"I really didn't expect it… you actually forced out Pikachu's second form."
Lin Feng gave Mewtwo a strange look.
In front of Pikachu, Ash had been erased from existence, so to speak. Shouldn't Pikachu have gone berserk from that?
"Pikachu? That one?" Mewtwo's crimson eyes widened slightly in realization. "You mean that Pokémon? Wait… you know that Pikachu? Is it… a legendary?"
Lin Feng shrugged with a small grin. "Legendary or not, I can't say for sure. But yeah, I know it. I even know its trainer. That guy's just as outrageous, right?"
He chuckled. "It's more like… I know them, but they don't know me."
"…What?"
Mewtwo blinked, genuinely puzzled. He knew them, but they didn't know him? The way Lin Feng said it sounded so casual, yet so bizarre.
Especially when Lin Feng didn't seem the least bit shocked that Pikachu could unleash such devastating lightning, nor that its trainer could tear apart his psychic field.
It was like… Lin Feng already expected it.
"Strange, isn't it?" Lin Feng teased, watching Mewtwo's frown deepen. "Why don't you do me a favor and put a psychic barrier on me? I want to test something."
Mewtwo hesitated for a fraction of a second, then its gaze sharpened as a suspicion crept into its mind. Could it be…?
With a wave of its hand, invisible psychic energy wrapped tightly around Lin Feng's body. It wasn't crushing pressure, just an immovable prison.
Lin Feng immediately resisted with his own psychic power. He could feel the clash between his mental force and Mewtwo's barrier, but no matter how much strength he put in, he couldn't make it budge.
He sighed inwardly. His psychic power was only mid-to-upper tier. Mewtwo, however, had already broken through to a level beyond comprehension.
The difference between them wasn't just like the moon and a firefly. It was an ocean compared to a lake utterly incomparable.
So Lin Feng shifted strategies. He let go of psychic resistance and began relying on his body instead.
To be honest, even he wasn't entirely sure what level his physical strength had reached.
The system's description of the "Super Rookie" talent said he could share part of the physique of Pokémon he had bonded with.
That meant Serperior, Milotic, Dragonite, even Mewtwo itself all of their vitality and power were partially reflected in his body.
Especially Dragonite. At over level seventy, and with its bond deepening day by day, Lin Feng could literally feel his strength rising steadily along with it. And he could control it with surprising ease.
Yet here he was, caught in Mewtwo's psychic grip, and even that strength only managed to nudge the barrier a little.
But that tiny shift was enough to make Mewtwo's expression turn solemn. It instantly reinforced the prison.
As it suspected Lin Feng was not like ordinary humans. Anyone else would have been helpless, fragile before its psychic hold.
Lin Feng let out a wry laugh. "So I'm still weak against bindings…"
His "Super Rookie" ability might make him nearly immune to direct damage, but against imprisonment? He was powerless.
That was a reminder. Even here, even with this gift, he wasn't untouchable.
Still, he wasn't too worried. A normal Pokémon wouldn't be able to hold him like this. It wasn't like every opponent he met would be a Mewtwo.
But then another thought struck him.
Wait a second. Ash had been able to rip apart Mewtwo's bindings before. If Ash could do it, why couldn't he?
Maybe he just wasn't approaching it the right way.
Lin Feng remembered the scene: Ash broke free when Pikachu's life was in danger, exploding with sheer willpower.
So… what if he recreated that emotion?
His Pokémon weren't in danger now, but with his bond to them and his Viridian Force, he could replicate that surge of desperate emotion and channel it into himself.
No hesitation. Lin Feng closed his eyes and built the scene in his mind.
He imagined himself bound, Mewtwo floating above. Nearby, a massive Salamence roared, its earthquake shaking the ground. The tremors struck Serperior, who was struggling to prepare a devastating Hyper Beam.
The pain in Serperior's eyes, the earth trembling, the imminent destructive blast it all hit him at once.
Lin Feng's blood boiled. His body screamed with emotion.
In that instant, his hands slammed forward into the psychic barrier. It felt like ramming flesh against solid stone, but he didn't care. He tore with everything he had.
One second.
That was all it took.
Before Mewtwo could react, the barrier shattered like glass.
Rage still seethed in Lin Feng's chest. His fist clenched and shot forward, driving straight toward Mewtwo's face like a hurricane.
The punch stopped a hair's breadth away.
Lin Feng shook his head, snapping back to reality. His breath came heavy, and a hiss slipped through his teeth.
"…Tch."
Mewtwo's pupils contracted. That punch it knew if it hadn't stopped, it would have been injured.
This was absurd.
Ash's Pikachu had a trainer strong enough to tear apart its field, yes but even he had needed time.
And Lin Feng?
He had ripped it open in a second. And even had the strength to counterattack.
Lin Feng gave a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry about that. I got caught up in a little… experiment." He forced his expression neutral, trying to hide the simmering anger that still lingered.
Because deep down, he was furious.
Sure, life-and-death crises might strengthen the bond between trainer and Pokémon. But did anyone truly want to experience that?
No one could endure constant separation or the threat of losing their partner.
Thankfully, this had just been a simulated vision. Otherwise, Lin Feng was certain he would've flown into the sky and started throwing hands with Mewtwo for real.
Mewtwo was silent.
It had seen the bond between Pikachu and Ash, and now between Lin Feng and his own Pokémon. And for the first time, it wondered if its methods had been cruel all along.
Two months of travel had already taught it that it wasn't invincible.
But watching Lin Feng tear apart its barrier, sensing the danger from his punch it was beyond anything Mewtwo expected.
Twice now, it had felt something it hadn't in a long time: the possibility of being hurt.
Lin Feng let out a long breath. His eyes shifted to Serperior standing nearby, watching with a puzzled expression. Seeing it unharmed, he finally relaxed, tension draining from his shoulders.
Then his gaze returned to Mewtwo.
"So… about that Salamence. Where did it go?"
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