"Sirfetch'd, use Solar Beam!"
Guided securely by the sharp scent of green onions, a brilliant, golden beam of solar energy violently erupted from Sirfetch'd's leek shield, ripping straight through the battlefield.
"Zoroark, counter with Shadow Ball!" N commanded firmly.
Zoroark violently slammed its palms together, a concentrated spark of dark energy coalescing within its grip. A fraction of a second later, a gargantuan Shadow Ball materialized, which it hurled ruthlessly toward the incoming solar blast.
The negative-energy sphere, heavily crackling with black lightning arcs, clashed head-on with the Solar Beam. The extreme elemental clash triggered an immense shockwave that buckled the surrounding air parameters, venting a massive cloud of thick smoke.
Before the smoke could even settle, Zoroark launched a follow-up strike, driving a sharp Shadow Claw straight through the haze toward Sirfetch'd's coordinates.
By the hour the smoke rings fully dissolved, the spectator galleries caught sight of Sirfetch'd, its massive leek sword and reinforced shield locked in an absolute defensive cross to stanch the brunt of Zoroark's assault.
"Zoroark, playtime is officially concluded. Activate Shadow Form!"
N snapped his fingers with a sharp crack. Receiving the definitive command, an immense reservoir of dark, pitch-black miasma violently surged out from Zoroark's chassis. The dense black fog completely blanketed its silhouette, leaving only its burning crimson eyes visible through the gloom.
"Finally unmasked... Zoroark's unique alternative morphology."
"In that case, Sirfetch'd, you are likewise authorized to release your core constraints. Drain the sake gourd entirely!" Feng Che commanded loudly.
Hearing Feng Che's words, Sirfetch'd's eyes lit up. It eagerly hoisted its premium sake gourd and downed the entire vintage in a single, desperate gulp.
Tossing the empty gourd aside with a sharp clatter, an unprecedented, explosive surge of raw power violently erupted from its physical vessel. A towering vortex of malicious, dark energy coiled aggressively around its frame. Its eyes bleached into a volatile scarlet hue, radiating the bone-chilling presence of an ancient demon lord descending upon the mortal plane. Concurrently, its leek sword and shield expanded dynamically under the adrenaline spike, swelling to several times their original volume.
"A duck that scales its combat parameters strictly by indulging in alcohol... Fascinating," N sneered coolly, a piercing chill flashing across his handsome features. "Zoroark, use Close Combat!"
Right at that exact millisecond, Feng Che's psychic tracking flagged an anomaly: floating seamlessly around Zoroark's main silhouette were dozens of independent, disembodied hands composed entirely of shifting black smoke. The phantom limbs hovered in the vacant airspace, closely mimicking a Haunter's anatomy.
I see... This confirms Zoroark's pathways have been spliced with sequenced Gengar genetics as well, Feng Che calculated silently, instantly mapping the baseline source of the dark mist.
Though Feng Che's deduction was murmured under his breath, Colress's acute senses caught the audio block. He adjusted his glasses with immense pride, the clean lenses flashing under the facility lights.
"A masterfully precise analysis, Acting Champion. Zoroark's core matrix integrates selected genetic strands harvested from both Gengar and Cofagrigus."
"Extracting and stabilizing the volatile cellular properties of Ghost-type Pokémon is an astronomically complex engineering task; my mainframes spent years mapping the splice protocols to pull it off."
"The exact second this Zoroark enters its Shadow State, its vessel seamlessly mirrors the intrinsic properties of a true ghost. Concurrently, its typing parameters transition from Dark and Fighting straight into a Ghost and Fighting configuration!"
This specialized typing allocation matched the absolute baseline of the Mythical Marshadow itself.
[Phenomenal work... Colress has been severely underestimated by global intelligence; his technological innovations comfortably cement his standing as the premier authority on Pokémon genetics,] Mewtwo noted telepathically, its respect for the scientist scaling significantly.
[Agreed. To independently stabilize and deploy a fleet of modified chimeras of this caliber demands an exceptional intellectual capacity,] Feng Che responded, nodding smoothly.
[However, when my Sirfetch'd enters its Berserk Blackout State, its raw combat parameters are entirely beyond the ordinary rules of engagement.]
Saturated under the high-intensity alcohol matrix, Sirfetch'd's core metrics could effortlessly trade heavy blows with his absolute vanguard assets—such as Corviknight, Incineroar, and Greninja—who had successfully integrated the legacy traits of Legendary deities. On specific tactical configurations, it even held the baseline capacity to systematically break their lines.
Though his Hydreigon had recently completed its evolutionary step after absorbing the siphoned authority of the Tao Trio, the dragon had yet to stress-test its parameters against this brawler. The Berserk Sirfetch'd comfortably anchored Feng Che's absolute, definitive trump card.
"Sirfetch'd—permit Zoroark to audit the absolute weight of your true caliber!"
The exact millisecond Feng Che's directive cleared the field, the two brawlers collided ruthlessly. Zoroark directed the surrounding phantom hands to condense into massive fists of dense black smoke, driving a relentless barrage toward the bird.
