The Sandstorm Domain was a goal and direction that Aoki had started training for with Tyranitar and Aggron a long time ago, a carefully honed strategy designed to leverage their innate strengths and typings to create a battlefield of swirling, abrasive particles that would whittle down opponents while shielding his own team. During his battle with Izumi, he hadn't used this special combined skill because Izumi's strength was greatly diminished, making such a powerful and complex tactic unnecessary for that particular confrontation. But now, judging by the sheer strength of Gardevoir and the other Pokémon arrayed against him, the opponent was very strong, possessing a well-coordinated team that exuded a palpable aura of threat. It would be impossible for a typical Elite Four member, like Kahili or Olivia, to defeat him in one go; it would take a considerable amount of time and a sustained, strategic assault to break through his defenses and his Pokémon's synergistic cooperation. Unless they could be like Aoki and understand the opponent's tactics from the outset, predicting and countering the intricate web of psychic connections before it could be fully established, they would find themselves at a severe disadvantage.
However, there was also great uncertainty in Aoki's battle with the opponent, depending on both sides' command skills and their ability to adapt to the rapidly shifting conditions of the sand-choked field. Seeing the sandstorm created by Tyranitar, the man's expression became solemn; such an intense and persistent sandstorm would be a huge hindrance for his Pokémon, limiting their visibility and inflicting constant, minor damage. He saw him take out a strange, darkly shimmering stone from his pocket, an object that seemed to pulse with an unnatural energy. Seeing this stone, Aoki's eyes narrowed slightly, recognizing it as a special stone from the Divine Cult, a tool used to force a transformation through what they called 'divine power.' As expected, he approached Gardevoir, disregarding any potential negative effects on the Psychic-type Pokémon, and directly placed the stone on its body.
His face became somewhat reverent, his voice dropping to a fervent whisper, "Accept the baptism of divine power, Gardevoir!" A mysterious, malevolent black energy erupted from the stone, enveloping Gardevoir completely in a shroud of darkness, and then all the black energy was violently injected into Gardevoir's body as if being absorbed. "Ah—" Gardevoir's face became slightly contorted, its form shuddering as it emitted a piercing scream of pain, and a sharp, black light flashed in its eyes, forcefully undergoing Mega Evolution against its natural rhythm. The contortion on its face gradually subsided, replaced by an unnerving calm, and it floated serenely in mid-air, as if the previous scream of agony had not been hers. But the surrounding psychic threads, now visible as faintly glowing lines of energy, became denser and more numerous, connecting all of his Pokémon into a single, coordinated network.
A cold, triumphant smile appeared on the man's lips, "Hmph, you must have seen our divine power descend before, but don't confuse my divine power descent with the person you encountered last time. This is a purer, more potent form of the blessing." Facing this situation, Aoki naturally couldn't show weakness; he had to respond with a power that was truly earned, not stolen or forced. After a slight hesitation, weighing his options between Gengar and Tyranitar, he finally made his choice, taking out Tyranitar's Key Stone, a gem that shone with a honest, brilliant light. "Show him what true Mega Evolution is, Tyranitar!" Aoki roared, his voice firm and clear as he gripped the Key Stone tightly in his hand.
"Tyra!!!" Tyranitar roared in response, its voice a tremor of raw power, and the colorful, harmonious Mega Evolution energy emanated from the Key Stone in Aoki's hand, resonating perfectly with the Mega Stone embedded on Tyranitar's body. Streams of vibrant, colorful energy shot out from the Key Stone, entering Tyranitar's body through the Mega Stone in a seamless flow, and the dazzling, pure white Mega Evolution light enveloped the massive Pokémon, making Tyranitar look even more imposing and powerful as its form shifted and grew. Tyra!!! Mega Tyranitar, appearing! Its jagged armor was more pronounced, and its aura was one of immense, controlled power.
Whoosh whoosh— The sandstorm instantly became even more exaggerated, intensifying into a veritable maelstrom of earth and rock, with sand carrying sharp gravel and keen crystal shards, swirling and dancing violently within the confined space. If the opponent hadn't already used his psychic power to create some preliminary psychic barriers to shield his team, the damage caused by such a potent sandstorm domain every second would have been extremely exaggerated, grinding away at their health relentlessly. "Divine power…" The opponent watched Tyranitar complete its smooth, natural Mega Evolution, his eyes widening first in shock, then filling with a dark, insatiable greed. If he could obtain the method of Tyranitar's evolution, his own strength would definitely become stronger, and if this method were to be told to the higher-ups of the Divine Cult, the benefits and rewards would be immeasurable. Greed and madness filled his heart, clouding his judgment.
His eyes flashed with black light, and Marowak took the lead, obeying the unspoken psychic command, throwing the bone club glowing with eerie green flames in its hand, swift as lightning. However, a red light flashed beside Aoki, and Blaziken stepped forward with a strange, practiced gait to meet this special bone club, its body low and ready. Its eyes were fixed intently on the spinning bone club, finding the precise pattern of its rotation. Golden flames flared to life on its clenched fists, and it punched directly into the center of the bone club's spin with impeccable timing, sending it flying back with a sharp crack. The flying bone club was deftly caught by Marowak, who had already leaped up into the air to reclaim its weapon.
