"Ho-Oh! You're Finally Here!! Come help me!"
Damian was pretty surprised as he shouted at Ho-Oh.
But the truth was…
Ho-Oh didn't even notice that born-evil humans was yelling at it.
Because its eyes—and its whole mind—were already completely taken over.
On the left, Origin Forme Giratina was pinning Origin Forme Palkia down and beating it to a pulp.
On the right, Dragon Kyurem was also riding on Complete Forme Zygarde while crazily breathing ice.
On the left, up in the sky, Stellar Form Terapagos and Shadow Lugia were crazily firing attacks at each other.
On the right, up in the sky, Dialga and Primal Kyogre were colliding with fierce intensity.
In the middle, up in the sky, Mega Shadow mewtwo y and Shadow Rider Calyrex were also spraying each other with attacks.
A little higher up—
the two Mega Rayquazas, one black and one green, were "dancing" like they were on a show.
Ho-Oh was completely stunned.
Who am I?
Where am I?
Did Arceus finally get tired of this world—
and let these legends start beating the hell out of each other?
Is the end of the world finally here?
Ho-Oh got frozen in place.
For heaven's sake…
it had lived for this many years, and it had never, ever seen a spectacle this massive in its life!
What the hell was going on?
"Ho-Oh! What are you doing?"
Suddenly, that familiar humans voice came through.
It finally snapped Ho-Oh back to itself.
"Stop spacing out and come help me now.
That Hoopa Unbound's been chasing me nonstop.
It's too dangerous for me!"
But the moment it came to its senses, Ho-Oh made the most "wise" decision it believed it had ever made.
It flapped its wings.
And without looking back, it turned and ran.
"Huh? Ho-Oh! Don't run!"
Damian was shocked.
What the hell is this Shiny Fearow even doing?
"Ho-Oh? Ho-Oh!!"
However, no matter how Damian "called out with deep feelings," our Ho-Oh completely ignored it.
It just kept accelerating.
Damn it!!
That damn Damian…
I knew it!
He never called me over for anything good!
Ho-Oh was crazily cursing under its breath.
First time, Shiny Rayquaza.
Second time, Three-Dragon Unity Kyurem.
And this time?
This bastard was straight-up trying to start a world-scale big battle, wasn't it?!
Is that something a human can do?!
What kind of place is this?
Ho-Oh did a quick glance with its bird eyes—
and it could see several monsters that could flatten it with sheer force.
Could it even run into that?
No way.
It didn't exist.
There was absolutely no way!
Last time, it was told again and again, in great detail—
to not let this humans get stuck in something like this.
Don't drag me into it.
And yet—
he showed up again!
Alright, alright.
You want to play it by the first day rules?
Then don't blame me for playing by the fifteenth!
We'll never see each other again!
"Ho-Oh?! Hold up for a second!"
But Ho-Oh didn't answer.
It just kept running.
It had already decided—
it was absolutely not going back.
It wouldn't look back even if it got killed.
And then…
"This Ho-Oh is so pathetic."
Mischief Hoopa looked totally dumbfounded.
It was seeing, for the first time, a legend that turned around and ran like this.
"Tsk~ Hoopa, scoop it back.
It came all this way and still wants to leave?
What kind of good deal is that?"
Damian clicked his tongue.
At the same time, he had his boss—Shadow Lugia—go tangle up Hoopa Unbound first.
That would buy them some time.
Otherwise, if Hoopa Unbound kept doggedly chasing with no end, he wouldn't have time to talk to Ho-Oh.
"Got it!"
Mischief Hoopa immediately pulled out the last Gold ring it could still scoop—Scoop up, Scoop up.
No matter if it was Mischief Hoopa or Hoopa Unbound—
the number of Legendary Pokémon it could summon depended on how many Gold rings it could use.
Because Mischief Hoopa could only control three Gold rings.
So it could only summon three Pokémon at a time.
And before this, two of them had already been used to summon Kyurem and Shiny Rayquaza.
In truth, originally, Shiny Rayquaza's summon slots should've been something that could be saved, because little Rayquaza could use "Dad to help me."
But Damian still wasn't totally relaxed.
He was worried that before Shiny Rayquaza even arrived, Hoopa Unbound would wipe it out.
But it didn't matter.
Right now, the lineup was already enough.
"Hoopa~ Scoop. Scoop!"
As Mischief Hoopa scooped and scooped, the Gold ring expanded.
With a confused look on its face, Ho-Oh flew out of the Gold ring.
The moment it passed through the Gold ring and saw that born-evil humans…
Ho-Oh's bird face instantly fell.
"humans!!!"
