Against the dark, Night Shade-like sky, the enormous body of Gigantamax Corviknight slowly rose away from the surface of the sea, climbing higher and higher into the air. But the battle was far from over.
Jacob tightened his grip around Iron Valiant's Poké Ball. He took a slow, deep breath, and the uncertainty in his eyes gave way to something harder — resolve.
It was time. If using Iron Valiant meant exposing it, then so be it. That was better than dying up here.
But just as his thumb moved to press the button and release Iron Valiant into the fight against Mega Swampert, a sharp mechanical voice cut through the howling wind from somewhere behind him.
"Garchomp, use Dragon Rush!"
"Gaaar!"
A rush of wind swept past, and a dark blue shape tore through the sky like a missile.
"Whoooosh!"
Mega Garchomp surged forward with terrifying speed, whipping up a fierce gust as it moved. Built like a living tank, it drove itself straight at Mega Swampert with all the force it could muster — the clear intention being to knock Mega Swampert clean off Gigantamax Corviknight's back.
"BOOM!"
The two Mega-Evolved Pokémon collided with an impact that shook the air. It became a pure contest of raw power. Their forelimbs locked against each other, muscles straining beneath the surface, both faces twisted into savage, wild expressions from the sheer effort.
Mega Garchomp pushed hard, trying to shove Mega Swampert backward — but it was like trying to move a mountain. Mega Swampert stood its ground without giving an inch.
Both Pokémon were renowned for their strength in their Mega-Evolved forms. Mega Garchomp boasted an Attack stat of 170, while Mega Swampert came in at 150. On paper, Mega Garchomp held the edge. But numbers alone didn't tell the whole story. One was a Champion-level Pokémon, and the other was a peak Champion Level — and that gap in raw experience and battle-hardened power was enough to put Mega Garchomp at a clear disadvantage in this struggle.
It was obvious: Mega Garchomp alone could not handle Mega Swampert.
"Greninja, use Low Kick!" Whitney called out her command, then turned her gaze toward Jacob. Her mechanical voice rang out clearly over the noise. "Giovanni— let's do this together. Push it off!"
The words snapped Jacob back to his senses. His eyes sharpened. Without missing a beat, he shouted:
"Metagross, Meteor Mash!"
"Darkrai, Dark Pulse — now!"
Nearby, Edwins clenched his jaw and joined in. "Baxcalibur, Glaive Rush! Go!"
"Ursaring, Giga Impact!"
And from another corner, Nina added her voice to the chorus. "Metagross, Meteor Mash!"
All at once, a wave of Pokémon unleashed their attacks in unison. The goal wasn't to defeat Mega Swampert — they all knew that wasn't possible like this. They only needed one thing: to knock it off Gigantamax Corviknight's back.
Led by Mega Garchomp's charge, move after move crashed into Mega Swampert's body. Even with its immense power, there was a limit to what even such a powerful Pokémon could handle when assaulted from every direction at once. On solid ground or in open water, it could have stepped aside, dodged freely, and countered at will.
But this was the air. This was Gigantamax Corviknight's back.
If Mega Swampert dodged — if it even shifted its weight — it risked tumbling straight off the edge. So it had no choice but to plant its feet, endure the barrage, and try to strike back.
Mega Swampert's massive hands locked around Mega Garchomp's forelimbs in a crushing grip. Then a pale, cold glow began to build in its fists — ice-blue light blooming with dangerous intent.
Ice-type energy erupted forward.
Ice Punch.
The freezing energy surged over Mega Garchomp's body in an instant, encasing most of it in a thick shell of ice. Cold air radiated outward in waves. Mega Garchomp let out a pained, furious roar.
"Roaaarrr!"
Being a Dragon and Ground-type, Mega Garchomp was quadruply weak to Ice-type moves. A single Ice Punch had left it critically wounded, teetering on the edge of fainting. But rather than breaking its spirit, the pain only stoked the fire in its eyes — a fierce, bloodthirsty gleam that refused to back down.
