"What's going on?"
Seeing Mew rush off in such a hurry, Lugia lost all desire to continue their discussion.
Truth be told, she hadn't planned on paying any attention to that strange surge of energy that suddenly flared up in the distance.
After all, at best, it just meant that another Legendary Pokémon had appeared.
And really—so what? Lugia herself was a first-rank Legendary. Another one showing up was hardly anything worth gawking at.
Besides, in her experience, the sort of Pokémon who make a flashy, world-shaking entrance like that are usually just pretentious show-offs.
Totally different from someone of her refined and understated temperament.
There was no need to meet such a noisy brute in person.
But when she caught sight of Mew's face… it seemed the situation wasn't quite what she'd imagined.
"Wait—you know that Pokémon? I think I heard you say something like 'Necrozma' just now?"
"Yeah, but there's no time to explain. I'll fill you in later."
With that, Mew vanished on the spot.
Her Teleport couldn't cover long distances, but given the urgency, she had no choice but to keep chaining the move, again and again, to close the distance as fast as possible—hoping to reach Haru in time.
She left behind a thoroughly bewildered Lugia and her daughter in the Altomare Grand Cathedral.
Lugia herself didn't mind; as far as she was concerned, none of this had anything to do with her anyway.
But little Lugia was a different story—the overwhelming aura she felt had shaken her far more deeply than it had her mother.
Though still young and not yet a fully matured first-rank Legendary, the girl actually had a better sense of things than her mother did.
She had seen her mother at full strength before, felt the kind of presence that a true first-rank god could unleash.
And yet—even that had never given her such suffocating pressure.
The difference was… enormous.
Worse still, when her mother had released her aura, she had been standing right in front of it.
But now—she was far away from that mysterious Pokémon.
Even at that distance, the difference in power was overwhelming.
That meant the newcomer's strength far, far exceeded her mother's.
But her mother was already an actual first-rank Legendary… so what kind of monster could this possibly be?
The thought of being that close to something so terrifying made the young Lugia shiver uncontrollably.
She made a silent vow to herself: whatever happened in the future, she must never cross paths with that "Necrozma."
Otherwise, she might not even understand how she died.
---
Meanwhile, over on Haru's side, the battle had more or less reached its conclusion.
Contrary to Mew's worries, the transformed Necrozma hadn't gone berserk or immediately lashed out at Haru.
Sure, she looked excited—like a Pokémon fan who had just received a life-sized Gardevoir body pillow—but her reason hadn't completely vanished.
If you wanted to describe her current desires…
They probably boiled down to beat the crap out of someone, and screw the crap out of Haru.
In fact, Necrozma couldn't help but feel a bit curious—if she turned into a human right now, would her appearance change as well?
Would her Necro-ness surpass even Lusamine's, becoming truly worthy of the title Necrozma?
Of course, the fight wasn't quite over yet, so those thoughts would have to wait for later.
Turning back to the Rocket side…
Even now, that Rocket executive still refused to yield.
He had that kind of duelist's spirit—the stubborn belief that "as long as I have cards left in my hand, I can still win; the next draw will be my miracle."
Unfortunately for him, that spirit meant nothing when standing before the Radiant Deity itself.
His chances of victory were… virtually zero.
To put it less delicately—his odds were about the same as some guy staying up late to play Pokémon Showdown online, only to be matched against a rich gothic-lolita beauty in white stockings who, after admiring his skill with a niche but high-effort team, ends up deciding to financially support him.
In other words—it'd be faster to just go to sleep.
"You've already lost. Stand down," Haru said coolly.
"There's no need to fight an opponent you can't possibly defeat."
"GaaAAaAHH—!"
Necrozma followed up with a roar of her own, echoing Haru's command—a demonstration of power aimed squarely at their beaten foe.
Honestly, the man's loss was a bit tragic.
He had a first-rank Legendary on his side, and yet before he even had a chance to fight properly, his Pokémon had been absorbed as fusion material—turning his enemy even stronger than before.
Perhaps it was that injustice that filled him with such burning resentment, spurring him to fight on in futility.
"I refuse! I'll never submit to you!"
He slowly raised his head, glaring at the man standing above him with wild, stubborn eyes, gripping an empty Master Ball so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
To him, Haru's calm face was the very image of unbearable arrogance—and that was precisely why he could not lose.
"As long as my Pokémon still stand, I haven't been defeated!"
"This is my final struggle!"
With a hoarse, defiant scream, he hurled another Poké Ball.
This time, what appeared was yet another Psychic-type Legendary.
Its sleek body was colored in blue and white, like a rounded little jet plane.
But its eyes were hollow, lifeless—devoid of the spark that any true Pokémon should have.
