Chapter 397: Complete Forme Zygarde
Old Ghost didn’t listen to Rio. Its only thought was beating up Z2. Rio didn’t stop it—he just redirected Charizard’s attention to Diantha and the others. Whoever got beaten, it didn’t matter. Old Ghost wanted to fight, so let it fight. As for Charizard, its steady personality meant it rarely minded such things—its only concern was whether Rio would ever stop relying on it. That was why Charizard had become the most dedicated trainer among Rio’s Pokémon, the only one that didn’t need to be pushed to train.
Meanwhile, Z2, who had been getting pummeled by Charizard, saw it turn away and thought it was retreating out of fear. It immediately used its divine move—Thousand Arrows—sending beams of light shooting from the ground like arrows aimed at the retreating Charizard.
"Gengar~" — Little Z2, your opponent is me now.
But just as the arrows were about to hit Charizard, Old Ghost cut in, turning into black mist that engulfed them all. None of the arrows emerged from the mist, which then drifted toward Z2.
On the other side, Mewtwo and Charizard had engaged the three Champions. Diantha had her Gardevoir Mega Evolve, and Steven followed with his Metagross. He had recently acquired Mega Stones from Hoenn’s Meteor Falls and Jagged Pass, trading for a Metagrossite. As for Alder, though his Volcarona couldn’t Mega Evolve, he had trained it to level 76—close to Mega Gardevoir and Mega Metagross’s levels.
"Gardevoir, Psychic!"
"Metagross, Flash Cannon!"
"Volcarona, Fiery Dance!"
The three Champions attacked simultaneously—Gardevoir and Metagross with long-range moves, Volcarona with a close-range fiery charge aimed at Charizard.
Mewtwo and Charizard split their targets accordingly. Mewtwo raised both hands, forming two Aura Spheres while its eyes glowed silver, isolating Gardevoir’s Psychic and trapping it in place. A second later, the two Aura Spheres flew out—one sent Mega Gardevoir flying dozens of meters, the other met Mega Metagross’s Flash Cannon. After a second of stalemate, the Flash Cannon was overwhelmed, and Metagross was sent flying as well.
"Gardevoir!" "Metagross!" Diantha and Steven cried out. Their Pokémon had been badly wounded but still had some fight left. Alder’s Volcarona, however, was one-shot by Charizard’s Dragon Claw—smashed into a stone pillar and knocked out.
In a single exchange, the three Champions were left with two wounded and one down. The power gap was terrifying.
"I told you—I’m Rio. Do you believe me now?" Rio stood on Charizard’s back, arms crossed, smirking.
"Like hell we do! The more you insist, the less we believe it! A Champion couldn’t possibly be this strong!" Diantha growled. "Steven, you’ve fought Rio before—what do you think?"
"Exactly what you said—this guy is using Rio’s name to mock us, and he’s stronger than Rio." Steven gritted his teeth. "I admit I lost to Rio, but he wasn’t this strong. And he’s only grown stronger since—there’s no way the gap between Champions could keep widening like this. He’s deliberately messing with us!"
"Now’s not the time for debate—you need to call for backup from Kalos’s strongest trainers!" Alder, shaken by the display, recalled his fallen Volcarona and sent out a level 71 Bouffalant.
But before anyone could act, a new development occurred. Behind Rio, where Gengar was still fighting Z2, a transformation was underway. More green beams—far more than before—poured in from all directions into the 50% Forme Z2. At the same time, Z1 on Rio’s back was also affected, absorbing the beams and floating upward.
Under everyone’s stunned gaze, the two core cells merged in midair—and became a Pokémon that looked like a towering mech.