Seeing the incoming attack, the ancient Gengar immediately used Psychic. Its eyes glowed an azure blue, stopping the pillar of fire in its tracks. Under Gengar's control, the fire was compressed into a searing ball of extremely high temperature.
"Take it back!"
With that, Gengar manipulated the fireball and hurled it back at Moltres, immediately following it up with three Shadow Balls. The triple Shadow Balls trailed the fireball, flying toward the legendary bird.
Moltres was about to use Agility to dodge but found it couldn't control its own body. An overwhelming psychic force had seized it, restricting its movements.
Before Moltres's terrified eyes, the fireball and the triple Shadow Balls were about to strike.
Perhaps the imminent danger pushed it past its limits. With a desperate cry, the psychic restraint on Moltres's body suddenly loosened. A golden aura covered its entire body—it had unleashed Sky Attack.
"So, a creature's limits really do have to be forced out," the ancient Gengar quipped with amusement.
The Moltres using Sky Attack collided with the fusion of the two moves. After a brief, violent clash, the encounter ended with Moltres's miserable defeat.
Severely injured, Moltres struggled to get up. It used Roost to recover half of its stamina. After a short rest and reorganization, the legendary bird once again flapped its fiery wings and flew into the sky, its cautious gaze locked on the grinning Gengar.
"Stop staring. No matter how much you look, you can't beat me," the ancient ghost teased, completely disregarding its opponent.
The agitated Moltres was triggered again. It flapped its wings and used Air Slash. Two sharp blades of wind instantly shot toward Gengar, but the Ghost-type easily dodged by melting into the shadows, cleverly avoiding the attack.
Just as Moltres was wondering where Gengar had hidden, a high-voltage current shot out from beneath Moltres's own shadow, becoming a pillar of lightning that engulfed it completely.
Then, Gengar's figure emerged from the shadow below. Clearly, this Thunderbolt had been its doing. Sensing that Moltres had fallen into a paralyzed state, Gengar followed up with Hypnosis.
Its eyes pulsed with a sleepy suggestion, causing the legendary bird to fall into a deep slumber. In front of everyone, Gengar transformed into a flickering black shadow and entered Moltres's dreaming mind.
The sleeping Moltres showed a look of absolute despair. With a final struggling murmur, its eyes swirled, and it lost its ability to battle.
The ancient Gengar, which had turned back into its solid form, emerged, licking its lips and patting its stomach with satisfaction. "That was a nice dream!"
"That was truly a one-sided domination..." Lance couldn't help but complain, beginning to doubt the intelligence of the Moltres before him.
"So this is the power of Mega Evolution. I wish my Dragonite could have this power too," Vincent said, mesmerized.
"Vincent, actually..." Lance had wanted to tell his cousin the harsh truth—that Dragonite's Mega Evolution had not yet been confirmed, nor had a corresponding Mega Stone been found. But seeing the infatuated look on Vincent's face, Lance chose to keep his mouth shut, unable to bear telling him the cruel reality.
"That was refreshing!"
After easily defeating Moltres, the ancient Gengar canceled its Mega Evolution form. It then floated to Red's side. Just as it was about to lean in and give Red a celebratory kiss, it was kicked away by a speechless Red.
"What's the big deal, Boss? That was a thank-you gift for giving me the Mega Stone!" Gengar said innocently, not forgetting to rub its pained cheek.
"Your gift is too heavy. I'm starting to regret choosing your Mega Stone..." Red grumbled.
Because Red had 'accidentally' discovered the Grand Canyon, where ancient Pokémon still survived, and also to thank him for his contributions to the Kanto League over the years, the League had 'generously' decided to reward him handsomely, telling him to make any request.
Red had been worrying about not being able to obtain the other Mega Stones, so he took the opportunity to ask the Kanto League for them. He hadn't expected this idea to be precisely what the League officials wanted, as they had already known about the existence of Mega Evolution for several months.
After all, the League had Team Rocket infiltrators, and Team Rocket naturally had spies within the League. The intelligence of the two major organizations flowed between them.
In order to obtain specific Mega Stones for free and gain more benefits for himself, Red simply released the general information about Mega Evolution to the Kanto League but stipulated that the paper's author had to be him. Red didn't want his hard work to be stolen by others.
In return, the Kanto League had to obtain Gengar's Mega Stone from the Kalos League. This was Red's bottom line. After all, ever since the ancient Gengar had witnessed Charizard's Mega Evolution, it had been longing for it. Red decided to fulfill Gengar's wish.
After the matter was settled, Red rode Charizard and bid farewell to the two, preparing to return to the Cinnabar Gym to rest for the night before setting off for a new destination the next morning.
"I have to ask, do you really need to be holding that Mega Stone like it's the most precious thing in the world?" Red said, exasperated, glancing at the ancient Gengar beside him.
Initially, Red had wanted to recall both Zapdos and Gengar, but the overly excited Ghost-type had subconsciously dodged the red light. Under Red's confused gaze, it had pitifully explained that it wanted to stay out for a little while to share its joy with others.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Red returned to the Cinnabar Gym and unexpectedly ran into Ash's trio. Although Red showed no surprise, he figured that, based on the timeline, Ash's group would be arriving on Cinnabar Island soon.
"Big brother, so you're sleeping on the streets too!" Ash said excitedly, his tone strangely comforting.
"...?"
Red raised an eyebrow. It seemed he hadn't 'trained' his foolish little brother in a while, for him to dare say such stupid things to his face.
"Well, if it isn't Ash-boy!"
At that moment, the ancient Gengar, who had been hiding in the shadows, popped out and made a scary face at Ash, which was enough to jolt the nearly starving boy awake.
"It's Gengar! Long time no see!" Ash greeted cheerfully.
"Eh? What?! How did you know I got a Mega Stone? I 'hid' it so well!"
With that, the excited Gengar took the Mega Stone out from within its body and flaunted it back and forth in front of Ash, practically wanting to shove it in his mouth right there.
Ash's trio turned to look at Red in confusion, not understanding what was wrong with Gengar.
"It's just been acting up lately, don't mind it. Let me take you guys to get something to eat first."
"Yay! Good things always happen when I run into my big brother!" Ash said excitedly, finally able to fill his stomach.
After guiding Ash's trio through the riddle on the postcard, Red brought them to the 'Riddle Inn' run by Blaine.
"It's quite impressive that you were able to solve that difficult riddle," Blaine said, welcoming Ash's group.
"Anyone could solve it..." Misty said awkwardly.
"For that, I'll make an exception and let you stay for free tonight!" Blaine said graciously.
"Uncle, you're weird, but you're actually a good person!" Ash said joyfully.
"Are you complimenting me or insulting me?" Blaine said, speechless.
'I wish someone could see through my tough exterior...'