Raikou, Weakened

The thunderclap vanished in an instant.

A yellow, tiger-like quadrupedal Pokémon suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

It had golden fur, powerful limbs, and sharp fangs. The white mane on its face and the long, cloak-like hair resembling thunderclouds on its back symbolized clouds and cumulonimbus clouds.

Every feature revealed the newcomer's identity.

One of Johto Region's Legendary Beasts, the Thunder Pokémon—Raikou.

It was said that Raikou descended alongside lightning, and the dark purple, thundercloud-like cloak of long hair on its back could unleash bolts of lightning. Raikou could also fly by creating thunderclouds, and that alone was enough to crush certain Pokémon.

Seeing Raikou appear, Nidoking finally felt relieved and collapsed unconscious.

The protected Pokémon were excited as well. Pokémon from the Johto Region mostly recognized the Legendary Beasts. Even those who did not had heard more or less of their stories. They were a team of Legendary Pokémon that maintained the relationship between humans and Pokémon, often traveling about to help other Pokémon.

Although the Legendary Beasts were not unique, Johto Region's Legendary Beasts were the only ones.

Nidoran♀ looked at the imposing Pokémon and felt that they should be saved now. However, her gaze remained fixed on her father, who had already lost the ability to fight, and the worry in her eyes seemed ready to overflow.

Raikou already looked like the fiercest of the Legendary Beasts, and witnessing the scene before him made him furious.

"Stop, you damned humans." Raikou had always been the Legendary Beast that trusted humans the least. In his eyes, humans were all rather vile by nature, and it seemed his opinion had not been wrong.

In truth, most people followed the rules and loved Pokémon deeply, but there were always some who ruined the relationship between humans and Pokémon.

Raikou had seen far too many scenes like this, so it was no wonder he was hostile toward humans.

Without wasting any more words, Raikou immediately attacked.

He opened with a [Thunderbolt].

Raikou's power was extremely formidable. Even Ground-type Pokémon immune to Electric-type moves, such as Sandslash, could still suffer some damage.

Type advantages—and even immunity—were ineffective before an absolute difference in level and power.

Very quickly, the Pokémon underlings who had failed to react lost their ability to fight.

Their owners merely watched quietly, unwilling even to recall them into their Poké Balls. After all, they were afraid too. That was Raikou. If they got struck by his lightning, how could they possibly endure it?

As tools for catching Pokémon, Poké Balls had a certain healing function. Recalling a critically injured Pokémon allowed it to receive minor treatment and recover a little.

Yet because these people feared for their lives, none of them dared step forward to retrieve their Pokémon.

Raikou's eyes grew even colder, not only toward the group of people opposite him, but also toward their Pokémon.

Why were they risking their lives for masters like these? Couldn't they have minds of their own?

Raikou looked as though he hated that they had failed to live up to expectations. In the end, however, he vented all his fury on the group of people.

Pokémon were pure and loyal. It was because of people like you that they ended up this way.

Qing Mu still looked like he was enjoying a show, his expression amused. He clearly was not afraid of Raikou's retaliation at all.

To Raikou, that expression was undoubtedly a provocation, so he rewarded him with an [Electro Ball].

The Electro Ball shot toward Qing Mu's face.

But it did not hit. Just as it was about to smash into Qing Mu, its trajectory suddenly curved, and it finally struck the ground.

Beside the point of impact stood a large orange-yellow rat, with a slight sheen of sweat on its head.

It was a Raichu, and one of Raichu's abilities was Lightning Rod (which drew in Electric-type moves and raised Special Attack).

Raikou was not particularly surprised. Since Qing Mu dared to capture Pokémon of their caliber, he must have had something up his sleeve. That Raichu was quite strong—perhaps that was the source of his confidence?

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Raikou had actually fought this person once last night. His Pokémon, Gengar and Raichu, were both very strong, at roughly Level 70 or above. One had to know that the limit for ordinary Pokémon was Level 80. Most Pokémon would get stuck at that level, and leveling became more difficult the further one progressed.

In this world, the levels Pokémon could reach were constrained by their species. Most Pokémon, due to racial limits, could only reach Level 70. Exceptionally well-raised ones could reach the Level 80 limit. Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon with powerful racial traits could reach Level 90, the same limit as Tier 2 Gods like Raikou, while Tier 1 Gods and Mythical Pokémon could break through to Level 100.

Pokémon were constrained in this way when leveling up. To this day, there had never been an ordinary Pokémon that broke through Level 80. Likewise, there had been no examples of Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon or Tier 2 Gods breaking through Level 90. However, no one knew whether higher-tier Pokémon were also limited to Level 100.

For a human named Qing Mu to raise his Pokémon to such a level showed that he truly had some skill.

Pokémon at this level indeed had a chance to contend with Legendary Pokémon.

Would anyone dare set their sights on Legendary Pokémon without any strength? No one could be that stupid.

It seemed Electric-type moves were useless for now, so he would switch to something else. Raikou condensed a [Shadow Ball].

No matter what, he would deal with the primary target first.

Qing Mu threw out another Poké Ball, and a Dodrio leaped out to block the attack.

This guy had really prepared thoroughly to deal with him.

Raikou was not afraid. As a Pokémon, his innate battle-loving instincts only made him more eager to fight stronger opponents.

Last night's probing had merely revealed some of the other side's strength. It appeared there was far more to him than that.

Raikou was confident in his own strength, but he was not arrogant. That was why he had gone to summon the other two Legendary Beasts last night. Now, it seemed that decision had been completely correct.

Estimating that his two brothers would arrive soon, Raikou relaxed somewhat and gradually slowed the frequency at which he used moves.

Once Entei and Suicune arrived, they would properly deal with this group of people.

Facing humans, Raikou could be said to be extremely cautious. They were full of tricks, and who knew what kind of accident might happen? After all, there had been cases of Legendary Pokémon falling victim to them.

As a Pokémon with outstanding special attack, Raikou happened to have no need for close-range combat. Attacking from afar greatly reduced the chances of the other side pulling some underhanded trick.

Perhaps seeing through Raikou's intentions, Qing Mu grew somewhat impatient as well.

"Enough. We've played long enough. It's time to start completing the mission."

Gengar took a machine out of its own body and handed it to Qing Mu.

Raikou immediately became alert. It had heard that humans loved researching all sorts of strange contraptions. It had seen some before, and had even suffered because of one once. Underestimating such things would definitely lead to trouble.

The device Qing Mu held was a relatively advanced Interferer. Its function was to weaken Pokémon over a wide area, and the longer they remained within its range, the greater the weakening became.

This was the latest result of their organization's research. Its effects were extremely potent, though it was quite valuable. At present, it was already good enough for each of their leading members to have one.

Qing Mu activated the device.

An invisible pressure immediately shrouded the area. Even though it had been prepared, Raikou still could not defend against such a wide-range AOE attack. It could clearly feel its strength dropping significantly.

So that's how it is? Raikou thought.

Raikou now only possessed strength around level 70. Its power had indeed been greatly weakened, yet the other side's Pokémon were completely unaffected.

Those Pokémon wore specially made shielding devices that protected them from the Interferer's effects.

Raikou found it rather strange. They had something like this, yet they had not used it from the start? Did they really think it was such an easy target? So the fight just now had been nothing more than playing around to them?

Raikou felt insulted.

Or were they simply stupid? Or did that thing have a time limit? Whatever. None of that mattered now.

So what if it had been weakened? Raikou threw back its head and roared at the sky, its fury and fighting spirit growing ever stronger.

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