Yveltal was stunned. Every feather on its body stood on end.
The pressure it felt right now was far greater than when Complete Forme Zygarde came to suppress it for stealing too much life energy.
Damn, did I break some cosmic rule?
Yveltal glanced around the circle. Looking at the lineup, it seemed like the white dragon was the only one it might be able to beat...
And that would only be if it were in top condition. Since it was currently heavily injured, it definitely wouldn't be a match for the white dragon in a one-on-one fight either.
This...
"Yveltal, why have you stopped talking?"
Damian asked with a beaming smile.
Yveltal: "..."
Reshiram stood nobly in place, its dragon eyes calmly watching Yveltal.
But in reality...
"Damian, Damian! It looks so stubborn! Let me go 'size it up'—I promise I'll make it behave!"
Reshiram's excited telepathy echoed in Damian's mind.
Reshiram was very enthusiastic about "welcoming" a new member. It loved this feeling of having powerful backup standing behind it. That sense of security let it act as wildly as it wanted!
Sizing it up—that was exactly what this was!
Damian clicked his tongue. This white dragon was such a show-off.
To be honest, in a full-power solo match, Damian really felt that Reshiram might not be able to beat Yveltal.
However, Yveltal had been heavily injured not long ago and was currently at its weakest. Reshiram had clearly locked onto that fact.
"I am sincerely inviting you to join my team. I believe I've already shown plenty of sincerity."
So your "sincerity" is arranging a guard in front of me, behind me, to my left, to my right, and even above me?
Isn't this just a blatant threat?
Yveltal was almost laughing from anger. Conveniently, the space directly below was empty. Are you expecting the great Yveltal to dig a hole like a Diglett and escape?!
"Of course, you might feel dissatisfied and think I'm forcing you to compromise." Damian continued speaking to himself, pretending not to notice the resentment in Yveltal's eyes.
"But isn't this exactly proof of how much I like you? If it were a Pokémon I had no interest in, I wouldn't go this far for a welcoming ceremony."
Damian's tone was very sincere.
Yveltal fell into confusion. Why did it feel like this human's words actually made a little sense?
No, no, something is definitely wrong here.
"If it were Xerneas, I wouldn't be this persistent. Compared to you, Yveltal, Xerneas didn't catch my eye nearly as much."
Damian even used the colorful deer as an example.
This was a lie.
In fact, Damian originally did not care much for Xerneas, but after today's meeting and interaction, his impression of Xerneas had changed drastically.
Who wouldn't want a "saint" as a friend?
Not to mention, Xerneas was actually very capable in a fight, and it really stepped up when things got serious.
Hearing this, the look in Yveltal's eyes changed slightly.
"Human, are you serious?"
Yveltal asked through deep, raspy telepathy.
"Of course I am. If I absolutely had to choose between the two of you, I would definitely choose you as my partner."
Damian answered without hesitation.
Yveltal's eyes flickered. At this moment, it actually felt a rare bit of goodwill toward a human.
Well, mainly because those words made it feel very good.
That's right! I, Yveltal, am definitely stronger than that colorful deer Xerneas!
But even so, Yveltal didn't really want to follow a human. It still preferred to be free and unrestrained.
"Human, I do not wish to follow you."
"That is truly a shame. But as expected, I just can't give up on you."
Damian shook his head helplessly.
What a joke. With things already like this, how could he possibly let Yveltal go?
However, he didn't use brute force. First, he showed Yveltal his strength, then he played along with it, and finally, he set the trap.
This way, everything would be perfect.
Otherwise, given Yveltal's personality, Damian was truly afraid that if he pushed it too hard, it would pretend to comply and then launch a sneak attack in the middle of the night.
Honestly, if Yveltal did something that shameless, Damian wouldn't be surprised at all.
"How about this, Yveltal? I am a reasonable person. Let's both take a step back."
"Primal Kyogre, Shadow Mewtwo, and Giratina are my three strongest partners. You can choose any one of them to challenge. If you can defeat one of them, I will let you go."
"Otherwise, you will willingly become my partner. How does that sound?"
"Of course, I will heal your injuries before the battle."
Damian spoke as if he were reluctantly making a concession.
"..." Yveltal fell silent upon hearing this.
"Yveltal, I'm already giving you plenty of leeway. I wouldn't give any other Pokémon this kind of chance. After all, I already defeated you once, right?"
Damian looked at Yveltal and smiled.
And as it turned out, this was indeed effective.
Although Yveltal had a cold and fierce personality, dignity was exceptionally important to a Pokémon like it.
It accepted decisively. But who it would fight was a difficult question.
Yveltal actually really wanted to challenge Shadow Mewtwo Y. After all, it had been defeated by Shadow Mewtwo Y before, and it wanted to wash away that shame.
However, even Yveltal had a brain.
Shadow Mewtwo Y was too strong. Yveltal simply couldn't handle it. It had been easily beaten into a heavy injury by Shadow Mewtwo Y earlier.
That left only Primal Kyogre and Giratina.
Both of them were tough opponents, especially Giratina.
