The psychic storm that had been raging around Mewtwo finally died down. The stadium illusion had long since dissolved, leaving only the cracked stone of the island and the faint smell of scorched earth and singed vines. Ash's newly evolved Venusaur stood proudly beside him, petals still glowing softly, while Charizard and Blastoise flanked their trainer, battered but unbowed.
Mewtwo hovered silently, eyes wide with something that looked dangerously close to disbelief. His three clones his so-called perfect creations had been defeated one after another by Pokémon raised and trained by a human. The evidence lay fainted at his feet.
Ash wiped sweat from his brow and gave a small, tired grin.
"As per the bet, my team just beat the shit out of your team," he said, voice steady but carrying across the clearing.
"Still think you're better than our Pokémon? Still think humans and Pokémon can't be true partners?"
Mewtwo's tail lashed violently. For a long moment he said nothing. Then, with a low, dangerous growl, he raised both arms.
A torrent of raw psychic energy surged outward far stronger than any attack he had thrown during the battle.
The air warped and screamed as the wave rushed toward Ash and everyone behind him.
Instinctively, Ash thrust both hands forward. A shimmering, translucent barrier of blue-green psychic energy snapped into existence around him and his companions.
The wave crashed against it like a tidal wave against a cliff, ripples of force spreading outward, but the shield held firm.
Mewtwo's glowing eyes narrowed to slits. The psychic onslaught ceased abruptly. He floated closer, voice a low, menacing rumble in everyone's minds.
"You… possess psychic power?" His tone was equal parts accusation and astonishment.
"Are you trying to deceive me? Are you some Pokémon in human disguise?"
Ash lowered his hands slowly, letting the shield flicker but not disappear entirely. His eyes met Mewtwo's without fear.
"I'm human," he said calmly. "One hundred percent. But if you really want to prove humans are weak… if you really want to test whether a human can stand against you without relying on Pokémon…"
He stepped forward, rolling his shoulders, stance shifting into something low and balanced feet positioned with perfect martial precision, hands loose but ready.
"Then fight me. One on one. No Pokémon. Just you and me."
A heavy silence fell over the island. Pikachu's ears twitched in surprise from Ash's shoulder. Misty's eyes widened. Brock took an instinctive step forward, then stopped. Sabrina simply watched, a faint knowing smile on her lips.
Mewtwo tilted his head, studying Ash as if seeing him for the first time.
"You… a mere human… challenge me directly?"
Ash's grin sharpened, confident and unafraid.
"Yeah. I do. Unless you're scared of losing to someone you keep calling inferior."
Mewtwo's aura flared violently for a moment then settled. A cold, dangerous amusement entered his telepathic voice.
"Very well I accept. Let us see how long a human lasts against the world's strongest Pokémon."
He descended fully to the ground, landing lightly on two legs, body coiled with power. Psychic energy crackled around his fists like purple lightning.
Ash exhaled slowly, centering himself. His own aura ignited not the wild, uncontrolled surge of a novice, but a refined, flowing energy honed through countless battles and secret training.
His style was Renewal Taekwondo: fluid yet explosive, combining devastating kicks with precise psychic enhancement, every strike amplified by mental focus and raw physical power.
He slipped into stance: one foot forward, knees bent, hands raised in guard. His eyes glowed faintly with psychic light.
"Come on, then," Ash said quietly. "Show me what you've got."
Mewtwo vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing instantly in front of Ash with a Psychic-enhanced punch aimed straight at his chest fast enough to shatter stone.
Ash moved.
His body twisted in a perfect spiral dodge, the punch passing within inches of his jacket. In the same motion, his leg whipped up in a blinding Renewal Taekwondo Roundhouse Kick, heel infused with psychic force, aimed directly at Mewtwo's midsection.
The impact echoed like thunder.
Mewtwo was hurled backward several meters, skidding across the stone before catching himself mid-air, eyes wide with genuine shock.
Ash landed lightly, stance unbroken, breathing steady.
Mewtwo stared at him, aura flaring brighter than ever.
"…Interesting," the Legendary whispered.
Then he attacked again this time with everything he had.
The true fight began.
The island trembled under the weight of their confrontation, the air thick with crackling energy that made the hairs on everyone's arms stand on end.
Mewtwo, the self-proclaimed ultimate being, had just been sent skidding back by a single kick from a human a boy, no less.
His purple eyes burned with a mix of fury and fascination, the psychic aura around him swirling like a storm about to break.
Ash stood firm, his stance unyielding: feet planted shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, hands raised in a guard that blended the fluid grace of Renewal Taekwondo with the inner focus of his psychic and aura powers.
Deep within him, the blue glow of his aura pulsed like a heartbeat life force drawn from his core amplified by the psychic energies.
It wasn't raw like Mewtwo's; it was harmonious, a fusion of will, emotion, and connection.
Mewtwo straightened, his three-fingered hands clenching into fists. "You dare strike me? A fragile human body against my perfection?"
Without another word, Mewtwo blurred forward again, this time multiplying his image three illusory duplicates appearing alongside him in a psychic feint, each charging with a glowing Psycho Cut slash aimed at Ash from different angles.
Ash's eyes flashed blue as his aura senses kicked in, piercing the illusion like radar.
He didn't rely on sight alone; he felt the real Mewtwo's energy signature the cold, artificial pulse amid the fakes.
Spinning on his heel, Ash executed a Renewal Taekwondo Back Kick, his leg whipping around with explosive speed.
Psychic energy coated his boot like a blade, slicing through one duplicate in a burst of harmless light while colliding with the true Mewtwo's arm.
