(TN: Starting this point I'm changing Spirit Realm or Distortion World to Ghost World.)
The shadowy creature hovered eerily in the air. It had no legs, only two enormous hands. Its body was mostly black, with a single glaring eye, a ghostly tail trailing beneath it, and a pillar-like gray head crowned by a yellow antenna.
"Dusknoir! So it was that Pokémon all along!" Aven's eyes narrowed sharply.
According to legend, Dusknoir possessed the ability to use the antenna on its head to receive mysterious signals from the Ghost World, and upon receiving such instructions, it could guide souls into that very realm.
For this reason, Dusknoir was often referred to as the Messenger of the Ghost World. Normally, its appearance was exceedingly rare—it was one of the most difficult and precious kinds of Pokémon to ever encounter.
Yet now, the Dusknoir that had emerged was clearly not in a normal state either. Its body was shrouded in an unsettling aura of black mist, an ominous darkness that radiated from it, revealing that it too was under the control of that eerie energy!
"Hmph, so your trump card is indeed this Empoleon!"
"You hid it quite well, I'll give you that. But don't forget, by my side I still command a king-level Dusknoir!"
Marquis Hormay burst into arrogant laughter as his eyes swept across Empoleon, who had just blocked the previous assault. With two king-level beasts at his command, who here could possibly stand against him?
Whoooosh…
With the arrival of Dusknoir, a sudden chill spread across the entire battlefield. A gust of ghostly wind howled through the air, and at once, a dense wave of tangible black energy burst outward from Dusknoir's form. The force surged forward, blasting Empoleon back several steps.
"Empoo…"
The steel penguin's sharp eyes locked onto the eerie figure before it.
"Go, Dusknoir!"
At Marquis Hormay's gleeful command, Dusknoir immediately condensed a pulsing orb of darkness in its hands—Shadow Ball!
Shoo!
With a piercing sound as it tore through the air, the Shadow Ball whistled forward, crashing down upon Empoleon with terrifying force.
But Empoleon was quick to react. With a swing of its fin, it unleashed a sharp, shimmering Water Blade Slash. The two attacks collided in mid-air, annihilating one another in a violent burst.
BOOM!
At the same time, a deep rumbling resounded from underground.
From beneath the battlefield, Nidoking and Drapion suddenly burst forth, but both Pokémon looked battered and bloodied. They were already covered in scars, a testament to their desperate struggle.
Their underground clash had been one-sided—the two pseudo-king-level Pokémon had suffered overwhelming suppression. Even with all the enhancements they had been given, together they still couldn't match the might of a true king-level Garchomp!
But in the very next moment, both their bodies began to glow faintly green—Petilil had activated its healing ability from the sidelines, channeling its restorative power to help the two recover some strength.
"Now's the time—come out, Rhydon!"
Aven's eyes sharpened. The moment Nidoking and Drapion surfaced, he immediately tossed another Poké Ball into the field.
With a thunderous roar, the colossal form of Rhydon appeared, the very ground trembling beneath its weight. At once, earth-type energy surged around its massive frame. With a single thunderous stomp, it struck the battlefield.
Rumble!
The ground shook violently, the earth splitting apart as deafening crashes echoed below. Whole tunnels collapsed beneath the surface, accompanied by the sound of shifting stone.
The move it unleashed was none other than Earthquake, capable of inflicting catastrophic damage on anything lurking underground.
In the ensuing tremors, the figure of Garchomp was forced up from below. Even though it was a king-level Pokémon, being struck directly by Rhydon's Earthquake left it looking uncharacteristically disheveled.
"Gar… CHOOMP!"
Garchomp tilted its head back and bellowed furiously.
But just as it prepared to continue its rampage, a sudden glow of sinister purple light flared across its body, abruptly halting its movements.
"That… is that poisoning?" someone gasped in shock from outside the field.
The spectators were stunned. No one had imagined that even a king-level Garchomp could succumb to poison!
"Finally… Toxic took effect!"
Aven exhaled a slow breath of relief. Thanks to materials like poisonous swamp sludge and the Kebia berry, he had finally refined a perfected version of the Toxic potion.
For this very reason, both Nidoking and Drapion had been honing their poison moves and poison energy endlessly in recent training. Even a king-level Garchomp, struck by their poisonous assault, was now thoroughly poisoned!
"GARRrr!"
After a brief moment of stillness, Garchomp once again lifted its head, its scarlet eyes blazing as they fixed upon its enemies.
It crouched low, dragon energy erupting across its body, wrapping itself in an aura of power.
"CHOOMP!"
The battlefield shook with the piercing sound of dragon's roar. Around Garchomp, the phantom silhouette of a mighty dragon took shape—it was unleashing its ultimate dragon-type attack, Dragon Rush!
"Kiiiirrr…"
Kirlia's eyes narrowed sharply.
The trajectory of Garchomp's attack was a straight line—directly toward them. As a precaution, Kirlia immediately attempted to teleport Aven to safety.
But the moment it triggered Teleport, it froze in shock—the surrounding space was in total chaos! It was impossible to accurately lock onto any spatial coordinates.
