"Boom!"
This sentence exploded like thunder in the hearts of all who heard it.
Even Entei and Suicune, who were originally playing dead to alleviate their awkwardness, instantly pricked up their ears. Their eyes became incredibly sharp and... curious.
Even Legendary Pokémon have curiosity.
Even Entei and Suicune like to gossip.
This is unavoidable for any intelligent creature.
Ash, Pikachu, and the others widened their eyes, even forgetting to breathe.
—The boss of Team Rocket is asking Ho-Oh for his son?!
—This amount of information is too explosive!
It's simply the biggest news of the century!
Even the most sensationalist clickbait news departments couldn't possibly dream up a bigger bombshell than this.
Ho-Oh's massive body seemed to stiffen for a moment, and the swaying divine fire around it paused for a split second.
When its voice sounded again, it clearly carried a bit of... awkwardness and hesitation:
"...Who... is your son?"
"I... do not have much memory regarding this matter."
"Several years ago, I was attacked and sealed by an extremely cold power in the Johto region... My consciousness was muddled, and I was not in control of my own body."
"During that time... it seems I did indeed come here to the Kanto region to capture someone. But the will driving me was blurry and unclear, and I didn't even know its true purpose... Later, the seal loosened, and only then did I break free..."
The more Ho-Oh explained, the lower and more indistinct its voice became.
How should one put this? To be honest, it was quite humiliating.
It made it seem as if a god like itself, who had lived for an unknown number of years... had completely thrown its dignity away to the ends of the earth.
Even if it wasn't a god skilled in combat, this kind of crushing defeat was simply too absurd.
But Ho-Oh truly wasn't very clear on what exactly had happened.
However, this explanation obviously could not satisfy Giovanni.
"Don't know? Controlled?" The anger in Giovanni's voice almost materialized into physical substance.
"Do you think I'll believe that, Ho-Oh?!"
He said that, but Giovanni actually did believe it. Ho-Oh's credibility was still very good.
But he needed to vent.
And there weren't many existences out there that could endure Giovanni's venting without being beaten to death.
"You're courting—death—"
The last two words erupted alongside his actions.
The Beedrill hovering in mid-air moved.
There were no flashy lights or shadows, no earth-shattering momentum, only a speed that was pure to the absolute extreme.
"Swoosh!"
The yellow figure blurred once again.
In the next second, Ho-Oh's recently healed head was once again pierced through by that deadly stinger.
"Pfft!"
Golden divine blood splashed out once more, turning into divine fire right in mid-air.
"Screech!" Ho-Oh let out a cry of pain.
Even with psychological preparation, it still couldn't quite react to being suddenly attacked like this.
As the pinnacle of the gods of support and purification, Ho-Oh's frontal combat abilities were indeed not considered outstanding among gods of the same tier.
Its attack, defense, and movement speed were all somewhat lacking... but in a battle of attrition, it could generally win.
It excelled in blessings, healing, and resurrection, rather than this kind of extreme speed and slaughter.
...If it was a competition of whose healing abilities were stronger and whose resurrection techniques were more awesome, then among all the gods in the entire world, only the God of Life, Xerneas, could even catch a glimpse of Ho-Oh's back.
Xerneas's healing range was much larger than Ho-Oh's. But it couldn't be like Ho-Oh, able to resurrect someone even if their body was completely gone and only their soul remained.
One excelled in quantity. The other excelled in quality.
But what Xerneas could do, Ho-Oh could also do given a bit more time. Yet, Ho-Oh's resurrection was something Xerneas could never achieve, no matter how much time it spent.
It could be said that the human ancestors in various regions all tried to seek the protection of powerful local gods.
For example, the Draconid people of the Hoenn region did the same.
But compared to here in Kanto, where worshiping Ho-Oh as the boss came with resurrection spells that could pull you back up even after death...
...Although the Draconid people over in Hoenn worshiped Rayquaza, and Rayquaza was indeed capable of fighting, extremely capable of fighting, incredibly capable of fighting, and super capable of fighting.
The problem was that Rayquaza didn't know resurrection spells.
So when the Draconid people died, they truly died...
The boss could help you get revenge.
But the boss couldn't help you resurrect.
Therefore, Ho-Oh, whose combat power wasn't at the absolute peak, was actually more reliable.
For ancient humans, Ho-Oh's combat power was already more than enough... Under this premise, its support abilities were clearly much more important.
After all, the top-tier gods wouldn't start cross-regional wars. Nor were there any gods who had nothing better to do than to come looking for trouble with Ho-Oh.
If Ho-Oh's duties of adjusting the entire world's air currents were truly delayed, it could naturally just ask Zygarde to sub in and fight for it.
However, that's a digression.
