BOOM!
Overheat struck like a comet colliding with Earth as Moltres bombarded the ocean surface.
An explosion erupted across the water, followed by billowing steam and surging mist.
The location where Greninja had been positioned was completely vaporized into empty space, but the Pokemon itself was nowhere to be found.
Mid-air, Greninja was still shaken from its narrow escape.
Just moments ago, it had nearly been incinerated by Moltres. Fortunately, it had activated Ally Switch fast enough.
Otherwise, it would have become the first Pokemon defeated under its master's command by a legendary bird.
It couldn't afford to lose like that.
Glancing around, Greninja noted that Tyranitar's battle had concluded, and Zeraora's fight was also nearing its end.
Taking a deep breath, Greninja's eyes sharpened with renewed focus. Time to finish this quickly.
KRAAAW!
A piercing cry penetrated the mist as Moltres flapped its wings and soared skyward again, charging up another Overheat.
The Overheat move packed devastating power but carried the drawback of reducing special attack stats after use. However, this limitation seemed completely irrelevant to the enraged legendary.
It transformed once more into a massive firebird, charging toward Greninja with furious, unbridled rage.
"Multiple Shadow Clone!"
Greninja clasped its hands before its chest, body trembling slightly as fifteen identical copies materialized around it. Including the original, sixteen Greninjas now filled the sky.
Multiple Shadow Clone, a technique John had developed based on ninja arts from his previous world's knowledge. While the name suggested it derived from Double Team, the reality was far more complex.
Double Team relied on speed to create illusory afterimages with no physical substance.
These shadow clones, however, were tangible entities capable of dealing real damage. In essence, they functioned more like advanced Substitute techniques.
The development process had been elegantly simple in concept: have a Substitute create another Substitute.
Greninja's main body used half its stamina to create the first Substitute. That substitute then used half of its own energy to create the next, and so on.
As long as sufficient stamina remained to form another Substitute, the process could continue indefinitely.
Thanks to assistance from his Aura and extensive training, Greninja had achieved remarkable mastery over Aura manipulation which allows him to perfrom this move.
It had taken two full months to truly master Multiple Shadow Clone.
However, these fifteen substitutes weren't even close to Greninja's maximum potential.
John had never tested the actual limit because his bond-evolved Greninja shared physical enhancements from its trainer.
John's body contained power inherited from the three legendary Orb in his body from Kyogre, Groudon and Raquaza.
While not infinite, when the total count of Greninja and its substitutes reached 128, John felt no strain whatsoever. The limiting factor became Greninja's mental capacity to coordinate so many bodies simultaneously.
Currently, fifteen clones represented the optimal number for tactical control.
"Golden Water Stream - Spiral Aura Sphere!"
All sixteen Greninjas gathered energy in their palms, then hurled the attacks at Moltres simultaneously.
In an instant, thirty-two "Golden Water Stream Spiral Aura Sphere" projectiles filled the air. The key was that these thirty-two attacks approached from different vectors, but all had Lock On targeting.
They would bombard Moltres from every conceivable angle!
Moltres tried to evade, but found no escape route. Every possible flight path had been calculated and blocked. The thirty-two Spiral Aura Spheres formed cage-like nodes, completely surrounding the legendary bird.
Unless Moltres knew spatial movement techniques like Teleport or Ally Switch, breaking through this devastating enclosure was impossible.
And if Moltres took even one Aura Sphere hit, the remaining thirty-one would be unavoidable.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
John stood at a distance with arms crossed, admiring the spectacular display.
This wave could only be described as "saturation bombing."
He wondered if Moltres could survive such overwhelming firepower.
SCREEECH!
A cry pierced through the smoke and explosions, Moltres' anguished wail.
When the bombardment finally ceased, what emerged was a pitiful sight: golden-yellow down feathers charred black, crimson flames extinguished, and a great bird trailing smoke as it plummeted from the sky.
Greninja moved to pursue, but John raised a hand to stop it. The system notification had already appeared.
[Defeated Moltres LV92. Greninja gained 98,910 experience points]
John retrieved a Luxury Ball he'd been saving and casually tossed it forward.
Gardevoir teleported the ball to the falling Moltres, captured the legendary Pokemon, then teleported it back to John's waiting hand.
Moltres' status panel materialized before him.
[Moltres (Flying/Fire)] (Legendary Pokemon)]
[Level: 92]
[Ability: Flame Body (Pokemon using contact moves have a chance of being burned)]
[IV's: HP (27), Attack (25), Sp. Attack (31), Defense (31), Sp. Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Gust, Ember, Safeguard, Wing Attack, Overheat, Agility, Ancient Power, Tailwind, Burn Up, Roost, Heat Wave, Flare Blitz, Sky Attack]
[Held Item: Orb of Fire]
Moltres' stats were marginally better than Articuno's.
It boasted four perfect IVs along with the excellent Flame Body ability. Even if not used for combat, it could serve as a premium breeding Pokemon back home.
From now on, Pokemon hatched in John's facility would carry an additional selling point: "Hatched by the legendary Pokemon Moltres."
Whether their actual potential was exceptional or not, the legendary breeding pedigree alone justified premium pricing. How could he charge less than a million for such prestige?
Now for the real prize, the held item.
[Orb of Fire: Doubles the power and range of fire-type moves. Every minute, the next fire-type move gains an additional power and range multiplier.]
Exactly as anticipated.
John was thoroughly satisfied.
He did possess fire-type Pokemon after all.
The Orb of Fire would be perfect for his Blaziken. Finally, it wouldn't have to envy the other team members for lacking legendary-grade equipment.