They were all alone. Mewtwo stood opposite the two gym leaders, ignorant of the pounding rain. Its whole body shook with uncontained rage. This was how the battle would end, one way or another. The two of them against Mewtwo. How would they win? The odds were stacked against them. Mewtwo had already defeated the two legendaries. Why wouldn't it be able to kill them in one blow? Mewtwo had all the power of the Ocean Stone, they only had their pokémon. In addition, Mewtwo was a clone of Mew, only stronger. We'll never win this battle, Falkner thought. He could almost hear Winona reply, "Don't think like that! There's no way we're going to let Mewtwo get away with it, right? Right?!"
But yet again, Mewtwo had the upper hand. He held a grudge against humans.
But they had to try.
"I will not let you go!" Mewtwo practically screamed, launching a Psybeam at Winona's Skarmory, which countered with Hidden Power.
"Swift!" Falkner commanded. Glowing stars spun out of Skarmory's beak, at Mewtwo's face. Mewtwo redirected Psybeam at Falkner's Skarmory. Swift was overpowered quickly, and a rush of burning light hit Falkner. He shouted in pain, bending down, to no avail.
"Skarmory, Steel Wing!" Falkner heard Winona shout. The Psybeam stopped as Mewtwo got hit. He sat up, waiting for the pain to lessen.
Then it occurred to Falkner that the only way they could stand a chance at beating Mewtwo at all was to use their strengths. Winona's pokémon possessed extremely high attacking power. If anyone was to cause Mewtwo damage first, it would be Winona. He could only keep Mewtwo distracted and allow her a chance to attack.
Suddenly, a Shadowball was hurtling towards Falkner. "Dodge!" he shouted loudly. Skarmory rose out of the way just in time. And as he had hoped, Mewtwo continued to throw attacks at his Skarmory, which dodged continuously. The training in speed paid off, he thought silently. Let's see if it's enough to keep me alive.
It was. Not one attack hit. Mewtwo continued to throw out beams and bolts of electricity at him, but Skarmory dodged each one.
Then as if she had known what to do all along, Winona told her Skarmory to attack with Aerial Ace. Skarmory rammed headfirst into Mewtwo, catching it completely by surprise. Mewtwo was hurt badly by its spear-like beak. Mewtwo fell in altitude.
"But…how? No one catches me by surprise!" it roared angrily, launching a dark bolt of lightning at Winona's Skarmory, which returned with a Hyperbeam, causing a large explosion. Perfect, Falkner thought to himself. Then, silently, he told Skarmory to use Aerial Ace as well.
Skarmory plummeted through the smoke, and hit Mewtwo powerfully. It fell further, clutching its head in agony.
Then, Falkner saw that, Mewtwo's defences were slowly breaking down. Mewtwo was weakening, somehow. The storm was slowly clearing, and the soft moonlight streamed into the scene. There was a glimmer of hope, elusive, but there. Encouraged by this notion, he mad Skarmory fly back to Winona's side.
Mewtwo flew upwards and stared at the two, eyes narrowed in anger. It readied a large Shadowball, larger than the two of them.
"Double Hyperbeam again," he whispered to Winona, who nodded.
"Hyperbeam!" they both shouted in unison. Together, the two attacks flew forth, and grew into one powerful beam of energy, hitting Mewtwo and its Shadowball with such force that it could not stop the attack with its dwindling powers. It groaned loudly in pain.
Both Skarmory stopped their attacks, Winona's a little later. Mewtwo floated upwards with effort, singed from head to toe. It winced in pain as it tried to raise its right arm forward, then suddenly, it stopped struggling, and Mewtwo finally fainted, falling into the water. At that moment, Falkner's heart nearly stopped. It was just such a shock.
They had won. Won an almost impossible battle.
Winona gazed on disbelievingly from Skarmory's back at the spot in the dark, shimmering water where, moments ago, Mewtwo's body had disturbed the surface. But now, it was just rippling with waves, as if nothing had happened at all.
"We…won?" Winona could hardly get those words out. She was sweating, her legs were aching, and her voice was hoarse from shouting. Yet, she had never felt such relief and happiness in her life.
Suddenly, her euphoria vanished. Lugia and Kyogre were gone, she suddenly remembered. And so were the leaders of the three regions.
"Lugia," Winona hissed. "We must find Lugia, and Kyogre."