Without thinking too hard about it, Lin Feng assumed this Ninetales belonged to Teacher Guo as well.
After all, if the man could raise a Beedrill that terrifying, a Ninetales like this showing up wasn't exactly shocking.
"Lin, stop gawking! Hurry up and help!"
Jin Peng gave Lin Feng's shoulder a quick pat to snap him back.
Right now, Ninetales was still at a disadvantage.
This wasn't the time to relax.
Lin Feng nodded and immediately began issuing commands.
"Beedrill—[DRILL RUN]!"
"Scyther—[X-SCISSOR]!"
"Drapion—[CROSS POISON]!"
Under his command, his Pokémon surged in together, swarming Kyurem.
Earlier, without Ninetales taking Kyurem head-on, everyone had been fighting with a weight on their chests.
Now they could finally vent the anger they'd been forced to swallow.
"Dragonite, Charizard, Aerodactyl—you too. Get in there!"
As Jin Peng recalled the Pokémon that had lost the ability to fight, he simultaneously directed the ones still standing.
As for Gyarados—it hadn't completely lost combat power, but its injuries were serious.
So Jin Peng pulled it back for now.
With both Elite Four joining in, the pressure on Ninetales eased sharply.
Without hesitation, its Ability activated—Drought.
A blazing sun flared into being and shot straight into the sky.
The storm clouds overhead had already thinned greatly, drawn away by Thundurus's summoning inside the Secret Realm.
The scraps that remained couldn't possibly smother the sun's power.
Long-missed light flooded back over the land—driving away darkness and cold.
Harsh sunlight didn't weaken Ice-type moves, but it did boost Fire-type moves—which was excellent news for Ninetales.
Bathed in that blazing light, Ninetales felt the fire within it surge, fiercer and fuller than before.
"Huff!"
Rolling heat rushed toward Kyurem again.
With Ninetales here, they could finally hold Kyurem back—for now.
And with Kyurem pinned, the League's numerical advantage began to show.
Seeing that, Yang Yong's brows knitted tight.
He truly hadn't expected they had a Ninetales with power like this—one that could actually wrestle Kyurem head-on.
"Everyone—go! Take them down!"
The League's Gym Leaders led their teams forward, charging the Seven Sages.
Yang Yong didn't hesitate.
He released his own Pokémon as well.
"Hydreigon—stop them!"
A Hydreigon brimming with vicious aura stepped in front of the League force.
As the Seven Sages' leader, Yang Yong was clearly stronger than Lie Ke.
Taking him down wouldn't be easy.
"ROAR!"
Just then, a dragon cry sounded from not far away.
Hearing that familiar voice, Jin Peng's face broke into a smile.
Salamence.
Sure enough—its silhouette emerged from the distance, drawing nearer.
And standing on its back—was Pinsir, one of Lin Feng's mainstay Pokémon.
"Salamence!"
"Pinsir!"
The two of them spoke in unison.
The direction they pointed was Hydreigon's position.
Kyurem could be stalled with what they had on hand—so Salamence and Pinsir needed to join the wider battlefield.
And with Salamence and Pinsir arriving, Lin Feng and Jin Peng both knew Guo Yi had finished the rescue.
So now all they had to do was drag this out.
As long as they held until Guo Yi arrived—with Beedrill's help, defeating Kyurem shouldn't be a problem.
...
While Huilongkou erupted into full-scale battle, Thundurus inside the Secret Realm had already finished gathering its storm.
Rumble—rumble—rumble!
At the summit of the Secret Realm mountain, rolling black clouds smothered the peak, while endless lightning serpents writhed and flashed within.
With its full power unleashed, Thundurus finally looked the part of a Legendary Pokémon.
"HAHAHA!"
"Guo Yi, see that? This is what a Legendary Pokémon's true power looks like—your Zapdos doesn't even compare!"
Thundurus's display seemed to rekindle Lie Ke's confidence.
His expression and tone turned arrogant again.
After all, compared to this, the thunderclouds Zapdos had formed back then really did look like child's play.
As Lie Ke crowed, Thundurus's form appeared once more from within the clouds.
Right after that—multiple brilliant bolts struck down in unbroken succession, slamming into Thundurus.
In its Therian Forme, Thundurus's Ability changed from Prankster to Volt Absorb.
So the lightning not only failed to harm it—it continuously restored Thundurus's injuries and stamina.
To be fair, with an Ability like that, paired with such dense storm clouds—unless you could one-shot it, Thundurus was effectively unbeatable.
