An energy torrent poured down from above, covering the entire battlefield.
It looked like the aftermath of a nuclear explosion, a catastrophic meteor strike that had reshaped the terrain itself.
When the swirling black sand finally dispersed, blowing away the mushroom cloud, three figures were revealed in the devastation.
John had seen this before. Back then, Yveltal had chosen to fall into deep sleep rather than continue fighting.
Xerneas knelt on one knee, her entire body covered in wounds created by the energy deluge. She looked battered and covered in dust, yet she still stubbornly maintained Protect, even though the barrier she'd constructed had already shattered beyond recovery. It flickered like a dying lightbulb, providing absolutely no defensive value anymore.
Lysandre, surprisingly, was still standing.
But that came at the cost of the fallen Pyroar and Honchkrow surrounding him, his other Pokemon had sacrificed themselves as shields.
Lysandre stared at John, his eyes practically breathing fire!
You open with your ultimate attack?
This is supposed to be the warm-up before the real battle starts?
My two Pokemon are about to fall, how am I supposed to keep fighting?
A second later, something like emerald gemstone radiance rapidly converged in front of Lysandre.
50% complete, a green serpent with a throbbing headache!
100% complete, a towering black-armored giant!
If John hadn't actually seen this Pokemon before, he might've thought this was some Ultimate-level Digimon from a completely different franchise.
Zygarde was the surprise he'd anticipated from the start. Since Lysandre hadn't shown it earlier, John had assumed the Order Pokemon was hidden somewhere in the forest. Made sense, the terrain was one massive woodland after all.
If John remembered correctly, Zygarde's typing was Dragon/Ground.
Resistant to Poison, Rock, and Fire. Weak to Ice, Dragon, and Fairy, with a quadruple weakness to Ice specifically.
Problem was, he didn't have many Ice, Dragon, or Fairy-types in his current roster.
"Let's test it out first," John thought, then issued his command.
Mega Tyranitar and Mega Aggron immediately raised their heads and roared.
"TYRANITAR!!"
"AGGRON!"
Two streams of devastating energy converged in their mouths, then erupted simultaneously!
Blinding white beams tore through the air in an instant, both striking directly toward Zygarde's massive body!
Zygarde wasn't like Xerneas or Yveltal, it didn't need to wait for Lysandre's commands. Facing the incoming assault, Zygarde's back sprouted two condensed wing-like projections that manifested as dragon heads. Dark green energy streams immediately burst forth from both!
"Dragon Pulse!"
BOOM!
Two Hyper Beams and two Dragon Pulses collided, instantly generating a violent explosion!
Billowing black smoke rose into the sky as the powerful shockwave acted like a razor, cleanly severing trees that had somehow survived the earlier devastation.
The wind was bitterly cold and bone-chilling!
Through the smoke, John saw Zygarde launch a proactive assault. It shot upward like a rocket reaching for the sky, then descended like a bolt of lightning, its entire body wrapped in dark green energy. The two dragon heads that had fired the Dragon Pulses simultaneously rotated backward like jet thrusters, spraying torrents of power that caused Zygarde's speed to skyrocket instantaneously!
That was... Dragon Rush!
CLANG!
A metallic resonance rang out.
Zygarde's extended strike met Mega Aggron's adamant defense!
This was a collision between pure offensive power and absolute defensive strength!
For approximately ten seconds, neither side could gain the advantage!
But Zygarde wasn't satisfied with this stalemate. Its white LED-like eyes flashed with a trace of anger. A moment later, both arms rotated backward and released blinding energy torrents.
Zygarde's impact force exploded upward!
CRASH!
With that explosive sound, Mega Aggron finally couldn't withstand Zygarde's ferocious assault. Its colossal, heavily-armored body was forcibly launched backward, sailing over the forest and toward the distant mountain peaks.
BOOM!
The mountain was pierced clean through! Mega Aggron embedded itself deep inside the rock face!
Mega Tyranitar saw its battle companion get thrashed like that. Could it tolerate this?
Absolutely not.
It immediately launched into Giga Impact, charging straight toward the crater.
But before it could reach the opening, Zygarde suddenly spun around and executed another Dragon Rush, meeting Mega Tyranitar's charge head-on in a direct dragon-versus-dragon collision!
SLAM!
Both titans collided face-first, testing pure weight and raw power!
Mega Tyranitar didn't suffer the same fate as Gardevoir had in previous battles. It was still quite far from reaching peak Divine Beast status, and the instant it crashed against Zygarde, Mega Tyranitar flew backward like a punctured sandbag, crashing into another section of the mountain range and embedding itself just as firmly.
Satisfied, Zygarde slowly descended from the sky, crossing both arms as if declaring:
Come on, I specialize in dealing with all types of defiance!