Mewtwo-Powered Pokémon

Liu Xin collected himself and sighed. "Fair enough. The South China Gym is as laid-back as ever."

"We'll just challenge it properly tonight."

With that settled, they relaxed and wandered around looking at photo books.

South China City had plenty of beautiful women, after all, and its art scene was impressive.

Liu Xin also went to train, giving Shiny Cubone, Giant Onix, and Mutant Phanpy an early chance to get used to Water-type attacks.

Shiny Cubone had an easy time of it, but Mutant Phanpy and Giant Onix struggled. Water-type attacks hurt them badly.

"Cubone! Cubone!"

Shiny Cubone looked unbearably smug and began taunting its teammates.

Giant Onix and Mutant Phanpy weren't the sort to take that quietly. They roared and attacked Shiny Cubone.

Liu Xin saw them and shouted, "Stop! Stop!"

"You're teammates! Why are you fighting? No infighting!"

Totodile cheered from the sidelines, delighted to see chaos break out.

Its trainer, Sen Anxiang, was doing much the same. "Go, go! I'm rooting for you, Mutant Phanpy!"

"But Shiny Cubone is really strong too."

"Giant Onix, you can do it!"

Liu Xin's head ached. Those three never listened.

Unable to rein them in, he let them head farther away.

Luckily, this wasn't an urban area. They were in the mountains near South China Cave.

Out here, they could fight all they wanted.

"Hey, I heard there's a legendary Pokémon inside South China Cave—Mewtwo."

Liu Xin remembered reading that the legendary Pokémon Mewtwo lived deep inside South China Cave.

And the cave was right in front of them. They could go in and see for themselves whenever they wanted.

Ito Hei shook his head slightly and sighed. "Mewtwo used to be there, but a cave-in a few years ago sent him flying out."

"So South China Cave isn't anything special anymore. It's just a place to train."

Liu Xin had thought they might get a chance to see Mewtwo, but apparently it wouldn't be that easy.

He wasn't discouraged. Even if he found Mewtwo, he couldn't capture him.

The three Pokémon fought their way into the cave, and Liu Xin followed.

South China Cave was dark, with barely enough light to see.

Sen Anxiang kept edging closer until she was pressed against Liu Xin, setting his heart racing.

A sweet fragrance drifted to his nose, leaving him distracted.

Ito Hei felt a little helpless. His Fire-type Pokémon was providing light too, so why wasn't she standing close to him?

Was it just because Liu Xin was better-looking than me?

Unlike the City of Water, South China Cave wasn't damp at all. Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon were common here.

Liu Xin began forming a plan as they ventured deeper. The cavern widened, and they could see farther ahead.

Pokémon sprang out one after another. It took all three of them working together to clear them out; there were simply too many.

As a result, Liu Xin's experience and points kept rising.

Giant Onix rampaged through the cave, shaking everything around it. The sight was terrifying.

Mutant Phanpy and Shiny Cubone split off on their own. If Liu Xin hadn't kept receiving experience and points notifications, he would have worried about the three of them.

At least the opponents near the entrance weren't strong, so they were easy to handle.

Clefairy worked hard to gain levels too, teaming up with Totodile while Krabby supported them.

Ito Hei's Rapidash packed a punch. Together with Raticate and Ninetales, it swept through the area.

The three trainers gradually drifted apart, and Liu Xin followed Giant Onix deeper into the cave.

"Onix!"

Giant Onix suddenly gave a wary roar, its expression grave.

Mutant Phanpy and Shiny Cubone returned from their separate routes, staring intently at the Pokémon emerging ahead.

Even from a distance, they could tell it was small.

It resembled a young shark, with a large fin atop its head and two protrusions on either side.

Gible.

Liu Xin hadn't expected to find one here.

Gible's body was dark blue, with red running from its lower jaw to its belly. Light blue stripes marked its back and the two protrusions on its head.

It had an enormous mouth full of sharp teeth, and its short, sturdy limbs each ended in three toes.

It swaggered out with claws raised, openly challenging them.

Another hot-tempered Pokémon—and Liu Xin wanted it.

Super Gible:

Level: 18 (can evolve into Gabite at level 20)

Attack: 260

Special Attack: 200

Defense: 150

Special Defense: 140

Speed: 130

Abilities: Sand Veil (raises evasion in a sandstorm and prevents sandstorm damage); Rough Skin (opponents that make close-contact attacks take damage equal to 30% of Gible's damage)

Moves: Sand Tomb, Dragon Breath, Bulldoze, Sand Attack, Tackle

What the hell was a Super Gible?

What was going on?

Still, this Gible's stats were no worse than Mutant Phanpy's or Shiny Cubone's. It was in the same league as them.

Giant Onix roared and charged, launching a Tackle.

Super Gible didn't dodge. It rushed forward and answered with its own Tackle.

Boom!

A faint purple glow appeared across Gible's body. Its move doubled in power instantly, knocking Giant Onix back.

How could something so small push back Giant Onix?

Furious, Giant Onix gathered the loose stones around it into massive boulders and hurled them at Super Gible.

Rock Slide!

Super Gible didn't seem concerned. It stamped its feet, unleashing tremendous force. Shards of stone burst from the ground ahead and shot toward the boulders.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The crashing was deafening. Every one of Giant Onix's attacks shattered, and quite a few of the flying stones struck it.

The damage was obvious. If Shiny Cubone hadn't stepped in, Giant Onix would have been in even worse shape.

Terrifying.

This was far beyond an ordinary Gible. What was going on?

Drawn by the noise, Ito Hei arrived and exclaimed, "Whoa, are you really that lucky?"

"You actually found a Mewtwo-Powered Pokémon!"

Mewtwo-Powered?

Seeing Liu Xin's baffled expression, Ito Hei explained excitedly, "They confirmed Mewtwo was here before, remember?"

"That drew lots of trainers who wanted to challenge him. Every time they attacked, some of Mewtwo's power leaked out. Pokémon that absorbed it mutated."

"It's similar to your Mutant Phanpy, except your Phanpy mutated after absorbing energy from the Extraterrestrial Meteorite, while this Gible absorbed Mewtwo's energy."

So Mewtwo-Powered Pokémon were Pokémon mutated by Mewtwo's energy. No wonder this one's strength and stats were so extraordinary.

Liu Xin grew even more excited. He rubbed his hands together and said, "Then I'm catching this Gible for sure!"

"Everyone, get in there and take it down!"