Damian was stunned for a moment when he saw Ho-Oh turn around to flee. He quickly called out to the Legendary Pokémon. "Wait! Ho-Oh!"
Ho-Oh turned its head and looked at Damian with suspicion. "Human! Don't say another word. My mind is made up."
Ho-Oh spoke again, clearly irritated. "I told you last time—don't ever call me for this kind of thing again!"
The massive fire turkey was furious. It had suffered badly during the previous fight against Shiny Mega Rayquaza.
Even though it had eventually defeated Shiny Mega Rayquaza and felt a satisfying sense of victory, Ho-Oh would rather avoid that kind of agony entirely. It was not necessary. It really was not necessary.
Before it arrived, it had told itself that the human must have a serious reason for summoning it. But it did not mean this kind of situation!
Ho-Oh felt completely at a loss. It did not understand how this human managed to do these things. Last time he challenged Shiny Mega Rayquaza, and now he was provoking Kyurem.
It thought Damian was just a human, yet he was incredibly powerful.
Damian spread his hands innocently. "But what you said was not to call you to fight Shiny Mega Rayquaza again. This time, Shiny Mega Rayquaza is on our side."
Ho-Oh became even more annoyed. "Don't play word games with me! You cunning human!"
Ho-Oh continued to fume. "What's the difference between Kyurem and Shiny Mega Rayquaza? It's even more brutal than Shiny Mega Rayquaza was!"
Ho-Oh was practically boiling. It could already imagine how many hits it would have to endure if it fought something that brutal.
Damian did not argue. Instead, he released Suicune from its Poké Ball.
Suicune looked at Damian in confusion. Then it immediately sensed a familiar aura. It lifted its head excitedly and saw the Ho-Oh it had been yearning to see.
Ho-Oh's eyes twitched. A very bad feeling rose in its chest.
Suicune barked excitedly toward Ho-Oh. Even though it had not seen Ho-Oh for a long time, as one of the Legendary Beasts, Suicune still felt immense respect for the bird. One could say Ho-Oh was the spiritual pillar and symbol of worship for Suicune.
After all, Ho-Oh was the one who had resurrected them and given them a reason to keep living.
Even though Ho-Oh felt something was off, it still maintained its usual noble and elegant demeanor in front of Suicune. Its eyes carried a faint smile as it nodded to the Water-type Pokémon.
It looked majestic. And then Damian spoke.
Damian sighed. His tone sounded disappointed, but also full of understanding. "Sigh… Since you're scared, Ho-Oh, you should just leave. I can understand. After all, Kyurem is truly powerful. It's normal for you to be afraid of it."
Suicune tilted its head and looked at Damian in confusion.
After spending time together, Suicune had grown to respect Damian. But Damian had just implied that the magnificent Ho-Oh was a coward who ran away from trouble?
It felt that was absolutely impossible.
Suicune barked, sounding a little unhappy. "Damian! Lord Ho-Oh is definitely not like that!"
If Damian had not trained it so well, Suicune probably would have hissed at him. It would never allow an outsider to insult the sacred Ho-Oh in its heart!
Ho-Oh felt like its head was about to explode.
Ho-Oh roared at Damian through a private telepathic link. "Human!! How can you be so despicable?!!"
It cursed this naturally evil human and wanted him to suffer.
He was actually using Suicune to corner it! If Ho-Oh insisted on leaving now, it would prove the claim that it was afraid of a powerful enemy. How would Suicune see it then?
Suicune's entire world would probably collapse!
Even though it was… actually true…
But even so, Ho-Oh did not want its sacred, perfect image to be destroyed in the eyes of its guardians. Ho-Oh knew very well that the Legendary Beasts viewed it as their faith and support.
This was not what Ho-Oh had intended, but it could not stop Suicune and the others from believing it. Once its image shattered in their hearts, the Legendary Beasts would be devastated. Ho-Oh could not bear to let that happen.
Damian replied in his mind without a trace of shame. If anything, he sounded righteous. "You broke your promise first, Ho-Oh. You promised to help me three times, and now you want to go back on your word."
Ho-Oh stopped pretending and scolded him outright. "You really are a wicked, shameless human!!"
Ho-Oh continued complaining. "I am just a Ho-Oh! Last time you made me fight Shiny Mega Rayquaza, and this time you want me to fight Kyurem, which is clearly not normal. Do you think that's reasonable??!"
Ho-Oh felt completely wronged. It was just a Ho-Oh with the power to resurrect the dead. It did not think it should have to face top-tier Legendary Pokémon head-on.
Damian asked plainly, "It's not like you can't win. So why isn't it reasonable? Just tell me—did you beat Shiny Mega Rayquaza last time or not?"
Ho-Oh fell silent. "…"
If it looked at it that way… Damian was not wrong. They were not without a chance of winning.
But the problem was that the process of fighting was miserable!
Damian tried to persuade it again. "Think about it this way, Ho-Oh. This is a milestone achievement in your life as a bird! Think of the glory."
Ho-Oh's eyes twitched. Damian had said something similar before they fought Shiny Mega Rayquaza.
Ho-Oh sighed in its heart. "Fine, human. I will help you one more time."
It regretted its choices. It regretted making a deal with Damian and handing Suicune over to him. But regret had no cure, even for a Pokémon that could bring back the dead.
Damian laughed happily and spoke out loud. "It turns out I was wrong! Ho-Oh, you truly are a great Pokémon!"
