Chapter 210: The Darkness Arrives
The syringe was extremely risky, so Will stored it within the Tree of Beginning.
There was truly no need to take that chance.
Shadow Lugia wasn't the "Guardian of the Tides" Lugia from beneath the Whirl Islands.
Given Shadow Lugia's level, it wasn't worth the gamble for Will. He was strong enough to beat it on his own, not to mention he had Mew and the Regi trio to help.
Life continued peacefully.
Then, one night, Will was sleeping against the roots of the Tree of Beginning.
Mew and Meowscarada, the two little ones, were nestled in his tail.
Suddenly, the crystals of the Tree next to them flared with a bright light.
"Mew?!"
Mew was startled awake instantly. It flew to the crystal, pressed against it to listen, and then slapped Will awake with a Pound.
"?"
Will opened his eyes, frowning at the distant sky.
Mew was mischievous, but it never played jokes like this. This sudden action meant something urgent was happening.
Right now, Will could only think of one thing: Shadow Lugia.
"Mew!"
Mew waved its small paws frantically.
It said the Tree of Beginning saw a massive shadow flying from the southern ocean, speeding in their direction.
Wherever it passed, dark clouds blotted out the sky, obscuring all moonlight.
"...Mm, looks like it."
Will nodded quietly, his expression turning grim.
Because the situation seemed to have become... strange.
The Tree said it was coming from the southern ocean?
Wasn't that Lugia's territory?
Would Lugia allow a black creature that looked just like it to rampage in its domain?
Highly unlikely.
Few Legendaries were easy-going. Even if Lugia was portrayed as righteous in the movies, it had a temper.
So why was it coming from the south sea?
Wasn't that the Sevii Islands region? The place where Lugia's family and the Legendary Birds lived.
Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps sounded.
The Regi trio emerged from within the Tree of Beginning.
They had also received the message from the Tree and were ready for battle.
"Mrow?"
Meowscarada was woken by the noise and immediately scrambled up to Will's shoulder.
"The situation is a bit strange. Stay inside the Tree of Beginning, and don't come out."
Will tilted his head slightly to speak to Meowscarada.
Although Meowscarada's strength was considered high in this world, in the coming battle, she probably wasn't even qualified to provide support.
"Mrow."
Meowscarada nodded. She immediately ran inside the Tree, climbing to a higher spot to look out.
Although it was hard to tell in the darkness, by watching the stars disappear one by one, Will and the others knew something was approaching rapidly.
In just ten seconds, the sky around the Tree of Beginning was completely enveloped in black clouds.
A dark, purplish acid rain began to fall.
The raindrops sizzled on the ground, "Tsss," releasing wisps of white smoke. In moments, all the small flowers and grass on the ground were corroded away.
"It's here! Prepare for battle!"
Will did a backflip, landing on the Tree of Beginning. His feet didn't stop, scaling the Tree's 'crowns' one after another toward the very top.
The dark purple raindrops splattered on his body, merely causing Will to feel a slight heat, and his stamina and energy drain seemed to increase a bit.
"Mew!"
Mew did a twirl in the air.
Then, it transformed... into a large, silver bird.
It was Lugia!
On the distant horizon, the massive black shadow finally revealed its true form.
It was a Shadow Lugia, over a hundred meters long!
This length was seven or eight times Will's own size.
In contrast, the Lugia Mew had transformed into was only 5.2 meters, exactly the smallest size listed in the Pokédex for a Lugia.
"SKREEEE!!"
Shadow Lugia tilted its head back and let out a soul-shaking roar.
Its crimson eyes stared intently at the Tree of Beginning behind Mew.
In its eyes, this was the most delicious food in the world.
"Roooar!!"
Unlike Shadow Lugia, the roar from Mew's Lugia form sounded more righteous.
Mew had no intention of waiting.
Will had taught it to seize the initiative in battle and never let the tempo drop.
Mew clapped its wing-like hands together in the air.
Two transparent air vortexes shot rapidly toward Shadow Lugia.
This was Lugia's exclusive move, Aeroblast.
"SKREEE!"
Shadow Lugia wasn't stupid.
It seemed to possess a certain degree of intelligence, not just pure rage and greed.
It knew it had to get rid of Mew and the others to devour the Tree, so it counterattacked immediately.
It also flapped its two giant wings in mid-air.
But the two black air vortexes Shadow Lugia fired were far superior to Mew's Aeroblast in both speed and size, not to mention power.
