Chapter 126: Damn It — How Is Mammon This Strong?!
"Miss coordinator — shouldn't we go help?"
The well-mannered young woman stood listening to the violent sounds of battle echoing from a distance, her composure slipping slightly as she turned to the League coordinator beside her.
She was Roxanne — Gym Leader of the Rustboro City Gym.
When the coordinator's call had come in, Roxanne had been genuinely confused. An emergency civilian evacuation, just like that? Then she'd learned the reason: a battle between the Hoenn League and the criminal organization Team Rocket.
In that case, as Rustboro's own Gym Leader, she wanted to do her part.
But — "If we go in, we'll only get in Champion Steven's way. The opponents are top-ranked Team Rocket executives — all Champion-tier. The best we can do is hold this perimeter and make sure no civilians wander in."
The coordinator's expression was grave, with a thin layer of helplessness underneath.
She wasn't happy about standing outside either. But what choice was there? Every opponent in there was Champion-tier. Going in to "help" would just be handing Team Rocket more targets.
Better to be useless than to be a liability. That was the coordinator's philosophy.
Roxanne pressed her lips together, but said nothing more.
"Nidoking! Earthquake!"
Giovanni's voice was hard and level.
Nidoking roared and drove one foot into the ground with crushing force.
BOOM.
The earth heaved. A solid shockwave rolled outward — Ground-type Earthquake, radiating across the field.
Cynthia and Steven acted in near-perfect sync. Garchomp launched skyward.
"Bullet Punch!" Steven commanded, sending Metagross into a charge.
Steel-type priority — Bullet Punch.
Metagross's claws lit with metallic sheen and it accelerated toward Mega Tyranitar at high speed.
"Earthquake."
Mammon's smile didn't waver.
Mega Tyranitar's roar was savage. It drove its own foot into the ground — and a matching shockwave rolled forward to meet Nidoking's.
BOOM.
Two massive Earthquakes slammed into each other and cancelled out.
Metagross, still carrying Bullet Punch's momentum, had already reached Mega Tyranitar. Its claws hammered again and again into the armored hide.
But Mega Evolution had pushed Mega Tyranitar's physical defense to an extreme. Even with the type advantage, Bullet Punch's impact was frustratingly shallow.
Meanwhile, Tapu Fini and Suicune opened their mouths simultaneously. Two lances of brilliant blue water condensed and fired.
Both aimed at Metagross.
"Metagross!" Steven's eyes sharpened.
Metagross tried to pull back — but a massive claw closed around it.
Mega Tyranitar.
BOOM.
Both Hydro Pumps detonated directly against Metagross. It let out a cry of pain.
"ROOAAR~!"
"Dragon Claw!"
The savage roar descended from above — Cynthia's Garchomp dived as a streak of ferocious dark energy, Dragon Claw leading.
Dragon-type Dragon Claw.
"Stone Edge."
Mega Tyranitar bellowed. Jagged rocks tore upward from the ground, hurling themselves at Garchomp as it dove.
Rock-type Stone Edge.
BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.
Stone Edge after Stone Edge slammed into Dragon Claw's dive. The sound was continuous. Shockwaves rolled in every direction.
The Dragon Claw energy flickered and dimmed under the barrage. The last few rocks hit and the move simply collapsed — Garchomp was hurled back by the explosion, tumbling wide.
Cynthia's expression hardened.
"Thunderbolt!"
But in the same instant, a bolt of golden electricity screamed across from Nidoking — a broad scatter of crackling current.
Tapu Fini and Suicune both dropped back. Mega Tyranitar took the hit full-on — caught off-guard.
In that window, Metagross wrenched itself free and retreated to Steven's side.
"Both of you — careful. Mammon is operating at a completely different level right now." Giovanni's warning was quiet but urgent.
"Agreed. That was my mistake." Steven acknowledged it immediately.
"Mega Tyranitar's raw power is extraordinary." Cynthia's voice was low. "Garchomp's Dragon Claw got stopped dead by a Stone Edge head-on."
That had never happened before. Garchomp losing a direct clash to Stone Edge — Cynthia had never encountered it.
"Its attack and defense are both off the charts. Avoid direct trades with it wherever possible — its Speed is the same as a regular Tyranitar, which means it's not fast." Giovanni's voice was measured.
"Suicune and Tapu Fini can't be ignored either," Cynthia added.
"I'll have Metagross draw Suicune and Tapu Fini's attention and split the field. You two press the opening."
Steven's mind was already moving. Their numerical advantage had to count for something. Mammon was genuinely strong — but he was still one person, with finite attention.
And they could each put out a second Pokémon.
"Agreed." Giovanni didn't hesitate.
"Take down Tyranitar and Mammon's firepower collapses!"
"Lucario!"