Ho-Oh gritted its teeth.
This time, it didn't run either.
Because it knew—
this was pointless.
"Ho-Oh, I really need your assist this time.
Look— that evil big thing is hunting us down."
Damian sounded completely sincere.
"I'm not helping.
Send me back right now!"
Ho-Oh was extremely decisive.
"Ho-Oh, you said… as long as it doesn't go against your will…"
"humans!
You're already seriously going against my will!"
Ho-Oh's Telepathy voice was so sharp it almost cracked.
Its wings—humanly—pointed toward the battlefield.
"Look at what they're fighting.
You want me to go fight them?
I'm going to get beaten to death, you bastard!"
Ho-Oh never even dreamed that one day, it would get dragged into a top-tier legendary brawl like this.
It was just a small, little Ho-Oh.
If you let it help film some footage and let the legends do their thing, it could kind of accept that.
But if you wanted it to get involved in the fight?
What right did it have to be in a mix like that?
"No, Ho-Oh.
I trust you."
"Oh, thanks for the trust?
I'm not going.
Send me back!"
Ho-Oh's attitude was firm.
Its eyes were, for the first time ever, full of stubborn resolve.
"Ho-Oh, you're a Legendary Pokémon with a kind, benevolent heart!
So many people worship your faith!
Do you really want to watch Hoopa get hurt by that evil monster?"
Damian argued earnestly.
Mischief Hoopa was very cooperative.
It looked at Ho-Oh with watery, tearful eyes.
"Heh~
You're afraid it'll hurt Hoopa.
But you're not afraid it'll hurt me??"
However, Ho-Oh only gave a cold, sneering laugh.
It wasn't fooled at all.
It had already seen through this cheap humans.
Want to trick it into being a punching bag?
Fat chance.
"Tsk~
Ho-Oh, you kidnapped my little brother back then!"
Damian had no choice but to play the morality card—kidnapped!
"That wasn't my intention!
And besides, humans…
I already helped you twice!"
But Ho-Oh's confident, righteous response made Damian fall into silence.
This wasn't right.
Why was Ho-Oh getting this Shameless?!
"Ho-Oh, being a traitor like this isn't good.
And this is already the last time."
"I'm not!
Back then, our agreement was that as long as it doesn't go against my will.
And besides, within my power—I did what I could!"
Ho-Oh argued back.
It refused to admit it had broken the agreement.
Instead, it claimed someone else was just making things difficult for it.
"Hey, you overgrown roast bird.
Do you even have any shame?"
"born-evil humans!
Clearly you don't have any shame!
And you're riding Yveltal like it's nothing!"
Ho-Oh glared at Damian.
And it even called it an overgrown roast bird.
This guy was absolutely awful!
Yveltal: "???"
Yveltal was originally just enjoying the show.
But hearing this, its eyes instantly turned unfriendly when it looked at Ho-Oh.
What does that overgrown roast bird mean?
"Do you know who I am?
I'm—"
Damian decided to pull out his trump card.
But right then—
Damian's spine went cold.
He slapped Yveltal right away.
Yveltal immediately launched upward like it was reflex.
Ho-Oh was still confused about what Yveltal was doing.
Then, the very next second—
a huge black wave of energy flooded its vision.
Ho-Oh's eyes widened in shock.
That Yveltal's move…
what the hell?!
Ho-Oh tried to dodge immediately.
But it was just too late!
Boom!
Hoopa Unbound's Dark Pulse exploded hard on Ho-Oh's body.
Ho-Oh let out a pained cry.
Its entire body got blasted away—
ow ow ow ow!
Even with Ho-Oh's Special Defense, that Dark Pulse still hurt like hell.
Hoopa Unbound's attacks were extremely brutal.
"That guy…
he's ambushing again."
Damian licked his lips.
He watched Hoopa Unbound in the distance, glaring at them.
Shadow Lugia was also hurt pretty badly right now.
Because Shadow Lugia had to deal with Stellar Form Terapagos's assault—
and also do its best to intercept Hoopa Unbound.
That was just too exhausting for it.
Rainbow-colored flames burned on its body.
Ho-Oh lifted its head.
It looked at the sky silently.
This was just too rough.
"Ho-Oh, you okay?"
"humans…
Using your humans' words, I really owe you one from my past life."
After taking one evil-wave hit from Hoopa Unbound, Ho-Oh seemed to calm down a bit.
Yeah.
In Damian's eyes, the overgrown roast bird had just been a little worked up.
So it got this rebellious.
"Ho-Oh, trust my character.
I'm someone Arceus gifted."
Damian took out the Azure Flute.
He went straight to his trump card.
