"Extreme Speed!Agility!Quick Attack!" Magnus barked commands in rapid succession, his voice cracking with urgency.
His scalp prickled as Lugia materialized directly above Raikou like some kind of airborne nightmare. How could something that colossal close distance so quickly? It was like watching a skyscraper learn to teleport.
Raikou felt the crushing presence too. The legendary beast trembled, its fur standing on end, each hair crackling with static electricity, the air around it snapping and hissing like an angry campfire. The Pokemon wanted to respond to Magnus's frantic orders, but there wasn't time to string together all those speed boosts. Right now, survival trumped strategy.
As Ho-Oh's chosen messenger, Raikou's instincts screamed louder than any trainer's command. One solid hit from that attack and it would be game over, no recovery items, no second chances, just a very expensive trip to the Pokemon Center.
Its body exploded into motion, streaking across the sky like lightning given form, arcing gracefully over the churning waves. The movement looked chaotic, almost desperate, but sometimes desperate worked. It slipped away from certain doom by mere inches.
From his vantage point, John nearly chuckled. Lugia had thrown out what amounted to a casual backhand, and Raikou had burned through its entire repertoire of speed moves just to avoid becoming seafood.
As for how Lugia could relocate its massive frame so effortlessly, that was thanks to the Lustrous Orb John's mentor had gifted him. The old man had excellent taste in legendary artifacts.
Sure, Lugia was a Psychic-type, but it didn't naturally learn the full spectrum of psychic techniques. With the orb's power coursing through it, however, the sea guardian could command virtually every space-related move instantaneously, everything except Palkia's signature Spacial Rend. That particular move remained the Spatial Pokemon's exclusive party trick.
The massive Gust attack missed Raikou by a whisker, slamming into the ocean instead. Water erupted skyward in a tremendous geyser, waves radiating outward like ripples from a dropped boulder. The thunderous crash echoed for miles, probably giving every Magikarp in the area a very bad day.
"Raikou, Charge!" Magnus called, forcing himself to resist the immediate urge to counterattack. Every fiber of his being wanted to strike back, but he knew better. Raikou was hopelessly outgunned in terms of raw power. Any conventional attack would be swatted aside like an annoying Zubat.
But there was one glimmer of hope, Lugia's weakness to Electric-type moves. If they could channel every ounce of power into a single, devastating strike, there was a chance to end this in one spectacular blow.
Otherwise, this opponent, young as he appeared but clearly a master of both Pokemon training and battle strategy, would never be generous enough to leave another opening.
Raikou, still suspended in mid-air after its death-defying evasion, began drawing electricity from every available source. The Charge move pulled raw current from the atmosphere and the electrolyte-rich seawater below, flooding the Pokemon's frame with power. Golden lightning surged around it like living armor, each bolt beautiful and terrifying.
John observed the display with keen interest. He couldn't pinpoint exactly what Magnus was orchestrating, but it clearly wasn't some mythical battlefield technique from ancient history, unlike his own Zoroark's illusions of long-dead kings. Even if such legendary rulers had actually existed in this world, Raikou was far too young to have witnessed their glory days.
More likely, this was an elegant fusion of Electric Terrain and Charge, simple moves elevated through masterful execution.
John's mouth curved into an appreciative smile. Clever indeed. "Alright," he murmured to himself, "let's see what you've got." If the technique impressed him enough, he might just steal it for Zeraora's arsenal. Imitation was the sincerest form of flattery, after all.
"Lugia, Calm Mind."
Magnus seized the opportunity without hesitation. "Raikou, Nasty Plot!"
He had caught that subtle shift in John's expression, that calm, knowing smile of someone who had already decoded the strategy yet chose not to interfere. Confidence like that could be dangerously arrogant... or perfectly justified. Time would tell which.
Both Pokemon suspended themselves in mid-air, eyes closed in deep concentration, methodically stacking their offensive capabilities. The once-chaotic battlefield fell silent except for the rhythmic rush of ocean waves below, the calm before what promised to be a very impressive storm.
Five tense seconds ticked by. Then both sets of eyes snapped open simultaneously, glowing with accumulated power.
Magnus struck first, smoothly returning Raikou to its Pokeball before releasing it again in one fluid motion. The golden beast materialized gracefully on the ocean's surface, its paws skimming across the water like it was solid ground, a neat trick that never got old.
From his belt, Magnus withdrew an Electric-type Z-Crystal and clicked it into the Z-Power Ring adorning his wrist. The crystal pulsed with contained energy, eager to be unleashed. Then, without a trace of self-consciousness, he launched into the full Z-Move choreography, precise steps, sweeping gestures, every movement infused with years of practice and unwavering focus.
Most trainers abandoned the dance once they developed the skill to channel Z-Move energy directly. Not Magnus. This wasn't showboating or nostalgia for his younger days. This was him giving absolutely everything he had.
Blue aura erupted around his form, quickly consumed by crackling yellow sparks. Raw energy flowed from his outstretched hands into Raikou, enveloping the legendary Pokemon in a brilliant display of light that hurt to look at directly.
Rooooooooooooar!
The sound rolled across the battlefield like thunder given voice, and the sky above darkened ominously. But these weren't ordinary storm clouds gathering overhead, they were gold, dense as molten metal, pulsing with enough voltage to power a small city.
Directly above Lugia, the golden mass condensed into something that looked almost solid, so heavy with electrical potential that it seemed to bend the very air around it.
Magnus thrust his hand toward his target with theatrical flair. "Z-Move, Raikou's Wrath!"
The clouds split apart with a sound like the world breaking in half, unleashing a cascade of golden lightning that painted the entire horizon in blazing light.