Collosus caught the necklace with careful claws and slipped it over his spiked head. The rainbow Mega Stone rested against his chest.
At the same moment Gladion lifted his wrist and showed the bracelet he wore under his sleeve. The matching Keystone inside it caught Moltres's fire and threw back every colour of the rainbow.
Far below, reporters on Pidgeot zoomed their cameras as close as the heat allowed.
"It seems Gym Leader Gladion is struggling to keep Moltres at bay," one voice said nervously. Truly, the power of a legendary Pokémon is beyond measure."
"His entire team is giving everything, but can he hold much longer?" another added.
"Will Indigo fall in flames if Gym Leader Gladion falls?" a third reporter asked, voice shaking.
People in Pallet Town, Viridian, Celadon, Goldenrod, and every city between clutched their hands and prayed.
If Gladion failed, whole cities would burn before Lance and the Elite Four could even caught up to Moltres.
Then every screen showed Gladion throw the necklace to his Tyranitar.
"What is that thing he just gave Collosus?" the reporters shouted at once.
Gladion held his bracelet high. Moltres's flames painted the stone in red and gold. The whole plateau fell quiet. Even the legendary bird paused, wings half-spread, watching.
Gladion looked up at his oldest friend and spoke so only Collosus could hear him. He spoke from his heart.
"Collosus… do you remember the day you hatched?"
His words were soft but clear.
"I was five years old. Grandpa brought home one single egg wrapped in an old blanket. He looked at me and said, 'This one is special, Gladion. Raise him right.' I sat beside that egg every single night for months. I talked to you before you even had eyes. I sang stupid songs. I told you about the stars and promised that the moment you came out I would never let you feel alone in this world."
Collosus lowered his massive head until his rocky snout almost touched Gladion's chest. His red eyes softened.
"You broke out of that shell roaring, tiny, smiling, already stronger than any baby had the right to be. You looked around at everything, then you looked at me with those big red eyes and decided right then that I was worth protecting. From that very first second you chose me as much as I chose you."
Gladion's voice cracked, but he smiled through it.
"We trained until our hands and paws bled. We climbed every mountain in Kanto together. We cried when we lost and laughed until we couldn't breathe when we won. Every new friend we met (Guy, Nyx, Hydros, every single one) you welcomed them like brothers and sisters because that is what you taught me family means."
He stepped forward and pressed both palms against Collosus's chest. Rainbow light spilled over both of them like liquid sunrise.
"We have never backed down. Not from champions. Not from terrorists. Not from whole Pokémon tides. And today we face the biggest fie we have ever fought. A legendary bird that wants to turn this mountain to glass."
Gladion lifted the bracelet higher. Tears shone in his eyes, but his smile was fierce and proud.
"But she doesn't know what we are."
The stones began to glow brighter.
"She doesn't know that a little boy and a baby Larvitar made a promise eleven years ago. She doesn't know that every scar on your body and every battle we fought side by side only made that promise stronger. She doesn't know that when a psychic human and an alpha Tyranitar stand together, legends fall."
The light exploded into a pillar that reached the clouds.
"Because our bond is not just power. It is every sunrise we watched shoulder to shoulder. It is every stupid joke you pretended to understand. It is every time you carried me home when my legs gave out after training. It is every night I fell asleep against your side because I knew nothing in the world could ever hurt me while you were there."
Gladion's voice rose until it drowned out even the roar of Moltres's flames.
"Today we remind the world what real strength really looks like! Today we show her that no fire burns hotter than the one we carry in our hearts! Today, old friend, we evolve together one more time!"
He pressed the Keystone to his own heart. Collosus pressed the Mega Stone to his chest at the same moment.
"Collosus, Mega Evolve!"
A roar louder than any roar ever heard on Mt. Silver shook the sky. Light swallowed everything. The necklace and bracelet connected with glowing threads of rainbow energy. Collosus's body rose higher, spikes growing longer and sharper, armour plating forming across his chest and tail, pure power flowing between human and Pokémon like a single heartbeat.
When the light finally faded, every screen across Indigo and even in faraway Hoenn showed the same image. Everyone who were watching the news watched this magical moment.
Lance who was watching the news to be updated about the situation looked wide eyed at the scene.
Gym Leaders stood frozen. Children pressed their faces to windows. Old men who had fought in the Infinite War knew what it was since they had seen it during the Infinite War.
Everyone, on the burning summit of Mt. Silver, stood Mega Tyranitar Collosus in all his glory, taller, stronger, and more terrifying than any living soul had ever seen, with Gladion standing fearless in his shadow.
Everyone, from the smallest child to the region's champion, had their mouth wide open at the sight.
-----Author Notes------
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