Alex's Pokémon spread throughout the district, eliminating every Ultra Beast to ensure nothing would interrupt the coming battle. They also cleared the main street where Alex stood, pushing abandoned vehicles aside and reducing nearby buildings to rubble before piling the debris into defensive barricades. Soon, nothing blocked his view of the Megalo Tower at the heart of Ultra Megalopolis.
Standing on the broad avenue leading straight to the tower, Alex could immediately tell from the overwhelming aura radiating within that Necrozma was on the higher end of Master rank. It was stronger than Groudon, Moltres, Zapdos, and Mewtwo but still weaker than Giratina, Palkia, Dialga, Celebi, and Arceus.
This promised to be the greatest battle of his life. It would be far more dangerous than fighting Master ranked trainers since almost all of them were still in the early stages of the rank and individually weaker than even the weakest Legendary Pokémon he'd encountered.
He continued watching as his battle intent grew and strategies formed in his mind. Then Gardevoir sent him a telepathic message that instantly wiped the anticipation from his face.
"There's survivors on the outskirts!?" Alex exclaimed.
After a moment's thought, it made sense. Ultra Megalopolis was enormous, and while the entire city had suffered catastrophic damage, the bombardment wouldn't have been enough to wipe out every human within it. There were countless areas between the major impact zones where people could have escaped the destruction and survived. The native Ultra Beasts also weren't nearly as bloodthirsty as the Pokémon from his world, so many would've protected rather than preyed upon the remaining humans.
The city's sheer size also meant there would've been years' worth of supplies to scavenge. If the survivors had managed to restore even modest food production on the outskirts using that time, they could've sustained themselves indefinitely.
"Ignore them for now. I don't want anyone's ideology or authority getting in the way of this battle," Alex instructed. "Necrozma comes first, no matter what they think. If they try to make contact, act hostile but don't attack."
He was here at Kahuna Hapu's request, so he needed to focus on his priorities. However, his planned scavenging hunt would likely have to be canceled since there were survivors here who needed every available resource to survive. Then again, he could always trade with them, considering their lower level of technology and limited ability to utilize high-ranked resources. Surely, they would be more than willing to trade for Kaia's survival kit, which contained seeds and other useful supplies, for what were essentially useless hunks of metal and materials to them.
A few hours later, with a growing number of onlookers gathering in the distance, Alex's Pokémon finished clearing the area and created a suitable battlefield with enough space for unrestricted movement. Judging by the damage throughout the city, there was little point in using the remaining buildings as defenses since the bombardment had seemingly melted straight through them. At best, the piles of rubble could serve as elevated platforms for launching attacks or provide visual cover for ambushes.
As for their formation, the defense team formed a loose reverse concave around Alex, with Gardevoir, Gothitelle, and Espeon positioned closest to him. The rest of the defensive Pokémon were grouped into pairs, allowing them to withstand bombardments while maintaining their spread-out positions. In theory, nothing Necrozma could throw at them should be enough to even damage them.
The attack team adopted a similar reverse concave formation but positioned themselves much closer to the tower. They spread out into six separate groups, creating a scattered frontline that allowed them to cover more ground and pressure the tower from multiple directions.
"Everyone ready?" Alex asked.
"Gardevoir~"
"Begin!" he commanded.
Immediately, all of Alex's Pokémon used status moves to enhance themselves and their allies as much as possible before preparing their strongest attacks that didn't require a recovery period, such as Hyper Beam. Then, they unleashed their full power toward the disc-like structure of the Megalo Tower where the brightest light radiated.
The attack team's barrage struck first, denting the metallic frame before eventually piercing through it. The defense team's more powerful special attacks followed, flooding the interior with their energy and ensuring that anything hidden inside wouldn't escape unscathed.
VRAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
A furious cry erupted from within the tower. The entire structure trembled as the sound reverberated through Ultra Megalopolis, a mixture of rage, pain, and overwhelming power radiating from within.
From atop the tower, a bright golden figure emerged. Its immense body was composed of pure light, supported by a black crystalline skeleton that glowed gold from the vast energy it had absorbed. Its star-like head, armored face, multicolored eyes, and four blazing wings gave it an otherworldly appearance, while its massive frame and spiked tail made it the tallest known Psychic type Pokémon. This was Ultra Necrozma.
Energy gathered in its chest before radiating outward into concentrated, multicolored beams of light that showered the surroundings, specifically targeting the nearby attack team. The attack was Prismatic Laser, a barrage of light that forced a recharge. They dodged with ease while maintaining their assault, steadily piling damage onto the massive, shining target hovering above the tower.
VRAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
It cried out in rage once more before unleashing another attack. A deluge of energy surged toward Togekiss, who'd been drawing its attention with Follow Me throughout the battle. The blast, Photon Geyser, collided with Kommo-o's Protect shield before erupting outward into a brilliant pillar of swirling light, continuing to ravage the surrounding area.
