As for Ho-Oh's black history, Damian didn't bring it up just yet.
Right now, the most important thing was the battle between Shadow Mewtwo and Ho-Oh.
Up in the sky, the auras of the two legends were building, growing stronger and stronger, the tension ready to snap at any moment.
At last, Ho-Oh was the one who made the first move.
"Chiu～!"
Its sharp cry rang across the heavens as Ho-Oh beat its wings hard.
A sea of scorching rainbow‑colored flames surged out like a tide, roaring straight toward Shadow Mewtwo.
Sacred Fire!
"Mewtwo!"
Shadow Mewtwo raised its right arm, and a deep purple barrier flared into place, wrapping around its body in an instant.
Boom!
Sacred Fire smashed against Shadow Mewtwo's barrier, raging rainbow‑colored flames relentlessly burning and hammering at it.
The deep purple flames in Shadow Mewtwo's eyes flickered wildly—it could feel the terrifying impact behind that move.
But it could still hold!
An endless torrent of psychic power poured into the barrier.
Little by little, Sacred Fire burned itself out, and Shadow Mewtwo successfully blocked the attack.
Such powerful psychic…
Ho-Oh stared at Shadow Mewtwo.
Psychic of that magnitude really was astounding.
No wonder Suicune and the others had all been forcibly caught.
"Thunder!"
Damian didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat.
Lightning crackled violently across Shadow Mewtwo's pitch‑black body.
Ho-Oh immediately spread its wings and tried to take off to dodge.
But Shadow Mewtwo was faster.
In a flash, it shot up above Ho-Oh, unleashing a brutal column of golden lightning.
Thunder struck Ho-Oh dead‑on.
The golden lightning ravaged its body, sizzling and crackling nonstop.
"Chiu!"
Ho-Oh let out a piercing cry and spat a massive torrent of flames back at Shadow Mewtwo in retaliation.
A Fire‑type Fire Blast!
Boom!
The sudden Fire Blast caught Shadow Mewtwo before it had time to brace, slamming into it head‑on.
With a deafening crash, searing flames exploded outward, blasting Shadow Mewtwo backward.
With Shadow Mewtwo's Thunder no longer pouring down, Ho-Oh gave a mighty beat of its wings, shaking the lightning off its body.
"Wait, isn't Thunder super effective on Ho-Oh?
How can it tank that and still counterattack through it?"
Erika was floored.
Ho-Oh was Fire/Flying‑type, and Electric‑type Thunder should hit it super effectively.
"Ho-Oh's Special Defense is insanely high. This isn't surprising."
Damian narrowed his eyes slightly.
Ho-Oh might be very powerful overall, but in truth, offense wasn't what it excelled at.
Strictly speaking, Ho-Oh was actually more of a defensive Legendary Pokémon.
Same category as Lugia.
And in the real world, a Ho-Oh that could even resurrect the dead clearly had absurd life force.
Even if you dealt it serious damage, it could recover quickly in a short span of time.
A perfect tank.
Honestly, that type of Legendary Pokémon was a real pain to deal with.
On paper, Ho-Oh specialized in defense.
But because its overall strength was so high, you couldn't say its offense was weak either.
Its "not that strong" offense was only weak compared to its own defense.
In reality, Ho-Oh still hit like a truck.
"Chiu～!"
Ho-Oh's long, clear cry rang out again as it spread its wings and climbed high into the sky.
A bluish aura of legendary bird‑light wrapped around its body.
A Flying‑type Sky Attack!
"Mewtwo, Dark Nova!"
Shadow Mewtwo shot upward at high speed, its right arm lifting high.
For a moment, even the wind seemed to still.
A purple‑black sphere of energy swelled rapidly above Shadow Mewtwo's palm.
The Dark‑type move, Dark Nova—Shadow Mewtwo's exclusive signature move.
The majestic legendary bird shrieked and dove.
Shadow Mewtwo swung its arm hard, hurling the Dark Nova sphere straight down at Ho-Oh.
Dark Nova and Sky Attack collided midair with a massive impact, fierce winds howling in all directions.
The purple‑black energy ball pushed downward with brutal force, trying to crush the legendary bird below—
But the legendary bird held its ground, stubbornly resisting the crushing pressure.
