"Swift?"
Saturn looked at Eevee's attack with open disdain. Swift was hardly a powerful move, and Eevee itself didn't look threatening in the slightest. In his eyes, Toxicroak had already won this exchange.
But the moment Dark Pulse collided with Swift, the outcome overturned completely.
Dark Pulse was pierced through on contact, the dark energy breaking apart into scattered fragments before disappearing. Swift kept going with almost no loss of force and slammed straight into Toxicroak.
Bang!
Toxicroak gritted its teeth and endured the pain, stumbling backward. It was high enough level that it wasn't knocked out in one hit, but it was seriously injured.
"What?!" Saturn's face changed at once. He turned and shouted at the others, "What are you standing there for? Attack together!"
At his order, the Team Galactic grunts began directing their Golbat to attack.
Gary let out a cold snort. "Metagross, Magnezone—use Gravity!"
"Meta!"
"Zone!"
Metagross and Magnezone activated Gravity together, and the pressure in the surrounding area changed immediately.
"Gol—!"
"Bat!!"
The Golbat that had been preparing their attacks suddenly felt the crushing force, lost their ability to stay airborne, and dropped straight out of the sky.
Even the Lake Trio were affected. Their floating height dropped sharply, and they had to rely on Confusion just to keep themselves suspended.
"Lake Guardians, deal with the enemy in front of me," Cyrus said at last.
The three Lake Guardians immediately moved to Cyrus's side and faced Gary's Pokémon.
[Lv. 90 Uxie / Legendary]
[Lv. 90 Mesprit / Legendary]
[Lv. 90 Azelf / Legendary]
The levels of the Lake Trio were extremely high, all firmly in the legendary tier.
Under normal circumstances, their strength alone would have been enough to suppress Gary's whole team. But now they were under Cyrus's control, and their actions were noticeably sluggish.
The three guardians launched attacks together, sending out golden psychic energy.
"Tyranitar, block them!" Gary shouted.
"Raaah!"
Tyranitar rushed forward in long strides and used its body to take all three attacks head-on.
"What? It actually blocked the attack from the lake Pokémon?" Cyrus said in surprise.
Cyrus knew ancient relics and legends well, but he clearly didn't understand battle typings.
The move the Lake Trio used was a Psychic-type attack. Tyranitar, as a Dark-type Pokémon, was naturally immune to it.
"Everyone, hit them with your strongest attacks," Gary ordered.
"Kame!"
"Raa!"
"Chomp!"
"Vire!"
"Zapdos!"
All sixteen of Gary's Pokémon attacked at once.
Blastoise fired Hydro Pump.
Tyranitar, Garchomp, and Rhyperior used Stone Edge.
Glaceon used Ice Beam.
Weavile used Ice Shard.
Eevee fired Hyper Beam.
Metagross used Flash Cannon.
Zapdos and Electivire called down Thunder.
Magnezone fired Zap Cannon.
Arcanine and Heatran used Fire Blast.
Scizor used Hidden Power.
Darkrai fired Dark Pulse.
Togekiss launched Shadow Ball.
More than a dozen attacks were released simultaneously. The Golbat that were still struggling to get back into the air were wiped out on the spot.
"Protect Lord Cyrus!" Saturn shouted.
Mars and Jupiter immediately directed their Pokémon to guard Cyrus.
But Cyrus himself remained perfectly calm. He continued to manipulate the red gems on his gloves, and the Lake Trio immediately flew in front of the three commanders and formed a golden energy barrier.
Every one of Gary's attacks struck the barrier—and all of them were neutralized.
"What?!"
Even Gary was stunned.
The Lake Trio were all Level 90, yes, but blocking that many full-power attacks at once should not have been so easy.
After defending, the three guardians looked up toward the sky and used Future Sight.
The delayed attacks disappeared overhead, and no one knew who they had targeted. If those attacks landed, anyone hit would be heavily injured, and weaker Pokémon might be taken out instantly.
The three commanders, who had looked nervous a moment ago, immediately regained their confidence after seeing the Lake Trio's strength.
"Kid, Team Galactic isn't that easy to deal with," Jupiter said smugly. "If you've got the ability, try again."
Gary said nothing. He just watched Team Galactic carefully.
His purpose here was to stop Team Galactic all at once. There was no need to defeat the Lake Trio directly. On their own, they were powerful enough already, but together they could resonate with Arceus's authority.
The barrier just now had to be connected to Arceus's power. There was no other explanation for how it could erase so many attacks so completely.
"Saturn, take the others into the ruins and complete the preparations. Leave Gary to me," Cyrus ordered.
"This... yes, Lord Cyrus!"
Saturn was clearly uneasy about leaving, but staying behind would accomplish little. Alliance forces could arrive at any time, and they had no time to waste.
"Professor Charon, let's go."
Saturn, Charon, and the remaining Team Galactic members withdrew, while two grunts pushed the transport machine into the ruins.
Gary did not stop them.
Without the power of the Lake Trio, they would not be able to summon Dialga and Palkia no matter what preparations they made.
"Rhyperior, Garchomp—use Dig and attack Cyrus."
"Everyone else, keep the Lake Trio occupied."
As soon as Saturn and the others left, Gary launched his next move, aiming straight at Cyrus.
The Lake Trio were only being manipulated. As long as Cyrus was dealt with, they would be freed.
"Raaah!"
"Chomp!"
Rhyperior and Garchomp burrowed underground at once.
The Lake Trio had to keep defending against Gary's other Pokémon, so they couldn't spare attention to protect Cyrus from below.
The plan was about to succeed.
"Gyarados, use Earthquake."
Cyrus suddenly threw a Poké Ball.
A huge Gyarados appeared, its long body twisting through the air.
Then it swung its tail down at the ground.
Boom!!
The earth shook violently.
The ground cracked open, and both Garchomp and Rhyperior were forced back out by the shockwave from Earthquake.
[Lv. 60 Gyarados / Elite]
Gary was genuinely surprised.
Cyrus's Pokémon was stronger than he had expected.
In the anime, Cyrus had almost never been shown using Pokémon at all. Gary had assumed the version of Cyrus in this world wouldn't be much of a battler either.
Clearly, he had been wrong.
"All Electric-type Pokémon, use Thunder on Gyarados!" Gary ordered immediately.
"Zapdos!"
"Vire!"
"Zone!"
Zapdos, Electivire, and Magnezone attacked together. Three bolts of lightning crashed down at once.
Gyarados was caught off guard and struck head-on.
"Roar!!!"
Its entire body was engulfed in golden lightning as it struggled violently in midair. The huge body convulsed for a moment before finally losing control and crashing straight down.