"Pfft—"
At Dianna's words, the Delphox walking over covered its mouth and let out a snort of laughter.
The mockery was so blatant that Dianna—who'd been about to say something—only furrowed her brow.
Delphox?
Only then did she remember there was still a Pokémon right beside her.
Wait…
All at once, Dianna sensed something was off.
If the Delphox had become a ghost too, then it shouldn't be able to use moves.
But if it was still a normal Pokémon… with its eyes wide open and swaggering over like that—wouldn't it have noticed Elias a long time ago?
So that Gengar who'd sounded so convincing back then… had lied to her?
Before Dianna could sort it out, a not-so-gentle tug pinched her cheek.
"Mmph…"
Dianna let out a small sound—and by the time she realized what was happening, she'd already been set down on the ground.
"Dianna. Sorry to keep you waiting."
"I'm back."
A familiar figure filled Dianna's vision.
Elias saw her pupils tighten, just slightly.
...
Lysandre stared at the scene before him, his face darkening into something ugly.
For an instant, he truly felt like he'd raised Team Flare into uselessness.
Xerosic. Alain. Two of the organization's top executives.
And on top of that, Xerosic had even borrowed his Pyroar.
With all that, they still hadn't managed to stop the intruder—Dianna had been forced to step in personally.
And his own side was even more awkward.
Diancie's battle with Yveltal and Xerneas was something he couldn't interfere with at all.
The few Pokémon under his command probably wouldn't even survive a single sweep of Yveltal's wings.
You could say…
Aside from the heavy machinery being useful at the very start, Team Flare's performance throughout this entire fight had been so pathetic that calling them "trash" was almost too kind.
"No. Team Flare still needs to expand."
Lysandre drew a deep breath, already turning over plans for what came next.
If nothing else, he absolutely couldn't bear to face Mr. Elias after his revival with a Team Flare this disgraceful.
At the same time…
Diancie's fight had all but entered its fiercest stage.
Having borne the brunt of the firepower, Yveltal's stamina was finally running dry.
"Hrr…"
After narrowly dodging a Rock Tomb, Yveltal hung in the air, panting as it stared at Diancie in the distance.
It had always thought this kind of Pokémon was soft—easy to bully.
The sort that had to bring two Carbink as bodyguards whenever it went out, and could be scared into tears with a single glare.
But starting today, it was revising its opinion of Diancie completely.
Maybe not to the level of Zygarde—but at the very least, Diancie had earned a permanent spot on its blacklist.
That turret-like, horrifying output had carved an unforgettable psychological scar into it in just a few minutes.
"Stupid deer. She all yours."
Yveltal exhaled, then silently flapped away to hide off to the side.
If it kept going, it really would get blasted back into cocoon form.
With Yveltal pulling out, Xerneas naturally ended up taking every one of Diancie's attacks.
Tap.
Tap.
Xerneas set each hoof down with extreme care, terrified that the slightest lapse would get it clipped by another move flying in from who-knew-where.
"Diancie… I didn't lie to you."
"That ghost really came back. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to him myself."
Xerneas panted, forcing the words out in a rushed voice.
In all its millennia, it had never sounded this frantic.
It did everything it could to sound sincere.
But unfortunately…
"Hah."
Diancie let out a cold laugh, plainly not buying a word of it.
"Xerneas, when did you change your name to Ho-Oh?"
"Reviving the dead—you can't do that, even as the Life Pokémon."
Over the past few years, Diancie had pored over countless sources. She knew exactly where the limits of that deer's power lay.
Xerneas had to weaken itself just to bestow a blessing—so how could it possibly revive Elias, who was already dead?
Diancie didn't believe a single syllable of what Xerneas was saying.
Light flared—Power Gem and Flash Cannon charging at once.
BOOM!
The two moves crashed together again, the thunderous impact making the air itself shudder.
"Diancie—the ghost wasn't revived by me."
Seizing the lull, Xerneas switched tactics, adopting a stern, serious tone.
"Oh?"
"So you're saying Elias revived himself?"
Knowing Xerneas probably couldn't hold out much longer, Diancie asked impatiently.
But what Diancie didn't expect was…
Xerneas actually nodded.
"Very likely."
"I suspect that ghost and I have a very… intimate relationship, and he can revive himself…"
"I'll take you to see for yourself. Then you'll understand."
Xerneas's gentle voice echoed in Diancie's mind, the cadence so earnest it almost sounded unquestionable.
To Xerneas's delight, Diancie really did stop attacking after hearing it.
"What did you just say?"
Diancie asked flatly, forcing her anger down.
"Huh?"
Xerneas froze.
"An intimate relationship?"
Not giving it time to respond, Diancie sneered and repeated it.
This deer—first it turned on her, denying their earlier cooperation.
And now it was taking advantage of Elias right in front of her.
Did it think it couldn't die, so it could do whatever it wanted?
"N-no, wait."
"What I meant was—"
Realizing Diancie had misspoken, Xerneas's expression changed sharply.
"Elias will wait for me to revive him. And even if you drag out some counterfeit right now, I'll throw him into a diamond without hesitation."
"Do you understand?"
The diamonds on Diancie's body glittered as she looked at Xerneas, speaking lightly.
The instant the words fell, a swath of diamonds surged out behind her, and in no time at all, Xerneas was surrounded.
Xerneas's face sank.
This was going to be trouble.
Just as Diancie was about to make her next move—
Pop.
The soil beneath her feet suddenly gave way. By the time Diancie reacted, the ground had already split open into a gaping hole.
Diancie clearly hadn't expected empty space to appear under her in an instant.
Before she could do anything, she plunged straight down.
Whoosh!
With their controller gone, the mass of diamonds fell from the air in a glittering cascade.
The sudden change made everyone's head fill with question marks.
Lysandre stood there with his mouth half open, staring blankly around him.
Now all that remained were him, a handful of Team Flare executives, and…
Two Legendary Pokémon watching like predators.
It was over…
---
T/N: Im sorry i just HAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE DIANCIE SO MUCH IM LIKE SO CLOSE TO DROPPING, LIKE ZOROARK DIDNT GET ME THIS RILED UP
T/N2: ^_^ im zen rn, peak next arc <3
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