Cynthia threw her second Poké Ball without ceremony. Steel and Fighting — Lucario.
Tyranitar had a four-times weakness to Fighting. And Lucario's speed would let it slip into openings that Garchomp couldn't reach.
"Surf."
Mammon couldn't hear what the three of them were discussing. It didn't particularly matter.
"Suuu~!" "Qi~!"
Tapu Fini and Suicune both began to glow — deep, brilliant blue.
SHHHHHHH—
The roar of water came from everywhere at once. A wave twenty, thirty meters high erupted from flat ground and rolled forward like a living wall.
Water-type Surf.
From where Steven, Cynthia, and Giovanni stood, the wave swallowed the sky. It filled their entire field of vision.
What a Surf.
"Earthquake!"
Both Giovanni and Cynthia gave the order at the same instant.
Garchomp and Nidoking drove their weight into the ground. Two Earthquake shockwaves rolled forward and hit the wave at its base.
The enormous wall of water lost its structural support. The whole thing started coming apart.
It came down like a natural disaster.
"Metagross — Bullet Punch!"
Steven seized the opening immediately.
Metagross accelerated on priority speed, punched clean through the collapsing wave, and continued upward — straight toward Tapu Fini in the air.
"Extreme Speed."
Mammon's quiet smile.
Suicune's white light exploded behind it. It was moving before anyone registered it.
General-type priority — Extreme Speed.
CRACK.
Extreme Speed and Bullet Punch collided in midair. Extreme Speed had more raw power — but Metagross was simply harder, and its physical output was higher.
Suicune was the one that bounced away. But it had done its job — Metagross never reached Tapu Fini.
"Hydro Pump!"
Tapu Fini opened its mouth and sent a massive jet of water at Metagross before it could course-correct.
Metagross took the hit. It managed to cross its claws in front of itself, but Tapu Fini's Hydro Pump was no gentle thing — it drove Metagross back hard.
Steven's expression tightened. Nothing to be done.
But it had worked. Suicune and Tapu Fini's attention was occupied.
"Garchomp! Dragon Claw!"
Garchomp lunged. Its raw speed blew past both Metagross and Tyranitar — Garchomp was far faster than either of them.
"Earth Power — cover it!" Giovanni moved at once.
Nidoking advanced across the rain-soaked ground, and deep brown energy surged upward directly beneath Mega Tyranitar.
Ground-type Earth Power.
"Nice coordination." Mammon tilted his head slightly. "But my Tyranitar is a little harder to deal with than that."
"Stomp Down!"
Mega Tyranitar roared and drove its foot into the earth.
BOOM.
The ground under Mega Tyranitar's foot cracked apart — spiderweb fractures spreading outward in every direction. The Earth Power rising from below was simply crushed back into the ground and snuffed out.
But Garchomp was already there, Dragon Claw driving hard into Mega Tyranitar's chest.
Mega Tyranitar raised its right arm and caught the strike head-on. Dragon Claw raked down its forearm. The pain only made it more furious — it turned on Garchomp with a bellowing roar.
"BAN!!"
Garchomp snarled right back without flinching.
"Brick Break!" Cynthia's voice was completely calm.
Metagross was still tangling with Tapu Fini and Suicune — it couldn't hold both of them for long. She and Giovanni had to take this window and put Mega Tyranitar down.
"Payback!"
Garchomp twisted on its heel, claws flaring white — Fighting-type Brick Break.
But Mega Tyranitar was faster than its size suggested. Its left arm came up, black energy wreathing around it, and met Garchomp's strike.
CRACK.
Brick Break and Payback clashed directly. And then — under Cynthia's darkening eyes — Brick Break crumbled. Payback tore right through it.
Mega Tyranitar's amplified strength outclassed Garchomp by too wide a margin.
"BAN~!"
Payback's momentum carried through and hammered into Garchomp's chest. Garchomp cried out in pain. Before it could recover, Mega Tyranitar's arm shot up and locked around its throat — and drove it straight into the ground.
Mega Tyranitar's monstrous face loomed over it, oozing nothing but malice.
"Ice Punch!"
Mega Tyranitar's fist blazed with frozen cold and came down hard.
"Aura Sphere!" Cynthia's eyes went tight.
Lucario's palms snapped together — a sphere of blue energy fired at Mega Tyranitar from the side.
Fighting-type Aura Sphere.
"Nidoking! Superpower!" Giovanni commanded the Nidoking already charging forward.
CRACK.
Ice Punch drove into Garchomp's chest. Garchomp let out a wretched cry. Where the hit landed, frost spread rapidly across the scales.
Ice-type against Garchomp — that was brutally effective.
Cynthia's expression went dark. Taking a full Ice Punch like that — Garchomp wasn't out, but it was seriously hurt. Dramatically reduced capacity.