When the attack finally faded, Togekiss, Kommo-o, and Dusknoir emerged completely unscathed, though the same couldn't be said for their surroundings. The ground beneath them had melted, leaving the road they stood on lower and beginning to tilt. They'd need to find more stable footing if they wanted to continue withstanding Necrozma's attacks. The same damage could be seen wherever Prismatic Laser had struck, leaving countless craters that threatened to destabilize the terrain beneath the battlefield.
Attacks continued to pour onto Necrozma, this time focusing on exploiting its weaknesses. Bug, Ghost, Ice, Dragon, Dark, and Fairy type attacks were used as much as possible, ensuring they dealt maximum damage to the rampaging Pokémon. Unfortunately, their effectiveness was significantly reduced by the continuous white light radiating from Necrozma's body. The overwhelming energy weakened the attacks enough to reduce their damage by an entire rank, meaning it would take far more than a hundred attacks to bring down the Legendary Pokémon.
That was fine for Alex, though. His team had been pushed to the peak of their current potential, with a heavy emphasis on coordination and sustainability. Even if they needed to land 10,000 attacks, they could maintain their momentum until Necrozma eventually fell.
Trying a new tactic, Necrozma used Prismatic Laser again, but this time it concentrated the beams on the attacking Pokémon rather than scattering them across the area around the tower. Instead of firing straight down from above, the beams curved through the air, disrupting their usual flight patterns and making them harder to dodge. However, Gardevoir saw through the strategy immediately. She focused on deploying wider Protect shields to ensure everyone's survival while gradually moving the team toward less damaged sections of the battlefield.
The battle continued like this for an entire hour, with Necrozma shrugging off devastating attacks with ease, Alex's Pokémon resisting or dodging its assaults, and the battlefield itself suffering the consequences. It became a clash of epic proportions that the survivors watched in absolute awe, with hope filling their hearts for the first time in years.
Eventually, the light surrounding Necrozma began to dim as the relentless barrage continued to wear it down. Fear of being captured finally forced it to change its approach, and its first instinct was to escape.
Necrozma opened an Ultra Wormhole behind itself, leading to one of the many worlds it knew, and immediately flew toward it. However, before it could reach the portal, two Crobats that had been hiding beneath the Megalo Tower struck from the shadows, hitting it with Mean Look.
VRAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!
Necrozma roared in rage, though a hint of fear now echoed within its cry as it focused on eliminating the detestable Crobats. Unfortunately, its attack was once again drawn away unnaturally toward Togekiss, who had been using Follow Me nonstop throughout the battle. Dusknoir immediately followed up by blocking the attack with Protect, leaving Necrozma to slowly descend into despair as every attempt to destroy its enemies or escape was thwarted.
"That should be enough," Alex said. "Send in the bruisers and finish it."
As usual, Necrozma attempted to bombard its opponents with Prismatic Laser, scattering multicolored beams of light across the battlefield. This time, however, the attack team didn't try to endure or evade while maintaining their assault. They charged forward, racing toward the tower and executing a perfectly coordinated combination attack.
Togekiss used Follow Me, drawing the brunt of the assault while Kommo-o protected it with Protect. Dusknoir followed by using Gravity across eight locations, creating a pillar of increased gravitational force stretching from Necrozma to the base of the tower. The Legendary Pokémon was powerful enough to resist the added gravity, but not enough to withstand what came next.
Arcanine struck first with Extreme Speed, biting into one of Necrozma's wings and destabilizing its flight. Raticate followed on the opposite side with Quick Attack, while Lucario used Extreme Speed to cripple another wing. Finally, Ceruledge emerged from Arcanine's shadow and struck the last wing with Phantom Force, effectively preventing Necrozma from making any further aerial maneuvers.
Gallade and Lopunny then teleported above it, combining their Ice Punches against its head and finally sending the Legendary Pokémon crashing downward. As it fell, Seismitoad, Breloom, and Raichu bombarded it with status moves, slowing its movements even further. Grim flew in and locked its jaws around Necrozma's neck with Jaw Lock, restricting it further, while Knight slashed at it with Spirit Break and Hydreigon slammed into its back with Dragon Rush, accelerating its descent.
Finally, Urshifu launched itself through the air with Adamant Strike, delivering a devastating axe kick that redirected Necrozma's trajectory toward Azuking. As Alex's strongest attacker, Azuking met the falling Legendary with an immense Giga Impact directly to its center mass.
BOOM!!!
The attack sent Necrozma crashing through the Megalo Tower's first floor, finally silencing the battlefield.
From the wreckage, the attack team emerged, dragging the battered and no longer radiant Ultra Necrozma toward Alex's feet. Without hesitation, he threw a Poké Ball and captured it.
"Good work," Alex said with a proud smile, looking over his powerful Pokémon as they reveled in their hard-earned victory.