Black‑purple and deep blue surged together, nearly filling the sky, dyeing heaven and earth in their colors.
Powerful shockwaves rippled outward like expanding rings, one after another.
The wild wind rampaged.
Even down on the ground, the clothes of Damian and the other two snapped and rustled from the force.
"So strong!"
Erika's jaw dropped.
She huddled behind Damian, clutching his shirt tight and not daring to let go as she stared up at the sky changing colors.
Holy crap.
This was what people meant by gods duking it out.
Soon, the two clashing attacks that had been deadlocked for so long finally blew apart.
Boom!
The blast was so loud it made their eardrums ache, the sound reverberating through the air.
Wild black‑purple energy swallowed the sky, plunging the whole world into darkness.
The violent shockwave sent both Shadow Mewtwo and Ho-Oh flying.
After a long moment, the black energy slowly faded.
Shadow Mewtwo steadied itself and straightened, completely ignoring the pain in its body.
Those eyes, filled with deep purple flames, burned with feverish excitement as it gazed at Ho-Oh.
This was the kind of opponent it craved.
Only a foe this powerful could satisfy it.
Every bit of its genes felt like they were throbbing with excitement.
A fight where it could go all out like this… was bliss.
Ho-Oh shivered, uncomfortable under Shadow Mewtwo's blazing stare, its feathers fluffing up as goosebumps crawled over its skin.
Strictly speaking, that last shockwave should've hurt it more than Shadow Mewtwo.
"How's it feel, Mewtwo?"
"Battle. Feels great."
"I'm asking what you think of Ho-Oh's strength."
"Battle. Feels great."
Watching Shadow Mewtwo charge back at Ho-Oh again, Damian could only rub his forehead helplessly.
Yeah… that tracked.
Still, it made sense.
Mewtwo was literally born for battle.
Its genes had been rearranged and recombined over and over to push its combat ability to the extreme—
And it was said to have the most savage heart of any Pokémon.
That was how the Pokédex described Mewtwo.
And Shadow Mewtwo, after fusing with that creepy stone, was even more vicious than a normal Mewtwo.
Most of the time it was calm and rational—
But facing such a powerful opponent for the very first time, it was clearly getting a bit too hyped.
"Forget it. Let it have its fun."
Damian didn't step in.
Better to let that urge run its course than try to block it.
Once Shadow Mewtwo had fought to its heart's content, that'd be enough.
Besides, Ho-Oh could really take a beating.
And honestly, Damian didn't think Shadow Mewtwo in its current state could actually beat Ho-Oh.
Especially without him giving orders.
If you really wanted to fight Ho-Oh, you were better off aiming straight for its weak spots.
Ho-Oh had one extremely obvious flaw: a 4x weakness to Rock.
And Shadow Mewtwo could learn a good number of Rock‑type moves.
But Damian didn't plan on interfering in their battle for now.
Once the fight was over and they were back home, he'd go over everything with Shadow Mewtwo in detail.
After that, there wasn't much more to say.
Shadow Mewtwo and Ho-Oh clashed fiercely in the sky.
Dark Nova versus Sacred Fire, Psystrike versus Sky Attack, Thunder versus Fire Blast—
The fighting was intense.
But there was no question Shadow Mewtwo was being pushed into the losing side.
It couldn't be helped. Ho-Oh was just too tanky.
In game terms: higher level, solid offense, sky‑high Defense and Special Defense, big HP pool, and disgustingly fast recovery.
For a freshly awakened baby murder machine like Shadow Mewtwo, losing to Ho-Oh right now was perfectly reasonable.
And its performance had already been excellent.
It hadn't even Mega Evolved yet.
"These feathers aren't turning black, huh.
Does that mean I still count as 'acceptable' by Rainbow Wing standards?"
Damian picked up a bird feather that had dropped from the sky—the Rainbow Wing from Ho-Oh.
Yeah. Ho-Oh had already had quite a few feathers beaten off.
Damian had sent Tapu Fini to go fetch them; they'd probably end up with a decent bundle.
But looking down at the Rainbow Wing that hadn't changed color at all, Damian couldn't help doubting whether this feather still worked properly, seeing as it'd been knocked off in a fight instead of gifted.
Was he… actually a good person or something?
~~~
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