"Heh... Come out, Nidoking!"
As the battle reached a stalemate, Giovanni made his move to tip the scales. Without hesitation, he released his ace Pokémon: Nidoking.
"ROAR!"
The moment it appeared, Nidoking radiated a wild, destructive energy. It was clear it had grown restless inside its Poké Ball.
"Damn it!"
Rex's face paled as the powerful creature stalked toward him. From the sheer pressure Nidoking emitted, he guessed it could rival even Cynthia's Garchomp.
It made sense. As a kingpin who dominated Kanto and Johto, Giovanni's Pokémon were likely on par with a Champion's—if not stronger.
Right now, Rex only had Diancie and Shaymin left, both tied up battling Moltres and Darkrai. There was no one to shield him.
Although he was a skilled martial artist, against something like Nidoking, he knew he didn't stand a chance.
"Nidoking—Earth Power."
Giovanni gave the command coolly, having already sensed Rex's dire position.
Nidoking paused, lifted its right foot, and stomped down lightly. An invisible tremor erupted from the ground, sweeping across the battlefield toward Rex's position.
He had no time to react. It felt like a sledgehammer slammed into his chest—he was hurled backward like a ragdoll.
Mid-air, he felt a sharp burn in his throat. A mouthful of blood burst out as he crashed to the ground, tumbling several times before smashing into a jagged boulder.
Everything hurt. Even breathing caused sharp stabs of pain. From the sensation, Rex could tell several bones had shattered.
Without wasting time, he activated his healing ability. Controlling the green glow of the life energy carefully, he suppressed its visibility to avoid detection.
To Giovanni, Rex had already been defeated—reduced to a battered corpse. No longer a threat, his attention turned toward the battling legendaries.
His gaze lingered on Diancie and Shaymin—gleaming with desire. He hadn't expected to find not one, but two legendary Pokémon in a backwater like this. An opportunity like this was priceless.
If he could control even more legendaries, he reasoned, then not even the Pokémon League could stand in his way. He would rule from the shadows, untouchable.
As for Rex lying motionless nearby, Giovanni saw him as already dead. He was only keeping him around to ensure Diancie and Shaymin didn't resist too fiercely.
Meanwhile, Rex was silently recovering beneath his still form. His mind raced—how could he possibly turn the tide?
He had no options. Not against Nidoking, not without backup. Even if he survived, there was no path to victory alone.
Diancie and Shaymin had already tried to abandon their fights to protect him, but he had refused them via telepathy. This was part of his gambit—to lure Giovanni into underestimating him.
"Bi...!"
Suddenly, Rex heard a voice—gentle and familiar—inside his mind.
"...Celebi?"
He didn't speak aloud. He asked silently, through their mental link.
Because now, aside from Diancie and Shaymin, he sensed a new consciousness joining his own.
"Yes. I know what's happening here. I've already snuck aboard the aircraft and put everyone inside to sleep."
Celebi's voice rang in his mind like a clear bell.
Its timely arrival wasn't just coincidence. On one of its time-jumping journeys, Celebi had glimpsed a future where Rex's farm had become a forgotten ruin.
Weeds grew wild. Wild Pokémon roamed freely. But the people and Pokémon it knew? All gone.
Heartbroken, Celebi investigated what had happened.
In that timeline, the Rex Farm had been attacked by Team Rocket. The Pokémon were all captured. Rex had died trying to defend them.
Having learned the truth, Celebi built up enough time-travel energy and leapt back to the exact day of the invasion—arriving just in time to witness Rex being struck down by Nidoking.
Sensing he was still alive, it didn't reveal itself. Instead, it infiltrated the airborne ship above and quietly used Hypnosis to put every human and Pokémon aboard into a deep sleep.
With Giovanni, Matori, and the core team absent from the craft, the remaining staff had no way to resist Celebi's power.
"Thank you, Celebi... truly."
Hearing the truth of that future sent a chill down Rex's spine. So even with everything he'd done, Giovanni still managed to kill him and take everything away?
If not for Celebi's intervention, this exact fate might have already come to pass.
"No need to thank me! We're friends, aren't we?"
Celebi replied bashfully, though he could sense its joy.
Now, with this hidden ace up his sleeve, Rex's confidence soared. Unless Giovanni had yet another legendary up his sleeve, the scales had finally tipped in Rex's favor.
Right now, Giovanni was directing Nidoking and Darkrai to double-team Shaymin. It was taking damage—visibly struggling.
If this continued, Shaymin would soon fall. Then they'd turn on Diancie. Once that happened, it'd all be over.
But just then—
"SWALLOOOOOOW!!"
With a sharp cry, the slumbering Totem Swellow—trapped in Darkrai's nightmare until now—suddenly burst free, snapping back into the battle.
(End of Chapter)