Seeing this, Thousand-Year Gengar immediately used Psychic, its eyes glowing with a deep blue light as it halted the incoming pillar of fire in place, compressing it into a high-temperature fireball under its control.
"Back to you!"
As it spoke, Thousand-Year Gengar hurled the fireball back at Moltres, then followed up with three Shadow Balls, forming a triple Shadow Ball attack that chased after the fireball toward Moltres.
Just as Moltres tried to use Agility to dodge, it realized its body was no longer under its control. A suppressive psychic force immediately restricted its movements.
Under Moltres's terrified gaze, the fireball and triple Shadow Balls were about to hit its body.
Perhaps the imminent danger pushed it beyond its limits—its expression turned intense, and the psychic restraint suddenly loosened slightly. A golden aura then engulfed its entire body as it unleashed Brave Bird.
"As expected, a creature's limits only come out when forced," Thousand-Year Gengar joked.
Moltres, using Brave Bird, clashed head-on with the combined attacks. After a brief struggle, the result ended in Moltres's crushing defeat.
Heavily injured, Moltres struggled to stand up and used Roost to recover half of its stamina. After a short recovery, it flapped its flaming wings and rose back into the air, its cautious gaze locked onto the grinning Thousand-Year Gengar.
"Stop staring. No matter how much you look, you still can't beat me," Thousand-Year Gengar mocked, not taking Moltres seriously at all.
Irritated, Moltres lost its composure again and flapped its wings to unleash Air Slash. Two sharp wind blades shot instantly toward Thousand-Year Gengar, but Gengar easily hid beneath its shadow, cleverly dodging the attack.
Just as Moltres was still wondering where Thousand-Year Gengar had gone, a high-voltage current erupted from beneath its shadow, forming a pillar of lightning that swallowed Moltres in the sky.
Immediately after, Thousand-Year Gengar's figure extended from the shadow below—it was clearly the one that had unleashed Thunderbolt. After noticing that Moltres had fallen into a paralyzed state, Thousand-Year Gengar followed up with Hypnosis.
Its eyes emitted a sleep-inducing suggestion, causing Moltres to fall into a deep sleep. Under everyone's gaze, Thousand-Year Gengar turned into a flickering shadow and drilled into Moltres's body.
The sleeping Moltres showed a look of despair. After a final weak struggle, its eyes turned into spirals, and it lost its ability to battle.
Meanwhile, Thousand-Year Gengar, which had transformed into a shadow earlier, emerged from Moltres's body, licking its lips and rubbing its belly in satisfaction. "What a wonderful dream that was!"
"That was really a one-sided massacre…" Lance couldn't help but comment, beginning to question Moltres's intelligence.
"So this is the power of Mega Evolution… I really wish my Dragonite could have this kind of power too," Yulon Nan said in fascination.
"Ah Nan, actually…"
Lance originally wanted to tell Yulon Nan a cruel truth—that Dragonite's Mega Evolution had never been confirmed and no corresponding Mega Stone had been found. But seeing the obsession on Yulon Nan's face, Lance chose to stay silent, unable to bear telling him the harsh reality.
"That felt great~"
After easily defeating Moltres, Thousand-Year Gengar also canceled its Mega Evolution form. It floated over to Red's side and was just about to lean in and give him a kiss when Red kicked it away with an expressionless face.
"What's the big deal, boss? This is my way of thanking you for giving me the Mega Stone!" Thousand-Year Gengar said innocently, rubbing its aching cheek.
"That kind of 'thanks' is way too heavy. I'm starting to regret choosing your Mega Stone…" Red complained.
Because Red had 'accidentally' discovered that ancient Pokémon still existed in the Great Canyon, and to thank him for his contributions to the Kanto League over the years, the League generously decided to reward him and let him make a request.
Since Red had been worrying about not obtaining other Mega Stones, he took the opportunity to request them from the Kanto League. However, what he didn't expect was that this idea had already been anticipated by the League. They had known about Mega Evolution months earlier.
After all, Team Rocket had infiltrated the League, and the League also had spies within Team Rocket. Information between the two organizations flowed both ways without notice.
To obtain specific Mega Stones for free and gain additional benefits, Red simply shared general information about Mega Evolution with the Kanto League. However, the publication had to be under his name—he wasn't about to let others steal the results of his work.
In return, the Kanto League had to secure Gengar's Mega Stone from the Kalos League. This was Red's bottom line. Ever since Thousand-Year Gengar witnessed Charizard's Mega Evolution, it had longed for it. Red simply fulfilled that wish.
...
After everything settled down, Red rode Charizard and said goodbye to the two, preparing to return to the Cinnabar Gym for a night's rest before heading to a new destination the next morning.
"Do you really have to keep holding that Mega Stone like you can't let go?" Red said speechlessly, glancing at Thousand-Year Gengar beside him.
At first, Red had wanted to recall both Zapdos and Thousand-Year Gengar at the same time. Unexpectedly, an overly excited Thousand-Year Gengar subconsciously avoided the red light. Under Red's puzzled gaze, it pitifully explained that it wanted to stay outside for a while to share its joy with others.
After some time passed,
Red returned to the Cinnabar Gym and unexpectedly ran into Ash's trio. However, there wasn't a hint of surprise on Red's face. Based on the timeline, Ash and his group were about to arrive at Cinnabar Island anyway.
"Brother, so you've been sleeping on the streets too!" Ash said excitedly, his tone oddly carrying a sense of satisfaction.
"...?"
Red raised an eyebrow. It seemed he hadn't 'trained' his foolish little brother much lately—he was actually daring to say such nonsense in front of him.
"Yo, isn't this Ash~"
At that moment, Thousand-Year Gengar, hiding in the shadows, popped out and made a scary face at Ash, startling the nearly starving Ash back to full alertness.
"Hey, Gengar! Long time no see!" Ash greeted.
"Huh? What?! How did you know I got a Mega Stone? I thought I hid it so well!"
As it spoke, the excited Thousand-Year Gengar pulled out the Mega Stone from its body and showed it off in front of Ash repeatedly, almost shoving it into his mouth.
Ash's trio all turned to look at Red in confusion, not understanding what was going on with Thousand-Year Gengar.
"It's just acting crazy lately. Ignore it. I'll take you guys to get something to eat first."
"Yay! Whenever we run into you, brother, good things always happen!" Ash said excitedly—he could finally fill his stomach.
After guiding Ash's group to solve the riddle on the postcard, Red brought them to the inn run by Blaine—"Riddle Lodge."
"It's quite rare for someone to solve that difficult riddle," Blaine said, welcoming Ash's group.
"Anyone could solve it…" Misty said awkwardly.
"For the sake of this, I'll make an exception and let you stay for free tonight!" Blaine said politely.
"Uncle, you may be a bit weird, but you're actually a good person!" Ash said happily.
"Are you praising me or insulting me?" Blaine said speechlessly.
(I really wish someone could see my stubborn pride…)
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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