The impact rang out like metal on metal, sending sparks of clashing energies flying.
Mewtwo blocked but was forced to leap back, his arm numb from the force.
"Impossible... your strikes carry the weight of psychic force!"
Ash didn't waste the opening. He pressed forward, launching into a flurry of Renewal Taekwondo Front Kicks each one propelled by aura bursts from his core, turning simple strikes into projectile-like blasts.
The first grazed Mewtwo's shoulder, singeing his gray skin with blue energy.
The second forced Mewtwo to erect a quick Barrier, the translucent shield cracking under the third kick's impact.
"You're fast," Ash admitted through gritted teeth, sweat beading on his forehead, "but speed isn't everything. Feel this Aura Sphere!"
Channeling his aura into his palm, Ash formed a swirling orb of blue life energy and hurled it like a fastball.
Mewtwo countered with his own Psyshock, a jagged bolt of purple psychic power.
The two attacks met mid-air in a deafening explosion, the shockwave ripping up chunks of rock and sending them flying toward the ocean.
Mewtwo smirked faintly, his telepathic voice echoing in Ash's mind.
"You wield aura as well? A rare gift for a human... but diluted. Let me show you true psychic dominance."
He raised one hand, and the ground beneath Ash erupted telekinetic force lifting massive boulders and hurling them like meteors.
Ash dodged the first with a Renewal Taekwondo Side Step, his body blurring as psychic enhancement boosted his agility.
The second boulder he shattered with a spinning Axe Kick, his leg descending like a guillotine wrapped in aura, cleaving the rock in two.
But Mewtwo anticipated the move. As Ash landed, an invisible psychic grip seized him Telekinesis wrapping around his body like iron bands, lifting him off the ground and squeezing with crushing pressure.
Ash grunted, muscles straining against the hold.
"Not... bad," he managed, his aura flaring brighter to resist.
Drawing on his psychic reserves, he pushed back with a mental pulse, weakening the grip just enough to break free.
He dropped to the ground in a roll, springing up into a Renewal Taekwondo Crescent Kick aimed at Mewtwo's head.
Mewtwo ducked under it barely and retaliated with a close-range Psychic blast, a wave of mental energy that hit Ash like a truck, sending him tumbling backward across the stone.
Pain lanced through his skull, visions of Mewtwo's creation flashing unbidden in his mind: laboratories, scientists, isolation. Ash shook it off, using his aura to heal the mental strain, the blue glow mending his focus.
"You're projecting your memories?" Ash called out, rising to his feet. "I get it you're angry, hurt. But fighting like this won't fix anything!"
Mewtwo's eyes narrowed. "Do not presume to understand me, human!" He teleported behind Ash in an instant, delivering a psychic-empowered palm strike to his back.
Ash sensed it coming through his aura and twisted into a Renewal Taekwondo Block, crossing his arms infused with psychic barriers to absorb the blow. The force still sent him skidding forward, boots carving grooves in the rock.
Without missing a beat, he countered with a spinning Heel Kick, his leg extending in a wide arc that forced Mewtwo to leap upward.
Mid-air, Mewtwo formed a Shadow Ball a swirling orb of dark-purple energy laced with ghostly essence and lobbed it down like a bomb. Ash rolled aside as it exploded, the crater smoking with residual power.
He retaliated by channeling aura into his fists, launching a barrage of Renewal Taekwondo Punches from a distance each strike sending compressed air blasts laced with blue energy.
One clipped Mewtwo's tail, drawing a hiss of pain. "You fight like no human I've encountered," Mewtwo admitted telepathically, descending with a psychic dive, fists glowing for a multi-hit Comet Punch enhanced by his powers.
The two clashed in a whirlwind of close-quarters combat. Ash's Renewal Taekwondo flowed like water dodge, parry, counter his kicks landing with thunderous cracks against Mewtwo's blocks.
A Roundhouse Kick to the ribs made Mewtwo stagger; a psychic-boosted Uppercut from Mewtwo grazed Ash's jaw, drawing blood.
Ash wiped his mouth, tasting copper, but his grin remained. "You're strong really strong. But I've faced gods, legends, and worse. This? This is just another step!"
He tapped deeper into his aura, his entire body glowing blue as he activated a Renewal Taekwondo technique: Blue Dragon's Fury a series of high-speed kicks that created afterimages, each one striking with escalating power. The first kick Mewtwo blocked; the second cracked his Barrier; the third sent him flying into a nearby cliff face, embedding him in the stone.
Mewtwo burst free in a shower of rubble, his aura now a raging tempest. "Enough games!" He summoned a massive Psychic wave, lifting the entire battlefield rocks, trees, even parts of the ocean nearby into a chaotic storm of debris, all hurtling toward Ash.
Ash's eyes widened, but he centered himself. Combining his psychic and aura powers, he formed a protective dome around himself and his friends, the blue-green shield holding against the onslaught. Then, breaking through the chaos, he charged Mewtwo teleporting to meet him.
They collided in the eye of the storm: Mewtwo's Psycho Boost a concentrated beam of psychic might clashing against Ash's Aura-infused Renewal Taekwondo Tornado Kick, a spinning aerial assault that generated a vortex of blue energy.
The forces intertwined, pushing back and forth in a deadlock that made the air vibrate with raw power.
Sweat poured down Ash's face; Mewtwo's body trembled from the strain. Neither yielded, the island groaning under the pressure.
"You're... not breaking me!" Ash roared, pushing more aura into the kick.
Mewtwo's voice echoed in his mind: "Nor you... me!"
The battle raged on, neither willing to back down, the clash of human determination and cloned perfection shaking the very foundations of the island.