Pluto didn't care at all about the fuming Ash; he was simply stating his true thoughts.
In his heart, besides the leader of Team Galactic and his own experiments, nothing else mattered. He had never once respected the lives or the feelings of Pokémon.
In reality, even though many members of villainous organizations prioritize capturing and selling Pokémon or completing missions, they still love and respect their own Pokémon. However, their attitude toward other Pokémon is mostly no different from Pluto's.
Pluto, however, was even more extreme. To him, whether it was his own Pokémon or those in the wild, they were all merely tools to realize the wishes of Team Galactic's leader.
It was precisely because of this attitude toward Pokémon that Ash felt so infuriated.
"Brat, you'll understand when you grow up. Everything used to achieve a goal—be it Pokémon or humans—is just a type of tool. A naive guy like you should just obediently leave Lugia behind and go back to playing your little Trainer games," Pluto sneered at Ash sarcastically.
"You bastard—"
"Calm down, Ash. He's provoking you. Don't go over there." Cynthia placed her delicate hand on Ash's shoulder, holding back the boy who wanted to charge forward.
Pluto's attitude toward things was indeed as he described, but normally, Pluto wouldn't talk so much. He didn't need others to understand or respect him; he only needed to achieve his goals.
Therefore, the fact that he said so much in front of Ash meant he was definitely trying to bait him into doing something. Pluto had clearly investigated Ash; he knew where Ash's trigger points were and how to make him lose his reason.
Cynthia's intervention caused a flash of disappointment to cross Pluto's eyes. "As expected of the sinnoh champion. I originally wanted to deal with that troublesome brat first, but with you here, he probably won't rush in so recklessly. In that case—let the battle begin."
As Pluto spoke, he extended his palm and snapped his fingers.
In the next second, two incredibly oppressive auras emanated from both sides of Ash and the others. The terrifying pressure caused even Cynthia's expression to change.
"God Domain Level? And two of them! Team Galactic, what on earth have you done!" Cynthia said coldly.
"What did we do? We just slightly modified the two gods here in the Orange Islands. The plan to capture the third god had already been set and could have been completed today. But that fool Saturn couldn't even handle such a small matter and even let you people invade this place and rescue her. So now, I have no choice but to implement the plan ahead of schedule."
As Pluto's voice fell, the two terrifying, almost tangible auras grew even thicker. Then, two pillars of light shot into the sky!
An orange pillar of light and a dark red pillar of light shone on both sides of Ash and the others, and two figures slowly stepped out from within them.
Stepping out from the dark red pillar was a giant bird burning with dark red flames, while from the other pillar came a giant bird with orange feathers and a black base, its body looking as if its feathers were standing on end.
"Moltres? Zapdos? No, why do they look different?" The moment Misty saw the two giant birds, she immediately thought of the Legendary Birds of the Kanto region, Moltres and Zapdos.
The appearance of these two giant birds was far too similar to Moltres and Zapdos. Although Misty had never actually seen those two Legendary Birds, she had seen plenty of legendary pictures and heard stories since she was a child. If those two birds appeared before her, she would certainly recognize them.
But what was going on with these two birds in front of her? From their appearance, they seemed very similar to the Legendary Birds, but the details in many places were just too different.
For instance, Moltres burns with pure orange-red flames, but this bird that looked like Moltres was burning with dark red flames.
Not only that, Misty couldn't feel the slightest bit of heat from this Pokémon that resembled Moltres. Those flames, which looked like they were burning fiercely enough to turn everything to Ash, actually emitted no heat.
This didn't match the legendary description of Moltres at all!
The same was true for the other bird that looked like Zapdos. Ash could feel that there wasn't a single electric ion leaking from its body. As a legendary Pokémon filled with lightning, every move it made after reaching the God Domain Level should carry the power of its attribute, yet Ash couldn't feel any lightning within it at all.
In other words, this giant bird that looked like Zapdos didn't have the Electric type at all!
A Zapdos without the Electric type? A Moltres without the Fire type? It sounded like a dark joke.
"Legend says that in the Galar region, there are Legendary Birds just like those in Kanto. However, due to regional differences, their forms are different from those in Kanto. Except for retaining the Flying type, their other attributes have changed," Cynthia said slowly after a few seconds of contemplation.
Among those present, including Lorelei and Ash, they might not have recognized what these two birds were. After all, legendary Pokémon are already very rare, and legendary Pokémon with regional forms are even more of a rarity.
Although Ash had the big shots in the Chat Group to provide him with information, he hadn't yet learned about the regional forms of legendary Pokémon. Perhaps the big shots in the group felt that it wasn't knowledge Ash should be exposed to yet.
As for Lorelei, while her knowledge was by no means weak, regional forms of legendary Pokémon were a bit of a blind spot for her. After all, those were regional forms from the distant Galar region.
Under normal circumstances, very few people outside of the Galar region would know about such things, right?
The reason Cynthia knew was that, besides being the sinnoh champion, she was also an Archaeologist. Her understanding of legendary Pokémon was likely greater than that of many Professors in the entire League.
"Galarian Forms of the Legendary Birds? Can legendary beasts have regional forms too? Did Team Galactic bring these two birds from the Galar region?" Lorelei's pretty face showed some doubt. Why would Team Galactic go to such great lengths to bring two Legendary Birds from Galar?
From their aura, these two birds had already surpassed the Champion Peak and likely reached the God Domain Level. How did Team Galactic manage to capture Pokémon of this level?
"As expected of the sinnoh champion, you truly are knowledgeable. That's right, these two birds are indeed the Galarian Forms of the Legendary Birds. However, we didn't bring them from the Galar region; rather, they are the result of us converting the Legendary Birds of the Orange Islands!"
