Aron fixed Roxanne and Vane with a sharp, piercing stare, then let out a long, drawn-out sigh.
"If she's already here, that means the scramble has begun. I need to hold them off as long as possible. If only Smeargle were available, this would be much easier... but I doubt it can fight for the time being."
He snapped his fingers. Zoroark immediately extended its claws and lunged toward Roxanne. Just as its claws were about to make contact, Kirlia, standing beside Roxanne, unleashed a Dazzling Gleam.
The brilliant light exploded around them, forcing Zoroark to slip back into the shadows to evade. Aron swiftly released Slowbro from its Poké Ball.
Slowbro materialized with its usual vacant expression. Kirlia responded instantly, firing a Magical Leaf—glowing leaves materialized around it and shot toward Slowbro at high speed. Slowbro simply stood there and took the attack head-on, showing no visible reaction.
The attack left no significant wound on Slowbro.
Roxanne began to realize she couldn't read Aron's mind. Instead, she activated her future-sight ability—and saw that Slowbro was about to use Hydro Pump.
She immediately tried to recall Kirlia into its Poké Ball.
Aron noticed Rayne reaching for the Poké Ball and gave a silent command to Zoroark, still lurking in the shadows.
"Now."
Zoroark shifted into Kirlia's shadow and struck from within, slashing with Shadow Claw. Roxanne turned toward Kirlia in confusion—and saw fresh claw marks across its body.
"How? It didn't even come out of the shadows..." Roxanne thought, recalling Kirlia into its Poké Ball.
Then Zoroark, still hidden in the shadow world, redirected its attack toward Roxanne's own shadow. Claw marks appeared across her cheek and stomach, and blood began to seep from the wounds. She struggled to comprehend what was happening.
Vane, watching from the side, couldn't stay silent any longer. *"How could Roxanne be wounded like that? How did Kirlia get hurt without Zoroark leaving the shadows? Why can it attack from inside the shadows?"*
Then a claw mark appeared across his own stomach. Blood began to flow, and he felt as though his abdomen had been torn open. But at last, the answer came to him.
*"Shadow of the World."*
He immediately pulled out a Poké Ball and pressed the release button. A Porygon2 emerged, its eyes scanning the room as it began analyzing the environment.
"Pory," Porygon2 announced as it materialized.
"Room," Vane commanded.
Porygon2 began converting the entire room into a digital space. Aron wasn't about to let that happen.
"Slowbro, Hydro Pump," he ordered.
Slowbro fired a high-pressure blast of water toward Porygon2. Rayne noticed and quickly tossed a Great Ball in front of Porygon2 to intercept the attack. From within emerged a Lanturn, which took the full force of the Hydro Pump the moment it appeared—but it barely flinched.
The assault on Vane and Rayne ceased. The room had fully transformed into a digital space, everything dissolving into streams of data. Zoroark could no longer retreat into the shadows.
"Digital Room—this two-dimensional space again. So he can use it too," Aron thought.
Vane exhaled slowly. His fatal wounds from Zoroark's earlier attack began to regenerate. He clutched at the lingering marks, breathing heavily.
*"Shadow of the World—it uses the target's shadow to inflict damage on the target. The shadow exists because of the physical projection. This should be enough now,"* he reasoned.
He looked ahead. Porygon2 was locked in fierce combat with Slowbro—psychic attacks, electric shocks, and physical blows exchanged in rapid succession.
Vane then turned toward Roxanne, who—despite bearing far more wounds than him—was still standing. He realized this wasn't what she should be doing.
He stood and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Get out of here and save Darian."
"But isn't that your job?" Roxanne replied.
"It is my task. But I can't do it," Vane said.
He pushed Roxanne out of the room, teleporting her directly into the chamber where Darian's body lay.
Aron, watching Vane remove Roxanne from the digital room, realized he had just walked into a trap.
Vane faced Aron squarely, a calm smile on his face, and pointed directly at him.
"It's too late for you to realize that now, Mr. Aron."