"BOOM—!"
"Doduo!!"
Yellow rode on Doduo's back, repeatedly glancing over her shoulder toward the sky.
Lance stood atop Aerodactyl's head, following her at an unhurried pace.
Aerodactyl opened its massive, fang-filled jaws and unleashed a devastating ultrasonic blast. Wherever the sound waves struck, rocks shattered into dust.
Yellow's face turned pale at the sight.
"So you're trying to stall for time and wait for reinforcements? A fine tactic."
Lance's tone was leisurely.
"But with your strength, you can't even stall properly."
"Still… I must commend you. Compared to when we met in Vermilion City, when you could only watch helplessly—now you have the courage to stand against me."
"Yellow… fellow child of Viridian City."
He hovered above her like a cat toying with prey.
Doduo ran swiftly, but they were inside a volcanic crater. Lava erupted unpredictably, forcing Doduo to slow in order to avoid molten bursts and unstable ground.
"Give me that power you possess."
Lance clutched his collar and shouted down at her.
"To hold such power and not understand how to use it is an insult to it."
"The power granted to you by Viridian Forest is not meant to be wasted like this. It belongs in far greater hands!"
"What power are you even talking about?! I don't understand!"
Yellow forced Doduo to halt briefly, both of them gasping for breath. She had been relentlessly chased with no chance to rest.
"And even if I did have that power, I would never give it to you!"
She couldn't take to the sky. Her only flying Pokémon was Dragonair, and Dragonair's speed was nothing compared to Lance's mastery of Flying-types. Facing him in the air would be suicidal.
"Why won't you hand it over? Only someone who can use it correctly can maximize its value."
Lance gradually calmed, folding his arms as he gazed down at her.
"If I give it to you, cities will burn. People will die!"
Yellow didn't understand grand ideologies.
She only knew one thing:
Lance wanted humanity gone.
That was enough.
"HAHAHAHA! Yes! Exactly so!"
"But this is not mere destruction—it is rebirth through fire!"
"Remove the arrogant humans! Purify the world completely!"
"I, Lance—Lance of the Dragon Clan—will reshape it into a paradise fit for Pokémon, not a garbage heap for humanity!"
"And you… are qualified to become part of that paradise."
He ran his fingers through his hair and laughed wildly, eyes blazing with self-righteous fervor.
He didn't care whether he was right or wrong.
Hero or villain.
He fought for his dream.
And an idealist with power—
was the most dangerous force of all.
"You can hear Pokémon's hearts," he continued.
"You must feel their suffering—the ones forced to live on polluted lands near human cities."
"Compared to these pure and beautiful creatures, humanity has no right to exist."
He gripped his cloak tightly.
Why couldn't she see it?
He remembered the man he met in Unova—N.
N believed Pokémon should be freed from human selfishness.
But Lance believed that wasn't enough.
As long as humans existed—
they would reclaim Pokémon again.
So humanity had to be erased.
That was why Zekrom had chosen him.
The Hero of Ideals.
And with Zekrom at his side—
he was certain.
He was right.
"Humans have harmed Pokémon," Yellow replied, clenching her fists.
"I've seen it too. Pokémon losing homes. Starving."
"But that's the past!"
"Humans are trying to change now. They're learning to live in harmony—like Professor Oak has been teaching."
Her voice trembled but did not waver.
For a brief second—
Lance doubted.
"I don't understand all the big ideals," she continued.
"But big brother says you're wrong. That your dream is wrong."
"So I'll stand against you."
Lance burst into uncontrollable laughter.
The volcano itself seemed to shake—
and this time, it wasn't imagination.
The ground trembled violently.
"You fight me because you believe him?"
"That's the funniest joke I've ever heard."
"Don't you see? My dear brother walks the same path as I do."
"He too seeks ideals and truth."
"He's even more self-centered and extreme than I am."
"He just hides it better."
"You've all been fooled by his harmless façade."
"Believe me, little girl. You're helping a rational madman. A far more terrifying one."
"You will regret it."
"One day—you will regret it."
Yellow shook her head firmly.
"Maybe one day I will."
"But right now, I have no regrets."
"My eyes and ears tell me that what big brother is doing is right."
"And you're wrong."
"So I'll stop you!"
"Hmph. Words are useless."
"Then let our hands decide."
"You don't know what your power is? Fine."
"I'll force you to understand."
"Dragonite!"
Lance raised his hand to the sky.
The volcano erupted.
Rivers of magma burst upward like fountains of hellfire.
The crater floor cracked apart—
Yellow stumbled and fell.
Before her—
The earth bulged upward.
And from beneath the magma-scorched ground—
A massive Dragonite emerged.
Flaming debris struck its body—
and it didn't even flinch.
"T-That Dragonite… it's enormous…"
Yellow stared in disbelief.
This Dragonite stood over ten meters tall.
Far beyond any recorded average.
This was not something humanity could have trained.
It was a mutation.
"When you weren't yet born," Lance said quietly,
"Viridian Forest faced catastrophe."
"Humans built factories that poisoned the land. Waste flooded rivers. Pokémon died in droves."
"I watched them die."
"I was too weak to save them."
"I cried. I screamed."
"I searched for power."
"In that disaster, I saved only one Dratini."
He looked at the towering Dragonite beneath him.
"It became this."
"My first partner. My closest friend."
"Humans nearly killed it."
"But that pollution… caused it to mutate."
"And now—it will repay humanity."
Lance leapt from Aerodactyl onto Dragonite's massive claw.
"This is my Dragon Legion."
"Come."
"How will you fight?"
"With those tiny Pokémon in your hands?"
"Use that hidden power!"
"Show me!"
His hand slashed downward.
Dragonite's claw slammed into the ground.
The shockwave shattered rock before Yellow—
sending her flying backward.
"S-So strong…"
She struggled to stand.
Burns marked her palms and arms.
Just one glance at Dragonite—
was enough.
The gap between them was absolute.
The volcano roars.
Dragonite towers.
Lance's ideology stands at its peak.
And Yellow—
faces an impossible battle.
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