Chapter 689: This is our Mega Evolution!

"It's gone... it's all gone."

Outside the magnificent ballroom, Su Hao looked completely devastated, like a gambler who had just lost thirty million.

"E?"

Mew circled Su Hao, who was squatting in the corner, with a look of curiosity; its face was written with innocence and naivety.

A few black lines appeared on Mewtwo's forehead as it watched Su Hao, the star of the celebration banquet, squatting in the corner having a breakdown all by himself.

What was gone?

He had successfully protected the Tree of Beginning and sent Athena and Apollo, two high-ranking Team Rocket officers who were essentially his enemies, to the Pokémon League prison.

Shouldn't Su Hao be celebrating wildly?

"That's enough. Her Majesty the Queen wants to meet you personally."

Unable to watch Su Hao like this any longer, Mewtwo lifted him up with its psychic powers and said impatiently.

"You don't understand." Su Hao blinked his sore eyes; his mood right now was as if his home had been raided. "I had to pay a price to save the Tree of Beginning. For me, that already counts as a loss..."

"A price?" Mewtwo released its psychic hold, held Su Hao by his collar, and looked him over suspiciously. "I don't see you having any issues at all. The life force you and Lucario consumed was replenished by the revived Tree of Beginning, and you've even gained a significant boost."

"With your current life force, living for two hundred years would be a breeze."

Everything was safe and sound, Riolu had evolved into Lucario, and his lifespan had increased—weren't these all happy events?

"Mewtwo, do you know Articuno? The one that's the God of Ice?" Su Hao asked suddenly.

After a moment of hesitation, the confused Mewtwo nodded slightly: "I do."

Su Hao said gloomily: "My world has a God of Ice too, and I have a pretty good relationship with It."

"And then, I often pluck Its feathers when It isn't paying attention, or collect the feathers that fall off when It flaps its wings. Sometimes I even secretly swipe some feathers It was preparing to use for its nest. I've probably collected over three thousand of them."

Mewtwo: "???"

Listen to yourself—is that something a human would say?

"I've been hoarding so many of the God of Ice's feathers specifically to use as a trump card in case of an emergency."

"Today, I really was almost drained dry by Mew, and in the end, I had no choice but to extract all the energy from those feathers. The feathers I'd been saving for over half a year are just gone like that."

After speaking, Su Hao didn't forget to add: "It's all that idiot Apollo from Team Rocket's fault. He brought a squad of mechanical spiders to drain the energy from the core of the Tree of Beginning, making the whole thing go into a stress response."

Afterward, based on the explanations from Ash and his friends and a few fragmented words from Mew, Su Hao learned why he—a former Aura Guardian (Advanced)—and Riolu had almost been drained dry by the Tree of Beginning.

In the movie, the core crystal didn't suffer any external damage, so the Tree of Beginning's resistance wasn't too intense, and the energy required by Mew, which lived in symbiosis with it, was naturally less.

Here, after Apollo drained the energy from the core crystal, the two Legendary Giants he had captured instantly erupted with power several times stronger than before, sending him scurrying in fear before he was finally absorbed by the dark red viscous liquid.

Ash and the others were also implicated by Apollo, and then Mew saw the tears of Pikachu and the other Pokémon, forcing the highly reactive Tree of Beginning to shut down.

So, the source of everything was—

Apollo... was it!?

Team Rocket... was it!?

No, it seems it was himself.

Never mind, anyway, just dumping all the blame on Team Rocket is fine.

I'm sure Giovanni, having lost three high-ranking officers in a row, must be very confused.

"If you used them, you used them." Mewtwo was very helpless, not understanding why Su Hao couldn't even figure this out. "Since your relationship is good, just go back and keep plucking... ah, no, harvesting Its feathers."

"The benefits you've gained now are real. The feathers grow on the God of Ice; they won't run away."

Su Hao woke up as if from a dream: "What you said... actually makes some sense!?"

That's right, once he goes back and faces a whole "Articuno-emon," aren't the feathers his to harvest as he pleases?

At worst, he could make It use feathers as a wager for a game of chess and win until he's loaded!

Thinking of this, Su Hao felt his strength returning to his body; his whole being was filled with endless power.

Su Hao said with high spirits: "Let's go, let's attend the victory banquet!"

Mewtwo shook its head and politely declined: "No, I try not to get involved with too many humans."

"Alright then." Su Hao curled his lip. Mew had already flown off to play somewhere unknown because it couldn't sit still—its personality was truly the polar opposite of Mewtwo's. "Then wait for me outside for a while. Later, we'll go back to Cerulean Cave; I have something to show you."

"After all, I only have a few hours left before I return to my own world."

After saying this, Su Hao walked directly toward the brightly lit banquet hall.

Mewtwo stood in the shadows, watching Su Hao's departing back. Fireworks suddenly bloomed in the night sky. Under the bright light, Mewtwo's deep purple pupils flickered; no one knew what it was thinking.

There was half an hour left until Su Hao returned to his own world.

"So, you even had me set up a bunch of data detection instruments here—what exactly are you planning to do?"

Mewtwo floated in the air, looking helplessly at Su Hao, who was surrounded by instruments, its tone puzzled.

"Hehe." Su Hao chuckled and snapped his fingers. "Do you remember what I told you before, about the possibility of you evolving further?"

"........ You mean?"

Mewtwo opened its mouth slightly, a look of shock and uncertainty flashing across its face.

It remembered that Su Hao had said at the time that because Riolu hadn't evolved yet, he couldn't demonstrate it in practice, right?

Now that Riolu had evolved into Lucario... that means!!?

Su Hao chuckled softly and said slowly: "In 【your】 database, you haven't discovered any further evolutionary forms after Lucario, right?"

Mewtwo replied: "...... No."

Hearing this, Su Hao tossed a Luxury Ball high into the air, and red light flashed.

The next moment, what appeared before Mewtwo and Su Hao was a Pokémon that, compared to the cute Riolu, had an appearance and aura that were majestic and awe-inspiring, like Anubis from Egyptian mythology.

Its body was slender, with a slightly thin upper body and powerful lower limbs. White spikes grew from the back of its hands and chest, making it look full of offensive power.

The Aura Pokémon—Lucario!

"Then watch with your own eyes. Remember to save the data and witness what is called Mega Evolution!"

As he spoke, Su Hao extended his right hand, and the Key Stone on his glove shone brightly, as if eager to try.

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Mega Lucario.