The Gardevoir Queen descended with her Fairy Aura, locked in frozen time.
The arrow condensed from moonlight pierced through the Fairy Aura like cutting through soft bread, showing only minimal resistance before penetrating both the aura and the Gardevoir Queen herself, pinning her in mid-air!
Snap!
Mega Gardevoir mimicked John and snapped her fingers lightly.
Time and space returned to normal around them.
The Fairy Aura surrounding the Gardevoir Queen suddenly collapsed. She widened her eyes and looked at her own chest in confusion. The power of moonlight that had been as familiar as a close friend had now turned into an arrow piercing through her body.
When... when was I attacked?
This was the Gardevoir Queen's last coherent thought before losing consciousness.
Thud. Her delicate form fell to the ground.
The Gardevoir Queen could not rise again.
As a Psychic and Fairy-type Pokemon who specialized in Fairy-type moves and Moonblast in particular, being instantly defeated by her own signature attack was deeply ironic.
This surprised even John. He'd expected Mega Gardevoir would need several exchanges to defeat the Queen.
It seemed the Gardevoir Queen wasn't as powerful as he'd assumed.
"Garde!" Mega Gardevoir looked toward John.
John gave her a thumbs up in praise.
If Mega Gardevoir hadn't obtained the Ancient Adamant Orb, defeating the Gardevoir Queen might not have been so simple.
After all, the ancient orb provided a four-fold bonus to time-based moves.
John's Gardevoir was already famous for her Future Sight, and now that ability had been quadrupled in power.
John suspected that with full combat preparations, Gardevoir could now use Future Sight against any legendary Pokemon except Arceus himself and Dialga, the God of Time.
The time-stopping ability also came from the Ancient Adamant Orb's power.
Xerneas watched quietly from the side, surprise evident in his ancient eyes.
'She actually has such powerful control over time!'
Wait, if Gardevoir possessed such time mastery, then when facing the space-time vortex earlier, she could have solved it with a simple gesture. There would have been no need for such elaborate precautions.
Xerneas recalled the scene where John had handed the treasure containing temporal power to Gardevoir just moments ago.
Could it be that this human's companion had gained time control from that artifact?
Xerneas felt genuinely bewildered.
Wasn't she mastering this power a bit too quickly?
This was a treasure containing the God of Time's essence, not some random roadside stone.
"You are very strong," Xerneas praised John, though he struggled to find adequate words for both the trainer and his partner.
"Thank you," John responded politely, then immediately asked, "Uh, may I ask Lord Xerneas, what happens next?"
"Is my friend Gardevoir now Queen?"
John checked his Gameboy but didn't see any changes in Gardevoir's status screen.
Xerneas didn't answer immediately, instead turning his attention to the defeated Gardevoir Queen.
The fallen Queen's body suddenly began emitting golden light that grew increasingly intense until a golden crown materialized above her form.
The crown slowly floated toward Mega Gardevoir, settled on her head, and merged into her body.
For a moment, Mega Gardevoir was enveloped in brilliant golden radiance. After several minutes, the light faded and she returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
But John could see Gardevoir's improvements on the status screen.
[Gardevoir (Psychic, Fairy)] (Shiny) (Queen)]
[Level: 95]
[Ability: Synchronize (when afflicted with burn, poison, badly poisoned, or paralysis by another Pokemon, that Pokemon receives the same status condition.)
-Royal Presence (all stats increased by 20%, Fairy and Psychic-type move power increased by 20%, gains special field "Moon King Domain")
-Moon Queen Domain: Within the field, all Gardevoir's moves have 50% increased power. On moonlit nights, HP continuously recovers at 1% per second. Moon-related moves have 100% increased power with a 20% chance of inflicting "Confusion." When the target's level is lower than yours, confusion chance increases to 100%.)]
[IV's: HP (31), Attack (31), Sp. Attack (31), Defense (31), Sp. Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Disarming Voice, Growl, Double Team, Confusion, Draining Kiss, Teleport, Calm Mind, Psybeam, Flash, Secret Power, Dazzling Gleam, Hypnosis, Misty Terrain, Healing Wish, Moonblast, Life Dew, Wish, Spacial Rend, Roar of Time]
[Held Items: Ancient Adamant Orb]
Having essentially taken the throne from Xerneas's protégé, John felt a bit awkward. The legendary had just helped him moments ago, protecting him from the temporal blades.
"So, um..." John had been hoping for a legendary item as a bonus.
Well, can't win them all.
"Divine treasure... I mean, the Original One's power?"
Xerneas shook his head slightly. "The power granted to the Gardevoir clan by the Original One was lost to the river of time long ago."
Another King without a divine artifact!
Gengar and Zoroark would certainly relate to that situation.
John could only acknowledge that being a King came with responsibilities, not necessarily rewards.
"So... is this it?" John asked, wondering if he'd missed something important.
"However, as the new Queen, you can choose to use existing treasures to forge new divine power from the Original One."
"The coronation ceremony is complete, and your Gardevoir has become the new Queen of the Gardevoir specie!" Xerneas announced.
"Right." John nodded seriously. He'd already seen the changes in Gardevoir's attributes.
The name now had an additional "(Queen)" suffix, and her abilities included Royal Presence, an effect similar to what Zoroark possessed.
But the Moon Queen Domain effect was truly impressive. Just imagining the tactical possibilities...
"Anything else?" John asked, still processing everything that had happened.
The Moon Queen Domain's effects were staggering. Under moonlight, Gardevoir would be nearly unstoppable.