"We're done for... This time, we're really done for."
Eguchi collapsed to the ground in despair. Their final trump card had failed. Now, he and Aso seemed to have no choice but to wait for death.
"Eguchi, we still have the gene serum."
Aso's voice came through, and Eguchi's eyes lit up instantly. He sprang to his feet and said excitedly, "Right, right! We still have the gene serum. This can definitely turn the situation around!"
"You get Steelix to hold off Metagross for a bit," Aso instructed.
With Metagross around, there was no way they could successfully throw the gene serum to Hydreigon.
"Got it!"
Eguchi nodded, but just as he was about to call for Steelix, a pained roar echoed in his ears.
Then—Steelix collapsed under Melmetal's devastating fists.
Eguchi: ⊙ｏ⊙
Aso closed his eyes in despair.
They had almost no Pokémon left on the field—none that could block Metagross and buy time for Hydreigon.
But fate didn't seem to want them dead just yet.
Hydreigon was knocked back by Metagross's Bullet Punch, its massive body rolling across the ground—only to come to a stop less than ten meters away from Aso.
For a moment, both Aso and Eguchi thought they were about to be crushed under it.
"Hydreigon!!"
Aso shouted at the thrashing, half-mad dragon, who was struggling to get up.
Though Hydreigon had lost its sanity, Aso had raised it since it was a Deino, so it instinctively turned its gaze toward him.
And then—Aso hurled something straight at it.
"Swallow it!!"
Gulp.
Hydreigon swallowed the object in one go.
Standing on Moltres's back, Julian frowned slightly. What Aso threw looked like some kind of vial of serum.
'What kind of serum could it be?'
'Could it really reverse the situation now?'
As the gene serum entered its body, Hydreigon felt a massive surge of power erupt from within, an unending flood of strength—but it came with tremendous pain, as if every cell in its body was breaking apart and regenerating.
The unbearable pain made Hydreigon roar over and over again in fury.
At the same time, a dark, miasma-like energy burst from its body like thick smoke, wrapping around it.
Even its previously shattered left head began to regenerate under this dark energy—but the new head was now composed entirely of that shadowy energy.
"ROOOOOAR—!!!"
A terrifying aura exploded from Hydreigon, scattering the clouds in the sky and sending shockwaves sweeping across the battlefield.
Had it not been for Bastiodon shielding Aso and Eguchi with its body, the two would have been obliterated on the spot.
Meanwhile, all their fainted Pokémon were blown away by the shockwave, taking even more damage.
Now, only Aso's Hydreigon remained on the field. Julian had already recalled all his Pokémon, leaving only Metagross behind.
Drip. Drip.
Droplets of black, thick, smoke-like drool oozed from Hydreigon's jaws, sizzling as it hit the ground, burning holes into the earth.
Pokémon: Hydreigon (Dark/Dragon)
Level: 78 → 86
Potential: Cyan
Ability: Levitate
Held Item: Dragon Fang
Gender: Male
Moves: Bite, Dragon Breath, Focus Energy, Tri Attack, Assurance, Headbutt, Work Up, Crunch, Scary Face, Dragon Pulse, Dragon Rush, Nasty Plot, Outrage, Hyper Beam
TMs: Take Down, Protect, Fire Spin, Dragon Tail, Fire Fang, Ice Fang, Thunder Fang, Dragon Dance, Dark Pulse
Egg Moves: Astonish, Double Hit, Focus Blast, Dragon Claw
Note: Gene serum used—power drastically increased. Death in 3 minutes.
---
'So it was the gene serum that was used.'
Julian deactivated his Probing Eyes.
Gene serums were a product of genetic engineering.
Research into Pokémon genetics was being conducted worldwide, but Babath was ahead in this field—because their research was extremely inhumane, completely devoid of any ethical constraints.
Under such extreme research, their progress was naturally faster. The gene serum Aso used was one of their most recent creations.
It could dramatically boost a Pokémon's power, but after a few minutes, the Pokémon would die.
So the power boost could be seen as a trade—burning the Pokémon's life for a short burst of strength.
The Hydreigon that had taken the gene serum looked extremely grotesque. Cracks began to appear all over its body, leaking some kind of foul-smelling fluid from the fissures.
"Hydreigon! KILL HIM!" Aso pointed at Julian.
But Hydreigon didn't move—instead, it looked at him.
Its eyes held no emotion, only deep, brutal violence and endless bloodlust.
Aso instinctively took a step back, terrified. Eguchi fared even worse—he fainted on the spot.
Fortunately, Hydreigon didn't attack Aso. Instead, it locked onto Metagross and Moltres.
Moltres lifted its head arrogantly, looking at Hydreigon with disdain: "Disgusting. It looks like a demon now, not a dragon."
Wrapped in that shadowy energy, with eyes radiating sheer savagery, Hydreigon had transformed from a Dark Dragon into a true Monster.
"Metagross," Julian said calmly. "Test its strength."
He had no intention of Mega Evolving Metagross—even though Hydreigon's current strength had already surpassed mid-stage pseudo-champion level.
But it had limited time and had lost all rationality.
Metagross felt that 'this' version of Hydreigon was finally worth fighting. The previous one had been strong, but never pushed it to its limits.
Now, for the first time, Metagross could feel real pressure building.
In an instant, Metagross vanished from its original spot, and reappeared a second later above Hydreigon's central head, its Meteor Mash crashing down with enough force to split the air itself.
BOOM!!
Hydreigon didn't even try to dodge. It took the blow to the head directly.
CRACK—CRACK—!!
The ground beneath Hydreigon's feet shattered instantly, sending debris flying like bullets.
The dragon's scalp split open, revealing pale white skull beneath. Even the skull itself began to fracture. This was its primary head. If destroyed, Hydreigon would die instantly.
Yet it had chosen to tank Metagross's punch head-on without even trying to evade.
Proof that it really had no rational thought left.
It had great strength, but without reason, it was nothing more than a mindless machine of destruction.
Its two remaining heads—left and right—lunged toward Metagross, trying to bite, but Metagross quickly pulled back.
But the left head, formed of that shadowy energy, suddenly stretched like a serpent's neck, and sank its fangs into Metagross.
Then it whipped its head violently, smashing Metagross into the ground.
KABOOM!
The massive impact cracked the battlefield.
ROAR—!!
Hydreigon howled, and all three of its heads charged attacks simultaneously:
- Main Head: Dragon Pulse
- Right Head: Dark Pulse
- Left Head: Dragon Breath
Three beams of destruction shot down into the crater where Metagross had just been smashed.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The resulting explosion tore the earth apart. Cracks spiderwebbed outward before the entire area collapsed inward, the shockwave rippling fifty kilometers in every direction.
*****
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