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The arrival of Latios and Latias brought the battle at the Pokémon Center entrance to a swift conclusion. Even Dark Pokémon were no match for these legendary guardians.
However, the Dark Pokémon that had invaded Alto Mare weren't limited to just the dozen or so at the Pokémon Center. A large number of corrupted Pokémon were attacking other buildings and civilians throughout the water capital.
Latios and Latias quickly rushed to other locations to provide support where it was needed most.
Watching the two siblings depart, Chris recalled his golden Aggron back to its Poké Ball and sent out his other trusted partners. Three powerful Pokémon appeared one by one: Blaziken, Garchomp, and his mighty Salamence.
"Go and clean up the Dark Pokémon that are attacking Alto Mare," Chris instructed Blaziken and Garchomp. The two Pokémon nodded in understanding, splitting up to head toward the sounds of battle echoing from different directions throughout the city.
Chris leaped onto Salamence's broad back while Gardevoir teleported to follow closely behind them.
"Grumble!" Blaziken called out in acknowledgment.
"Aww!" Garchomp roared its agreement as both Pokémon rushed off to engage the enemy.
The massive Salamence spread its powerful wings and took to the skies, carrying Chris as they pursued Latios and Latias through the air above Alto Mare.
Lorenzo, still on the ground, looked up at Chris soaring through the sky with complete shock written across his face. He had never imagined that Chris was actually such a powerful Trainer with Pokémon capable of aerial combat.
As soon as they gained altitude, Chris spotted numerous dark clouds drifting ominously through the sky. These weren't ordinary weather formations—they were Dark Altaria. The power of darkness had corrupted even their naturally white, fluffy clouds, turning them an eerie black color.
"I have to admit, they look strangely beautiful," Chris observed, though he knew appearance meant nothing in battle.
"Salamence, use Draco Meteor!" Chris commanded. No matter how aesthetically striking these Pokémon might be, when they attacked with those glowing red eyes filled with malice, they needed to be stopped.
"Roar!" The massive Salamence let out a thunderous roar and expelled a large, dark green fireball from its mouth, launching it high into the sky above Alto Mare.
When the enormous projectile reached its peak height, it suddenly burst apart, dividing into countless smaller meteors. In an instant, Alto Mare appeared to be experiencing a hellish "meteor shower" raining down from above.
"Control it carefully, and don't cause unnecessary damage to the city," Chris cautioned his partner.
This served as valuable training for Salamence in terms of precise power control. The last thing they needed was to defeat the Altaria only to reduce Alto Mare to rubble in the process.
Receiving Chris's command, Salamence immediately began carefully controlling each "shooting star" in midair, making every meteor pursue the Dark Altaria like guided missiles with perfect accuracy.
This level of precision was the result of extensive training and the strong bond between Chris and his Salamence.
The Dark Altaria that had attempted to attack Chris and Salamence immediately suffered devastating casualties. Since Altaria hadn't undergone Mega Evolution, they weren't yet "Dragon-type traitors," meaning they still took double damage from Dragon-type moves.
Combined with Salamence's overwhelming level advantage of ten to fifteen levels, it was impossible for the corrupted Altaria to withstand even a single blow from the powerful Dragon-type Pokémon.
"Nai!" Gardevoir suddenly alerted Chris with urgency. Through her Future Sight ability, she had sensed an incoming threat while monitoring the situation below.
Salamence and Chris immediately teleported a hundred meters away from their previous position.
In the very next second, a black meteor streaked through the exact spot where Salamence had been hovering just moments before. The projectile moved with lightning speed before disappearing from sight, followed by a tremendous crash.
Near the ground level of Alto Mare's main square, Latios had collided with this mysterious black meteor—or more precisely, it had actively intercepted the attack.
The price of this heroic intervention was severe. Latios was slammed directly into the ground by the meteor's tremendous force. The earth cracked and shattered around the impact site, with water beginning to overflow from the fissures in the damaged pavement.
Only then did Chris get a clear view of the black meteor's true identity.
It was a Dark Dragonite, and the level indicator floating above its head revealed it had reached the terrifying level of 89! Chris had only seen such a high level once before—on a Zapdos during a legendary thunderstorm encounter.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The sounds of impact echoed across the square.
The Dark Dragonite had already begun its assault, waving its fists as black mist emanated from each strike. The frigid air suggested these were Ice-type moves that had been corrupted and transformed into Dark moves.
Each punch connected with devastating force as the Dark Dragonite pummeled Latios repeatedly. The legendary Pokémon was so thoroughly suppressed that it could barely mount any form of counterattack.
"Is this Dark Dragonite really that powerful? It's actually overwhelming Latios!" Chris exclaimed in disbelief.
Even though the Dark Dragonite's level exceeded Latios by a significant margin, the gap between legendary Pokémon and pseudo-legendary Pokémon was typically enormous. Even a Champion-trained level 89 Dragonite shouldn't be able to dominate a level 75 Latios so completely.
Chris could only attribute the Dark Dragonite's overwhelming power to the significant enhancements that corruption brought to Dark Pokémon.
"Hmm~" Latias, seeing her older brother in serious trouble, quickly transformed into a dark green dragon silhouette and rushed toward the Dark Dragonite with a powerful Dragon Rush attack.
However, the Dark Dragonite didn't even seem to consider her a threat worth acknowledging. With a casual backhand slap, it generated a devastating Dark Hurricane that swept across the battlefield.
Latias attempted to dodge the attack, but she was caught directly in the path of the dark whirlwind and was carried away by its tremendous force.
With Latios at level 75 being thoroughly beaten, a Latias at only level 60 simply wasn't qualified to be considered a serious opponent by this corrupted powerhouse.
"It looks like I'll have to step in," Chris decided, immediately throwing another Poké Ball into the fray.
"Greninja, use Spiral Golden Aura Shuriken!"
Greninja appeared on the battlefield with a dramatic splash of water. It immediately activated its Battle Bond ability, transforming to resemble Chris's appearance. With both hands raised toward the sky, it began charging a golden Water Shuriken infused with a spiraling Aura Sphere, then hurled the combination attack toward the Dark Dragonite.
The Dark Dragonite, which had been continuing its relentless assault on Latios, sensed the sneak attack approaching from behind. Without even turning around, it casually swatted another Dark Hurricane toward Chris and his Pokémon.
Its attitude seemed to say: "Get lost and wait your turn! I'll deal with you after I'm finished with this one!"
What the Dark Dragonite hadn't anticipated was that its Dark Hurricane wouldn't be sufficient to counter Greninja's Spiral Golden Aura Shuriken technique.
The golden outer layer of the Shuriken collided with the dark storm, producing a spectacular explosion. Meanwhile, the inner Spiral Aura Sphere used its incredible penetrating power to pierce straight through the dark storm and resulting smoke, continuing its approach toward the Dark Dragonite.
The Dark Dragonite still showed no intention of dodging the attack. Instead, it threw another punch infused with Dark Ice energy, attempting to destroy the incoming Spiral Aura Sphere with brute force.
"Boom!"
The explosion echoed throughout Alto Mare, and the violent impact caused the ground within a ten-meter radius to collapse further. Water flowing up from underground almost turned the area into an impromptu swimming pool, while billowing black smoke rose into the air.
But soon a gust of wind cleared the smoke, revealing the Dark Dragonite within. It appeared to have suffered no significant damage from the attack. However, when it lowered its head, intending to quickly finish off Latios so it could focus on dealing with Chris personally, it discovered that Latios had already vanished from the battlefield.