Porygon-Z gathered Aura across its body, and soon, a question mark symbol formed from Aura appeared above its head.
After swaying twice, the question mark vanished into the air, and Porygon-Z's aura surged dramatically.
The spatial fluctuations around it grew more intense, twisting back and forth until the space itself seemed to fracture.
Dark-type move: Nasty Plot!
Its dead-fish-like eyes rolled up and down before finally locking onto something, gaining a sharp focus.
In one of the shadows, a figure lurked, moving through the darkness as if swimming in ink, shifting to another position.
Jun could move within shadows, much like Ghost-type Pokemons.
At this moment, it wasn't planning to leave outright—instead, it intended to change angles and wait for another opportunity.
With this ability, it had incredible room for error.
Even if the first strike failed, it could usually retreat unscathed.
Against ordinary foes, this ability was unstoppable.
But this time, it had run into an "iron wall."
"Huh?"
Jun's body shuddered violently, as if sensing something.
Every part of it screamed warnings, urging it to flee immediately!
But...?
It was inside the shadows right now.
How could there be any danger?
Not only was it hidden in the shadows, rendering many attacks ineffective or severely weakened, but it had also never encountered a situation where its position could be detected while in the shadow realm.
Even against its leader, as long as it retreated into the shadows in time, even if it couldn't win, the leader couldn't do anything to it.
If the enemy couldn't even locate it, how could there be any danger?
Though Jun thought this way, the warnings in its heart were undeniable.
So, it still chose to "follow its instincts" and retreat deeper into the shadows.
No matter what, survival was the top priority.
Just as it turned, Jun caught a glimpse of the outside world—a horrifying scene.
An enormous monster floated in the air, its icy gaze piercing through the spatial barrier, staring directly at Jun.
Jun's infallible shadow ability seemed to falter at this moment, as its body was completely exposed in the creature's eyes.
At the same time, an immense surge of energy had gathered before the colossal beast, forming into a spherical shape.
In the brief moment of hesitation, the spherical energy swelled several times over, stirring the surrounding air currents into swirling vortices.
Panic surged through Jun's heart, and even its perpetually icy expression finally cracked, revealing undisguied terror.
How did it know my location?
Not only was the beast's body oriented toward it, but its eyes were also fixed intently on Jun—clearly aware of its position.
But why?
How could it possibly know?
With this ability, Jun had often taken pride in itself, believing that even if it couldn't defeat an enemy, it could at least escape unscathed.
But today, for the first time, it had met its match.
It realized that hiding in the shadows wasn't foolproof—there were creatures capable of detecting it.
Right now, the only option was to run!
Jun had once tested with its companions—what would happen if someone hiding in the shadows was attacked?
The conclusion was that simple strikes wouldn't work, but certain special abilities could still have an effect.
Faced with this rare and violent energy surge, Jun didn't dare gamble.
It felt it likely couldn't withstand this attack!
For some reason, the enemy's strike carried an overwhelming sense of threat, as if it had encountered a natural predator.
No matter what, it couldn't take this hit!
Gritting its teeth, Jun channeled the power within its body, darting through the shadows with the agility of a fish.
Porygon-Z watched Jun's frantic escape calmly, the dark purple Aura before it accumulating relentlessly.
Countless eerie strands of Aura drifted through the air, as if an invisible hand were kneading them together.
They coalesced into a massive black sphere, wisps of inky Aura swirling inside, emitting a ghostly glow.
Like a black hole, staring at it too long made one feel as if their very soul would be sucked in.
The Ghost-type move—Shadow Ball!
Enhanced by Porygon-Z's Nasty Plot, the Shadow Ball's power surged, forming an oversized version.
With a gentle push, the enormous Shadow Ball launched forward—strangely, it curved mid-flight.
As if chasing something, its speed was astonishingly fast.
Within the shadows, Jun spared glances backward while fleeing, checking if its pursuer was still watching.
This glance shattered its composure completely.
The boundless energy fluctuations pierced through space, pursuing it relentlessly even within the shadows.
The distance between them had already shortened significantly.
What filled Jun with despair was that no matter how it twisted and turned, the energy behind it followed like a guided missile, closing the gap even further.
This is bad!
Jun's heart sank—the next instant, its entire body was struck by the pitch-black Shadow Ball.
"BOOM!!"
A deafening explosion erupted from the rocky wall some distance from the tunnel.
Then, the interior of the wall suddenly burst apart, sending fragments and scattered Aura flying.
Countless shards of rock sprayed in all directions, mingling with the dust and smoke as if from a demolition blast.An entire section of the cliff wall collapsed with a resounding crash, dispersing the thick dust within. Jun's shattered body lay motionless on the ground.
A closer look confirmed there was no sign of life left.
Jun's premonition had come true—it truly couldn't withstand this attack.
Combined with the Nasty Plot boost, this Shadow Ball packed devastating power against it.
Moreover, Jun itself wasn't particularly defensive, being more of an assassin-type fighter that had never worried about this weakness before thanks to its shadow abilities.
But against Porygon-Z, all those advantages vanished like bubbles.
A spatial ripple appeared, swallowing Jun's body to be preserved.
Creatures like Jun were extremely rare—this one absolutely had to be fed to Steelix.
Perhaps then Steelix could learn to swim through shadows, impersonating Giratina.
With such abilities, Jun should have been the most survivable among the three Golden Giants.
Yet it became the first of the three to fall.
And the other two would soon follow in Jun's footsteps—it was only a matter of time.