Shoo!
The transparent air vortexes were instantly destroyed by the black ones.
"Mew?!"
A look of shock appeared on Mew's face.
The black vortexes were approaching so fast it couldn't react.
Just as Mew helplessly closed its eyes...
Three giant pillars, each over fifty meters tall, fell from the sky, planting themselves in front of Mew.
BOOM!
The black Aeroblast slammed into the three pillars, knocking them back two or three steps.
Then, the three pillars raised their arms simultaneously.
Sizzling golden electricity instantly converged between their arms and, in a flash, shot out.
"HROAR!"
Shadow Lugia took the three Zap Cannons head-on without flinching.
With a great flap of its wings, the electricity on its body instantly dissipated into the air.
Only a few stray sparks proved the three golden beams weren't an illusion.
WHOOSH!
Shadow Lugia beat its wings again, its entire body igniting with an azure, flame-like energy. Then, like a meteor, it streaked toward the Regi trio and Mew.
"Mew!"
Mew let out a long, high-pitched cry, frantically calling for support.
The next moment, a massive green figure suddenly appeared above Shadow Lugia.
The green figure stomped on Lugia's head, instantly scattering the azure energy, and then rode its head as they plummeted toward the earth.
BOOM!
Will plummeted from the top of the Tree, stomping Shadow Lugia deep into the bottom of a crater.
As he landed, countless huge, sharp rocks erupted from the sky and the ground, stabbing one after another toward Shadow Lugia's body.
"SKREEEE!!"
Shadow Lugia immediately tilted its head back and roared.
A deafening, piercing soundwave swept out in all directions.
The countless rocks were instantly pulverized by the soundwave, turning to dust in mid-air. The dust mixed with the acid rain, releasing a bizarre, sour stench.
The moment Shadow Lugia looked up, Will had already used Extreme Speed to leave the crater.
"Mew?!"
Mew flew to Will's side, its face still filled with shock.
This Shadow Lugia was too strong.
It wasn't on the same level as the one Will had described at all!
"I don't know either. Don't tell me it got stronger over the last few decades?"
Will shook his head. He also couldn't explain why this Shadow Lugia was so powerful.
After all, the intelligence he had was that Shadow Lugia was on par with the Forces of Nature from Unova.
But based on this one's strength...
Its level was definitely higher than Will's.
Even Will couldn't tank three Zap Cannons from the Regi trio head-on without flinching.
Even if the Lugia species was a major "tank" among Legendaries, it shouldn't be this durable.
The Regi trio were Champion-level; they had some standing.
So how could Will believe that the Forces of Nature from Unova could fight this thing to a draw?
They were also sub-Legendaries. The gap between them and the Regi trio shouldn't be this massive.
At most, Landorus might be a cut above, but not enough to close such a huge gap.
Therefore, they couldn't use old intelligence to judge this Shadow Lugia.
This Shadow Lugia...
To put it bluntly, was even stronger than the Lugia beneath the Whirl Islands!
This was because of the acid rain weather it brought on, an ability the normal Lugia didn't possess.
And this acid rain would drastically accelerate the drain on their stamina and energy.
"Mew?"
Mew was somewhat at a loss.
It looked up at the sky.
It was already night, and now even the moonlight was completely blocked.
The Tree of Beginning could only rely on its crystals in other parts of the world to absorb minimal light. It was struggling just to maintain its normal functions, let alone help them.
The Regi trio probably couldn't even receive the Tree's commands anymore.
"Don't panic. We can fight. It's not that hopeless."
Will glanced at Mew, telling it to calm down.
The situation was just a bit worse than expected.
He had been training all this time precisely to handle a situation like this.
With his current strength, he'd dare to fight the real Lugia, let alone with a Mythical and three sub-Legendaries backing him up.
This was a group battle; they couldn't possibly lose.
Best case scenario: they kill this Shadow Lugia.
Worst case: they injure it badly and drive it away, making it afraid to show its face for decades.
By that time, the human League's strength would have caught up. Even if Shadow Lugia returned, there would be nothing to fear.
"SKREEE!"
Shadow Lugia's cry echoed from the crater. The next moment, it was hovering in the dark sky once more.
On the ground, Will looked up, meeting those crimson eyes. Behind him, the four Legendary and Mythical Pokémon were ready to attack again.
Both sides moved at the same time, rushing toward each other.
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