All eyes were fixed on the battlefield.

Dialga's Dragon Rush was terrifying, and Palkia's Spacial Rend was even more devastating.

Palkia in its Origin Form lacked arms, transforming its entire body into a living blade. Cold, white energy swept across space, bringing reality-shattering distortion in its wake.

Spacial Rend, a slash that could literally tear apart the fabric of space itself.

Who wouldn't be deeply shaken by such a spectacle?

As the Pokemon facing this overwhelming attack, Ninetales instantly sensed mortal danger. It was absolutely certain that taking this hit head-on would mean immediate defeat.

Acting on pure instinct, without waiting for Magnus's command, Ninetales changed tactics mid-flight. Its inverted body trembled slightly in the air as it prepared to activate Teleport, a Psychic move that Ninetales had surprisingly mastered. The plan was elegant: teleport behind Zoroark to both dodge the attack and catch the opponent off-guard.

But when Ninetales tried to channel its psychic power, something was terribly wrong. Its body felt like a cage, trapping its mental energy deep within. The psychic force couldn't be mobilized at all.

Teleport failed completely.

Ninetales, having never encountered such a situation, experienced a brief moment of complete confusion. However, in a duel between Champions, any negligence becomes an opening to exploit.

Zoroark's lips curled into a slight smirk, his sneer full of dark amusement. Somehow, just two months after becoming John's Pokemon, it had already begun to mirror its trainer's mannerisms.

"Night Slash!" John commanded.

Zoroark lunged forward, extending razor-sharp claws wreathed in faint black smoke.

Even if Ninetales managed to react, it was already too late. The Ice-type Pokemon that had poured all its strength into its tail-hammer attack was now completely vulnerable.

BOOM!

The explosion erupted suddenly.

Violent energy burst from the collision point where all four attacks met. Various energies scattered across the ground and shot toward the sky like a Fire Pledge, spreading throughout the entire battlefield.

CRASH!

Another explosive sound followed, but this time it wasn't the collision of energies, it was simply Ninetales being slammed into the arena wall.

Against Palkia's Spacial Rend and Dialga's Dragon Rush, Ninetales' Ice Hammer looked pathetically weak. The power difference was staggering. The moment of contact sent Ninetales flying in a graceful, icy arc through the air.

The imprint Ninetales left in the wall was surprisingly clean, smooth edges with no surface cracks, as if it had been cut with a precise knife and carefully inserted. But inside the wall, rubble had crumbled everywhere.

In the center of the battlefield, Zoroark stood calmly with Palkia and Dialga flanking him like royal guardians, completely unbothered by the devastation.

Shaking dust from his paws, Zoroark walked back toward John, his phantom escorts maintaining perfect formation.

"Elegant, truly elegant," John murmured appreciatively. "As expected of an ancient king."

While that chubby little Gengar was also technically an ancient ruler, it certainly lacked Zoroark's regal bearing.

As for Ninetales, it had definitely been knocked out instantly.

Although John had called for the Dark-type move Night Slash, Zoroark had actually used Shadow Claw, the illusion simply changed the energy's color to match the command.

The same applied to Palkia and Dialga. Beneath the phantoms lay violent Ghost-type energy amplified fivefold by the Spooky Plate.

Ninetales, with no resistance to Ghost-type attacks, had effectively taken fifteen times normal damage.

The fact that it survived at all was thanks to this world's protective battle regulations. Otherwise, that single blow would have reduced it to ashes.

If Palkia and Dialga weren't phantoms, Ninetales could brag about this for the rest of its life: "I tanked a combined assault from the gods of time and space and lived to tell about it!"

"Ninetales is unable to battle! Zoroark wins!" the referee announced immediately, having confirmed that the Pokemon embedded in the wall showed clear signs of being knocked out.

"One-shot? A one-hit knockout?" The audience buzzed with confusion.

Ninetales hadn't taken any significant damage before this final exchange.

"Three against one, no wonder it won," some spectators grumbled about the apparent unfairness.

However, the current reality was that John had now defeated two of Magnus's Pokemon in consecutive battles. He was already more than halfway to complete victory.

"John's going to become Champion today, isn't he?"

"Is it too late to hit the underground betting markets?"

"Go to hell!"

An azure torrent descended from the sky, bombarding the earth like a galactic waterfall.

Magnus, standing at the trainer's platform, remained frozen in bewilderment.

Wave after wave of audience enthusiasm crashed over the arena.

The Blastoise that emerged stood four meters tall, nearly ten times the size of a normal Blastoise. Without question, this was a Totem Pokemon. But it wasn't just any Totem Pokemon, strange Unown symbols decorated its shell, marking it as something far more extraordinary.

Magnus touched his waist, selected the second-to-last Pokeball from his remaining four, and hurled it skyward.

His frown and serious expression showed he now regarded John as a rival requiring his absolute best effort, no, more than that. This had become a challenge from the underdog to the favorite.

The Pokeball opened mid-air in a flash of silver light, revealing a blue Pokemon with a brown shell on its back. This was Magnus's trump card: his Blastoise.

"Champion, please release your next Pokemon for battle," the referee reminded quietly, noticing Magnus's hesitation.

Only then did Magnus snap back to reality. He took a steadying breath, his eyes suddenly gaining laser focus.

Magnus was puzzled by what had just happened. If Zoroark's phantom allies were indeed illusions, they should have been Dark-type attacks. Even with three simultaneous Dark-type moves, his Fairy-type Ninetales, resistant to Dark attacks, should have only taken 1.5 times normal damage. How could it have been knocked out in one blow?

This was a Ninetales he had trained for over ten years. Even without MEGA evolution capability, they had reached perfect synchronization. When Ninetales had attempted that Icicle Spear combination, it was supposed to follow up with Teleport.

So why had it failed in the end?

The thunderous "BOOM" of Blastoise's arrival shook the entire stadium.

Unlike any regular Blastoise, this one radiated power that promised the real battle was just beginning.