"Boom!"
The two attacks collided head-on, tearing through the air with a piercing explosion.
A shockwave erupted outward, visible to the naked eye, swallowing everything in its path. The ground below looked as though it had been hammered repeatedly by a colossal force, cracks spread like spiderwebs, while rubble and dust were hurled dozens of meters into the sky.
The high-frequency resonance produced by the clash nearly shattered the eardrums of everyone present.
The golden barrier surrounding the battlefield was struck violently, but it didn't budge in the slightest. Even a collision at god-level strength couldn't shake the Arceus Contract by so much as a fraction.
Mewtwo hovered midair, her purple Psychic aura surging wildly. She stared at the expanding energy vortex at the center of the collision, forcing every last drop of power from her body into Psystrike.
Yet she could feel it.
Her attack was being suppressed.
Even at full strength, she was losing.
Humiliation burned through her chest, but intertwined with it was something else: longing.
If her origin hadn't been incomplete…
If she had been whole…
She could have reached that realm too.
At the same level, she would never lose.
But reality was cruel. With her current power, she was no match for Lucario. The azure Aura Sphere spun violently, devouring the purple chaos of Psystrike inch by inch.
A few seconds later, Mewtwo's output faltered.
And in a contest like this, even the slightest lapse was fatal.
The moment her control slipped, the crumbling Psychic energy was swallowed whole.
The Aura Sphere surged forward like an unrestrained beast.
"Teleport!" Giovanni barked.
Mewtwo reacted on instinct, her Psychic power flaring as she vanished from her position.
"BOOOOM!!!"
The colossal Aura Sphere slammed into the barrier instead, unleashing an explosion unlike anything before. Shockwaves rippled endlessly, and for the first time, the golden barrier emitted sharp cracking sounds.
Though it didn't shatter, it wavered.
At the same time, the residual shockwave slammed into the defensive field Giovanni had erected around himself. Ripples spread across it, the barrier creaking under the strain.
This shield, built using Mewtwo's power, was more than enough to stop Champion-level attacks.
But against god-level force, even the aftershock pushed it to its limits.
Giovanni's expression darkened.
The outcome was clear.
Even unrestrained, Mewtwo could not defeat Lucario head-on.
The only chance left… was to wait for the backlash of Lucario's overwhelming power.
The massive Aura Sphere battered the barrier for nearly ten seconds before finally dispersing.
Mewtwo reappeared in midair, visibly battered.
Dust coated her body, and one arm bore a deep wound. Her Teleport had been delayed until the very last moment, after her Psystrike collapsed, leaving her barely enough time to evade.
Losing only an arm to the blast could already be considered fortune smiling upon her.
Giovanni's eyes flashed.
"Use Hypnosis."
If brute force failed, then tactics would decide the battle.
Psychic-types excelled in versatility. As long as enough status effects were applied, even overwhelming gaps in power could be bridged.
Mewtwo's eyes glowed faintly blue.
Lucario lowered his stance slightly, muscles coiled.
In the next instant, he shot forward like an arrow released from a bow.
At the same time, Psychic power surged directly into his body.
Hypnosis landed.
Giovanni's expression brightened.
So Ash believed that reaching god-level meant immunity to status effects?
Ridiculous.
No matter how strong one became, abnormal statuses could still create openings. Even a single second would be enough for Mewtwo to counter.
But the scene that followed shattered Giovanni's expectations.
Lucario didn't slow down.
Not even a fraction.
In the blink of an eye, he was already in front of Mewtwo.
She had lost her chance to dodge.
Lucario's fist crashed into her body.
Power-Up Punch!
"BOOM!!"
Struck midair, Mewtwo was smashed downward like a falling meteor, slamming violently into the ground.
Before she could recover, Lucario clenched his fist again. A metallic sheen enveloped it as his body descended like a comet.
Comet Punch!
"BOOM!!"
Crack-crack-CRACK!!
The earth roared. Grinding fractures ripped through the ground as dust and debris exploded upward.
As the smoke cleared, Lucario remained in a punching stance, boundless power still surging from his body.
Mewtwo lay battered below, her form twisted and broken.
Between them stood a translucent, emerald-green barrier.
Protect.
If not for that last-second defense, Mewtwo would have already been defeated beyond doubt.
Even so, after blocking Comet Punch, she was barely hanging on.
The battlefield had changed too fast.
Misty and the others stared in shock. They had expected a prolonged, earth-shaking clash, especially after Mewtwo was fully unshackled.
According to Blaine, a fully unrestrained Mewtwo could be described as second only to a god. Even a typical Champion at peak strength would stand no chance against her.
So even if Lucario had reached his current terrifying state through some unknown method, facing a peak-state Mewtwo should have resulted in a close, evenly matched battle.
Yet reality told a very different story.
Mewtwo was being utterly suppressed.
No matter how fiercely she struggled, no matter how violently she erupted with power, she couldn't shake Lucario in the slightest.
The battlefield itself was explosive, energy tearing through the air, shockwaves rippling endlessly, but within that chaos, Lucario looked almost relaxed. In contrast, every one of Mewtwo's attacks caused her muscles to tremble violently, her expression twisted with strain as she poured out every last drop of strength she possessed.
