"Greninja, Substitute," John commanded.
Greninja formed hand seals at its chest, immediately splitting off two phantoms that dropped to its left and right sides.
When facing three enemies, it was natural to split up the numbers.
Although the Origin Forme Palkia and Dialga were illusions, they weren't ethereal existences like shadow clones. They had to be the same as Zoroark's copies from before, energy constructs wrapped in an illusion shell.
"HOOOWWWL!" Zoroark raised its head skyward and let out a bone-chilling howl, then suddenly crouched low and charged forward rapidly, black airflow sweeping over its body like dark flames.
Night Slash!
Palkia and Dialga immediately attacked in unison.
The centaur-like Palkia suddenly reared up on its hind legs, body soaring into the sky before diving down from over 30 meters high! A dark green aura surrounded its form.
A textbook Dragon Rush!
Dialga stood firm, opening its mouth slightly as emerald energy gathered within.
Dragon Pulse!
"Time to test our blade," John said coolly.
The three Greninjas sprinted forward to meet the assault, and without additional instruction from John, they took synchronized strides, spun around, and hurled their Spiral Water Shurikens in perfect unison!
Zoroark, rushing forward at full speed, couldn't dodge and had to swipe with its claws to deflect the attack, forcibly interrupting its Night Slash.
Greninja had already closed the distance, leaping high and dragging one hand through the air to "draw" a brown blade from nothingness, slashing downward toward Zoroark's head.
Meanwhile, the other two Greninjas sprang into action.
Palkia knocked aside the Spiral Water Shuriken with a frontal charge, aiming straight for Greninja's face. Greninja activated Agility and dodged with a close-quarters sidestep.
The moment they passed each other, Greninja suddenly spun around, drawing a brown blade from thin air just like the first, slashing toward Palkia's back with a devastating strike.
The Dragon Pulse fired by Dialga collided with the Spiral Water Shuriken, immediately exploding in a burst of rapidly spreading water vapor.
Greninja rushed into the smoke without hesitation, grasping at empty air with both hands to create water shurikens, constantly hurling them to maintain suppressive fire.
When Dialga attacked again, Greninja burst from the mist like a bolt of lightning, crackling energy beneath its feet as it closed the distance in an instant, the brown blade stopping just three centimeters from the gem on Dialga's chest.
BOOM!
BOOM!
Two explosions echoed through the altar.
Palkia and Dialga were struck down and eliminated.
Only Zoroark managed to narrowly dodge before Greninja's blade could fall.
For the first time, Zoroark's golden pupils showed a hint of panic. The gap between Greninja and Tyranitar was far greater than it had imagined.
Facing Greninja's relentless pursuit, Zoroark could only dodge repeatedly, unable to find any opportunity to counterattack.
As the leader of this battle, John stood with hands on his hips and a slight smile. He could already see the outcome.
'Ancient king imprisoned for at least two thousand years, no matter how powerful you once were. In today's era, you're nothing more than a wild Pokemon who hasn't received proper training and can only fight with raw power and instinct.
My friend, times have changed!
I admit your intelligence is considerable, and as a Ghost-type Pokemon with illusion abilities, you're naturally cunning.
But you need to understand, you're now facing Pokemon trained by humans working in partnership.
Before the true protagonists of this world, you have no choice but to surrender.
Muhahahahaha!!!
"Umm, is it just me, or does John's expression look a little... sinister?" Harrison suddenly asked without thinking.
Damian shifted his gaze from the battlefield to John.
"Ahem!" John coughed lightly, quickly suppressing his smug expression at the prospect of soon capturing Zoroark.
"Greninja, finish it!" John commanded loudly.
The other two Greninjas who had completed their elimination tasks immediately rushed toward Zoroark, one leaping into the air to continuously hurl shurikens from above, the other charging straight across the battlefield to attack from behind.
Perhaps due to successive battles and accumulated injuries, Zoroark's weaknesses were easily exposed.
The blade in Greninja's hand slashed across its chest, and Zoroark collapsed powerlessly.
As Zoroark lost its ability to battle, the surrounding scenery immediately returned to normal. They were back in the cave, with Ghost-type energy carpeting the ground beneath their feet like a blanket, and scattered rocks overhead.
John pulled out a Luxury Ball and threw it forward.
Zoroark was drawn inside, and without much struggle, it was completely captured.
"Got it!" John couldn't wait to step forward and pick up the Pokeball.
He pulled out his Pokedex to check its stats panel.
[Zoroark (Normal/Ghost)] (Hisui Form) (King) (Ancient) (Totem)
[Level: 90]
[Ability: Illusion (When a Pokemon with this ability is attacked, there's a 30% chance to inflict Disable status on the target.) King's Presence (All stats increase by 20%, Normal and Ghost-type move power increases by 20%, grants special field "Phantom King Field")]
[Individual Values: HP (31), Attack (31), Sp. Attack (31), Defense (31), Sp. Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Shadow Claw, Torment, U-turn, Hone Claws, Shadow Sneak, Curse, Taunt, Knock Off, Spite, Agility, Shadow Ball, Payback, Nasty Plot, Foul Play]
[Held Item: None]
Just as he'd expected, this Zoroark was indeed an ancient king like his own Gengar, complete with unique field abilities. Unlike Gengar, it didn't have staged ability unlocks at 25%, 50%, and 75% power levels, but could use its full ability directly.
This probably had something to do with Gengar having been imprisoned longer.
John pocketed the Pokeball containing Zoroark, he'd work on training it properly later.
Now, John had one more thing to investigate.
His Dowsing Machine wasn't pointing at Zoroark, there should be actual treasure buried beneath this massive seal stone!