Yes… this was without a doubt the Latios that Haru had been searching for all along.
Just like Lunala before it, this Latios, too, was clearly under the control of some kind of human-made technology.
And perhaps because it was weaker than Lunala, its autonomy was even more limited—allowing it to channel a greater percentage of its power, but without will or freedom.
Unfortunately, its base strength was far below Lunala's to begin with.
Latios, like the Radiant Deity, bore the Psychic and Dragon-type.
Type-wise, that was a mixed bag—dragons could hurt each other, but Psychic offered little but decorative flair.
But the real issue was this:
Your base stats versus mine?
754 versus 600.
The advantage was obvious.
"Go Mega if you want," Haru thought dryly, "it won't help."
Even Mega Latios couldn't reach those absurd numbers.
With a total base stat of 754, the Radiant Deity stood unmatched—until Eternatus' Eternamax form appeared, there simply wasn't a stronger Pokémon in the world.
Latios, on the other hand, was merely a second-rank Legendary—not even in the same league.
"So Latios is in your possession, huh? Perfect. Saves me the trouble of hunting it down," Haru said with a faint smile.
If Latios was here, then the Soul Dew was likely here as well.
That meant his mission in Altomare was essentially complete.
Investigations were such a hassle anyway.
A good fight always got things done faster.
But perhaps it was Haru's casual tone that enraged the man once again.
"Don't think you've won, Haru! You think a first-rank god makes you untouchable?!"
"Latios—use Luster Purge!"
The jet Pokémon's eyes flickered with inner conflict, but in the end, it could only obey the command it had been programmed to follow.
Latios and Latias were incredibly similar Pokémon—
Their designs, base stats, movepools, even Mega forms were nearly identical.
The only real difference lay in their signature moves.
Latias had Mist Ball, while Latios had Luster Purge.
Unfortunately, even between those, there was a power gap.
Both had only 70 base power, and if not for their 50% chance of lowering or raising stats, they'd be sitting at the same table as all those forgotten, low-tier Psychic moves that no one ever uses.
And since Necrozma was also Psychic-type, the move barely tickled.
"No need to dodge, Necrozma. Take it head-on."
Haru's tone had turned almost lazy now. The opponent was simply too weak.
Even if Latios hit Necrozma square in the chest, what of it? It wouldn't even scratch him.
Besides, this Latios was still young—not yet at full power.
Like a Regigigas without its signature orbs, it was fighting crippled.
And as expected, the attack hit—yet failed to make even the slightest dent.
The Radiant Deity didn't just emerge unscathed; it didn't even flinch.
Perhaps it was that arrogance, that unshakable dominance, that finally broke something inside the Rocket executive.
"Damn you! How dare you mock me!"
"Latios—use Draco Meteor!"
Seeing that Psychic attacks were useless, he instantly switched tactics, turning to Dragon-type moves instead—hoping to strike at a possible weakness.
After all, Necrozma's current form did look rather dragon-like.
Maybe, just maybe, it actually was one.
In the Pokémon world, appearances could be deceiving.
Many Pokémon that looked like dragons weren't, and many that didn't, were.
You could never rely on appearances alone.
You might throw a dragon-shaped monster into battle—only to learn it wasn't a Dragon-type at all.
And then there was Altaria—who looked like a fluffy bird no matter how you squinted at her, yet somehow carried the Dragon type anyway.
And after Mega Evolving, she even gained a Fairy typing—
a dragon-tribe traitor, Dragon and Fairy at once.
Still, such exceptions were rare.
Most Dragon-type Pokémon at least looked the part.
And Draco Meteor—that was the ultimate Dragon-type move, the strongest of the bunch.
In the games, its base power was a hefty 130, even higher than Flare Blitz or Wood Hammer.
The cost, of course, was a harsh one: a two-stage drop to the user's Special Attack.
So in truth, the Rocket executive was staking everything on that single strike.
If he managed to land super-effective damage, maybe—maybe—he'd have a chance.
But if he was wrong…
Well, the outcome wouldn't really change either way.
Because now, Haru was making his move.
"You guessed right. I'm a Dragon too!
In fact, I'm more of a Dragon than you are!
But that doesn't matter."
"Ultra Necrozma—use Photon Geyser!"
Haru had actually wanted to trade a Draco Meteor for a Draco Meteor,
but unfortunately, even though Necrozma possessed the Dragon type,
it didn't learn that move at all.
Sure, she could have gone physical and used Outrage—base power 120.
But Outrage left the user confused afterward,
and Haru wasn't about to risk that in real life.
In the games, confusion just meant hitting yourself a bit.
In reality… well, that'd be some "itchy-mouse Onigashima" kind of chaos.
Still, the difference didn't really matter.
