Chapter 89: Can You Call Ho-Oh Over Here?
"Not enough force, though."
As Mammon spoke, the Hydro Pump was stopped mid-air by an invisible wall of psychic force, making no further progress.
Armored Mewtwo, unimpressed that Suicune had dared to attack at all, raised its arm slowly. The psychic hold on Suicune's body tightened, and it began to rise.
Five meters. Ten. Twenty. All the way to one hundred.
"This—"
Erika watched the legendary Suicune dangling helplessly in the air and couldn't quite close her mouth.
How strong is this Mewtwo?
Suicune struggled with everything it had. It accomplished nothing. It had never anticipated that it would one day fly to this kind of altitude.
…
Even Suicune, looking down at a ground that had shrunk to nearly nothing, felt something strange and unwelcome stir in the pit of its chest.
Then a massive force seized it and pulled it straight down.
BOOM.
Suicune hit the earth at full speed. The ground shook. Dust billowed upward in a dense cloud. The impact was every bit as brutal as taking a direct hit from a powerful finishing move.
Armored Mewtwo's expression didn't change. It simply moved its arm again. Suicune floated back out of the settling dust, suspended and considerably less pristine than it had been moments ago.
"Better now? Firing off attacks at random isn't a good habit."
Mammon's voice was still perfectly pleasant.
"…"
A low, subdued sound from Suicune.
"Entei and Raikou aren't nearby? Suicune — lying gets you a proper lesson."
"Nnn!"
Suicune was genuinely puzzled that this human could understand it, but answered anyway.
"Ha~ Is that so. Well. I'm willing to believe you."
Mammon rested his chin on his hand, considering. Suicune was assuring him Raikou and Entei were genuinely not in the vicinity.
Suicune felt something ease inside it.
"All you need to do is swear on Ho-Oh's name. Then I'll take you at your word. How does that sound?"
"Nnn??"
Suicune's pupils widened sharply.
Swear on Ho-Oh's name? That's completely unnecessary—
"What's the matter? You're unwilling? Or perhaps you were lying to me, Suicune."
Mammon watched it with a pleasant smile.
He didn't actually believe them. With the Rainbow Wing now in a human's hands, the three beasts were obligated to observe that human — that was their function. In the film they'd each appeared in Ash's vicinity individually. They were still watching Ash, had to be — Marshadow hadn't yet guided him toward Mt. Tensei, which meant the evaluation wasn't finished.
"…"
Suicune went quiet.
"Alright. I understand your commitment to protecting your companions. In that case — can you call Ho-Oh over?"
Mammon let the Entei matter go.
"Nnn!!"
Suicune's cry had considerably more feeling in it this time. That's even worse!
Not that it doubted Ho-Oh's strength for a moment — but calling Ho-Oh here over something like this? Ho-Oh was a busy legendary. It had no business dealing with a human whose heart wasn't pure. That wasn't how any of this worked.
"You won't do this, you won't do that. It seems I've been too lenient with you, Suicune."
Mammon's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Nnn!"
Suicune met his gaze without flinching. It would not yield to darkness.
"Very good. Some backbone."
Mammon raised an eyebrow. He gestured briefly to Armored Mewtwo.
Mewtwo's body crackled with electricity. The Thunder discharged directly into Suicune.
BOOM.
Suicune cried out in pain. The electricity tore through it continuously, surging and biting without pause.
One second. Two. Three. Four. Five.
When it finally stopped, Suicune's strength had been gutted entirely. It dropped to the ground.
"Poké Ball, go."
Mammon produced an Ultra Ball and threw it in a clean arc. It hit Suicune perfectly. A flash of red — Suicune was drawn inside.
The capture attempt had begun.
Erika watched with wide eyes. She'd never seen a legendary Pokémon being caught in person before.
Click.
The indicator light on the Ultra Ball flickered once.
Just once.
The ball burst open. Suicune reappeared.
"It failed," Erika said, blinking.
"Yes. Legendary Pokémon have extremely low catch rates. If they're resisting with real psychological force, it can take dozens of balls before one succeeds."
Caitlin explained it evenly. Her own capture of Tapu Lele had been relatively smooth — but that was because Tapu Lele had made a deal beforehand and entered willingly. No psychological resistance.