The current situation was that everyone could only watch helplessly as that yellow streak of light circled Ho-Oh's massive body, launching attack after attack.
It was a bit like the Prince of Lanling catching Cai Wenji.
The good news: the chip damage is dealt very quickly.
The bad news: the chip damage can't kill it at all.
The terrible news: this support also has a Guardian Angel revive passive.
Fell Stinger!
Fell Stinger!
Fell Stinger!
...Beedrill's attacks were simple, direct, and brutal, yet they were so fast that they exceeded the limits of visual capture, so fast that even Ho-Oh's reactions couldn't lock onto it.
Wound after wound burst open on Ho-Oh's body, and golden blood sprayed out as if it were free.
Once, twice... Ho-Oh could endure it.
As a god, it possessed its own dignity and tolerance.
But ten times? Twenty times?
Especially in front of the future Rainbow Hero it had just chosen?!
"Enough!!!"
Ho-Oh finally flew into a complete and utter rage!
Even it cared about its dignity.
The current situation was simply too humiliating.
A vast power erupted like a tsunami.
The seven-colored rainbow divine fire shot up into the sky, transforming into an endless firestorm, attempting to completely incinerate that annoying yellow bug.
Ho-Oh's divine fire was the manifestation of the power of purification and healing.
But under its subjective control, it could equally be used for destruction.
However—
Beedrill's figure flickered faintly within the monstrous divine fire.
If the flames weren't concentrated enough, they would be directly shattered by it.
If the flames were too concentrated, there would inevitably be room to dodge due to the resulting gaps.
Beedrill's entire body was also wrapped in an extremely sharp aura.
Not only could its speed "bypass" the flames!
It even countered attack with attack, its body constantly emitting an aura of ultimate destructive power outward at all times.
This was the characteristic of [Bug].
Extremely high-frequency power vibrations.
It was the absolute pinnacle of Bug Buzz.
Used for attack, it became the Fell Stinger that could pierce through all things.
Used for defense, it became the Bug Buzz that could shatter all discordant matter.
The powerhouses standing above the absolute peak indeed had areas they weren't good at, but they absolutely would not have any decisive shortcomings.
Even Lt. Surge's Raichu didn't have a weakness in speed.
Giovanni's Beedrill naturally wouldn't have any obvious defensive flaws either.
Even if the divine fire occasionally grazed it, it couldn't deal fatal damage to Beedrill's seemingly fragile body.
No matter how wide Ho-Oh's attack range was, it was futile if it couldn't hit the target.
The absolute disparity in speed was displayed to the fullest at this moment.
This was Beedrill's combat characteristic.
Pushing movement speed and attack to the absolute extreme.
...Even Ho-Oh had no way to guarantee both attack intensity and attack range at the same time.
After all, in three-dimensional space, energy exponentially decreases its own intensity during the diffusion process; this is the spatial dilution of energy concentration.
Therefore, the power of an energy burst and its lethal radius do not grow proportionally.
Roughly speaking, for every order of magnitude increase (a 10-fold multiplier), the lethal radius only doubles.
To give a simple and easy-to-understand example: the lethal radius of a 10-million-ton giant nuclear bomb is only 4 times that of a 100-thousand-ton nuclear bomb, and its lethal area is only 16 times as large.
Therefore, generally speaking, AoE map-wiping attacks only exist for a [two-dimensional surface]... reducing the payload of the bombs and dividing them into a larger quantity.
There is no such thing as an AoE map-wiping attack against a [three-dimensional volume]... piling all the bombs together actually results in an insufficient destruction radius. The cost-effectiveness is simply too low.
Beedrill highly concentrating its energy on its own body, focusing it on a single point of its poison stinger to break through, was an extremely cost-effective approach.
"Whoosh—!"
Another icy cold gleam flashed past.
This time, Beedrill did not use a piercing strike, but an incredibly fierce vertical cleave from top to bottom.
The light flashed.
Ho-Oh's massive body was actually split in two right down the middle.
"Sss..." A sound like tearing could almost be heard.
Ho-Oh's bisected body fell powerlessly from the sky.
The sacred flames quickly extinguished, like two giant, lifeless meteorites.
"Thud!"
"Thud!"
Two heavy, muffled thuds rang out as they smashed into the earth that had just recovered its vitality, kicking up a sky full of dust.
Dead?
The legendary Ho-Oh was actually...
Ash and the Pokémon's hearts leaped into their throats, almost unable to breathe.
However, in the next second—
"Fwoosh—!!!"
An even more blazing, even more dazzling golden divine fire shot up into the sky from Ho-Oh's two fallen halves.
The flames converged and blended as if they had a life of their own, reshaping the form of the divine bird.
Within a few breaths, a perfectly intact, brilliantly golden Ho-Oh was once again reborn from the flames.
