"Rooar!!"
Entei roared furiously.
Did they not know Entei was the most loyal of the three?!
They wanted Raikou's location out of it? Keep dreaming!
Even if Entei jumped off this mountain right now, it would never betray its brother. Never!
"You've actually got some principles, huh.
All right, I'll give you that much respect."
Damian raised a brow.
For a Pokémon like this, he was indeed willing to show some respect.
Compared to Suicune, he actually quite liked Entei too.
Even though Suicune was the one most closely connected to Ho-Oh among the Legendary Beasts, Entei was definitely one of Ho-Oh's favorites as well.
After all, Entei was the one Ho-Oh had taught Sacred Fire to.
"Rooar!"
Entei roared again as white, blazing flames burst up all over its body.
This was Sacred Fire—Ho-Oh and Entei's pseudo-signature move, something only they could learn.
Unlike Ho-Oh's multicolored Sacred Fire, Entei's flames burned pure white.
The surging Sacred Fire swept outward, crashing toward Armored Mewtwo.
But in the face of that raging white blaze, Armored Mewtwo didn't even twitch.
A deep purple barrier unfolded in front of it.
Boom!
Sacred Fire slammed into the barrier, exploding in a blast of scorching heat and flame—
But it couldn't so much as crack the shield.
"This move is so damn useful～"
Caitlin couldn't help the envy in her eyes.
She'd asked Armored Mewtwo about it before.
Strictly speaking, that barrier wasn't a move at all—
It was a psychic application technique.
Armored Mewtwo had used its overwhelming psychic power to imitate and modify Protect, turning it into an all‑in‑one offensive and defensive technique.
But the key prerequisite was that the user had to possess psychic power on a monstrous level—
Not just in quality, but in sheer quantity as well.
And that psychic wall wasn't just about defense.
It was truly an offense‑defense hybrid!
Yeah—Armored Mewtwo could literally pop the barrier up and ram opponents with it, dealing a ton of damage.
That was exactly what Caitlin was agonizing over.
She seriously coveted that psychic wall, because among her current main roster, only Tapu Lele barely had the qualifications to learn it.
And even then, Caitlin had to buff Tapu Lele with her own psychic power first before it could barely pull it off.
Even once it managed it, the question of how strong the defense was aside—
The real problem was that Tapu Lele was exhausted and panting on the ground after just five minutes, completely wiped.
How was that supposed to be useful?
At that point, it was better to just have Tapu Lele use a normal Protect.
At least the cost wouldn't be that ridiculous.
As for Armored Mewtwo being able to pull it off without any guidance—
That was because, from the moment it awakened, its starting point had been at the top of this world.
In terms of sheer power, it was only a notch below the true high‑tier legends like Ho-Oh.
Compared to ordinary Psychic‑type Pokémon and even most Psychic‑type legends, its psychic power was like an endless, shoreless ocean.
That was an innate gap.
You couldn't compare.
At all.
At least Tapu Lele understood that much—and it was furious with jealousy.
That very night it'd sulked and stress‑ate an entire table's worth of little cakes.
Once Sacred Fire finally dissipated, Entei stared solemnly at the completely unharmed Armored Mewtwo.
This guy really was insanely strong.
No wonder Suicune had been taken down.
Should it retreat first?
Entei was torn.
It knew it probably wasn't this thing's match.
If it kept fighting here, its own safety might not be guaranteed.
Especially with that human openly coveting its perfectly sculpted body.
But would just running away like this really be right?
Suicune was still trapped inside that Ultra Ball, waiting for it to come to the rescue.
"What's wrong, Entei?
You backing off already?
Not gonna save your teammate?
So the great Entei from the legends is just a coward who only bullies the weak after all?"
Seeing Entei hesitate so long without attacking, Damian smiled like a cat and taunted it.
With a temper like Entei's, how could it take that lying down?
"Rooar!!"
With a furious roar, Entei charged Armored Mewtwo.
Flames burst to life across its whole body—Flare Blitz!
Its aura soared like a burning comet.
Backed into a corner, Entei felt more powerful than it had ever been in its life.
This was probably the strongest Flare Blitz it had ever unleashed.
It would win.
It had to save Suicune!
And then—
"Not bad. That's another Entei catch ."
Damian grinned as he looked down at the Ultra Ball in his hand—with Entei sealed inside.
His luck was really great today.
"I wonder if Raikou's gonna sense the 'surprise' that happened to Suicune and Entei and rush over to help."
Damian was genuinely curious.
In the distance, a thunder‑shock blur was streaking rapidly their way.
Raikou.
It was nearby as well, and it was already on the move.
Meanwhile, not far from Mount Tensei in the Kanto Region, deep inside a volcano, bubbling magma churned—
And a huge multicolored bird Pokémon was soaking in it, blissfully "taking a bath."
What could you do?
When your bird life was this long, you pretty much had no choice but to spend your time leisurely like this.
But a second later, its comfortably closed eyes snapped open, full of bafflement.
"How odd."
Ho-Oh was confused.
It could clearly sense it—
Suicune's and Entei's auras had suddenly vanished.
It had sent them to observe that boy with the Pikachu.
How had they just… disappeared?
And then—
"Why did Raikou's aura vanish too?"
Ho-Oh couldn't sit still anymore.
Good grief.
It only had three Legendary Beasts total.
Marshadow barely counted—more like free labor with a shy personality that wouldn't work unless you bullied it into it.
But Suicune and the others were the ones it had personally raised.