Sirfetch'd smoothly whipped its expanded leek broadsword to launch a brutal counter-press. The exact second the metallic edge of the leek slammed into the smoky fists, the phantom constructs violently popped and dissolved into nothingness like fragile soap bubbles.
"Staggering... If my tracking sensors are reading this data correctly, your Sirfetch'd currently commands a primary Dark-type sub-affinity across its current form," N interjected, his eyes narrowed as he monitored the energy displacement.
"Your calculations are correct. My Sirfetch'd is actively channeling Dark-type energy," Feng Che confirmed flatly.
By systematically compressing Dark-type energy directly into its leek blade, Sirfetch'd's basic slashes carried a massive hard-counter multiplier that cleanly neutralized and shattered Ghost-type constructs upon contact.
"Zoroark, lock them down with Shadow Claw into Shadow Tag!" N roared.
Zoroark's smoky, dark limbs aggressively plunged straight into its own silhouette along the floor. Utilizing its bare claws as a primary physical medium, it attempted to telekinetically bind Sirfetch'd's spatial coordinates via a high-tier Shadow Tag lock.
However, Feng Che's Gengar stood as an undisputed grand master within the realms of shadow manipulation. Having survived countless grueling special training sessions orchestrated by the ghost, Sirfetch'd possessed an exceptional, first-hand operational knowledge on how to systematically break shadow-binding vectors.
Reversing its grip on the massive leek stalk, Sirfetch'd compressed a thin shroud of pitch-black energy across the blade. With a sharp flick of its wrist, it violently hurled the sword forward like a kinetic projectile.
Right on the exact millisecond the blade cleared its grip, a pair of gargantuan Shadow Claws violently erupted from Sirfetch'd's silhouette, locking its limbs in a crushing, suffocating constraint.
Before Zoroark could exploit the lockdown to advance its position, however, the spinning leek broadsword executed a high-velocity boomerang arc, slicing cleanly back through space to violently shatter the Shadow Claws into fine mist from behind.
Sirfetch'd executed a flawless, low-altitude dodge roll across the permafrost, smoothly extending its palms upward to snap the returning leek blade back into its grip.
"To cleanly anticipate and shatter a Zoroark's specialized Shadow Tag trap... This Sirfetch'd's battlefield instincts are profoundly developed," N remarked grimly. "Magnezone, maintain maximum output—Shadow Ball barrage!"
The endless network of phantom hands coiling around Zoroark concurrently opened their palms, a hyper-compressed Shadow Ball condensing within every single spectral hand. Within a fraction of a second, the entire upper hemisphere of the arena was heavily blanketed by a dense, suffocating grid of dark spheres.
"Sirfetch'd, use Solar Blade!"
Sirfetch'd hoisted its massive leek blade high into the air. Instantly, thousands of brilliant, golden solar particles violently surged down from the upper reaches to saturate the stalk. The leek ignited with an intense, incandescent light, making it appear as though the Wild Duck Pokémon was holding a sacred, divine relic.
The radiant solar flare aggressively pierced and dissolved the surrounding darkness. With a clean, sweeping horizontal cleave, Sirfetch'd released a colossal golden arc of kinetic energy that violently detonated the entirety of the Shadow Ball matrix concurrently.
A massive tidal wave of displaced black smoke completely blanketed the arena floor.
"A single, unassisted kinetic strike was more than enough to systematically vaporize a maximum-intensity Shadow Ball grid..."
"Has this wretched duck successfully forced its way into the Master tier?!" Ghetsis stammered from his seat, completely unable to accept the forensic telemetry. He was fully aware of the terrifying baseline parameters commanded by N's Zoroark; the collective military might of his own active roster combined would fail to survive an encounter against that hybrid beast.
Clutching his staff with white-knuckled intensity, the veins across the back of his hands bulged violently as his limbs trembled.
Had I chosen to abort the primary expedition targeting Kyurem's unsealing months ago... would my syndicates have avoided tracking these catastrophic variables?
Team Plasma would have never crossed paths with a sovereign monster of this caliber; our operations would still comfortably dominate the regional underworld without a single challenger. Ghetsis felt a sudden, deep wave of acute regret wash over his chest, realizing his own boundless ambition had invited an absolute god of destruction down upon his house.
"Zoroark, fade into Shadow Sneak!" N commanded, rapidly adjusting his layout to salvage the round.
Abandoning direct frontal brawling, Zoroark's physical vessel fluidly dissolved into thousands of independent ribbons of black mist, vanishing entirely into the ambient environment. The colossally massive cavern was heavily marred by jagged rock spires and broken alcoves, creating an infinite network of physical shadows for Zoroark to securely anchor its concealment.
"Sirfetch'd, clear the sky with Sunny Day!"
Feng Che had zero intention of permitting the phantom to smoothly exploit its shadow stealth loops. Following his definitive telepathic command, a miniature, blazing sun smoothly rose from Sirfetch'd's outstretched palms—