At the same time, while Mega Swampert had been focused on Mega Garchomp, the combined attacks of the others had done their work. The relentless force rattling through Mega Swampert's frame caused its grip to waver. Its hind limbs, braced hard against the surface of Gigantamax Corviknight's back, could no longer hold against the mounting pressure — slowly, they began to slide.
"ROAAARRR!"
Rage flared in Mega Garchomp's eyes. Even half-encased in ice, even barely able to move, it snarled with a ferocity that made the air tremble.
"Crunch!"
Dark-type energy flared up in an eruption of shadow. Mega Garchomp wrenched its jaws open, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and bit down hard on Mega Swampert with all the desperate strength it had left. The fangs sank into Mega Swampert's thick hide, piercing through, and dark blood welled up around the wound. The sight only sharpened Mega Garchomp's frenzy further — its eyes burning with wild, furious light.
That bite was the last straw. The intense pain tore through Mega Swampert's concentration. Its feet slipped. Its entire body lurched — and then, with a final surge of force from the group's combined attack, it was sent flying off the edge.
But no one had seen this coming: in the split second that Mega Swampert went over, its right hand shot out and caught Mega Garchomp's body in an iron grip — and dragged it over the edge along with it.
Everything happened faster than anyone could react.
Whitney lunged toward the edge of Gigantamax Corviknight's back, scrambling forward with her Poké Ball already in hand, desperately trying to recall Garchomp before it fell too far.
But it was already too late. Mega Swampert and Mega Garchomp were plummeting at terrifying speed, and the distance between them and the platform had already become too great.
"Garchomp, come back! Now!" Whitney screamed, her voice cracking with desperation.
If Mega Garchomp could just break free — just get loose from that grip — its natural flying capability would let it return to Gigantamax Corviknight's back. That was all it needed.
Mega Garchomp's eyes burned fierce and red. An indigo-blue aura ignited across its body as Dragon-type energy surged up from within. It was going to fight. Even now. Even like this.
Dragon Claw!
Mega Swampert saw it coming. As it fell, something hard and cold flashed in its eyes — a ruthless gleam that matched Mega Garchomp's ferocity without flinching. One hand remained locked around Mega Garchomp like a vice, clamping down with unbreakable force, giving it absolutely no room to escape.
And the other hand began to glow again.
Ice-blue light. Biting cold. Building fast.
"Ice Punch!"
The cold exploded outward with crushing force. Mega Garchomp, already critically injured and more than half-frozen, had nothing left to resist with. The surge of Ice-type energy consumed it almost entirely — only the top half of its face remained exposed above the growing ice. Its body had become a frozen statue, plummeting through the dark sky.
But even then — even like that — Mega Garchomp did not stop.
Its entire body shook with the effort. A low, broken sound rumbled from its throat as it struggled, one last time, to open its jaws and bite down on Mega Swampert.
The bite was weak. Desperate. It barely left a mark.
Mega Swampert didn't even flinch. But it did snarl.
It was already furious — furious at losing its grip on Gigantamax Corviknight, furious at everything. Mega Garchomp's final, defiant bite had done nothing but make it angrier. There was only one place left to put that rage.
"BOOM!"
One final Ice Punch landed with devastating force.
Mega Garchomp was knocked out of its Mega Evolution in an instant. Its life faded. Together, Mega Swampert and Garchomp fell into the sea far below and vanished beneath the waves.
High above, carried on the rising currents of air, Gigantamax Corviknight continued to climb steadily upward. In the span of only a heartbeat, both Mega Swampert and Garchomp had disappeared entirely from sight.
Everyone who had watched it happen stood in silence.
They all knew what it meant.
The death of a Pokémon in battle was not unheard of. It was a grim reality that separated two very different things.
Contests were about winning and losing.
Battles — real battles — were about life and death.