Suicune lifted its head proudly. It did not really understand what had happened. It only knew that Ho-Oh was definitely not a coward who would flee! Suicune barked.
Ho-Oh chuckled weakly.
Damian recalled Suicune. "Come back for now, Suicune. The battle is about to start."
Suicune called out to encourage Ho-Oh before entering the ball. "Lord Ho-Oh, do your best!"
The next scene was not suitable for Suicune to witness.
Damian looked at the bird. "Well then, I'll be counting on you, Ho-Oh."
Ho-Oh chirped.
Ho-Oh's eyes gradually became serious. It flapped its wings slowly, and rainbow flames began to burn.
Damian had already told Primal Kyogre to turn off its Primordial Sea ability. Otherwise, the heavy rain would only benefit the Original Dragon. Rainwater froze too easily, which would only strengthen Kyurem's ice power.
Besides, if Primordial Sea were still active, it was uncertain whether Ho-Oh could even use its Fire-type moves properly.
Without Primordial Sea, the environment was still filled with snow. This was weather caused by the Original Dragon. Kyurem's Ice-type power was truly terrifying. The area around Victory Road and the old League headquarters was quickly turning into an icy wasteland.
Damian immediately gave the order. "Ho-Oh, use Reflect and Light Screen."
He wanted both shields up right away. Even though Ho-Oh was durable, the Original Dragon was too powerful. More importantly, Ho-Oh was a special-defense tank; its physical defense was not actually that high.
Hearing this, Ho-Oh immediately activated Reflect and Light Screen. The two defensive shields glowed and slowly merged into Ho-Oh's body.
Damian spoke again. "Great! You've finished your power-up. Go, Ho-Oh!"
Damian did not ask Ho-Oh to keep boosting its offensive stats. He felt there was no point.
Ho-Oh glared at Damian while silently cursing the heartless, evil human. Then it flapped its wings and charged toward the Original Dragon in the sky.
A blue, divine glow lit up on Ho-Oh's body. Rainbow flames wrapped around it, and its aura became powerful and imposing.
Ho-Oh used Sky Attack!
Ho-Oh had entered the fight!
The Original Dragon roared. It had just used Breaking Swipe to force Shiny Mega Rayquaza back and wanted to pursue it, but it saw Ho-Oh charging from the side. The Original Dragon looked vicious and roared impatiently at the bird.
The turbine in its tail lit up with blue lightning. Electricity spread and wrapped around its body.
The Original Dragon used Fusion Bolt!
The violent power slammed toward Ho-Oh.
Damian saw the two closing in and shouted, "Wait! Ho-Oh, dodge it!"
But it was clearly too late.
A massive explosion erupted.
Sky Attack and Fusion Bolt collided heavily. The divine flames and the blue lightning clashed wildly.
But after a moment, with a low growl from the Original Dragon, Fusion Bolt completely shattered the energy of Sky Attack and struck Ho-Oh directly.
A barrier lit up on Ho-Oh's body, reducing the damage from the Fusion Bolt. Even so, Ho-Oh cried out in pain. Its entire body was blasted downward like a cannonball and crashed hard into the ground.
Under the massive force of the impact, the earth itself trembled.
Ho-Oh had crashed.
Damian's eyelid twitched. "Ho-Oh, I'd really like to know what you were thinking."
Honestly, he truly did not expect Ho-Oh to be that brave. It had actually tried to clash with the Original Dragon head-on. He wondered if the bird was doing it on purpose to spite him.
Ho-Oh took a sharp breath of cold air in the deep crater and hissed, "It hurts, it hurts!"
Fusion Bolt was super effective against it. It was fortunate that Reflect reduced a lot of the damage. Otherwise, that single hit might have seriously injured it.
Rainbow flames burned over Ho-Oh's body as it recovered, and it quickly flew back up.
Up in the sky, Shiny Genesect was using Extreme Speed to distract the Original Dragon.
Ho-Oh spoke. "That was just a mistake, human. I only wanted to personally test how strong its attacks are."
It did not want to admit that it had simply wanted to try a head-on clash.
Damian did not expose the lie. "Fine. Don't be so reckless from now on."
Even though Shiny Genesect was fast, it could not stall for long. He still had to rely on Ho-Oh.
Ho-Oh wrapped itself in rainbow flames and flew up toward the Original Dragon again. "Leave it to me!"
Damian spoke to Shiny Mega Rayquaza. "Rayquaza, use Dragon Dance!"
Shiny Mega Rayquaza did not argue. Its long, beautiful body moved through the sky, following ancient patterns as it danced.
Shiny Mega Rayquaza asked while dancing, "Human, do you need me to call my mate over?"
Dragon Dance was not difficult for it, so it had room to speak.
Damian smiled. "No need. This isn't the true Original Dragon from Unova's legend; it's just a fusion of Kyurem, Reshiram, and Zekrom. We can handle it."
Damian patted Victini on his shoulder.
Having Legendary help was definitely convenient. He did not even need to strain his brain to come up with complex tactics. Damian was becoming more and more interested in Shiny Mega Rayquaza, and he was very interested in Kyurem as well.
He wondered if he would have a chance to gain the assistance of Kyurem after defeating it. After all, he had Reshiram, and N had Zekrom. He could always borrow Zekrom from N once in a while.
If he caught Kyurem, he would essentially possess this Original Dragon form.
However, given Kyurem's violent temper, catching it would probably be extremely difficult. Damian fell into thought.
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