In only a few seconds, two of Aaron's Pokémon had been defeated one after another by Zeraora's lightning-fast attacks.
At first, they had managed to pressure it.
But only because they were attacking together.
One-on-one, none of them could match Zeraora.
Hovering in the air, Aaron's expression turned grim. He knew they had to attack together immediately. If Zeraora kept picking them off one by one, their chances of winning would vanish.
"Snorlax!"
His huge eyes sharpened.
"Full power!"
"Giant Sun God Bajrang Gun!"
Just as Aaron was about to give the next order—
KRAK! KRAK!
Zeraora turned into a streak of yellow lightning and shot toward Greninja.
The violent electricity tore across the ground, carving a deep mark through the battlefield and kicking up clouds of dust. Zeraora's right fist, packed with dense Electric-type power, blasted straight toward Greninja.
"Gren!"
A sharp light flashed through Greninja's eyes.
Its figure vanished from the spot.
Flying Thunder God.
Zeraora's Thunder Punch struck empty air.
"Zera...?"
Its pupils shrank slightly, surprise flashing through its eyes.
Something was wrong with this Pokémon's movement.
That was not ordinary speed.
It was moving through space.
Hovering above the battlefield, Arceus's fragment narrowed its luminous eyes.
"I never thought another Pokémon with spatial movement would appear in this world."
It could tell at a glance what Greninja was doing.
Each time, Greninja was using spatial teleportation to appear near its target before launching an attack.
The strange part was that this Pokémon only seemed capable of spatial movement. It did not appear to possess any other spatial abilities.
That made the fragment even more puzzled.
...
Greninja reappeared not far from Zeraora.
Because of the earlier Water Shuriken Barrage, black frog seals now covered the battlefield.
Within this area, Greninja could teleport freely.
Zeraora could not catch it.
"Zera..."
After missing once, Zeraora immediately attacked again.
Greninja vanished.
Zeraora attacked again.
Greninja vanished again.
No matter how fast Zeraora moved, it could not lay a hand on Greninja.
That only made its frustration grow.
Lightning around its body became more violent, and its attacks grew fiercer with each miss.
Then Zeraora suddenly sensed a massive shadow above it.
Its pursuit of Greninja paused for half a beat.
It looked up.
Its pupils contracted.
"Zera!?"
High above, an enormous black arm burned with raging white flames.
The fist was coated in Conqueror's Armament, with black-red lightning flickering wildly around it. It looked like a massive meteorite descending from the sky, carrying terrifying pressure as it crashed toward Zeraora below.
"SNOOORLAX!"
Snorlax raised its colossal fist and roared.
Conqueror's Armament.
Giant Sun God Bajrang Gun.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The enormous fist smashed downward with crushing force.
Even the air beneath it exploded.
"Greninja!"
Aaron's roar echoed from the sky.
"Sageblade Slash, full power!"
"Lock down Zeraora's space!"
Then dazzling light wrapped around Aaron's body once more. His armored Great Ape form transformed into an enormous blue-gold energy bird, diving toward Zeraora from above.
"Grenin!"
Greninja's eyes sharpened.
It slowly extended its right hand.
The space in front of its palm rippled.
A blue-and-white katana silently appeared in its grasp, radiating oppressive energy.
Greninja closed its fingers around the hilt.
Terrifying power surged out of its body and poured into the blade. The energy gathered inside the katana, growing denser and denser until the surrounding space began to tremble.
Faint cracks appeared in the air.
"Grenin!"
The cloak behind Greninja fluttered in the wind.
Brilliant light flashed through its cross-shaped pupils.
Then it swung the katana at Zeraora.
Bzzzz...
A mysterious wave of energy spread outward.
The surrounding space seemed to freeze.
A massive sword aura, as thin and sharp as a blade carved from space itself, shot toward Zeraora at terrifying speed.
It seemed to cut through distance.
In an instant, it was already in front of Zeraora.
Every strand of Zeraora's fur stood on end.
Its instincts screamed danger.
Without the slightest hesitation, it unleashed all of its remaining strength.
Terrifying Electric-type energy gathered in both hands.
Thunder roared.
Space trembled.
"Zera...!"
Zeraora let out a low growl.
The lightning in its hands fused together and blasted straight toward the incoming sword aura.
BOOOOM!
Violent electricity collided with the space-cutting slash.
At the same time, Snorlax's Giant Sun God Bajrang Gun descended from above.
Aaron's enormous energy bird crashed down with it.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three terrifying ultimate attacks converged on Zeraora from three directions.
In the next instant, blinding white light erupted from the center of the collision.
Like an aurora tearing through the night, the light swept outward in every direction.
The entire ninth floor was illuminated.
...