Suicune was different. Its recognition of Mammon was essentially zero, and it was actively pushing back. This wasn't going to be easy.
"Dozens of Poké Balls?" Erika's eyes went a little wide.
Mammon tried twice more. Both times, predictably, Suicune broke free almost immediately.
"Alright. I don't have the patience for this."
He threw another Ultra Ball, drawing Suicune in.
"Mewtwo. Hold it."
Armored Mewtwo's eyes lit up. A focused surge of psychic force locked around the Ultra Ball, pressing inward, preventing Suicune from forcing it open.
"—?!"
Erika stared.
Caitlin stared.
The indicator light turned green.
Capture successful.
"Good. Got Suicune."
Mammon picked up the ball, satisfied. Dozens of Poké Balls indeed.
"Take notes — this works very well on stubborn ones. Highly recommended."
He even held up the Ultra Ball for Caitlin and Erika to see, entirely sincere.
"Is that… allowed?" Erika asked carefully, visibly uncertain.
Throwing a Poké Ball was the final step of a real capture — the last line of resistance a wild Pokémon had. Using psychic force to suppress the ball itself felt like skipping something important.
"What's wrong with it? I defeated it — that proves I'm qualified to be its Trainer. I just cut out the tedious part of throwing the same ball fifty times."
Mammon stated this with complete conviction.
Caitlin considered it. She found she couldn't entirely disagree.
"ROOAARRR!!"
A thunderous roar from somewhere above.
"Hm?"
Mammon turned.
A russet shape was bounding across the hilltop and landed heavily in front of them — powerful, commanding, orange-red mane, iron rings on all four legs, a golden leaf-like crest embedded in its forehead, white smoke trailing from its back.
"Entei!" Erika's eyes lit up.
Ho-Oh's second guardian. Right on schedule.
"ROAR!"
Entei fixed Mammon with a furious glare.
"What? I defeated Suicune fair and square."
Mammon tilted his head. Entei was demanding he release it. Not happening.
"ROOAARR!!"
The roar intensified. Entei had seen everything.
If Suicune had been caught in a proper battle, Entei would have been grieved — losing a companion who could no longer walk beside it in service of Ho-Oh — but it would have respected Suicune's outcome.
What it had just witnessed was not that.
"ROAR!!!"
"You're saying Suicune was forced? Entei, I don't appreciate that characterization."
Mammon made a sound of mild affront.
"The bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon deepens over the course of a journey together. Suicune and I only just met today — of course there was some resistance. That's normal. But I have every confidence that in time, it will come to accept me."
He said this with genuine calm.
"Just like Tapu Fini."
"Yes — Suicune has lost Ho-Oh, but now it has me. I'll be its companion going forward. I'm sure we'll become an excellent team."
Entei paused. Something about the way this human talked felt profoundly off, but it couldn't immediately identify what.
Wait. He's rationalizing—
"ROAR!!" Entei glared harder. It had watched this whole thing. The human had used that Pokémon's psychic power to trap Suicune inside the ball — Suicune hadn't been going to be caught at all—
"I just skipped the redundant part. I carry two hundred Poké Balls on me. Suicune was going to be caught eventually. I simply declined to waste time getting there."
Mammon spread his hands with an expression of pure innocence.
Entei paused again.
"I fully understand how it feels to suddenly lose a companion you've worked alongside for over a century. In light of that — I actually have a solution that works for everyone."
Mammon looked at Entei and broke into a wide, warm grin.
"Are you worried Suicune might not be well treated with me? There's no need at all. But if you're genuinely concerned — why not join my team as well? Then you can keep an eye on it personally."
"?"
Entei stared at this human with an expression of total incomprehension.
He captures Suicune and immediately turns his eyes on me?
Entei felt a sudden, powerful sense that it should not have come here.
Armored Mewtwo stepped forward. Those violet flame-lit eyes settled on Entei without hurry.
"A family ought to be together, after all." Mammon's grin hadn't moved. "While I have you here, Entei — do you happen to know where Raikou is? You may as well call it over too."
Getting all three at once was more efficient. And once he had the full set of Ho-Oh's guardians, he had a strong suspicion Ho-Oh itself would eventually appear.
If catching all three still didn't bring Ho-Oh out — well, that would make it a rather derelict leader.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you