Ash and the others:!!!
Pluto's words shocked Ash and the others. None of them, including Cynthia, had ever imagined that these were actually their local Kanto Legendary Birds!
"You bastard, what did you do to the Legendary Birds!!" Ash stepped forward and shouted at Pluto with a face full of rage.
Just now, he had silently released his Viridian Power to try and contact the two birds, but he was immediately repelled by a violent force. However, in that brief contact, Ash felt it—the two birds were currently experiencing unbearable pain!
Obviously, this form forcibly converted by Pluto was not a good thing for the Legendary Birds; otherwise, they wouldn't be radiating such painful emotions from the bottom of their hearts.
On the surface, however, Moltres and Zapdos showed no signs of pain, only glaring at them with ferocious expressions. But the emotions felt through Viridian Power couldn't be fake. This meant that even their surface emotions were being controlled by Pluto; they couldn't even show their pain!
This guy—he really deserves to die!
This was the first time since his debut that Ash had shown such an angry expression and emotion.
Pluto said dismissively, "It was just a very simple conversion experiment. I extracted the data of the Galarian Legendary Birds and injected it into the bodies of these two. As a result, the Galar power very easily invaded their bodies."
"Perhaps this form is actually their original form? Otherwise, why would they convert so easily? After the conversion, I used a pre-made power controller to keep them in check. This way, our Team Galactic easily obtained two God Domain Level enforcers."
"The so-called God Domain sounds high and mighty and out of reach, but in reality, it's no different from ordinary Pokémon. As long as you find their weak points to attack, you can easily control them. What gods? They're just bullshit."
Pluto's words were filled with disdain for the God Domain Level and pride in his research results.
No matter how much he belittled the God Domain Level, the power they possessed was real. The fact that he could use the power of technology to control the God Domain Level was enough to show how great his invention was.
This was also what Pluto was proud of. The only things that could move Pluto's emotions, besides the ideals of the Team Galactic leader, were his research inventions.
The world feels awe toward the gods, but in his hands, gods are just toys and tools for him to manipulate. From this point alone, he had already far surpassed the human level. That's right, his, Pluto's, wisdom had already transcended the limits of humanity!
"Alright, enough talk. Although the God Domain is something I can manipulate at will, to you, it is an insurmountable mountain. Even if you rescued Cynthia, it's useless. Feel the despair brought by the God Domain." As Pluto's voice fell, he waved his hand. The two birds let out piercing cries and charged at Ash and the others like arrows leaving a bow!
"Ash, have Mewtwo take us out first!" Lorelei said coldly. The moment her voice fell, all of their figures vanished from the spot.
On Shamouti Island—
Although there were storms all around Shamouti Island, those storms didn't affect the island itself. Not a single drop of rain fell on Shamouti Island, as if it were under the protection of the God of the Sea.
Ash and the others appeared at the edge of the island, and Mewtwo also popped out of its Poké Ball, floating beside Ash.
"I'm afraid there will be a fierce battle soon. Go as far away as you can; just Ash and I need to stay here." Mewtwo's voice echoed in everyone's hearts.
Only those at the God Domain Level are qualified to intervene in a God Domain Level battle. Even someone at the Champion Peak wouldn't have a good time if they tried to interfere.
Cynthia and the others pondered for a moment and then nodded. "Then we'll leave this to you, Ash, Mewtwo. Lorelei and I will go find the last bird, Articuno, and see if we can find any trace of the God of the Sea. Before we return—you must hold on!"
"Hold on? Heh, does Miss Cynthia think Mewtwo and I will lose? Although facing two God Domain Levels is a bit challenging, Mewtwo's power isn't as weak as you think. We will win!" Ash tilted his head and gave a thumbs-up, a bright smile on his face.
"...I see. Then I'll have to ask you to leave us a chance to handle the cleanup, Ash. Don't finish the opponents too quickly before we get back!" Cynthia was silent for a moment before changing her tune.
"I can't guarantee that. It depends on how much of a beating they can take." Just as Ash finished speaking, a massive shadow suddenly burst out from the churning sea.
The appearance of the behemoth kicked up unparalleled waves. As the waves several meters high rushed toward Ash and the others, Mewtwo simply raised a hand, freezing the incoming waves in place. Then, with a slight squeeze, the waves instantly turned into countless water droplets and shattered in mid-air.
This behemoth emerging from the seabed was none other than Team Galactic's submarine. As the submarine surfaced, two large openings appeared on its top. Two figures, one black and one yellow, shot out from the openings and floated in the rainy sky.
"Both are at the Initial God Domain Level. Let's go, Mewtwo!"
"Hmph!"
Ash held his arm across his chest and tapped the key stone on his wrist with one hand: "Respond to my heart, MEGA Evolution!!"
The light of MEGA Evolution enveloped Mewtwo. Before the dumbfounded expressions of Lorelei and Cynthia, Mewtwo changed its form.
Its body became smaller than before, its tail disappeared, and in its place was a ponytail-like appendage hanging from its head. Its body turned completely cream-white, and the purple accents originally on its body were now scattered on its limbs and the hanging ponytail.
This was one of Mewtwo's MEGA Evolutions—Mega Mewtwo Y!
"Mewtwo... can actually MEGA Evolve too?!" Lorelei, who knew of Mewtwo's origins, cried out in disbelief.
"No wonder you were so confident, Ash. So you were hiding this card. Now we can rest easy," Cynthia said with a sense of relief, her tensed heart finally relaxing.
It was hard to imagine how much of a boost MEGA Evolution could bring to a legendary beast. No wonder Ash could make such a guarantee even in a one-on-two situation.
This little guy really does love keeping an ace up his sleeve!