It raised its head to the sky and let out a clear, melodious cry filled with rage.
The most important thing was that Ho-Oh was now truly angry.
Its size began to skyrocket.
It was no longer tens of meters.
But rather, over a hundred meters in size.
Since its attacks couldn't land...
Then it would just continue to increase its attack range and its attack intensity.
Faced with this situation, Ho-Oh chose to continue using brute force.
Right now, this was—Full Power Form·Ho-Oh!
"Did you see that, Giovanni?!" Ho-Oh's voice carried an irrepressible fury. "This kind of attack is completely meaningless!"
"You're just wasting both of our time!"
Ho-Oh was still doing its best to restrain its temper.
But no matter how much it restrained itself, it was nearing its limit.
However, Giovanni's response, transmitted through Beedrill, remained ice-cold:
"Meaningless?"
"The meaning is to tell you that I have plenty of patience."
"If I can't kill you once, I'll kill you ten times!"
"If I can't kill you ten times, I'll kill you a hundred times!"
"Tell me exactly where my son is, from beginning to end!"
Giovanni didn't exactly mean he had to fight to the bitter end, but he was putting the harsh words out there first.
There was one point between powerhouses and true gods that could not be bridged.
And that was endurance.
Don't be fooled by how Beedrill seemed to be suppressing Ho-Oh.
This meant Beedrill's energy was being intensely consumed.
And on Ho-Oh's side?
Continuously dying in this intensity of combat, fighting for ten days or half a month would have absolutely no effect on Ho-Oh.
But for Beedrill, this intensity of combat...
Sustaining it for a single day would be enough to exhaust it to death.
If he truly couldn't get an answer out of Ho-Oh, then even Giovanni would have no choice but to retreat.
Beedrill's compound eyes locked onto Ho-Oh once again.
The icy light on the tips of its stingers flowed, clearly preparing to launch a new, seemingly endless round of attacks.
Rage burned within Ho-Oh's golden pupils, but a trace of helplessness also flashed through them.
Facing this awkward situation where the opponent's speed far exceeded its own, their attack power was enough to break its defenses, and it itself could infinitely resurrect...
It possessed vast divine power in vain, like a giant elephant swatting a fly, having strength but nowhere to apply it.
It was a bit like an ordinary person trying to swat a mosquito when they couldn't sleep at night.
The mosquito indeed couldn't bite a person to death, but this constant buzzing was truly annoying.
And yet, you just couldn't hit it; even when staring right at it, it was easy to lose track of the target in a moment of distraction.
However, a mosquito would be slightly better; it was actually more like swatting a fly.
Flies could fly faster and react more agilely.
Right at this tense, explosive moment, just as it seemed they were about to fall into an endless loop again—
A bizarre sensation simultaneously brushed past the hearts of Ash and Ho-Oh.
It was what the System had granted earlier—[Medium·Divine Possession]
This was the highest tier of medium spiritual constitution.
And right now, Ash was the Rainbow Hero.
Although this was a very traditional profession, unlike modern Trainers.
In a certain sense, it also gave Ash and Ho-Oh a foundation for connection.
On the other side, Ho-Oh felt the exact same thing.
It clearly perceived a unique fluctuation transmitting from the human boy below, whom it had just acknowledged—an incredibly pure, incredibly affable fluctuation, as if he were born solely to communicate with an existence like it.
Although Ho-Oh didn't understand what this was.
But...
The gazes of the two intersected in mid-air.
In that single instant, it was as if thousands of thoughts were silently communicated and confirmed.
A flash of determination crossed Ho-Oh's eyes. Rather than being infinitely humiliated here, it might as well...
Ho-Oh: Since you, Giovanni, are fighting alongside Beedrill!
Ho-Oh: Then it's only natural for me to fight alongside my Rainbow Hero!
"Screech—!"
Ho-Oh let out a high-pitched cry, no longer paying any attention to the incoming Beedrill.
Anyway, even if it just stood here and let Beedrill kill it, it wouldn't truly die.
Ho-Oh flapped its massive wings, its gigantic body transforming into a golden shooting star as it violently dive-bombed toward Ash, who was standing on the Golden Gyarados's head below.
It looked as if it were going to crash into Ash and kill him.
But in reality, with Ho-Oh's special nature.
As long as it didn't want to, it could manage not to kill any living being.
As long as it wanted to, it could resurrect any soul.
Therefore, as long as Ho-Oh was present, death did not exist.
It was just that Ho-Oh's action truly made everyone very nervous.
This wasn't a question of whether one would die or not.
But rather, if you saw a hundred-meter-tall object charging right at you, any normal person would chicken out.
Not everyone would be like a fearless honey badger, hissing at a massive truck speeding toward them.
Pikachu: "Pikapi!"