Its expression changed drastically. Forcing a teleport under such unstable conditions risked being thrown into a spatial rift—if that happened, they would be ripped apart instantly.
"Teleport is unusable?" Aven frowned deeply.
His gaze then shifted toward Dusknoir, locked in combat with Empoleon.
Dusknoir, the one that could commune with the ghost world… The chaotic instability of space could only mean that the ghost world and the material world had overlapped here!
This was no accident. Clearly, Marquis Hormay had planned all of this in advance. With Teleport blocked, Aven was trapped inside this cage of iron and death, forced to fight for survival.
And indeed, Marquis Hormay turned his head at that very moment, meeting Aven's gaze with a broad, sinister grin.
Everything had been orchestrated—by him, or rather, by the sorcerer behind him. The underground beneath the gladiatorial colosseum was an ancient burial ground. Over time, it had become a spiritual nexus.
With Dusknoir present, he could easily tear open a temporary passageway into the Ghost World. Once the battle ended, he would use that passage to escape into it unharmed.
The battle's conclusion was imminent. As long as Aven was slain, Marquis Hormay would gain entry into the sorcerer's organization. And unless one had witnessed it firsthand, no one could possibly fathom the true power of those sorcerers.
"Go! Destroy them all!"
At his command, Garchomp's body surged forward, cloaked in the dragon phantom, rushing forth like a meteor.
"Drapion—use Sludge Wave!" Aven immediately countered.
Thud!
Drapion stomped heavily, and instantly the ground in front of it corroded into bubbling filth, surging upward like a toxic tide.
"Now, Nidoking—use Drill Run!"
"NIDOO!"
The leader of the Nidoking tribe clenched its fist tightly, ground type energy spiraling around it like a drill. Its Poison Point ability flared to life, blending poisom energy into its attack.
Its arm shuddered with agony as the dual energies fused, but Nidoking endured the pain, plunging its glowing fist into the surging sludge. The poison-infused ground energy melded with Drapion's toxic wave, gathering upon its knuckles.
All this happened in a blink—at the exact moment Garchomp barreled forward.
"NIDOO!"
Nidoking let out a deep growl and hurled its poisoned drill fist forward.
BOOOOM!
At the very center of the battlefield, the two titanic forces collided.
What should have been a one-sided clash instead became a deadlock. Energy exploded outward, shredding the surroundings as Nidoking's drill-like fist spun violently, holding back the overwhelming force of Garchomp's Dragon Rush!
"He—he stopped it?!" The crowd was dumbfounded.
A pseudo-king Pokémon had halted the charge of a king-level Garchomp? Could this mean Nidoking had already broken through into king-level itself?
"Success—the fusion of poison and ground energy!" Aven exhaled with relief.
Nidoking's progress had been unstable, but under this pressure, its full potential had finally burst forth. Once it truly mastered this fusion energy, the king's rank would no longer be far away.
BOOOOM!
Another violent explosion erupted as the colliding powers detonated.
Through the cloud of smoke, a massive figure was sent hurtling backward, crashing into the ground.
As the dust cleared, Garchomp came into view—on one knee, body flashing with sickly purple light, its breathing ragged.
Though it had the upper hand in the exchange, it too had taken serious damage, and the toxic corrosion continued to drain its strength.
"Draa…"
Drapion's eyes glinted with respect as it looked at the fallen Nidoking. Over time, it had come to recognize the strength of its comrade fully.
Seeing its ally collapse, Drapion lunged forward, energy surging into its scorpion claws as it struck at Garchomp.
But Garchomp, enraged beyond control, caught both of its tails with burning dragon claws. With brutal force, its talons sank into Drapion's flesh. Purple blood spilled, and Drapion shrieked in pain.
Then, with merciless fury, Garchomp's fin-like elbows glowed with dragon energy, slashing downward—
Slash! Slash!
Two tails were cut clean off. Drapion's agonized wails pierced the air as Garchomp seized the final tail, flinging its broken body high into the air before smashing it brutally to the ground beside Nidoking.
"Drapion, Nidoking—return."
"You've done more than enough. Rest well now."
Aven's voice was cold as he recalled them into their Poké Balls. His gaze then fell once more upon the staggering Garchomp.
Its chest heaved violently, its breath ragged. From its neck spilled purple blood from two gaping wounds, the ground sizzling with corrosion where it dripped.
Even in defeat, Drapion had forced its venom deep into Garchomp's body. Now, even a king-level Pokémon was being eaten away by poison.
(End of Chapter)
TN: Might edit the ghost/ Ghost World here, not sure yet which one he meant to escape in. I think I'm right in the Ghost World lore for Dusknoir since that's what I read in a Pokedex long ago if I'm right.
TN2: I'll edit the other chapters and change them to Ghost World.
If I was right before that it was supposed to be Distortion World… just suffer along with me. I'm over at it this point which world the author meant. I found the Chinese words for it and it means spirit world and when I search it up it goes to Ghost World. Giratina must at least be hanging out there every once in a while and get high with the ghost energy of the Ghost World sometimes right?.