Extending the distance and assuming a stance, Giratina asked. During idle time in the Distortion World, it also knew to observe the real world and had seen quite a few humans commanding Pokemon to battle.
"No need." John said with a smile. "From when my Pokemon launches an attack, it counts as the battle starting."
'Acceptable.' Giratina answered in one breath.
John looked toward Gardevoir. "Ready?"
"Garde~." Gardevoir answered in a low voice. Rainbow radiance appeared on its body, completing MEGA Evolution, wearing a long dress, with the Space-Time Fairy Crown atop its head.
At the same time, a full moon suddenly appeared on the horizon. Cold moonlight swung down, falling onto beautiful Mega Gardevoir's body. Faint pink energy expanded.
"Gardevoir, use Queen's Grasp!" John waved his hand grandly. No warm-up, directly the ultimate move.
Mega Gardevoir raised its head toward the full moon, hands clasped before its chest in a prayer shape. In an instant, bathed in moonlight, it flew toward the horizon.
Giratina was still in place craning its neck to look at Gardevoir, not knowing whether this counted as having launched an attack. Although that human had already given orders, that "ordinary Pokemon's" attack still hadn't come out.
Could it launch an attack now without counting as breaking the rules?
Why was this ordinary Pokemon's aura dissipating so quickly!
And when Gardevoir lifted off the ground, Giratina tensed almost immediately, its whole body prickling in alarm.
This time, no need for instinct to say there was a bad premonition.
Just the energy dissipating like a bursting dam in space told it that this ordinary Pokemon was using a terrifying move.
If it were a normal spatial barrier, it could easily break through. But this spatial barrier also carried temporal power. Before it could crack it, it had already healed.
Without a doubt, it was locked on.
This move was unavoidable! Moreover, no way to resist!
Finally understood why the Creator selected this person as its messenger.
Two arms clamped down on Giratina at once. The space around them warped visibly, bending in ways the eye shouldn't be able to follow. A trembling, dreamlike rush followed, temporal power crashing through Giratina's entire body.
So… this Giratina really was out of the fight.
Of course, there was always the chance that its corruption-boosted strength had thrown things off. Even among Giratina, some were stronger than others… right?
But even a weaker Giratina was still the ruler of the Distortion World, a being far beyond the likes of Zapdos or Moltres. The fact that it had been caught off guard by a sudden, heavy control technique and taken down in an instant only proved one thing: Mega Gardevoir, crowned with the Space-Time Fairy Crown, now wielded power on par with, if not surpassing the top legendary deities themselves.
Perhaps speed, stamina, and various aspects were still far inferior to top-tier deities, but this was enough.
Having defense comparable to deities, that was what his own Mega Aggron should pursue as a goal.
Relying on deity-level recovery power, Giratina, having being KOE'd in one move, very quickly regained consciousness. But it didn't open its eyes, playing dead on the ground.
Remembering the "bold words" before battle started, Giratina just wanted to find a crack to crawl into.
"Hey, I know you're awake." John patted Giratina's armor.
Even though exposed, Giratina still pretended to have just awakened appearance, weakly slowly opening its eyes, stubbornly saying—
'Human, I acknowledge your strength!'
Whether there were divisions of strong and weak among Giratina, he didn't know, but their personalities were definitely different.
The real world's Giratina's personality was still quite playful.
"Then can you enter now?" John took out a Luxury Ball.
'If I enter your Pokeball and also count as your companion, can you make me stronger too?' Giratina suddenly asked.
"Of course." John answered without any thought.
Although Giratina, as the deity overseeing the Distortion World, was already incredibly powerful, there was still vast room for improvement. Even without considering anything else, simply abandoning their crude, inefficient way of using energy would be enough to multiply their combat strength.
The Distortion World symbolized an entire world's power. The exclusive move Shadow Force was also too low-level.
'Then it's fine.' One hundred years was just a nap's time. If it could make itself stronger, Giratina felt it was still very worthwhile.
When I return after a hundred years, if Palkia and Dialga, those two idiots, still dare to come looking for trouble, I'll definitely beat them until their heads are covered in lumps.
Carrying beautiful aspirations for the future, Giratina obediently entered the Luxury Ball.