Time rewound to one minute earlier...
Back to the moment when everyone had just finished watching the TOP 4 ranking.
The TOP 4 ranking had ended.
Everyone was still unsatisfied, but also deeply shaken.
Mewtwo and Mew hadn't even used laws in their battle???
Thinking back on it, that really did seem to be the case.
Their entire fight had indeed consisted solely of Psychic-type moves.
Although the techniques they used were terrifying beyond belief—one burst of psychic power could uproot an entire iceberg.
They were practically hurling glaciers at each other like snowballs.
That scene had nearly made countless Psychic-type Trainers' eyes fall out.
What kind of insane psychic power was that?!
But the moves they used were all recognizable to Trainers.
The spectacle was horrifying, with lightning and sparks everywhere, but those were merely the fields produced by the clash of psychic power, tearing space apart.
When Psychic-type Pokémon battled, there was no type advantage.
What mattered was the strength of their psychic power.
Aside from the very beginning, when Mew used the Dark-type move Dark Pulse—
they hadn't used any other non-Psychic-type moves.
They really hadn't used laws in battle.
Unlike the ranking videos of Groudon, Kyogre, Ho-Oh, Rayquaza, Giratina, Palkia, and Dialga.
All of those divine beasts had fought using the laws and divine authority they governed.
Groudon's power of earth, Kyogre's power of the sea, Ho-Oh's golden flames of resurrection, Rayquaza's dominion over the sky, Giratina's dark matter, and Palkia and Dialga's control over space and time.
Each of them had used laws in combat.
Yet Mew and Mewtwo, without even using laws, had fought in a way that already shook the heavens and earth.
Maybe they hadn't used laws because the destruction would've been too great.
TOP 4 was simply too terrifying.
And they hadn't even used their exclusive moves.
Just imagining what it would look like if they went all out made people shiver.
No matter what, though, this video had come to an end.
Across the countless dimensions, everyone had taken away something different from it.
"Hmph. Mewtwo? It does look a little like me. Earlier, when I saw it cold and ruthless, slaughtering without mercy and wanting to destroy the whole world, I thought a little more highly of it."
"But who would've guessed that in the end, it would still care about the lives of insects? What a weakling."
Frieza's face was full of disdain. When Mewtwo had broken free from Team Rocket's control, when all it had in its eyes was endless slaughter and destruction, he had thought that, at last, there was an existence in the Pokémon world worthy of notice.
But in the end, Mewtwo still cared about those insects!
In Frieza's world, the weak had no right to live.
"Still... why do even the insects of that Pokémon world possess such powers?" Frieza was both jealous and shocked. He had sensed a force inside Mewtwo.
That force was somewhat similar to the power wielded by a God of Destruction.
It was an extremely pure power of destruction.
In Universe 7 of the Dragon Ball world—the universe where the Dragon Team lived—
On the Sacred World of the Kai.
Every universe had both a God of Destruction and a Supreme Kai.
One destroyed. One created.
The two existed in balance. If either died, both would perish.
On the Sacred World of the Kai, the East Supreme Kai looked grave. Inside Mewtwo, he had sensed a power similar to that of a God of Destruction.
Inside Mew, he had sensed the power of creation.
It felt as though Mew and Mewtwo shared a relationship similar to his own with the God of Destruction.
Mew's power of creation likely gave birth to all Pokémon in the Pokémon world.
While the East Supreme Kai was deep in thought—
he suddenly received reports from many Kais.
"These people..."
He had a headache. Almost every Kai from every galaxy had sent him messages just now.
Some technologically advanced planets had already begun researching cloning technology, extracting the blood of powerful races from their own planets—or from elsewhere in the universe—and editing their cells.
After seeing that the clone Mewtwo possessed power comparable to the original Mew, they had begun following suit, hoping to use the cells of warriors from their own worlds to create endless gene weapons.
On Earth—
"Hahaha! So they created the strongest artificial lifeform? Too bad that Giovanni isn't from my world. Otherwise, I'd really like to exchange ideas with him."
"But if we're talking about the strongest artificial lifeform, my Majin Buu is the strongest of them all!!" the wizard Bibidi cackled. "Once Majin Buu is revived, it'll be the day I rule Universe 7!"
"Our Germa 66 military must shift its focus toward scientific research from now on. We'll go all in on cloning technology." In the world of pirates, in the North Blue, Judge, the leader of the Vinsmoke family and the most evil military force there, spoke coldly.
"Yan, deepen our research into cloning technology, edit genes, and decipher the genes of gods." In the world of Super God Academy, Kesha sat upon the main seat and gave her orders.
