"Come on… you know where. Skip ahead."
------------------
Psybeam struck fast, blindingly fast.
Its power was incredible, warping the space around it as the beam cut through the air like a blade of light.
Sam's eyes narrowed.
That wasn't a casual attack.
"Silver, Aeroblast!" he shouted sharply.
"Lili~!"
Silver, who had been hovering above the battlefield, flared his wings and surged upward with a burst of determination.
His body radiated with pure energy as he opened his beak,
A brilliant white column of power burst forth, roaring through the sky.
The signature move of the Lugia clan, destructive, majestic, and absolute.
BOOM!!!
The two energies collided mid-air.
The impact shook the ground, sending a shockwave that scattered loose stones and kicked up a cloud of dust.
The explosion roared like thunder, light flashing across the field.
Sam's voice rang out again, urgent.
"Silver, drop, now!"
It had been a stalemate.
Aeroblast had managed to match the Psybeam, but at a steep cost.
For a Pokémon still in the mid-Elite tier, Aeroblast drained a tremendous amount of energy.
And Silver, after all, was still just Elite tier.
Against Alakazam, who had forcibly ascended to the Champion peak tier...
There was a clear gap.
"Lili!"
Obeying without hesitation, Silver folded his wings and dove, slicing through the air like a meteor.
He landed hard but safely, his breath slightly uneven.
Sam didn't waste a second.
With a flick of his wrist, he tossed out two Poké Balls.
Lucario and Darkrai emerged in flashes of light.
"Luka!"
"Hisss~"
Both Pokémon tensed the moment they landed, senses sharpening as they slipped seamlessly into battle mode.
Their auras flared, Lucario's calm and razor-focused, Darkrai's dark and unearthly.
Only then did Sam glance toward Sabrina.
She floated several feet above the ground, her body surrounded by an ominous surge of psychic energy.
The air around her shimmered, warping unnaturally.
Sabrina had always been beautiful, elegant, composed, otherworldly.
But now… her eyes glowed blank white, devoid of pupils.
That empty gaze stripped the beauty from her face, replacing it with something terrifying.
Something not human.
She looked like a monster that had lost all sense of self.
Sam's heart sank.
This wasn't just a simple outburst.
Without looking away, he activated the Eyes of Detection.
A digital panel flickered into view.
[Pokémon: Alakazam]
[Gender: Female]
[Type: Psychic]
[Ability: Inner Focus (Immune to flinching)]
[Level: 69 – Champion Peak (temporarily boosted)]
[Potential: Peak Champion]
[Moves: Confusion, Psybeam, Teleport, Reflect, Psycho Cut, Ally Switch, Recover, Psychic Terrain...]
[Moves: Magic Coat, Guard Split]
[Condition: Enraged (Highly Destructive Instinct)]
[Note: Temporarily boosted by the Trainer's psychic surge. Alakazam's power spiked from mid-Elite to Champion peak, but her mind has been overtaken by the Trainer's violent emotions. Mental state is unstable.]
Sam's expression darkened.
He remembered this part of the plot well.
Sabrina wasn't like ordinary humans.
Her psychic powers were strong, but unstable.
Every so often, her mind would spiral out of control, unleashing a riot of energy.
Usually, she would recover afterward, returning to her calm, collected self.
But this time... something was different.
Sam could feel it in the air.
With his own psychic sense, he could see the cracks in her aura.
Her presence felt frayed, like a dam seconds from bursting.
She was right on the edge.
Of losing everything.
If this continued…
Sabrina might die.
Not just her, Alakazam too.
Originally, only at the mid-Elite tier, Alakazam's natural energy limit should have been around 100 units.
But now, under the violent influence of Sabrina's runaway psychic power, that capacity had surged, 200, maybe even 300 units of unstable force coursing through her body.
If it kept up, Alakazam's body wouldn't be able to contain it.
She could explode from within.
Sam's mind raced through scenarios, calculating options, weighing risks,
Ding!
A familiar chime echoed inside his head.
The system window popped up:
[Random Mission Triggered]
[Objective: Defeat Sabrina and save her.]
[Reward: Black Belt ×1]
[Failure Penalty: Potential Drop for all Pokémon]
[Note: The Black Belt enhances the strength and potential of Fighting-type Pokémon.]
[Accept Mission?]
"Accept!" Sam responded mentally without hesitation.
Despite Alakazam's temporary ascension to Champion Peak, Sam still held the upper hand, if only barely.
He had numbers on his side… and more importantly, he had Darkrai, a natural counter to Psychic-types.
And the reward? Worth it.
A Black Belt would be the perfect item for Lucario.
With it, Lucario could potentially shatter the ceiling, rising to the realm of high-tier legendary Pokémon, on par with Darkrai.
Maybe even breaking through to the level of a second-tier god.
But there was no time for theory.
Sabrina, unconscious and completely overtaken by destruction, pointed a trembling finger straight at Sam again.
Her eyes still glowed blank white.
"Huuuh!"
Alakazam unleashed another wave of power, and the battlefield rippled like disturbed water.
"It's Psychic Terrain…" Sam muttered, then corrected himself.
"No, Mental Interference!"
A devastating Psychic-type move.
"Darkrai, use Dark Pulse!"
"Hisss~!"
With a swift motion, Darkrai slashed the air.
Shadows coiled around his claws and exploded forward, evil energy twisting the air into vibrating ripples.
The waves of power met mid-air.
No boom this time.
Instead, the two attacks bled into one another, dissolving like oil on water, canceling each other out in eerie silence.
Sam's mind snapped into battle rhythm.
The plan formed instantly.
"Luca! Mega Evolution! Then use Quick Attack, close the distance to Alakazam!"
"Luka!!"
Lucario roared in response.
A brilliant burst of light engulfed his body.
The Mega Stone on his chest resonated with his aura, shining like a star.
Spikes jutted from the backs of Lucario's hands and feet, and his aura flared to life.
His fur grew wilder, energy crackling across his body.
Mega Lucario had manifested.
Before the glow had even faded, he stomped the ground hard, BOOM!, and launched forward like a bullet, eyes locked on Alakazam.