That guy looked like a complete brute. Better forget about that one.
Since this involved its freedom, Yveltal was taking it very seriously. It definitely couldn't choose Giratina, so it could only choose this fish.
Yveltal looked at the large blue-and-gold fish on the left, its eyes cold.
Birds eat fish!
Especially a fierce bird like me!
Seeing Yveltal point its gaze at it, Primal Kyogre was stunned for a moment, then it was so angry it laughed.
Fine! Fine! Fine! You didn't pick Giratina, you didn't pick Mewtwo, but you picked me?
You think this fish is an easy target, don't you? Fine! Fine!
Damn it, you're going to regret this!!!
Primal Kyogre stared coldly at Yveltal. It decided that if it didn't fill this Yveltal with enough water to make its stomach bulge, it wouldn't stop!
"It looks like you've chosen Primal Kyogre. Then it's settled."
Damian let out a laugh and took out some Sacred Ash to restore Yveltal's injuries.
The effect of the Sacred Ash was immediate. Since it was made from Ho-Oh's feathers, the recovery effect was on a completely different level.
After resting for about half an hour, Primal Kyogre and Yveltal faced off in the sky.
Dark rain clouds blocked out the sky. The Primordial Sea Ability covered the area, and heavy rain began to fall.
On Yveltal's side, Dark Aura spread out. Under Dark Aura, the damage of Dark-type moves increased.
Without a doubt, both Primal Kyogre and Yveltal were fully prepared.
And then...
Gwah!!
A battered Yveltal struggled to crawl out of the lake and onto the shore. It lay there with its beak open, frantically spitting out water.
At this moment, its belly was bulging high, completely full of water, looking like it was ten months pregnant.
Damian's expression was incredibly strange.
In reality, he wasn't surprised at all that Yveltal couldn't beat Primal Kyogre. Although Primal Kyogre wasn't quite on the level of the absolute top Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza, Kyurem, or Giratina...
Its strength was definitely in the top tier, just below the very strongest Legendary Pokémon.
Dealing with Yveltal was naturally not a problem.
But the key issue was that Primal Kyogre had filled Yveltal with water again...
Well, after injuring Yveltal, it had dragged it straight into the lake and kept forcing it underwater, making it drink a bellyful.
Come to think of it, that was exactly what it did to Groudon back in the day.
But logically speaking, Yveltal hadn't offended it, right? Was Primal Kyogre's grudge really that big just because it had been chosen for the fight?
Hmm, it seemed this big fish really knew how to hold a grudge.
"Kyogre... is it always like this?"
Behind Damian, AZ's expression was very odd, as if he wanted to say something but held it back.
This was the first time he had seen a battle between Legendary Pokémon of this level, but honestly, it completely overturned his imagination.
Especially the image of Yveltal frantically flapping its wings against the surface of the lake, trying to fly away, while Primal Kyogre bit its tail and dragged it to the bottom with all its strength.
AZ felt that he probably wouldn't be able to forget that image for the rest of his life...
It was just too overwhelming.
The Eternal Flower hid behind AZ's neck, looking terrified.
Damian: "..."
Behind the frantically vomiting Yveltal, Primal Kyogre slowly rose from the water. Its golden beast-like eyes were cold, proud, and self-satisfied.
I thought you had some skill, but this is it?
With this little ability, you dared to pick this fish? Is your stomach too empty?
Do you even know who this fish is?
Back in LaRousse City, this fish even fought Mega Rayquaza Shiny!!
Hmph hmph hmph~
After winning, the Primal Kyogre flew toward Damian in a very good mood.
"Well done."
Damian praised Primal Kyogre anyway, since it had won very decisively.
Primal Kyogre tilted its large head up in a very human-like way, looking extremely proud of itself.
Then Damian looked at Yveltal, who was still vomiting water by the lake. Damian noticed that water wasn't just coming out of its mouth. There was also water leaking out beneath its lower half.
This...
"Yveltal, do you need some strong emetics?"
Damian asked.
"Hu... man, quickly put me back in the ball."
Yveltal's raspy telepathy, connected only to Damian, was extremely urgent.
Bastard! It was Yveltal!
To have such a pathetic and humiliating side seen by three humans, Yveltal was about to faint from shame!
Aaaaah! That damn big fish! I'm going to kill it!! I'm going to kill it a hundred times over!
I've never been this full in my entire life!
"Alright." Damian laughed, but his movements were very quick.
He took out Yveltal's Poké Ball and withdrew it into the ball.
And then...
Looking at the water constantly leaking from the seams of the Poké Ball in his hand, Damian silently took out a waterproof bag and placed Yveltal's Poké Ball inside.
The good news: Yveltal was now completely won over.
The bad news: Yveltal couldn't stop spraying water.
----------------------------------
This novel is already complete
Check out my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/c/LIZBETH1242
Thanks to all of you, we've already reached 180 free members and 30 paid members!
Seriously, thank you so much for all your support. It helps me a lot.
I also want to apologize for the lack of updates this month, haha. My PC completely died, and uploading chapters from my phone was pretty complicated.