The gap between them could only be described with two words:
Absolute disparity.
To Gary, the feeling was painfully familiar.
It was exactly what he had felt when he faced Mewtwo, except now, Mewtwo was in his former position, and Lucario had become the monster standing above.
Whatever method Ash used to elevate Lucario no longer mattered.
Winning this battle was everything.
Only now did Gary truly understand Giovanni's earlier words.
If Ash won this match, Team Rocket would effectively collapse.
Disbanding half of such a massive organization wasn't a simple loss, it was a death sentence. Members would scatter. Funding would evaporate. Trust would crumble.
An ironclad criminal empire would be reduced to a disorganized rabble.
The thought that such a malignant force could be wiped out, for the League, for the world, made Gary's blood surge with excitement, even if he wasn't the one doing it himself.
On the battlefield, Giovanni had reached the same realization.
Cold crept into his limbs. His expression stiffened to the extreme.
If he lost this battle, Team Rocket would face dissolution, and worse still, Mewtwo might abandon him entirely.
There was no bond between them.
Only control.
From the moment of her birth, he had manipulated her with words, coaxing her into wearing the restraining machinery that bound her completely. Today was the first time he had ever removed it, and only because he had no choice.
Originally, even if Mewtwo awakened rebellious thoughts, the machines ensured she remained his tool.
But now…
Giovanni had gambled everything on Ash. Even if Mewtwo defected, gaining a monster like Ash would have made it worthwhile.
And now?
Losing the general and losing the army.
No, worse.
Crack!
The green barrier before Mewtwo splintered further, fractures spreading like a collapsing shell.
"Teleport!" Giovanni shouted desperately, making one final attempt.
But Mewtwo couldn't respond.
At this moment, all her strength was being poured into maintaining the barrier. If her focus wavered even for an instant, it would collapse, and she wouldn't have the time to activate Teleport.
Teleportation itself might be instantaneous, but its activation wasn't.
That was why she had failed to evade the super-giant Aura Sphere earlier.
Giovanni's command went unanswered.
Mewtwo grit her teeth, desperately sustaining the barrier, hoping, praying, that Lucario's Comet Punch would weaken even slightly.
But hope was cruel.
A few seconds later
Crash!
The barrier shattered.
A silver-lit fist punched straight through the fragments and slammed brutally into Mewtwo's body.
A scream tore from her throat.
"BOOM!"
Her muscles convulsed violently as the impact passed straight through her body and detonated against the ground below. The earth vanished beneath her—obliterated—leaving behind a massive crater where solid terrain had existed moments before.
Lucario withdrew his fist calmly and leapt back, landing at the crater's edge.
Mewtwo lay motionless at its center.
Her eyes were rolled back.
Her body was still. She looked, dead.
Ash glanced down at her once, then finally allowed the tension in his expression to ease.
Mewtwo had been created from Mew's genes, an existence bordering on the divine. There was no chance she would die from an attack like that. More importantly, Ash had explicitly instructed Lucario to hold back.
Death had never been on the table.
As Mewtwo lost the ability to continue fighting, the golden barrier surrounding the battlefield began to fade. It grew translucent, then condensed into a single stream of golden light that shot directly into Giovanni's body.
Giovanni didn't even try to dodge.
He knew better than anyone what the Arceus Contract entailed.
Despair washed over his face, pure, unfiltered, absolute.
He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
The call connected instantly.
"Apollo," Giovanni said flatly. "Effective immediately, disband half of Team Rocket's personnel and high-ranking members. Disperse half of our funds. Destroy half of our research data and materials."
Command after command followed, cold and mechanical.
On the other end, Apollo broke into a cold sweat.
'What is the Boss doing? Is he destroying Team Rocket with his own hands? Has he been controlled?'
Even the most loyal subordinate could not blindly carry out such orders, and Apollo was no exception.
He was loyal to Giovanni, but these commands would annihilate Team Rocket.
"I know what you're thinking," Giovanni continued calmly. "You suspect I'm being controlled. Or that I'm no longer myself. I'll explain everything later."
A pause.
"For now, just follow my orders. Execute every procedure. I'll come find you afterward."
The call ended.
The most terrifying aspect of the Arceus Contract wasn't punishment, it was absoluteness.
You could not resist it.
You could not even think about resisting it.
From the depths of his heart, Giovanni now wanted to fulfill the contract's terms. The process was already forming clearly in his mind, each step lining up neatly, waiting to be executed.
And yet, Giovanni was still Giovanni.
His personality hadn't changed. Only his stance toward Team Rocket had been forcibly rewritten.
The moment he lowered his phone, his gaze snapped back to the battlefield, to Mewtwo lying unconscious on the ground.
Team Rocket's losses were unavoidable now.
But Mewtwo?
She absolutely could not be lost.
As long as Mewtwo remained, Team Rocket could rise again. Disbandment meant nothing in the long run if he still possessed a god-born weapon.
And now was the perfect moment.
Mewtwo was unconscious. Powerless. Vulnerable.
If he didn't act now, once she awakened, he would never get another chance.
He took a step forward, and Lucario moved instantly, placing himself between Giovanni and Mewtwo.
Ash walked calmly to Mewtwo's side, his presence steady and resolute.
"You can't take her."