Rayquaza, wreathed in the sheer might of Dragon-type energy, pierced through Lucius like a comet tearing through the sky. His body shattered instantly.
But in the next moment, thousands of Lucius clones appeared all around the area.
Double Team.
These were no ordinary illusions. Lucius's clones, much like the original Deoxys from the Pokémon canon, each possessed independent mobility and offensive capabilities.
Surrounding Rayquaza from all directions, the clones unleashed a barrage of moves in unison.
In an instant, the sky across a hundred-kilometer radius plummeted in temperature. A massive dome of ice formed, over fifty kilometers wide in diameter, sealing Rayquaza inside a colossal frozen prison.
This ice wasn't natural. It was forged by the clones releasing a massive wave of Water-type moves, then flash-freezing the vapor using Ice-type techniques.
But the prison wasn't hollow.
Inside, over a thousand Lucius clones remained. They launched continuous Blizzards, Ice Beams, Light Screens, and Reflects to trap Rayquaza and suppress any attempt at escape.
Though a Mythical Pokémon, Rayquaza's Dragon typing left it vulnerable to Lucius's powerful Ice-type onslaught. The sheer number and scale of the countermeasures overwhelmed even the Sky High Pokémon.
At over 150 meters long, Rayquaza was massive—but in a fifty-kilometer-wide battlefield, it wasn't large enough to gain an advantage. The constant Ice Beams from every angle disrupted its charging process, forcing it to rely on scattered bursts of Hyper Beam and Flamethrower.
Most of Rayquaza's counterattacks were absorbed or deflected by the persistent Light Screen barriers.
As time passed, the cold deepened, and the air within the ice prison grew even harsher—every breath a threat to the Dragon-type Legendary.
Each time Rayquaza shattered a clone, two more took its place.
As the temperature dropped further, Lucius's clones adapted. They began mixing in Fairy-type and Dragon-type moves to enhance the counterpressure.
Lucius had already assimilated the genetic data of many Dragon- and Fairy-type Pokémon. Combined with his transformation skills, the clones began to morph—some took on the forms of Articuno, Regice, and Gardevoir, each capable of suppressing Dragon-types through innate advantage.
Outside the icy fortress, Lucius's true body hovered midair, activating Future Sight repeatedly—predicting Rayquaza's next moves and adjusting the attack patterns of his clones accordingly.
Still, Rayquaza wasn't helpless. Trapped inside, it continuously executed Dragon Dance, weaving through the barrage as it amped up its own speed and power. Its stats were now massively boosted. It was only a matter of time before the prison collapsed.
Just then, a distortion appeared beside Lucius—a shimmering wormhole opened, and out flew a Celebi—Anabel.
Lucius had summoned her via pheromone signal before the battle even began.
She glanced at Lucius, now in his new enhanced form, but didn't dwell on the change. Her focus shifted immediately to the sky—to the giant frozen construct hanging like a second moon above the earth.
The massive ice dome steamed at its edges. The vapors swirled like clouds, and the outer shell refracted sunlight in dazzling rainbows, making it appear like a colossal crystalline diamond—breathtaking and ominous.
"Get ready," Lucius said without taking his eyes off the battle. "Rayquaza's breaking out."
Having reached its peak, Rayquaza unleashed Outrage.
The overwhelming Dragon energy erupted into blue-gold flames, swirling like a category 5 storm. Within seconds, half of Lucius's clones inside the dome were obliterated.
Anabel radiated a soft green glow. Another enormous wormhole opened in the sky above the ice prison.
CRACK—BOOM...
With an earth-shaking roar, the dome's outer walls—over ten meters thick—shattered into countless ice shards. Bursting free, Rayquaza soared into the sky, bathed in blazing azure light.
A piercing dragon cry echoed across the heavens.
Rayquaza had broken free.
But just as it ascended, a streak of icy blue light shot out from Anabel's wormhole—striking the serpent dead-on.
On the other side of the dimensional gate, Primal Kyogre had launched its ultimate Ice-type move:
Sheer Cold.
Rayquaza let out a pained shriek as its body was instantly frozen solid—falling alongside the shattered remnants of the ice dome.
Then, the space below it distorted.
A massive, glowing purple wormhole opened like a yawning maw, waiting to swallow the frozen dragon whole.
Perfect.
Primal Kyogre emerged fully from the wormhole, firing a second Sheer Cold toward the spatial rift below.
This beam moved faster than time—blurring through the falling debris to strike the portal directly.
A muffled groan echoed from within.
The wormhole—Rayquaza's escape route, likely created by Palkia—shattered like a broken mirror.
With the backup route destroyed, Lucius's remaining clones teleported to the ground. Together, they used Psychic Terrain and Confusion to suspend the falling glacier fragments mid-air.
After all, a fifty-kilometer-wide ice dome crashing into the city below wasn't something you could just walk away from.
The impact radius stretched over a hundred kilometers.
These weren't snowflakes—some of the falling shards were the size of cars, others larger than trucks. Left unchecked, the falling ice could obliterate Cianwood City—turning it into a wasteland.
Of course, saving the city was the right thing to do—but it wouldn't go unrecognized.
One of Lucius's clones transformed into Volkner's likeness and descended, helping coordinate the ice deflection and receiving the grateful cheers of the townspeople.
Meanwhile, Lucius's true body had already entered the frozen Rayquaza—by piloting the Leviathan Virus through the cracks in the ice and into the Legendary's weakened systems.
Rayquaza, despite its might, still hadn't fully recovered from the damage it sustained years ago—from the "Flower," the Infinty Energy Weapon.
Its power was no longer at its peak.
Having just escaped from the ice prison, though its speed and power had been enhanced, the creature still suffered injuries from Ice-type and Fairy-type moves.
After breaking out, it was struck head-on by Primal Kyogre's devastating Sheer Cold. Now, it was in its most weakened state.
But for Lucius—a sentient virus—cold was never something to fear. In fact, inside the frozen body of Rayquaza, he was able to infect it even faster.
As expected, after evolving into the Divine Gene form, he had gained the power to infect Mythical Pokémon directly.
While Lucius corroded Rayquaza's body, he also infiltrated its spiritual realm.
Rayquaza's mind was an endless sky—vast and boundless. Wisps of clouds drifted with the wind.
"Truly the master of the skies," Lucius whispered in awe, then began his infection in earnest.
Since Rayquaza had fallen into a deep coma after being frozen, its will didn't immediately resist. By the time it awoke—startled by the loss of control over both its mind and body—Lucius had already infected over one-third of its consciousness.
Confronting Lucius, now wreaking havoc in its own spiritual world, Rayquaza's will materialized without a word—and attacked with a crushing claw swipe.
Within the psychic realm, Lucius's true form emerged—his Leviathan body. A serpentine, draconic monster covered in wings, he faced Rayquaza unflinchingly and launched into a direct clash.
The two draconic entities spiraled through the air in ferocious battle—using teeth and claws alike—an unrestrained exhibition of primal instinct and savage might.
During the chaos, the Mega Rayquaza—an avatar formed from Rayquaza's concentrated will—had its emerald forehead crest ripped off, its twin jaw-blades snapped in half. Meanwhile, Lucius's Leviathan had its wings torn apart, its scales shattered across half its body.
But no matter how much damage they inflicted on each other, their manifested forms regenerated—restored by the very essence of the spiritual domain.
For in truth, this was not a battle of flesh, but a war of wills—a direct clash between the minds of Lucius and Rayquaza.
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