Chapter 64.1- Oak

When Mewtwo fought, he fought hard. He tore apart the coliseum with nothing but psychic power to defeat the Pokémon that encircled him. I scowled as Garchomp approached with the speed of a jet and was tossed aside with similar speed. Where the fuck was Dragapult?

It was as I asked the question that the ghost appeared, tearing itself right out of Garchomp’s shadow as the Pokémon was tossed aside, taking advantage of the element of surprise to crush Mewtwo in its ghostly aura. The legendary psychic just smiled, as though it was saying, "come at me." The Pokémon got the message instantly.

Igneel ripped himself out of the ground, and the sun in the sky multiplied its intensity as Igneel channeled all that energy into his body. He looked like a mini-sun with the flame aura all around him and floating to the ground to join the rest of the Pokémon as they surrounded Mewtwo and began the beatdown. Garchomp went first. It muscled through Mewtwo’s guard, managing to land a hit or two, and when Mewtwo tried to retaliate, Dragonite was there. Igneel moved in whenever there was a second of space, driving great explosive power into each punch and retreating quickly, allowing the other Pokémon to cover him.

The fight was impressive, but as I watched, I could see Mewtwo beginning to adapt even to this. Metagross flashed in the corner of my eyes, and I felt myself appear in the stands with the rest of the team. Hmph. I guess the champions hadn’t been able to direct their Pokémon or even see the battle from that far away. Oak had finally come to, and Dragonite took the field with a ground-shaking roar.

The dragon Pokémon was an expression of Oak’s suppressed rage on the best of days. Today? That rage was nowhere even close to suppressed, and it was clear in how the dragon Pokémon used extreme speed to cover the space between him and Mewtwo and went all out in a glorious offensive. Every limb was surrounded in dark-type aura, and he used it to make the legendary psychic bleed. His claws tore through Mewtwo’s body like a hot knife through butter, and even as Mewtwo healed every injury the second it sustained it, it was clear there had to be some limit.

It suddenly floated backward, out of melee range. Dragonite flew, but this time it flew at Dragonite with similar aggression. When both Pokémon clashed, it was the dragon being sent back to the floor. Lance’s own Dragonite took Oak’s dragon’s place and was similarly sent reeling. The rest of the Pokémon dog-piled on the legendary Pokémon, but this time, as much as they tried, it was futile. It took punch after punch with little effect to deliver its own bone-crushing attacks. When it tossed Dragonite away, the Pokémon was sent flying so far that I could hear it hit the water miles away through Igneel’s ears. The Pokémon returned quickly, but the shift was clear. Cynthia clutched her second ball before sending Lucario out of the Pokéball.

It understood instantly, and the aura Pokémon covered the ground quickly, engaging the psychic in one-on-one combat, easily using its skill to bridge the clear power gap between them. It wasn’t winning, but it was keeping Mewtwo busy. Garchomp stepped back from the battle, and Cynthia clutched her necklace as Garchomp did the same to his.

This was the first time I was witnessing Mega Evolution in person, and it was every bit as awesome as I expected. Garchomp visibly grew before my eyes, and its aura was even more awe-inspiring. The dragon bore down on us with a visible weight. Lance practically ignored it, focused on the battle, and I tried my best to do the same. That was the reason I could spot the change in Mewtwo’s eyes once Garchomp Mega Evolved. It shot out at the dragon, and Garchomp was ready for it.

Its raised knee was blocked with a single fin, but Mewtwo’s tail shot out in the same moment and slammed into Garchomp’s head, sending the Mega Evolved Pokémon reeling. Lucario tried to double back to return to the fight, but Mewtwo quickly showed that he’d been holding back against it in their previous engagement. This time, whatever defense Lucario could raise was crashed through with all the force of a train. Punch one hit the fox fighter right in the noggin. The second punch sent it crashing right into the stands.

"Bring out Gai," Cynthia shouted at me, and I found myself listening without question as Mewtwo began to overwhelm the combination of two Dragonites, one Mega Garchomp, and my Charizard.

When Kommo-o announced his presence on the field, Mewtwo’s smirk grew even bigger. "Can he hold him off with Garchomp for five minutes?" Cynthia asked, and I just nodded at Gai. Three minutes. That was easy.

"Sixth Gate: Gate of Joy," I commanded, and he began to stack up the enhancements. We’d sat down with a calculator to figure out the optimal order for using the enhancements. Some of them were simply multiplicative, while others were exponential in how they improved things. For this particular gate, the last enhancement in the order was belly drum, and when he pounded on his stomach for the first time, the shockwave sent cracks across the arena. Three pounds. That’s how far we could push it before the strain got too much for him and he tired himself out too quickly to be any good in a fight.

The second pound blew away the ceilings and coverings in the arena. The third threatened to demolish the entire thing with only the shockwave. Needless to say, Gai was pumped up and raring to go. Cynthia signaled me to call Igneel back and also messaged Lance to do the same to his Dragonite. As they left the combat, Gai rocketed forward to take their place.

I did my best to keep track, but one thing I noticed in the beginning was that Gai and Lucario were nowhere near the same level when he was supercharged like this. Each punch he released bent the air, and he kept pace with Mega Garchomp with ease as they tore through Mewtwo. He seamlessly joined the dragon as they fought as a unit, unlike all the other pairings we’d seen today. They fought as one, like they’d been fighting together forever. It was clearly Gai’s superior ability to read a fight and fighting styles that allowed him to mold around Garchomp so smoothly.

When our dragons approached, Cynthia walked to both Lance and me, and I watched with shock as she passed us bracelets. The rock in the center gleamed in the light, leaving no doubts as to what it was. A keystone bracelet. And the larger stones she gave us were clearly Mega Stones. Oak just watched from the corner, fascinated but still keeping one eye on the battle and using Dragonite to run interference whenever an opportunity presented itself. The dragons came toward us, and Igneel turned off his flames as he walked forward and stood before me.

He could sense the Charizardite. He could feel it, and when I placed it on him, his senses exploded. I could smell it, practically reach out and touch it. Mega Evolution. All my eyes could see was Igneel as I reached for my own aura and triggered the keystone I held, ignoring Cynthia’s words of warning. Why did I need warning? No Pokémon trainer shared a deeper bond with their Pokémon than I did.

The bright light built at Igneel’s stomach before traveling across his body and covering him entirely.

A/N; Nice place to stop for now eh? Mega Charizard X or Mega Charizard Y? Place your bets.