The Champion leaders watched in silence as Lucius and Anabel ascended alone, their expressions unreadable.
Just as the two of them approached the black hole, a luminous green glow radiated from Anabel, forming a shimmering barrier along the edges of the vortex.
Simultaneously, dozens of Pokémon below launched a coordinated assault—lightning, gales, flames, and Dark Pulse surged toward the airborne Giratina.
But Giratina reacted instantly. Its body faded into shadow and vanished without a trace, evading the barrage.
It had used its signature move: Shadow Force.
The next moment, however, a dazzling, prismatic bolt of lightning tore through the void from an unknown origin and struck Giratina mid-phase, forcibly dragging it out of its invisibility.
That was Future Sight, a powerful Psychic-type move unleashed by one of the King-class Pokémon.
Though the attack could only force Giratina out of distortion space for a second, to beings of that caliber—a second was more than enough.
In that fleeting moment, countless attacks—Thunderbolt, Air Slash, Flamethrower, Dragon Breath—rained down on Giratina, erupting in a thunderous explosion.
Giratina roared, its cry echoing with boundless fury.
Waves of inky black energy burst from its form like a raging tide, sweeping away the King Pokémon who had closed in during the opportunity. A shimmering black barrier formed around its body.
From its six spectral, ribbon-like wings surged beams of condensed black energy—laser-like and devastating.
These six beams scorched across the battlefield, erasing everything in their path. Ground, water, even King-class Pokémon—anything touched was instantly reduced to subatomic particles.
In that single strike, two King-class Pokémon perished.
But it had all been worth it.
Through the disoriented warp of space, Brandon's Solrock suddenly appeared behind Giratina, assisted by the Teleport, Magic Room, and other coordinated support techniques from allied Pokémon.
Then, in a blaze of unbearable brilliance, Solrock self-destructed.
A self-destruction performed by a King-class Pokémon.
For the first time in eons, a blazing sun rose in the Distortion World.
Even from afar, and even with the protection of defensive moves like Safeguard, the champions could feel the searing heat washing over them. Lucius, who had not shielded his eyes in time, was instantly blinded by the scorching light.
The others had reacted in time, covering their eyes before the light devoured them.
Giratina, at the center of the explosion, took the full brunt of the blast and heat. Though it remained unscathed, cracks tore open in the dark barrier surrounding its body.
In a flicker of shadow, a figure hurled itself into the fireball engulfing the sky.
Through the blazing inferno, a sharp gleam flashed—and three deep, bloody gashes appeared across Giratina's red-and-black underbelly.
It was Archer's strongest Pokémon, a Houndoom with the Flash Fire ability, surging into the flames and unleashing Sucker Punch.
A Dark-type move, Sucker Punch guarantees a hit when the opponent's defenses are broken—just like now.
Fury burned in Giratina's eyes. Its massive tail whipped around, smashing into Houndoom and reducing it to nothing but a bloodied mist—obliterated on the spot.
We did it...
Though blind, Lucius could see everything through his Shared Vision link—and knew the mission had succeeded.
To Giratina, those wounds were little more than scratches. But Houndoom's attack carried something far more insidious...
A virus.
With Lance's Gyarados and Mustard's Grimmsnarl staying behind alongside the other wounded Pokémon, the rest of the Champions and their unharmed Pokémon used Teleport to reach the black hole—still held open by Celebi's spacetime powers.
Farewell, Distortion World.
One by one, the Champions and their Pokémon dove into the shrinking black vortex, sheathed in a verdant glow.
As they passed through, a tremendous suction threatened to pull them apart.
Then suddenly, the world flipped—gravity pulled downward again. They had returned to the real world.
This time, they weren't scattered nor atop Mt. Coronet, but floating above the sea.
More importantly—before entering, they had been on opposing sides. Now, they stood united.
Of the four Pokémon who had perished—Solrock, Houndoom, and two others—the only ones left in the Distortion World were eight King-class Pokémon, all of them wounded in the prior battle. Everyone knew what that meant.
They would not return.
But their sacrifice had been necessary to escape that realm.
From the moment Giratina appeared, Lucius had been testing it—probing for weakness. In the end, he chose to gamble everything.
Coldly speaking, even sacrificing dozens of King-class Pokémon would be worth it if it meant infecting a Mythical Pokémon. These King-class Pokémon had already had their genetic sequences copied by the virus; they no longer contributed to its evolution. They were just tools of the Hive.
But a Mythical Pokémon? That could vastly accelerate Veronica's evolution.
As the host of the Virus Evolution System, infecting Giratina was the ideal outcome.
Even so, they had lost more than ten King-class Pokémon today—equivalent to two Champion-level assets. A terrifying cost.
"Everyone, split up," Lucius sighed. "We can't stall Giratina much longer."
The rest of the Champions were high-ranking members of the League. Now aware of the schemes involving Lugia and Ho-Oh, they understood the crisis was at hand. Their priority now was to report this to the League and develop countermeasures against the plans of the Mythical Pokémon.
As for Volkner, his body had been severely damaged in Solrock's explosion. Lucius would need to find him a new vessel—quickly.
After the Champions departed, Lucius paused in thought, then turned to his Gardevoir.
"We're going to Hoenn."
Fortunately, the waters he currently drifted through weren't far from the Hoenn mainland. With repeated uses of Teleport from Gardevoir, they swiftly reached their destination.
LaRousse City, located along the eastern coast of Hoenn.
This city stood at the confluence of two rivers and was built upon an island. Known for its expansive public park, Battle Tower, and bustling commercial district, it was accessible via a monorail loop that circled the island. A grand bridge spanned its northern end.
In the original anime canon, LaRousse City was introduced as the hometown of Drew, the rival and fellow Coordinator of May during her journey.
However, Lucius hadn't come for Drew. His destination was the Lund Research Institute.
The Lund Institute was the city's most prominent landmark, headed by none other than Dr. Lund, one of the world's foremost researchers.
After checking Volkner's unconscious body into a hotel, Lucius rode atop his Emperor Strain and arrived outside the institute. Possessing the body of a female staff member with a ponytail using his parasitic control, he instantly took command of her actions.
Per the League's directive, the Hoenn region had begun deploying Virus Detectors across all major research centers. But such security measures were no obstacle for Lucius.
Hidden in the shadows, his Gardevoir gave off a faint psychic pulse. With a flicker of power, the virus detector at the institute's main gate suddenly malfunctioned.
Without hesitation, Lucius strutted confidently into the Lund Institute under the guise of an employee.
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