"Our Stan Kingdom will also begin gene research. Clone powerful assassins from Xuanwu Kingdom. Capture the Shadow Assassins. At the very least, obtain their blood."
"Isn't Xuanwu Kingdom proud of its Shadow Assassins? As long as we can do what Giovanni did, then even the so-called Seven Great Shadow Assassins won't mean a thing before countless clones that rival the original!" In the Assassin world, the upper echelon of Stan Kingdom issued orders.
"I remember... Mark was also a clone. So clones really are non-human beings with optimized genes. What a pity—the cloning machinery is all on the surface. Otherwise, we could make more Marks."
"Or perhaps analyze and decipher the genes of Devourer Beasts, uncover the secrets of the Mana ecosystem, then clone them and make the Devourer Beasts serve us." In the world of Ling Cage, floating high above the wasteland, the ruler of the Lighthouse gazed down at the ruined world beneath and muttered softly.
"It seems the research into injecting Hashirama's cells into human bodies must be pushed forward. We'll need a batch of infants. Looks like I'll have to work with that old fox Danzo. He should be very interested in mass-producing the Wood Release kekkei genkai." In the Naruto world, Orochimaru revealed a sinister smile.
With a mortal body, Giovanni had used the power of science to create Mewtwo, a first-class divine beast.
That caused many ambitious figures across the countless dimensions to take action.
Waves began to stir in every world.
In the Pokémon world, every region in the world reached a consensus.
Destroy Team Rocket.
Capture Giovanni.
Otherwise, Team Rocket's existence would be a disaster for the future of the world.
But some of the evil organizations in other regions, after seeing what Giovanni had accomplished, felt as if a door to a new world had been opened.
They also began collecting items related to divine beasts and secretly recruiting researchers.
Viridian Forest...
Inside Team Rocket's underground base.
"Boss, the League's investigators and the Jennys are searching for us everywhere."
"It's fine. Call in Lance, Apollo, Athena, and Lambda..." Giovanni said. Those four were the high-ranking executives who, in the ranking video, would one day find Mew's eyelash for him.
If they could be promoted to senior executives, then that meant they were absolutely loyal to him.
"Prepare to abandon this base. At the League's current rate of investigation, they'll discover it soon enough. Take all the research materials. Pack up every piece of equipment and move it."
"Yes, sir!"
After his subordinate left, Giovanni's eyes burned with intense focus.
"Mewtwo... This time, there's no way I'll let you break free from my control!"
And just then—
just as everyone was about to exit the Dimensional Platform—
[Special Episode: War of the Gods — Hoopa vs. Hoopa Unbound]
[Preview: This special episode is nonstop hype]
The video, which had already dimmed, suddenly lit up again with subtitles.
The viewers across the dimensions, who still hadn't had enough, immediately lit up.
Holy shit!
The uploader updated fast. What a legend!
Although it wasn't part of the main ranking, just a special episode—
the last special episode had been great too, showing how Groudon and Kyogre created the land and the sea.
But this special preview was even more explosive:
War of the Gods—Hoopa vs. Hoopa Unbound
Those four words alone—War of the Gods—set people's nerves on fire.
But who were Hoopa and Hoopa Unbound?
Were they two never-before-seen divine beasts?
As everyone wondered...
the image reappeared.
[Special Episode: War of the Gods — Hoopa vs. Hoopa Unbound]
[Not the main chapter, preview only]
All the viewers were stunned.
Just a preview?
BOOM!!!
A thunderous roar exploded in their ears, accompanied by a blood-boiling soundtrack.
The curtain rose.
The scene looked like the end of the world.
Above the sky, black clouds covered everything, like a dark continent pressing down upon the earth.
A crimson mountain-like beast sprawled between heaven and earth, magma flowing over its body.
"Groudon!!"
From the sea, a blue whale-like figure flashed past, stirring up monstrous waves.
"Kyogre!" someone cried out.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
The sound of sonic booms, like fighter jets cutting through the sky, rang out.
Beneath the endless storm clouds, two figures—one red and one blue, both shaped like fighter planes—shot across the screen.
"The guardians of Alto Mare—Latios and Latias!!" In the Johto region, a Trainer cried out in shock.
The legend of Latios and Latias was well known in Alto Mare.
Statues of them stood at the city gates.
They were the guardians of the water capital.
Suddenly, torrential rain poured from the sky like a curtain, making it impossible to see clearly.
A giant pure-white figure flashed past within the downpour, its wings stirring endless currents of air.
