forme boasts 160 Defense and 160 Special Defense.
Even in the games, this makes Deoxys a fearsome sweeper. But in real combat, where it can switch Formes freely mid-battle, its power becomes almost absurd.
It is like fighting a single Pokémon with 50 HP, 180 Attack, 160 Defense, 180 Special Attack, 160 Special Defense, and 180 Speed all at once — a combined base stat total of 910.
Just imagining it was enough to make one's skin crawl.
Meanwhile, the Pokémon sent out by the Priest-4 Reserve member was an Espeon.
The one small comfort was that, for now, all three Pokémon were only fighting at Champion-level strength.
"Move! Deoxys, rush in and capture Jacob alive if you can!"
"If you can't take him alive, kill him and recover all the data."
The moment Gods Coffin-4 gave the order, Deoxys struck first. It instantly shifted from its Normal Forme into its Speed Forme, exploding forward like a streak of orange-yellow light, the wind screaming as it tore straight toward Jacob's house.
Just as Deoxys was about to smash through the window, dark energy suddenly bloomed in the night like a burst of light. A purple blade, wrapped in that same dark energy, seemed to burn with black flame.
A fierce slash cut through the air, aimed straight at Deoxys's head with terrifying force, catching it completely off guard.
Faced with such a devastating blow, Deoxys used its remarkable speed to twist its body just enough to avoid a fatal hit. Even so, more than half its body was sliced clean away, leaving only half of its head intact.
Despite such a severe wound, Deoxys could still move normally. It retreated at high speed, quickly putting distance between itself and Iron Valiant.
The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
Under the shocked stares of Priest-4, the Priest-4 Reserve member, and Huxley, Iron Valiant leapt down from the window and landed on the ground below.
Iron Valiant gripped a double-edged blade that glowed with a purplish-pink light, like an endless field of stars, radiating an aura so intense it pressed down on all three of them.
Quasi-Master Level!
It had to be Quasi-Master Level strength — nothing weaker could feel this terrifying.
The three members of Gods Coffin-4 wore grim expressions. Clearly, none of them had expected that Jacob's Iron Valiant had already broken through to Quasi-Master Level.
At that moment, Jacob himself flew out of the house, riding on his Charizard.
"Iron Valiant, that Pokémon is called Deoxys. Its weak point isn't its head — it's the core in its chest."
"As long as that core isn't destroyed, it can regenerate."
Hearing this, a flicker of surprise crossed Priest-4's eyes. Jacob had never seen Deoxys before, yet he was able to name its weakness with such precision.
"Priest-4… Huxley… and…" Jacob's gaze swept over the three of them, pausing slightly when it landed on the Priest-4 Reserve member standing nearby.
Because the figure calling itself the Priest-4 Reserve member was not human at all.
[Latios] Gender: Male
Type: Dragon / Psychic
Tera Type: Dragon
Aptitude: Master Level
Combat Power: Champion-level Ability: Levitate Moves: Stored Power, Dragon Dance, Helping Hand, Recover…
Priest-4 had, in truth, been using an illusion of a human, one created by this very Latios.
It was obvious now that this Latios was Priest-4's hidden trump card. Had Jacob not had help from the system to uncover Priest-4's true identity ahead of time,
had he been caught off guard in the crucial moment by the illusory Trainer conjured by Latios rushing at him, he might not have been able to react in time.
What a sneaky trick.
Just as he'd expected — there wasn't a single decent person in Gods Coffin. Well, except for my Raya, of course.