The mountain peak glowed like a chunk of iron fresh from the forge, radiating waves of blistering heat.
But Giratina couldn't believe what it was seeing. The Temple of Sinnoh's altar hadn't melted, not even a scorch mark. And that Pokemon standing in the middle of it all? The one who hadn't bothered putting up any kind of shield? Completely fine.
'Enough of this!' Giratina cut off its Dragon Breath, wings beating hard enough to kick up a windstorm that scattered the rising heat. Its eyes locked onto Mega Gardevoir, still standing gracefully at the altar's center.
Still elegant. Still calm. Not a scratch on her.
The attack had done absolutely nothing.
Fairy type.
"Type advantage," John muttered, watching from thousands of feet away on Lugia's back after Mega Gardevoir had teleported him to safety. "It's not just a rule, it's a law of nature. Even legendary Pokemon can't break it."
Ground-types don't take damage from Electric-type moves. Fairy-types shrug off Dragon-type attacks. That's just how the Pokemon world works. Nobody gets around it, not even Arceus himself could zap a newborn Diglett with Thunderbolt and expect it to work.
Well, okay, if Arceus really did fire off a Thunderbolt at some level 100 Diglett, sure, it'd die. But not from the electricity, it'd get crushed by the sheer force of a god-powered attack slamming into the ground.
Physics still counts for something.
"Garde!" Mega Gardevoir brought her hands together at her chest. A soft pink glow rippled outward, expanding in every direction.
Moon Queen's Domain, activated!
The sky went dark in seconds, pitch black like someone had thrown a blanket over the world. Then, slowly, a gentle white light spread across the landscape.
A full moon rose into the sky.
The earth seemed to sigh in relief. Trees rustled with joy. Every living thing in the area felt the peaceful energy wash over them.
"Moonblast!" John shouted from his perch on Lugia.
Mega Gardevoir pointed skyward, then swept her arm down. Moonlight rained from above, beam after beam of soft, brilliant white light. Beautiful enough to make you want to drop to your knees in awe.
But for whoever was on the receiving end—
ROOOAAAAAR!!!
Giratina's body erupted with holes as countless beams of moonlight tore straight through it. The pain was so intense that the ancient deity couldn't help but scream.
For a being created by Arceus himself, one of the oldest, most powerful entities in existence, this was the first time an ordinary Pokemon had ever hurt it this badly.
'This can't be happening! How could some regular Pokemon do this much damage to ME?!'
Giratina refused to accept it.
Too bad reality didn't care.
John stroked his chin thoughtfully from his distant vantage point. "With the Pixie Plate boosting her power, Gardevoir's Fairy-type moves are absolutely ridiculous. Honestly feels like she could one-shot Giratina at this rate."
That's right, Mega Gardevoir wasn't holding the AncientAdamant Orb right now. She had the Pixie Plate equipped instead.
MEGA Evolution + Moon Queen's Domain + Pixie Plate.
At this point, if Mega Gardevoir ran into Xerneas, even the literal god of Fairy-types would have to shout, "Okay, YOU'RE the real Fairy God now!"
Beating up a Dragon-type with a type disadvantage? Easy as snapping your fingers.
Doesn't matter if you're a deity. Doesn't matter if Arceus made you first.
ROOOOAR!!!
Giratina kept roaring as it flapped its wings furiously, shattering the remaining Moonblast beams around it before retreating. Its body flickered, turning ghostly and transparent as it dove into the Distortion World.
Gotta hand it to a god, though, even after taking a direct hit from a Pixie Plate-powered Moonblast, it could still move.
"Must be nice having your own pocket dimension to hide in," John muttered, not bothering to send Mega Gardevoir after it into the Distortion World.
In the distance, Volo still had that wild, red-eyed look on his face.
This battle wasn't over. Giratina hadn't retreated to lick its wounds, it was setting up its next attack.
A massive shadow stretched across Mount Coronet's peak, several miles wide, like someone had draped a black sheet over the entire mountain.
A moment later, Giratina reappeared. But this wasn't the real deal, it was a phantom form, constructed entirely from Ghost-type energy.
This was Giratina's signature move: Shadow Force.
Power-wise, it was probably on par with Groudon's Precipice Blades or Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent, a top-tier legendary exclusive move.
But if you really broke it down, Giratina's Shadow Force used energy way more efficiently than those other two attacks.
Groudon's Precipice Blades drew from the earth's power and volcanic magma. Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent combined its own strength with pure Dragon-type energy.
But Giratina's Shadow Force?
It slipped into the Distortion World, channeled that entire world's power, and created a phantom copy of itself to attack.
The Distortion World was basically a parallel dimension, everything in the Pokemon world had a corresponding "shadow" there.
The power of an entire world. Not something you could compare to a bit of earth energy or volcanic heat.
Of course, Giratina couldn't actually use the full power of the Distortion World for an attack, doing that would destroy the place entirely. But even tapping into a fraction of it, with all that top-tier energy now bearing down on Mega Gardevoir—
If this hit landed, it'd be instant death.
So fast John wouldn't even have time to recall his Pokemon.
Facing down this attack, Mega Gardevoir didn't dodge. She raised her hand, gathering moonlight energy, and fired back.
But she wasn't trying to block the attack.
She was aiming directly at Giratina hiding in the Distortion World, going for a direct hit!
So... was this a suicide strike? Trading her life to take Giratina down with her?