Pidgeotto: "Pidgeo—"
Gyarados: "Roar!"
Misdreavus: "Mai mai!"
Charmeleon: "Char!"
The exclamations of his partners rang out.
But Ash seemed to experience a sudden flash of insight.
He had a feeling—that it would be fine.
Perhaps the trial of the Rainbow Hero, the identity of the Rainbow Hero, truly possessed some kind of power.
Perhaps this was the effect of [Medium·Divine Possession].
Not only did Ash not dodge, he even opened his arms wide.
The blue light of Aura in his eyes reflected off the glow of the Rainbow Wing in his arms, welcoming the dive-bombing divine bird!
"Come, Ho-Oh!"
Amidst Ash's shout.
At the instant Ho-Oh's massive body, burning with golden divine fire, made contact with Ash, the expected collision did not occur.
Instead, it absorbed Ash, along with all his partners, into its body.
"BOOM!!!!!"
An indescribably massive energy erupted outward with Ho-Oh at the center.
Golden divine fire spewed forth, shooting straight up into the clouds.
It completely dyed the originally lead-gray sky into a brilliant, glorious gold.
It was currently supposed to be night, yet at this moment, it was as bright as day.
The golden divine fire coalesced and took shape on the surface of Ho-Oh's body.
Ho-Oh's strength, which hadn't changed since its birth, began to elevate even further.
After materializing, the golden divine fire on its body surface acted like a suit of armor.
This caused a massive change in Ho-Oh's overall image.
Now, it was a golden divine bird in the truest sense of the word.
Ash's current sensation was also very strange; he had appeared on Ho-Oh's forehead, his lower half merged into it.
Right now, he could feel Ho-Oh's thoughts; it was an incredibly massive will, and at this moment, it was indeed somewhat furious.
But that wasn't the main point.
The main point was that in this state.
At this moment, he was Ho-Oh!
And Ho-Oh was him!
Therefore—
Ho-Oh·Immortal Divine Bird, descends here!
What a sensational and awe-inspiring scene was this?
Even Beedrill came to a halt, a look of solemnity revealing itself in its compound eyes for the very first time.
Ho-Oh had truly grown stronger.
A bizarre voice, mixing Ash's tone with Ho-Oh's, echoed across heaven and earth:
"Giovanni—"
"Your opponent is now me!"
Regarding Giovanni using him as chum to fish Ho-Oh out, Ash actually had a bit of a temper about it.
However, when he had this thought earlier, Ash was very well aware that he couldn't beat Giovanni.
Winning against Giovanni would be a matter for at least a few years down the line.
But now, there seemed to be a slight twist.
If he borrowed Ho-Oh's power, then beating Giovanni wouldn't be impossible, right?
If the Trainer's strength is insufficient, then use the Pokémon to make up for it.
If the Pokémon's strength is insufficient, then use the Trainer to make up for it.
Ho-Oh lacked the ability to lock onto its targets and had insufficient defense, only having an incredibly long and massive health bar?
What a coincidence.
I, Ash, can now make up for all of Ho-Oh's flaws.
Medium·Divine Possession—allowed Ash to merge with Ho-Oh.
Clear Mirror Water Heart—allowed Ash to rationally control his current state.
Fire God·Divine Might—greatly enhanced with the help of Ho-Oh's power, it attached to Ho-Oh's surface and formed a golden armor.
Aura Mind's Eye·Domain of the Dark Sky—allowed Ash to sense Beedrill's presence and lock onto it.
Ash compensated for the parts that Ho-Oh lacked.
And Ho-Oh compensated for the energy reserves and vitality that Ash lacked.
Until Ho-Oh was completely dead, there was no possibility of directly killing Ash.
But as for wanting to completely kill Ho-Oh...
You'd better get Arceus to do it.
Anyway, apart from Arceus, no one could guarantee they could definitively pull it off.
This was certainly not something Giovanni could accomplish.
So now, the offensive was reversed.
Beedrill originally possessed an extreme speed that surpassed space, and it knew very well that Ho-Oh couldn't lock onto it.
But now, that feeling had vanished.
Beedrill felt an omnipresent sensation of being watched.
Countless intangible and invisible eyes were staring at it from all directions, from every corner of the void.
Beedrill knew very well that this wasn't an illusion.
Something was truly locking onto it.
Beedrill: "The situation is a bit off."
Giovanni: "Then use your full power."
Giovanni: "Keep the time within three minutes."
Giovanni: "Then we retreat."
Beedrill: "Understood."
Giovanni: "Our will!"
Beedrill: "Our will!"
Beedrill & Giovanni: "—Mega Evolution!"
At this very moment.
Facing Ash and Ho-Oh using cheat codes.
Beedrill and Giovanni began to stack their bond synergy.
____
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