They were its true confidants.
Of course, Suicune and the others weren't its private property.
Ho-Oh wasn't that overbearing.
If someday they ran into a human Trainer truly worthy of following…
Ho-Oh would honestly just be relieved and bless them.
After all, humans only lived a hundred years at most.
Once those hundred years passed, Suicune and the others would just come back to its side anyway.
But that assumed a normal situation.
Right now, though, all three of their auras had abruptly "blinked out" one after another in such a short span.
That was obviously wrong.
"Who's bullying my Legendary Beasts?!"
Ho-Oh finally lost it.
The molten lava boiled over; the "undying" volcano erupted with a roar.
Bathed in a faint rainbow‑gold glow, the massive bird Pokémon burst out of the crater, beating its wings as it flew toward a certain direction.
BYD.
Someone had actually grabbed all three of its Legendary Beasts and packed them up like merchandise?
Wasn't that the same as climbing onto Ho-Oh's face and taking a dump?
Absolutely had to go see what was happening.
If that human had forced them into those Ultra Balls, Ho-Oh was definitely going to teach him a lesson.
Did he have no idea how much it hated greedy, insatiable humans?
"Another one."
Damian clicked his tongue, looking at the three miniaturized Ultra Balls in his hand.
Yep, he'd guessed right.
Raikou had also rushed over to "save the dogs."
This was full‑on suicide squad rushing in to save the old man.
Erika: (O.O)
Erika's brain had completely short‑circuited.
These so‑called Legendary Beasts… were they actually not very bright?
"Congrats, Damian. Three more for your main roster."
Caitlin smiled, eyes sparkling as she congratulated him.
She was genuinely happy for him.
No question about it—if he trained them properly, those three legends could absolutely become some of Damian's core main roster.
"Thanks.
But I'm not planning to raise all of them."
Damian replied with a smile.
"You're… not going to raise them?"
Erika blinked.
What was that supposed to mean?
If he wasn't planning to train them, why catch them at all?
She herself had catch quite a lot of Grass‑types and kept them at Celadon Gym.
But that was because her position was special.
As a Gym Leader, she constantly had to face challengers.
And most of the Trainers who came were rookies.
She couldn't just throw her main roster at every newbie challenger, could she?
So she'd purposefully catch a bunch of Grass‑type Pokémon and never really put them through any harsh special training.
But Damian was different—he wasn't a Gym Leader.
"Mainly, I wanted to see if that particular Pokémon would show up because I catch them."
Damian chuckled.
"Personally, I'm only really interested in Suicune and Entei.
If I had to pick just one between the two, I'd probably go with Suicune."
Even if Journeys had completely trashed its reputation, the water dog's looks still lined up with Damian's tastes.
That said, Entei was great too.
After watching Entei's movie back in the day, Damian had really liked it.
As for Raikou…
Well, if it came knocking, he'd be a fool not to take it.
After thinking it over, Damian added:
"Though it's still not quite on the level of Walking Wake."
"Walking Wake? What kind of Pokémon is that?"
Erika was lost.
Walking Wake?
She'd never even heard that name before.
"It's a pretty special kind of Pokémon.
If we get the chance in the future, I'll show you."
As Suicune's suspected ancient form, Walking Wake's Water/Dragon typing was insanely good.
And its looks were exactly Damian's style—cool and gorgeous at the same time.
"Oh, okay."
Erika was very curious, but tactful enough not to pry further.
With the Legendary Beasts all bagged up, the three of them found a patch of grass nearby to have a meal—cooked by Erika, of course.
As a traditional Yamato Nadeshiko‑style young lady, even if she did have a mischievous side under the surface, she really was extremely capable when it came to everyday life.
While Damian and the others were happily enjoying her cooking, a beautiful rainbow suddenly arched across the clear sky.
"Chiu～!"
A long, ringing cry echoed faintly from the horizon.
"Hm?"
Caitlin looked up, puzzled.
The rainbow was pretty—but it was the cry that really had her attention.
Had she imagined that?
"Damian, something really strong is coming."
Armored Mewtwo rose to its feet, staring toward the sky.
Deep purple flames leapt wildly in its eyes.
It could feel it—
A blazing, powerful aura was rushing straight toward them.
And it wasn't unfamiliar.
It was the very same presence it had sensed clinging to Ash that day.
The owner of that aura.
"Looks like the cameraman does care about its subordinates."
Damian didn't panic.
He just wiped his mouth and stood up.
Made sense, really.
Ho-Oh was absolutely a Lawful Good‑type legendary.
In the lore, it was always hoping for a future where humans and Pokémon truly trusted each other.
That was exactly why it kept searching for humans with hearts pure and untainted.
In the movie, even the Rainbow Wing would automatically judge whether its bearer's heart was pure or corrupted.
Said it all.
Seeing Armored Mewtwo and Damian's movements, Caitlin and Erika both sensed that something was off and hurried to pack everything up.
"Chiu～!"
Another long, lingering cry rang across the sky.
High above the rainbow, a stunning silhouette was winging its way toward them.
"So pretty…"
Erika's expression went a bit dazed.
Its whole body shimmered with a soft golden and rainbow glow.
Framed against the rainbow, it looked beautiful and radiant, sacred and noble all at once.
Even from far away, it was dazzling enough to steal your breath.
"Pff～ yeah, it is gorgeous."
Damian had to admit it.
From a distance, Ho-Oh really did radiate divinity and majesty.
It was genuinely beautiful.
But up close—
~~~
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