Team Rocket's Second-in-Command!

A wave of dark energy erupted from Deoxys, sweeping across the arena and enveloping Mewtwo.

Unlike most Pokémon, who could barely cover a third of the battlefield with Dark Pulse, Deoxys' attack spanned nearly the entire gym.

The Dark-type move was highly effective against the Psychic Mewtwo.

This became evident as cracks began to form on Mewtwo's spherical psychic shield under the relentless assault of Dark Pulse.

The dark waves surged forward, each impact fracturing Mewtwo's barrier even more.

But Giovanni and Mewtwo weren't about to sit back and let it happen.

"Mewtwo, use Psycho Cut!" Giovanni's voice rang out.

He was ready to counterattack!

Following his command, Mewtwo raised an arm and slashed the air with two Psycho Cuts.

These Psycho Cuts were even sharper than the previous ones.

They sliced through the dark energy field and headed straight toward Deoxys.

"Psycho Cut? It's useless!"

Since Psycho Cut hadn't affected Deoxys before, it wouldn't now, either.

Deoxys remained in its Defense Form, its 160 base defense making it nearly impervious to the attack.

With its band-like arms crossed over its core, Deoxys reinforced its defense with Iron Defense and added a Reflect barrier in front of it.

With this dual-layered defense, the Psycho Cut shattered the Reflect and struck Deoxys' arms, leaving only faint white marks as Luo Yuan had anticipated.

Mewtwo's attack didn't leave so much as a scratch.

But... Giovanni knew Deoxys was highly durable, so why use Psycho Cut?

Because his real aim was to distract.

"Shadow Ball!"

At the exact moment the Psycho Cut struck, Giovanni issued his true attack command.

Mewtwo raised both arms, quickly forming two Shadow Balls that it fired like cannonballs toward Deoxys.

Whizz—!

The Shadow Balls shot forward, cutting through the air with a sharp, whistling sound.

Luo Yuan immediately saw that the Psycho Cut had been a diversion, with Shadow Ball as the real threat.

As a special attack, Shadow Ball would have no trouble bypassing Deoxys' physical defenses.

But Luo Yuan had no intention of tanking it.

Even though Deoxys' special defense was also quite high, Mewtwo's special attack power was not to be taken lightly.

"Deoxys, use Teleport!"

At Luo Yuan's command, Deoxys' body blurred and vanished.

The Shadow Ball passed through where Deoxys had been, crashing into the ground and detonating with a force that shook half the arena.

Fortunately, Giovanni's foresight in sealing off the gym had prevented the noise and chaos from drawing unwanted attention.

Meanwhile, Deoxys had reappeared directly in front of Mewtwo.

With a quick shift, it assumed Attack Form, its four tentacles shooting forward to strike at Mewtwo's chest.

Though Mewtwo was bound by the M2 armor, it wasn't a statue; it was capable of reacting.

Sparks crackled around Mewtwo's fist as it aimed a punch straight at Deoxys' core.

"Thunder Punch!"

Deoxys regarded Mewtwo's counterattack with seriousness.

After all, its core was its vital spot.

Having experienced that pain before, Deoxys wasn't eager to repeat it.

Two of its tentacles wrapped around Mewtwo's arm, attempting to restrain it.

But Mewtwo, sensing Deoxys' intentions, quickly altered its target, abandoning the strike on Deoxys' core.

Instead, it crouched and drove its electrified fist toward Deoxys' narrow midsection.

By now, the two were so close that dodging was nearly impossible for either side.

At this critical moment, both trainers and their Pokémon made the same choice.

"Attack!!"

The best defense was a relentless offense.

Thud!

Two of Deoxys' sharp tentacles struck Mewtwo's armor, cracking the M2 Restraint, while the other two tentacles pierced Mewtwo's exposed chest.

Mewtwo froze, its face contorted with pain beneath its helmet.

But Mewtwo was not one to back down.

"Take this!"

Ignoring the pain, Mewtwo clenched its teeth and brought its Thunder Punch down on Deoxys' waist, slicing through it as if with a blade.

"!"

Matori, watching from the sidelines, looked on in shock.

What had begun as a straightforward battle had suddenly turned into a deadly clash.

It was just a sparring match... there was no need to go this far!

But neither Luo Yuan nor Giovanni paid any mind to Matori's expression.

Both were entirely focused on the fight.

As seasoned trainers, they knew the intensity required to truly test their Pokémon's limits.

By this point, the two Pokémon had separated.

Compared to Mewtwo's injuries, Deoxys seemed to be in a far worse state.

"Mewtwo, use Psychic!"

Giovanni directed Mewtwo to strike Deoxys, which was now split in half, with a powerful psychic blast.

The divided Deoxys was wrapped in psychic energy and flung backward.

Yet Luo Yuan remained unflustered.

Looking at the bisected Deoxys, he calmly instructed, "Enough playing around, Deoxys. Use Recover."

In an instant, the gem at the center of Deoxys' chest glowed brightly.

Psychic energy pulled Deoxys' two halves together, though it looked rather haphazard, like a piece of pottery glued by a child.

Though Matori was still reeling from the shock, she quickly recovered as she saw this patchwork version of Deoxys.

The sight of Deoxys' oddly fused form looked almost comical, if not unsettling.

But that thought was quickly replaced by awe as she watched Deoxys' body begin to mend itself.

The damaged midsection wriggled and healed until Deoxys was whole once more.

The cost of this recovery was a slight drop in Deoxys' energy, but otherwise, it was back to full fighting form.

---

T/N: Alright who do you bet on winning? Usually Mewtwo would win but right now it's handicapped so do you think Deoxy's could win? Not to mention Luo has that Psychic Affinity!

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