*****
Meanwhile
Gardevoir observed Jon regrouping and slowly raised both arms, its flawless white hands glowing with a soft pink radiance.
The aura surrounding it grew increasingly immense, rising steadily like bamboo shoots sprouting section by section.
Jon's eyes hardened as it planted its feet firmly into the ground, its mostly gaseous body beginning to transform.
Countless multicolored gases surged forth—against such an opponent, relying on a single ability was no longer enough.
It needed to combine its powers!
At Jon's mental command, three differently colored gases separated out: red, green, and yellow.
The gases morphed rapidly before shooting toward Gardevoir at lightning speed.
The red gas formed into a massive fireball, its sudden intense heat causing visible air distortions.
The green gas acted like fuel—though not taking physical form, it merged into the fireball, causing it to expand dramatically!
Like pouring gasoline onto a wildfire, it created a terrifying combustion effect.
The yellow gas crackled with electricity as it transformed, predictably morphing into jagged lightning bolts.
Thus emerged a bizarre spectacle:
A gigantic fireball hurtled forward, surrounded by flickering lightning tendrils.
Everywhere it passed left turbulent disturbances in its wake.
Simultaneously, while maintaining a neutral expression, Jon secretly split off several gas clusters behind itself—preparing contingency measures.
Noticing this, Gardevoir's beautiful eyes flashed coldly as waves of aura reappeared between its hands.
The surrounding pink battlefield seemed to resonate in harmony, creating a synergistic effect.
Jon recognized this as the same technique from before, but that wasn't the real threat—what needed guarding against was that mysterious controlling ability!
Its current preparations focused entirely on defending against that unknown control!
Though uncertain how the control worked, Jon had a crude solution:
It secretly split off a second version of itself!
If the enemy tried the same trick and controlled the "front" self, the "backup" self could counterattack!
Like Jun, it wasn't an ordinary stone giant—one might call it a stone giant, but "gas giant" would be equally accurate.
It could completely transform its body into different gases, even creating multiple clones of itself.
However, splitting off required consuming its own mass, so it couldn't replicate indefinitely.
From the front, Jon's size appeared unchanged, but in reality, its width had decreased by nearly a third.
Its entire body was thinning out, becoming almost paper-like.
'Come on! Keep using that ability!'
The Jon at the front wore a calm expression, while the one newly formed behind it grinned, revealing a sinister smirk.
Moreover, the rear Jon's body was covered in a layer of black gas—one of the reasons it dared to employ this scheme.
This black gas could mask its presence, functioning similarly to invisibility.
Among all the gases it could produce, this one was the most taxing and couldn't be sustained for long.
But for a critical moment, it was more than enough.
The Jon at the front stared intently at Gardevoir, seemingly anticipating the effects of its launched attack.
Yet, this was all a ruse.
Behind it, Jon No. 2 sneered while continuously releasing gas from its hands, preparing for an ambush.
Jon believed it had concealed itself perfectly, unaware that every move it made was under Gardevoir's watchful gaze.
Thanks to the Psychic Terrain, the entire battlefield was saturated with Gardevoir's aura, allowing it to perceive every detail—including Jon's second clone.
Watching the incoming fireball and lightning, Gardevoir lowered its eyelids, its body radiating a brilliant white light.
In the next moment, it vanished from the spot.
BOOM!
With Gardevoir no longer blocking the way, the fireball and lightning struck the rock wall behind, causing another section to collapse.
Jon's pupils constricted, unable to accept what it was seeing.
How could such a large enemy just disappear?
Wait—
Was it that position-swapping ability again?
The more Jon thought about it, the more convinced it became.
It braced itself for the reappearance of that bizarre giant beast.
Should it save its ambush for that creature instead?
Jon hesitated for a moment—before an overwhelming sense of danger surged through it!
Alarms blared in its mind. If it had been in a physical form, its hair would have stood on end.
Danger!
Coming from… behind!
In an instant, it reacted, darting to the side.
Streams of gas surged to its left, the recoil propelling its body sideways in a near-instantaneous shift.
Meanwhile, Jon No. 2 was tasked with stalling the enemy!
Gardevoir materialized behind it, energy already gathering in its hands.
The Psychic-type move—Teleport!
Jon No. 2's eyes bulged as its body erupted with light, charging toward Gardevoir in a suicidal explosion.
It had underestimated its foe!
To think the enemy could teleport at will!
At least it had prepared a contingency plan—something to buy precious escape time.
Jon knew self-blame was pointless now. It had suffered due to ignorance, but there was no helping it.
All it could do was learn from this and retaliate!
Unfortunately, it would never get the chance.
Jon No. 2 lunged recklessly at Gardevoir, its body's light flaring to full intensity in a split second.
Like an ignited fuel tank, it was about to explode—unleashing devastating force.
However, just before it exploded, Gardevoir's figure became illusory and then vanished completely.
Normal-type skill Double Team!
Jon knew how to play with clones, but Gardevoir also possessed similar clone-type abilities.
Jon No. 2 felt a chill crawl up its spine as it stared in horror at the empty space before it.
It knew—it had been tricked!
"BOOM!!"
Jon No. 2's explosion was now inevitable, turning into a massive bomb that unleashed a shockwave of terrifying proportions!
Since their vision was shared, the other Jon also noticed Gardevoir's disappearance.
Before it could even process its shock and confusion, the real Gardevoir appeared right in front of it.
Accompanying its appearance was the overwhelmingly dense Aura gathered in Gardevoir's hands.
Psychic-type Moves: Psychic!
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