"???"
Ho-Oh's bird eyes widened at the Azure Flute in Damian's hand.
It looked at Damian again.
Then it looked back at the Azure Flute.
Back and forth.
Ho-Oh fell into silence.
Ho-Oh had words but couldn't say them.
Ho-Oh's eyes looked blank and lost.
Did God of Creation Arceus… suddenly get cataracts?
Or was this born-evil humans just picking it up somewhere?
"Fine.
Since it's for the sake of his old man's face…
I'll help you one last time."
In the end, Ho-Oh compromised.
Its tone was bleak.
It just hoped it wouldn't get beaten to death.
"Don't worry.
You don't need to fight those legends.
You just need to stall that Hoopa Unbound for us."
Damian smiled as he recalled the Azure Flute.
And honestly—this thing was just way too useful!
"Once Kyurem and Giratina handle their own opponents, you can just step back and take a victory lap."
Damian promised Ho-Oh.
"Hope so."
Ho-Oh glanced over at Dragon Kyurem.
Complete Forme Zygarde was already getting pinned and beaten down by Dragon Kyurem.
Frost was all over its body.
You could tell just how miserable Complete Forme Zygarde was.
Still, Ho-Oh wasn't too surprised.
Because Dragon Kyurem's strength was something it had personally experienced.
"Alright!
Then we'll use Light Screen and Reflect first, and then we go in!
Ho-Oh!"
Damian was very satisfied with Ho-Oh's willingness.
But Damian still reminded Ho-Oh first.
If it didn't have Light Screen and Reflect up, Ho-Oh might truly get beaten to death by Hoopa Unbound.
Hoopa Unbound hit too hard and too recklessly.
Ho-Oh didn't even really need Damian to remind it.
Now that it had plenty of experience being beaten up, it was very professional about this.
Light Screen and Reflect finished.
Ho-Oh let out a cry.
Rainbow-colored flames burned all around it.
It charged straight at Hoopa Unbound without fear!
Ho-Oh is in!
And when Ho-Oh charged toward it—
Hoopa Unbound raged.
Three Spatial rings formed in front.
Hyperspace Fury!
Three fists surrounded by black light slammed straight into Ho-Oh.
Ho-Oh immediately stopped its advance.
The surging rainbow flames met the fists head-on.
Sacred Fire!
But the two attacks only collided for an instant before—
the rainbow flames were torn apart by Hyperspace Fury.
Boom!
Hyperspace Fury smashed down hard on Ho-Oh.
Reflect's barrier lit up.
It reduced the damage from Hyperspace Fury.
But even so, Ho-Oh still cried out in pain.
Its whole body got hammered and flung away—
and it finally managed to stabilize itself with a hard effort.
However, the agony from its chest still made Ho-Oh's face twitch.
"With Ho-Oh as a tank, we don't need to worry that much."
Watching this scene, Damian relaxed a lot inside.
Ho-Oh wouldn't be able to fully steal Hoopa Unbound's attention.
But with Ho-Oh's interference, Yveltal dodging Hoopa Unbound's attacks would be much easier too.
So after this—
there basically shouldn't be much danger anymore.
Once Dragon Kyurem and Giratina solved Complete Forme Zygarde and Origin Forme Palkia, they could come in as reinforcements.
How could they lose?!
Damian clicked his tongue.
I've got Dragon Kyurem.
Shiny Rayquaza.
Origin Forme Giratina.
With those in hand—
who in the world could possibly be my enemy?!
"Disappear!
Disappear!!
Disappear!!!"
Hoopa Unbound went berserk with a rage roar.
Its aura went even more and more crazily.
It glared at Mischief Hoopa—straight through the middle.
And at the Damian holding Mischief Hoopa.
And feeling that deep hatred from Hoopa Unbound—
all the Legendary Pokémon under Hoopa Unbound's control had their eyes' red beam grow even thicker and more blinding.
Their aura synced up and became even more brutal.
Their battle style grew crazier too.
They stopped caring about anything.
They started trading injuries for injuries without hesitation.
"Ugh—"
Starstorm sent Shadow Lugia flying back.
Stellar Form Terapagos let out a loud, mournful cry.
It looked toward Damian.
Creepy light shimmered in its eyes.
Space-time began to ripple.
Not only were there ripples in space-time—
a golden light, from somewhere unknown, appeared.
It twisted as it wrapped around the rippling.
"Huh?
Mae?
Mae??"
Mischief Hoopa suddenly felt empty under itself.
It turned its head.
After Appearing—Damian, stunned, suddenly vanished from sight.
No way!
Where did Damian go?!
~~
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