"Boom!"
Just then, a violent explosion interrupted his thoughts.
Mewtwo's eyes flickered, and a shock wave of psychic power, condensed into tangible form, slammed into the overwhelming sea of flames. The violent collision sent a shock wave racing outward in every direction!
Ye Qing's expression changed drastically. "Arcanine, use Protect!"
The shock wave reached them the very next instant. Fortunately, Arcanine had remained utterly focused and activated Protect almost the moment Ye Qing gave the command!
Despite the protective dome shielding them, the immensely powerful shock wave still sent man and Pokémon sliding backward, nearly knocking them over the edge.
The others fared no better. Team R's other elites and Captain Blood Hand immediately shielded the researchers, but everyone else suffered terribly. Those who lacked sufficient strength were swept away along with their Pokémon.
Ye Qing glanced at the few team members left by the crater. And they expected us to stand guard and keep Wild Pokémon from interfering? We'd be lucky just to survive!
Blood Hand's face twitched as he protected the researchers. These were all his trusted men. How was he supposed to get by if he lost them all?
Still, seeing Ye Qing and Arcanine unharmed brought him some comfort. At least my most capable subordinate is all right.
" screee!"
Seeing its signature move blocked yet again, Moltres felt its pride wounded, but it also realized something deadly serious: this opponent was far from ordinary!
Mewtwo was growing impatient. It looked at Moltres and said, "Show me your real strength, or die."
Such arrogance!
Moltres was so furious that it nearly lost the elegance it had always maintained. If it could speak human language, it would have cursed this pretentious bastard out on the spot!
Still, it had to admit that this enemy was incredibly powerful. Unless it gave everything it had, it could very well lose outright.
Moltres let out a thunderous cry, beating its enormous wings furiously as roaring flames erupted from its entire body!
At the same time, Moltres's transformation seemed to stir the entire active volcano. An immense surge of energy shook the earth and mountains. Countless enormous cracks opened in the ground, glowing crimson from within, as though the volcano beneath them was about to erupt!
The sky darkened, and clouds rapidly gathered overhead. Vast amounts of smoke and dust spewed from the crater, shooting into the sky.
Mewtwo had not been idle either. It raised one hand high, and dark clouds blanketed the sky. Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and torrential rain abruptly came pouring down!
"Everyone, get clear!"
Yanlang shouted from Hydreigon's back, hauling the Mad Scientist and the most important equipment in front of him aboard before immediately flying away.
The others were no fools either. They had already scattered before their boss even shouted.
Ye Qing straddled Arcanine's back. Using Extreme Speed, Arcanine raced down the mountainside like a gale!
Mewtwo's eyes brightened slightly. Its opponent's transformation had piqued its interest.
Amid a series of deafening booms, a scorching torrent of magma burst from underground and shot skyward through a towering plume of smoke and dust hundreds of feet high!
Now unleashing its full strength, Moltres hovered amid the surging magma. Countless red-hot rocks were hurled high into the air before plummeting back down, trailing streaks of fire across the sky!
Ye Qing looked back. Vast quantities of magma gushed out, swallowing huge stretches of land. Black smoke and volcanic ash filled the sky, making it look like the end of the world.
Amid that apocalyptic scene, two glowing figures, one yellow and one pink, faced each other high in the sky.
Unable to bear missing this battle, Ye Qing had Arcanine hide behind a huge boulder and looked back at the two Pokémon.
Facing Moltres, which had the terrain and conditions on its side, Mewtwo pressed its hands together and slowly drew them apart. A spoon roughly two meters long materialized out of thin air!
Amid the magma, Moltres beat its wings furiously, whipping up a violent gale. Heat Wave, mixed with flames and molten lava, swept toward Mewtwo from every direction!
Space distorted wherever the flames passed, and even the air was burned away!
Mewtwo cloaked its entire body in psychic power and swung the spoon, batting away the flames one after another without suffering the slightest injury.
As the battle went on, Mewtwo grew bored. It simply used Moltres as a whetstone, steadily familiarizing itself with its own power.
As it increased its psychic output, the spoon in its hands whirled so fast that neither flames nor lava could get close.
"Good! Excellent!"
High in the sky some distance away, Yanlang stood on Hydreigon's back, clapping excitedly.
This was Mewtwo's third battle. It seemed the organization really had created something extraordinary. Mewtwo had yet to fully master its power. Once the time was ripe, world domination would surely be within reach!
"Is that all you can do? Then let's end this."
Mewtwo spread its hands, forming a pink, spherical Barrier around itself. The next moment, it became a pink meteor, hurtling toward Moltres with unstoppable force!
"Screee!"
A flicker of disbelief appeared in Moltres's eyes. It had never imagined that even its most powerful attack would fail to defeat this opponent outright. From the look of things, all it had done was drain a little stamina.
Just what was this thing? How had I lived so long without ever hearing of it?
With Mewtwo charging ferociously toward it, Moltres had no time to dwell on the question. Flames surged over its body, drawing in the surrounding magma and harnessing the favorable terrain and conditions. Empowered by Burn Up and Sky Attack, it hurled itself at Mewtwo with all its strength.
"Boom!"
The two Legendary Pokémon collided like a comet striking the earth. Blinding white light flashed, dust filled the air, and heaven and earth seemed to close together!
The explosion's shock wave flung magma across the sky, and the entire volcano erupted on the spot. Flames blossomed like flowers, rain evaporated in an instant, and masses of molten rock fell from above, shooting in every direction like fiery red arrows.
The transport plane on the mountaintop hurriedly took off to escape the apocalyptic scene.
Huge quantities of lava flowed down from the crater. Its searing heat destroyed the forest, annihilating everything in its path!
The other Team R members either fled or died. Perhaps even Yanlang had never imagined that a battle between two Legendary Pokémon could wreak such world-shattering destruction.
Ye Qing and Arcanine dared not linger either and were forced to flee farther away.
Lava rained down like arrows. Relying on its speed and agility, Arcanine darted from side to side, keeping every last drop off Ye Qing.
But as more and more lava fell, it was only a matter of time before it caught up with them.
"Get on!"
Just then, a shout came from above Ye Qing!
Ye Qing looked up and saw his captain, Blood Hand.
His mount was a fierce Fearow. It seemed this was the one mentioned in Li Zhiyong's information.
Arcanine leaped with all its strength, rising level with Fearow. Looking at Fearow a little over a meter away and the scenery flashing past, Ye Qing hesitated.
Both Pokémon were traveling at over a hundred kilometers an hour. If he simply jumped across, wouldn't he fall to his death?
That brief hesitation cost him the best opportunity. Arcanine could not fly, after all. Once it landed, they would have to look for another chance.
Before you continue