With Marowak's initial move, the battle began in earnest. With Mega Gardevoir as the core, psychic threads shot out everywhere, weaving a complex net of energy. Natu, flying in the sky, flashed its eyes and instantly used its own psychic power to appear in front of Marowak. A powerful and solid psychic force, Psychic, rushed towards Blaziken, while Marowak itself briefly glanced at Blaziken, quickly leaping past the Fire-type and charging directly towards Aoki and Florges at the rear, its bone club held high. Blaziken looked at the incoming psychic shock, yet seemed not to see it, its focus absolute as it took its second dance step, Swords Dance, second time! Its attack power sharply rose once more.
The ground not far in front of Blaziken suddenly cracked open with a rumble, and a massive Drapion burst out from the subterranean ambush point, its large, brutal pincers crossed in front of it to take the Delibird's unexpected attack without feeling anything, its tough hide shrugging off the blow. However, both Delibird and Jynx's eyes simultaneously flashed with a strange, colorful light, Miracle Eye, ensuring their Psychic-type moves would hit the evasive Dark-type Drapion. But Blaziken and Drapion, having created an opening, seized the opportunity to rush in front of the startled Delibird. The psychic threads drawn from Gardevoir suddenly tightened, and with a faint pop of displaced air, Gardevoir immediately swapped its position with Delibird using its ability. Then, Delibird, now appearing safely in the air, again trembled its eyes, and an even stronger wave of psychic force, another Psychic attack, surged forth towards its original position.
Ignoring Gardevoir, who was now close at hand, Drapion and Blaziken, one on the left and one on the right, changed their targets and charged towards Jynx and Exeggutor respectively, aiming to break the supporting cast. At the same time, Slowking's own formidable psychic power also spread from its body in a soft, blue glow, intertwining and clashing with Gardevoir's established psychic threads, creating a secondary battlefield of mental force. Collisions of psychic power were occurring everywhere within the space, visible as brief sparks of light where the energies met and canceled each other out. Aoki saw through the strategy centered on Synchronized Gardevoir very clearly: it was crucial to restrict Gardevoir's spatial swaps with the opponent's Pokémon, and at the same time, try to suppress and disrupt its psychic net. This was what Slowking needed to focus on intensely this time, a battle of mental attrition happening just beneath the surface of the physical one.
Tyra!!! Aggron!!! Tyranitar and Aggron roared simultaneously, their voices echoing through the storm. In the enhanced sandstorm, it was far easier for them to condense and control stones. Hundreds of sharp gravel stones materialized from the swirling dust, locking onto Delibird flying in mid-air, and charging straight towards it in a relentless Rock Slide! Boom— Dust and sand exploded erratically in one area as the rocks found their mark!
Delibird's Psychic attack aimed at Blaziken was suddenly destroyed, intercepted by a Shadow Ball suddenly thrown by Gengar, who had been hidden cleverly within Blaziken's shadow, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. At this moment, Marowak finally managed to rush into the center of the violent sandstorm, and what awaited it was a colossal, metallic figure! Aggron's massive, sweeping tail, glowing with silver energy, charged towards Marowak in a powerful Iron Tail. With its vision obscured by the stinging sand and, more importantly, Gardevoir's guiding psychic net being actively interfered with by Slowking's counter-net, Marowak failed to detect the attack in time. It could only brace its bone club against its chest, enduring the full force of Aggron's Iron Tail, and was violently swept away, tumbling through the air before crashing into the ground.
Florges, standing protectively with Aoki, waved her hands gracefully, and emerald green energy flowed from her feet into the ground, spreading rapidly. Then, not far from the opponent, four or five massive, thorny vines shot out from the earth, Grass Knot, binding swiftly towards the recovering Delibird in the air. Not far away, Jynx's eyes turned a vacant white, and from her thick lips, a dense, freezing white mist, Icy Wind, was blown out, aimed at the Grass Knot vines to freeze them solid. But Blaziken, who had been running towards Exeggutor, suddenly changed direction with explosive speed, flames erupting all over its body. It pushed off powerfully with its legs, intercepting the Icy Wind in mid-air, and its blazing golden flames, a powerful Fire Punch, successfully blocked and evaporated Jynx's Icy Wind, protecting the vines.
Delibird, now flying alone and isolated, found it impossible to dodge the grasping vines, and tried to use Teleport to escape, but Gengar materialized beside it in an instant, its eyes flashing with a malevolent black light, Mean Look, fixing the bird Pokémon in place. Just half a second of immobilization, but it was enough. Boom!!! The Grass Knot vines bound it tightly, and then it was met with the full, devastating barrage of the rock attacks from Tyranitar and Aggron. Gardevoir let out a sharp, frustrated cry. The spatial fluctuations here were now completely disrupted by its ongoing struggle with Slowking, making it impossible for anyone to reliably use space-type moves like Teleport. The psychic threads originally wrapped around Alolan Muk also ceased to be effective, leaving the Poison-type momentarily directionless. Delibird could only endure the powerful combined attack alone, succumbing to the overwhelming force. Aoki had successfully seized the initiative in the offense.