However if Thundurus wanted to "cheat" with its divine authority, and Guo Yi simply shattered the cheat.
Before long, a Poké Ball appeared in Guo Yi's hand.
It looked like a standard red-and-white Poké Ball, except its colors were purple and white—and an M-shaped emblem sat at its center.
A Master Ball.
After months, Mewtwo was about to see daylight again.
Last time, Guo Yi had brought Mewtwo out in its Mega X form—and with unstoppable might, it had held up a falling airplane and saved everyone aboard.
This time, Guo Yi intended to use a different form.
Holding the Master Ball, he sneered at Lie Ke. "Just a frog at the bottom of a well."
"You think having one minor Legendary Pokémon makes you invincible?"
"Today, I'll show you what a real Legendary Pokémon looks like."
Lie Ke froze.
"Minor Legendary Pokémon?"
"Legendary Pokémon have ranks?"
For a moment, it felt like an entire new world had opened in front of him.
After all, possessing a Legendary Pokémon was already unbelievably rare—who even thought about ranking them?
Guo Yi had no time to explain.
He swung his arm and threw the Master Ball.
"Come out!"
"Mega Mewtwo Y!"
The Master Ball burst open in midair, and a Pokémon Lie Ke had never seen appeared before him.
A half-human, half-cat silhouette, its body silver-white throughout. A long, slender tail-like organ extended from the back of its head down past its spine.
Mega Mewtwo Y.
Among all Pokémon, it held the undisputed number one Special Attack—194 base Special Attack, fourteen points higher than Primal Kyogre.
As the strongest artificial Legendary Pokémon, Mewtwo truly deserved the word "strongest."
In its normal form, Mewtwo's combat power was on par with most Major Legendary Pokémon.
And then it had two Mega Evolution forms—X and Y—letting it meet any opponent head-on.
Its only flaw—was that Mewtwo had no divine authority.
Its combat power was second to none, but when it came to influencing weather and other forces of nature, it still couldn't compare to Legendary Pokémon that possessed divine authority.
Of course—that comparison was for Major Legendary Pokémon. As for a minor Legendary Pokémon like Thundurus… even with divine authority, so what?
The moment Mega Mewtwo Y appeared, Thundurus began trembling uncontrollably.
This… this was a pressure and fear it hadn't felt even when facing its "big brother," Landorus.
It was hard to believe, but Thundurus's instincts screamed at it: that Pokémon could defeat it with a casual wave.
Mewtwo, newly arrived, swept Thundurus with a flat, indifferent glance.
That cold gaze held no regard at all—as if Thundurus didn't even matter.
And in truth, Mewtwo didn't care.
To it, Thundurus was only slightly stronger than Zapdos had been back then.
That was all.
If it acted, it could erase it with a gesture.
[Do you want me to defeat this one?]
Mewtwo asked Guo Yi through telepathy.
At the same time, it glanced sidelong at Beedrill and muttered inwardly:
Stronger than before.
Even with Mega Evolution, Beedrill was still a small fry to Mewtwo.
But—its growth and improvement were real.
At this pace, Mewtwo believed Beedrill could one day reach the peak of the world as well.
Guo Yi shook his head at Mewtwo's question.
"That Thundurus is Beedrill's first opponent after Mega Evolution. Don't steal it."
"You only need to disperse those storm clouds."
Guo Yi had finally found an opponent close enough in strength for Beedrill.
How could he let it go?
Only a fitting opponent could accelerate Beedrill's absorption of the Template's power.
"BZZZ!" [Please.]
Beedrill dipped its head slightly toward Mewtwo.
It understood.
In Mega form, it truly had the power to fight Thundurus.
But to absolutely crush it—that was still a step too far.
Against a Thundurus that could keep restoring itself through the storm, Beedrill knew it couldn't win cleanly.
As for whether asking Mewtwo for help was "shameful"—Beedrill could only scoff.
You're allowed to cheat, but our Trainer isn't?
Besides, Beedrill wasn't even asking Mewtwo to bind Thundurus in place.
Just clearing the storm clouds was already giving it plenty of "face."
You want to keep talking big?
Then show your real skill.
Once it understood its task, Mewtwo's attention shifted to the layered, mountain-like storm clouds blotting out the sky.
Mewtwo slowly raised its slender arm.
Disperse.
Psychic power beyond description surged out of Mewtwo.
The next second—under Lie Ke's and Thundurus's disbelieving stares—the sky split open.