Still. If Lucario's Aura Sphere and Nidoking's Superpower could land—
"Swat it."
Mega Tyranitar couldn't rise in time to dodge the Aura Sphere. But its massive tail whipped around with a sound like a cannon, carrying a wall of wind.
BOOM.
The tail connected with the incoming Aura Sphere and detonated it on contact.
Nothing else.
"—"
Steven had been watching with one eye throughout. At that, his frown deepened sharply.
That worked?
But Nidoking was already there — white-gleaming fist smashing into Mega Tyranitar's flank.
Fighting-type Superpower.
"BAN!!"
The pain wrenched a full-throated roar from Mega Tyranitar. The fury in it was unmistakable.
Under the force of Superpower, Mega Tyranitar's entire massive body was driven backward.
Four-times-weak to Fighting. That Superpower hit hard — very hard.
"Keep going — Superpower!"
Nidoking didn't hesitate. It pressed forward, pushing to close out the fight.
"Bold." Mammon's laugh was cold.
"Tyranitar — Ice Punch!"
Mega Tyranitar ground through the pain in its flank, right claw erupting in ice-blue cold, and met Nidoking's rush head-on.
CRACK.
Ice Punch against Superpower — direct collision. No contest. They weren't in the same weight class.
Superpower crumbled. Mega Tyranitar's horrifying momentum blasted through and launched Nidoking completely off its feet. It crashed down hard.
Ice-type hit Nidoking for heavy damage. That had hurt it badly.
"Aura Sphere!" Cynthia's voice dropped low.
Lucario broke into a sprint, sphere already formed — Aura Sphere fired and struck Mega Tyranitar square in the back.
Fighting-type Aura Sphere.
In the explosion's roar, Mega Tyranitar let out another howl of pain. Its enormous body sank — one knee dropping to the ground, chest heaving with ragged, bone-deep breaths.
It still wasn't down.
All three of them were frowning.
"Hammer Arm!" Steven didn't wait.
Metagross took a Hydro Pump head-on and used the knockback to launch itself downward from above, both arms blazing white.
Fighting-type Hammer Arm.
"Payback — hold it off!"
Mega Tyranitar wrenched its head up. The look in those savage eyes made the hair stand up.
It hauled itself to its feet and raised both arms, Payback's black energy blazing to life.
CRACK.
Hammer Arm drove into Mega Tyranitar's arms. Metagross's force was extraordinary — Mega Tyranitar's feet were pressed into the ground beneath it.
But that was all. Mega Tyranitar held. Hammer Arm stopped.
"Grab it. Earthquake!"
"Ban~!"
Mega Tyranitar moved through the strain and seized one of Metagross's arms in its massive claw.
"Metagross!" Steven's expression shifted sharply.
"Nidoking — Ice Beam!"
"Lucario — Aura Sphere!"
Both orders came simultaneously.
But Tapu Fini and Suicune were not spectators. Both fired Hydro Pumps at the same moment. Tapu Fini's found Nidoking and broke its Ice Beam before it could complete.
Suicune's shot at Lucario — which dodged it cleanly.
Mega Tyranitar hauled Metagross in and drove it into the ground with everything it had.
BOOM.
Then the right foot came down.
Earthquake.
RUMBLE.
The shockwave tore through Metagross directly. Metagross cried out in pain.
Ground-type against Metagross — super effective.
But in the same instant, a blue Aura Sphere came screaming in from the side.
Lucario.
Mega Tyranitar's howl was pure pain. That vast, terrible body had taken everything it could take.
It went down.
CRASH.
Mega Tyranitar hit the ground. The light of Mega Evolution flickered and faded. When it cleared, Tyranitar lay there with spinning eyes.
Down. Finally down.
Steven and Cynthia both exhaled.
That Mega Tyranitar had been something else entirely. What had it cost them to take it down?
Garchomp was severely hurt — barely functional. Nidoking was severely hurt. Metagross was already out of the fight entirely.
And that had been three-on-one.
Without Lucario landing two Aura Spheres in opportunistic moments, they might still be fighting it.
But—
Steven couldn't feel satisfied. Because—
"I have to give credit where it's due — actually managing to beat my Mega Tyranitar." Mammon recalled the fallen Tyranitar, looked up, and smiled at the three of them.
Suicune and Tapu Fini drifted into position on either side of him.
"So then. How are you planning to handle what comes next?"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps came from behind Mammon. Two points of cold violet light ignited in the shadow.
Armored Dark Mewtwo stepped forward across the broken ground, moving without hurry, and entered the field.
Steven's expression went from serious to something beyond serious.
There was no room for satisfaction at defeating Mega Tyranitar.
What they were about to face was Armored Mewtwo.
☆☆☆
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