Psychic and Ghost types were always cloaked in a layer of mystery.
Psychic types excelled at fluid spatial manipulation and displacement, while Ghost types specialized in debilitating afflictions and lingering curses. Both paths offered exceptional evasive mobility.
Yet the displacement granted by Psychic techniques was vastly more proactive.
Master Diviner Fu Xuan had already laid out the premier textbook for Psychic combat during the Grand Celebration tournament. Having analyzed her first three defeats, reflecting on every missed window, Qingque now directed Alakazam with a rhythm that bore an uncanny resemblance to Fu Xuan herself.
Arceus wielded eighteen elemental avenues of assault. While no fixed sequence governed the rotations, the opening volleys consistently targeted defensive vulnerabilities, followed by neutral kinetic strikes, before cycling into elements that the target resisted.
Furthermore, every strike was launched from range; the creator deity never engaged in physical melee.
Synthesizing these observations, Qingque leveraged Alakazam's spatial jumps to open maximum distance before each firing arc converged.
Using Teleport, Alakazam flickered through incoming beams and closed the gap to strike back. The tactic worked wonders. Breaking through the eighth wave of plates that had crushed her earlier partners, Alakazam held firm.
Yet the core impasse remained: no matter the elemental typing, each strike dissolved against Arceus like a raindrop falling into a vast ocean, leaving not a ripple behind.
Even so, Qingque refused to let the offense drop. She was searching for that feeling, the elusive resonance known as the bond.
From every recorded match where a Trainer manifested that miraculous force, she knew it was impossible to trigger through passive defense alone.
Alakazam weathered the eighth wave, yet it finally collapsed when ten stone slabs fired in simultaneous alignment.
The defeat was not born of tactical failure. Alakazam's stamina and energy reserves had simply bottomed out, leaving it unable to weave another spell. The creature dropped to one knee, dissolving into drifting starlight.
The familiar reel of shared memories rushed through her mind once more, yet Qingque barely felt the ache this time. Her thoughts were entirely elsewhere. She had pushed her calculations to the absolute limit.
In terms of battlefield analysis and tempo control, she believed her performance had matched Fu Xuan's standard during the tournament. Her read on Arceus's movements was practically flawless.
Why did the barrier still refuse to budge? Is it because the opponent lacks a living, breathing pulse?
Remembering the Trainers who had unlocked that power, a critical detail suddenly clicked in her mind.
Those miracles had only occurred at pivotal, razor-thin turning points. Furthermore, they had been amplified by the cognitive sparks Julian's gifts bestowed upon the creatures themselves.
Arceus was demanding proof of a bond, which meant that within this trial chamber, the Pokémon were not lines of scripted behavior. They were living, sentient minds.
Feeling she had grasped the missing link, Qingque reached for her remaining two companions, calling forth Gardevoir and Meowth together.
"Gardevoir~"
"Meow!"
The moment they materialized, both creatures beamed with genuine delight, rushing straight into Qingque's open arms to bury their faces against her chest.
Qingque knew their typical baseline behaviors well. In the standard game client, neither species was particularly clingy. Without a dedicated command, they would never display such unrestrained, joyous affection as though reuniting with a long-lost friend.
It really is true!
That single gesture confirmed her hypothesis beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Her earlier partners had been sent straight into the fray the moment they appeared, while her attention had been glued entirely to Arceus, making it easy to overlook their emotional state.
"That guy Julian... he really hid the answer right in plain sight..."
Standing on the cosmic dais, Qingque finally saw what she had been missing. Demonstrating a bond could never be accomplished by a Trainer working in isolation. It required a shared heartbeat, a singular will pointed toward the exact same horizon.
That was why high-stakes matches between evenly matched rivals served as the ultimate crucible for the bond.
Combat was the natural instinct of these companions.
Setting aside the few who disliked fighting entirely, the vast majority of partners who stepped onto a competitive stage thrived on the heat of the ring. Even gentle species would bare their fangs when pushed to protect what mattered.
When facing an overwhelming adversary, a partner's blood naturally ran hot, aligning seamlessly with their Trainer's burning desire to prevail. Two wills snapping into perfect harmony—that was the true essence of the bond.
Realizing this, a bitter, helpless smile crept onto Qingque's lips.
She had made a catastrophic error in saving Meowth for the final slot. Her little feline happened to be one of the rare exceptions across the entire roster who despised battle with every fiber of its being.
"What am I supposed to do now... Waaaaah..."
Qingque felt like crying, but no tears would come. Her entire hope rested on the shoulders of Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, our friends were taken down and locked away by that giant above us," Qingque said, dropping to one knee and resting her hands firmly on the creature's slender shoulders, her voice trembling with raw sincerity. "We have to bring him down and bring everyone back home. I need your help. Please!"
"Garde!"
Gardevoir possessed an innate gift for reading the human heart. Feeling the genuine plea and absolute trust radiating from Qingque, its soft expression hardened into resolve, nodding solemnly as if taking the weight of the universe onto its shoulders.
"The adversary is formidable. We cannot drop our guard for a single second. Move, Gardevoir! Psychic!"
"Garde!"
Despite the immense, towering silhouette of the creator god, Gardevoir stepped forward without a trace of fear, unleashing a dense surge of telekinetic force.
The attack splashed harmlessly against the invisible ward.
A flicker of genuine shock crossed Gardevoir's features.
Having kept her eyes trained entirely on her partner, Qingque caught the subtle reaction immediately, cementing her confidence. Faced with Arceus's opening retaliation, her voice remained rock-steady.
"Don't let it shake you! Evade to the flank, then follow up with Moonblast!"
"Garde!"
Knowing her partner possessed genuine awareness, Qingque abandoned cold numerical commands, weaving conversation and emotional reassurance into every call.
Step by step, the cadence of battle began to bridge their thoughts.
A warm, unmistakable hum began to stir between their minds.
Applying the lessons from Alakazam's defeat, Qingque deliberately paced their movements to conserve energy, steadily guiding Gardevoir past wave after wave until they weathered the assault of twelve hovering stone slabs.
With the spatial traits of a Psychic companion, executing another Teleport could easily slip past the converging beams. Yet right at that heartbeat, an overwhelming intuition flared in Qingque's chest: she shouldn't dodge. She needed to drive straight into the storm, meeting the barrage head-on alongside her partner.
Yet staring down twelve blazing pillars of cosmic fire, years of cautious survival instincts kicked in. Fearing the strike would obliterate them both, she hesitated, instinctively shouting for Teleport instead.
The fragile warmth thrumming between their minds snapped like a brittle thread, evaporating into thin air.
Qingque froze in horror, realizing she had let the single golden opening slip through her fingers.
That split-second hesitation broke their rhythm. Before Gardevoir could complete the spatial jump, a trailing beam caught its shoulder, slamming the slender frame across the celestial floor.
Gardevoir is unable to battle.
So close!
She had been right on the precipice of shattering that barrier!
Deep, suffocating regret flooded Qingque's chest.
Gardevoir's fall rested entirely on her shoulders. Had she committed to that final leap of faith, placing absolute, unconditional trust in her companion, the bond would have ignited right then and there.
Instead, her lingering worry and habitual caution had ruined everything.
The recollections of her journey with Gardevoir washed over her thoughts. Unlike the previous encounters, this time her chest ached with profound guilt.
Yet the trial remained active.
Turning her gaze toward Meowth—her pampered mascot who spent its days sleeping on soft cushions, detested the sight of a battle ring, and possessed zero combat drive—Qingque found herself caught in an agonizing deadlock.
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