Chapter 437: The Ghost King
Where John couldn’t see, far beneath the ocean’s surface, the impact of that devastating blade split an underwater mountain in half. Massive waves swept across the sky as the entire ocean seemed to convulse, as if a nuclear bomb had detonated in its depths.
On the battlefield, the spiritual realm’s soil cracked and twisted while space itself showed signs of fragmentation, spreading outward in all directions.
The Phantom General’s blade nearly shattered the entire spiritual battlefield environment that Dusknoir’s Never-Ending Nightmare had constructed.
Beneath that terrible sword, The mega purple-gold Gengar lay on the fractured, twisted earth, but incredibly, it was catching the blade with its bare hands!
At the last possible moment, it had activated Protect, but both the Protect barrier and the naturally generated shield from Stealth Barrier had been shattered by this single strike. John’s Mega Gengar could only maintain its defensive posture with two shockwave-shaped energy arms, looking for all the world like it was catching a sword with its bare hands.
Seeing that his opponent Gengar hadn’t lost its fighting ability, Damian was genuinely surprised and deeply unsettled. "You’re the first Ghost-type Pokemon that hasn’t been defeated by my trump card Gengar’s Demon God Shadow technique."
"To train to this level in just one year... John, you really do have the potential to become a Champion, maybe even a Pokemon Master."
John didn’t answer, he was too relieved to speak. At that crucial moment, he hadn’t had time to give a command, relying entirely on their bond and his aura abilities to guide Gengar.
Even so, Jogn’s Mega Gengar was now hanging by a thread.
"Come back first," John said softly.
The Shadow Sneak arms that had been restraining John’s Gengar were obliterated by the phantom general, allowing it to escape and hastily Teleport
back to John.The moment it materialized, Gengar’s entire body underwent a dramatic transformation. Its color shifted from purple-gold to pure gold, then quickly to pure purple. Its body began expanding continuously, growing to three times its usual size before stopping, now wreathed in smoke-like purple flames.
Simultaneously, with Mega Gengar at the epicenter, everything within a 100-meter radius plunged into absolute darkness, dotted with tiny phosphorescent fires burning like the souls of the departed!
Even the entire spiritual battlefield twisted and writhed in those otherworldly flames.
The Phantom General’s sword had reduced Gengar’s health to critical levels, causing King’s Presence to skip directly from 75% to its final form at 25%.
[King’s Presence (25%): All stats increased by 20%, Ghost and Poison-type move power increased by 20%, automatically activates Scary Face, and opens the King’s Domain: "Dark Spirit Battlefield"]
Now it was the true, supreme ruler of all the Gengars!
"Did you see that? It just changed from purple-gold to gold, then to purple!" Riley stared in amazement. It was the first time he’d witnessed such a bizarre transformation.
This couldn’t be about Shiny or non-Shiny variants. Since when did Shiny Pokemon change colors mid-battle? This wasn’t a Kecleon!
Victor was equally shocked, hazarding a guess: "Maybe it possesses power from some legendary Pokemon?"
Back on the battlefield, both competitors were feeling the shift.
"Gengar..." Damian’s Gengar’s face lost all traces of its earlier confidence, replaced by unmistakable wariness.
"The supreme king of your specie?" Damian understood what his Mega Gengar was trying to convey through their bond.
"The king of the Gengars..." Damian looked up at John’s transformed Pokemon.
Earlier, he had suspected John’s Gengar might be of nobility in the spirit world, but he’d still underestimated his opponent. This wasn’t nobility, this was royalty!
That explained the oppressive aura his Pokemon had felt from the beginning.
Now, the pressure his own Gengar faced was dozens of times stronger than what Dusknoir and Spiritomb had experienced.
"So what if you’re a king! Gengar, if we defeat it, then you’ll be the king of the Gengars!" Damian chuckled, addressing his own Pokemon.
The worried grimace on Mega Gengar’s face transformed as it psyched itself up once again.
So what if you were born to be a king! Defeat the king, and you become the uncrowned ruler!
Mega Gengar’s sinister grin returned, though this smile was several times more menacing than before.
John looked at the trainer and Pokemon who had just "motivated" themselves and scratched his head, clearly sensing their thoughts through his aura abilities.
Damian and his Mega Gengar might as well have had "Down with the monarchy!" written across their faces.
"Gengar, Six Path Ghost Shadow Fist!" Damian commanded loudly.
Immediately, two additional pairs of powerful ghostly hands "grew" from Mega Gengar’s back.
This was essentially mounting Shadow Sneak’s spectral arms directly onto its body.
Holy shit, John’s eyes lit up. That was possible?
Another custom technique!
The list of moves he wanted to learn had just grown by one!
But wait... this scene felt familiar.
John suddenly remembered Saul Badman’s Machamp.
A Ghost-type upgraded version of the four-dimensional onslaught? Six Path Ghost Shadow Fist!
Of course! As Saul’s student, there was no way Damian wouldn’t have some trace of his teacher’s influence. Here it was!
While John was momentarily distracted, Mega Gengar’s figure appeared before his Gengar like a wraith. In an instant, four ghost hands plus its original pair of shockwave-like energy arms launched into a frenzied barrage.
Phantom fists filled the sky!
The pitch-black Phantom General also raised its blade, slashing horizontally in perfect coordination!
It was a continuous assault with devastating lethality.
"Teleport to dodge, then Z-Move Never-Ending Nightmare!" John pulled the Ghost-type Z-Crystal from his pocket and pressed it into his power bracelet.
This incredible match had made him acutely aware of the real gap between himself and the Elite Four.
His time training Pokemon was too short, resulting in move development that was completely inferior to these Elite trainers.
Damian’s Gengar had at least four or five self-created techniques, while his own Gengar had none.
"After I get back, I’m going to focus on developing original moves before I consider challenging the Champion." John thought to himself.
But on the battlefield, even with shortcomings in technique variety, a Gengar that had achieved true kingship through sheer power would not lose!
Purple-black light erupted from John’s body, flowing into the Gengar King.
The King of Gengar blinked and vanished.
It reappeared 100 meters in the air.
The gigantic Gengar roared toward the sky with outstretched arms.
"GENGARRRR!!!"
The spiritual battlefield that already covered the entire island expanded once more, pressing across the surrounding ocean for thousands of meters as smoky flames danced across every soul.
The spirit world began to riot, and countless ghostly hands erupted from the spiritual realm’s ground, like the unwilling dead in purgatory, trying to drag any living beings who had strayed here down into the depths of hell!