Though it vanished in an instant and its face couldn't be seen, its majesty was no less than Groudon's or Kyogre's.
"Th-That... what divine beast is that? Another one we've never seen before!!" countless Trainers cried in alarm.
A dragon's roar rang out.
The camera swung upward, focusing on the sky.
Amid the endless storm clouds, lightning raged and the roar of a dragon echoed.
A black dragon, marked with golden patterns, soared beneath the dark clouds.
Everyone's eyes widened.
Rayquaza!?
A black Rayquaza?
But wasn't Rayquaza supposed to be green?
A shiny Rayquaza?
Shiny Pokémon were extremely rare, with coloration different from the standard of their species.
"ROAR!!"
In the footage, Rayquaza seemed to have been provoked. With a furious roar, it shot back into the distant clouds, moving so fast it temporarily blasted a hole through the sky.
A Pokémon's silhouette flashed past, openly provoking Rayquaza.
That fleeting figure had a golden shell and a gray-white body.
Then the clouds closed again, and it could no longer be seen.
Everyone looked at each other.
What divine beast was that now?
If it dared provoke Rayquaza, then it certainly couldn't be weaker than Rayquaza itself.
The air trembled.
The camera shifted again, locking onto the faraway sky, where two dragon-like figures—one black, one white—were locked in battle, tearing the heavens apart.
Then the two fought farther and farther away until they vanished from sight.
Everyone was dumbfounded once more.
What the hell was that???
Before they could process it, another shock came.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The earth trembled.
On the ground, a gigantic being was approaching. Its features couldn't be seen clearly—only its outline.
"Th-That... Is that one of the Regis? Regirock, Regice, or Registeel?" Professor Oak frowned. Its silhouette resembled one of the Regi trio, but also didn't quite match.
"ROAR—!"
Just as they tried to make out which Regi it was—
space split open into two great tears.
At last—two divine beasts they recognized!
But it still made everyone's scalp go numb.
Palkia and Dialga???
The horrifying image of them dragging White Yang Town into disaster was still fresh in everyone's minds.
And it wasn't over yet...
Buzz—!
Space trembled.
A spiraling black portal appeared.
A huge Pokémon with bat-like wings emerged from it.
The ruler of the Reverse World.
Giratina!
The screen darkened.
The preview had lasted just over twenty seconds.
Then the final subtitles appeared.
[Special Episode 2]
[War of the Gods — Coming Soon]
Everyone was numb.
Yet even more than numb, they felt stormy waves crashing through their hearts.
In that brief twenty-second clip alone, more than ten divine beasts had already appeared.
And more than half of them had never been seen before.
A war of the gods?!
Were all those divine beasts actually going to fight???
Countless people inhaled sharply, chills running down their spines.
"Holy shit holy shit holy shit holy shit!!!"
"With that many terrifying divine beasts, won't the world be smashed apart?!"
"The video showed modern cities and buildings. This is happening in modern times—probably within the next fifty years. If a divine beast war of that scale really happens, history should absolutely have records of it!"
"But I searched all over the internet and couldn't find a single mention of a war between divine beasts."
The Pokémon world erupted!!
Countless people swallowed hard, their eyes filled with horror.
"Th-This means... these are scenes from the future too."
In the future, a battle involving so many divine beasts would actually break out?
There were so many divine beasts in that short clip, and many of them were unfamiliar faces.
Perhaps some of them were even the divine beasts yet to appear in TOP 1 through TOP 3.
Wouldn't the world be destroyed in a war like that?!?
"Holy shit!! A war of divine beasts! That twenty-second preview alone got my blood pumping! I want to see it so badly! That scene is definitely going to be insane!"
In contrast to the fear and anxiety filling the Pokémon world—
the countless other anime dimensions were mostly shocked and excited.
"Damn, this is awesome!"
"Wow, so many divine beasts, and all of them look incredible! Which one should I invite onto my ship to be my crewmate? Forget it—I'll build a giant pirate ship and make them all my companions!"
"A full-scale melee between divine beasts? I can't wait to see it!"
"But why would the divine beasts start fighting?"
"Yeah, aren't divine beasts supposed to be forces that balance each other?"
Even in their excitement, they were puzzled.
Why would all those divine beasts gather in one place and start a war?
But they also knew—
that answer would likely be revealed when the special episode arrived.
Everyone's hearts felt like they were being scratched by a cat.
They desperately wanted to know.
So they flooded Rin Aokawa's message board with comments, crazily urging him to update faster.
What they didn't know—
was that on Blue Planet, Rin Aokawa had also run into something.
Something that made him very excited.
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