Even if Photon Geyser wasn't quite as strong on paper as Draco Meteor,
the gap between their stats was far greater than the gap between their moves.
And Necrozma had a special ability—Neuroforce.
When it landed a super-effective hit, its damage skyrocketed even further.
So the real power behind that shining blast was far beyond imagination.
"You're using my own move against me?!"
The man's eyes widened as Haru counterattacked.
"Photon Geyser might be your signature move, but it's nothing compared to Draco Meteor, damn it!
You think you're really bigger than me?!"
"Go to hell!"
Latios cried out, calling down a storm of falling stars,
a meteor shower born of its rage, crashing down to bury its enemy.
But the result was far worse than it had imagined.
Every single meteor was blocked.
Not a single one made it through.
And before it could recover, Latios itself was engulfed in a flood of shadowy light—
its body collapsing under the spectral assault.
Photon Geyser was part Ghost-type in this world,
and Ghost utterly crushed Psychic.
Latios, frail by nature, stood no chance against such an attack.
"N-no way… no way! How can your Pokémon be that strong?!"
Just moments ago, the man's face had been twisted in anger—
but now, it was the look of someone whose worldview had just shattered.
Was Haru really that powerful?
Could Team Rocket's Haru—the man himself—not even match another Haru?
He, too, was a trainer commanding both a first-rank and second-rank Legendary!
And yet he was being crushed without resistance.
Haru sighed softly, almost bored.
"You've lost the will to fight, huh? Then let's wrap this up."
He flicked his wrist lazily and gave his final command:
"End this cleanly. Light That Burns the Sky."
"Don't you dare mock me!"
The man clenched his teeth and hurled a third Poké Ball.
What emerged wasn't a Legendary this time,
but it was a Pokémon Haru recognized.
"Hakamo-o? Interesting. Who exactly are you?"
Haru raised an eyebrow, studying his opponent with faint amusement.
"Not many trainers use one of those."
"Hmph! A friend gave it to me. Not that it's any of your business!"
"Hakamo-o, use Clanging Scales!"
Clearly, he still meant to struggle to the bitter end.
Unfortunately for him, Haru had already lost interest.
"Finish them," he said offhandedly to Necrozma. "Just don't kill them."
"GRAAAH—!"
Ultra Necrozma roared in reply.
Hakamo-o bristled at the insult.
A proud dragon, being dismissed like that? Unthinkable!
So it lunged forward with a furious cry—
"AAABAAAH—!"
—and was sent flying back the exact way it came,
crashing into the ground in a heap.
Its teammates fared no better.
No matter how many Pokémon the man sent out in desperation,
none of them lasted even five moves against Ultra Necrozma.
The battle was over almost before it began.
When the dust settled, Necrozma quietly separated herself from Lunala.
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have let the bat go so easily.
But now, she was trying to mind her image in Haru's eyes—
she didn't want him thinking she was some greedy glutton.
Still, Lunala had been drained of too much energy,
and combined with her own injuries,
she collapsed the moment their fusion ended, lying motionless on the ground.
Haru strolled over at a relaxed pace, stopping beside the elegant lunar bat.
He smiled down at her.
Lunala thought that since Necrozma had separated from her voluntarily,
it meant she'd been spared.
But then Haru spoke—
and his words made her blood run cold.
"Hurry up and choose."
"Will you submit to me—"
"Or die here?"
His voice was calm but freezing cold,
each word slicing through the air like a blade.
Lunala's body trembled.
"…"
Submit to a human? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Better to die than live without freedom.
That had always been Lunala's creed.
If she let herself become a human's puppet,
wouldn't that make her just another Necrozma?
No—she would never accept such a fate!
…Still, now that she thought about it—
outright submission was one thing,
but maybe staying nearby for a while wasn't so bad.
She was injured, after all.
Recovering near Necrozma—strong, safe, and oddly… trustworthy—
sounded rather appealing.
Besides, Necrozma didn't seem to harbor any malicious intent toward her.
If she stayed close to heal and slipped away later…
That could work.
Yes, perhaps this was the better option.
Such were the thoughts swirling in the mind of this slightly deranged Necrozma fangirl.
But just as she was about to sigh dramatically and grudgingly agree,
Haru's cheerful grin blindsided her.
"Hmm? Did I scare you?" he said lightly.
"I was just kidding! I'm not the type to force anyone."
"If you want to leave, go ahead—sooner the better.
Just don't get caught by Team Rocket again."
"You've seen what they're capable of."
"As for your wounds… Mew should be here any minute.
She can take care of that for you."
"…"
(Damn it, she thought. I wanted to stay with Necrozma to recover—
what the hell does a human like you know about that?!)
"…Hmm? What's wrong?" Haru asked, tilting his head.