[King's Armament:Steel-type move power increased by 200%, Special Attack, Physical Attack, Physical Defense, Special Defense all increased by 150%. First three attacks each battle guaranteed to deal double damage. First three hits received each battle completely negated.
-All type-disadvantage effectiveness reduced by 50%.
-After Mega Evolution, grants signature move: "Behemoth Roar"]
"Wonder what the power level is like," John muttered. "Well, let's test it out."
"Aggron, use Behemoth Roar!" John directed Aggron toward the ocean. Giratina immediately opened a gateway to the Distortion World, allowing the attack to be fired inside.
ROAR!!
Aggron released an excited bellow. It was also curious about this move's true power.
However, it indicated to John that it needed to Mega Evolve again.
Only then did John snap back to awareness, Aggron had already reverted from Mega Evolution at some point and was currently in its normal, ordinary state.
"Then let's Mega Evolve again." What proved difficult for ordinary trainers to endure with Mega Evolution was absolutely nothing to John.
ROAR!!
Aggron threw its head back with a roar, its body immediately enveloped in rainbow radiance.
But when the Mega Evolution completed and John prepared to issue the Behemoth Roar command, his eyes widened in shock.
Why did Aggron's Mega Evolution look completely different now?
The current Mega Aggron was utterly distinct from the Mega Aggron that had forged its Divine Item just a minute ago.
Now, Mega Aggron wore a crimson cape across its back emblazoned with sword and shield designs. Its right hand wielded the King's Sword, its left the King's Shield. Its metallic body retained crimson, sapphire-blue flame patterns, even across its face, making it look exceptionally fierce and majestic.
This appearance clearly originated from the King's Shield and King's Sword aesthetic. If John couldn't recognize this, he'd be completely blind.
"Dismiss the Mega Evolution," John commanded again.
Mega Aggron immediately cancelled its Mega Evolution.
The sword and shield in its hands, the cape on its back, the patterns on its body, all vanished. Only the gauntlet worn at its wrist remained, which was the King's Armament itself.
"You clever thing, you treated the Metal Coat as a spatial storage item and placed the King's Sword and King's Shields inside, didn't you?" John suddenly understood Aggron's Item design philosophy.
Aggron grinned foolishly and nodded repeatedly.
It did possess some spatial manipulation power, inherited from the Ancient Lustrous Orb. Therefore, it had used its signature held item, the Metal Coat gauntlets, as a foundation, using pure Steel-type power to expand the gauntlets' spatial limits, and finally placed the two shields and one treasured sword inside.
As for why only one shield appeared after Mega Evolution, the other shield manifested as the cape, allowing it to defend against enemies attacking from behind.
"Excellent work! Very well done!" John expressed his approval.
"Now then, I suppose leaving you here doing absolutely nothing would be disrespectful, so I'd like you to serve as a target dummy. Consider it giving you some sense of purpose," John mused aloud. What he actually valued was Ho-Oh's damage resistance and recovery capabilities.
Yesterday, Ho-Oh had battled Shiny Mega Rayquaza and taken a direct hit from Dragon Ascent without becoming uncouncious, recovering to full health shortly afterward.
Truly the perfect target dummy.
As for why he'd had Mega Aggron attack inside the Distortion World earlier—
Well, Aggron just looked so damn cool now!
At minimum, he needed to give this heroic appearance and heroic technique an appropriately high-class backdrop. Yes, Ho-Oh's level was sufficient. After all, it ranked among the premier Legendary Pokemon.
Ho-Oh wanted to curse.
'You said you didn't need me, so why teleport me here in the first place? If that's really the case, just send me back now!'
But Ho-Oh didn't dare voice such thoughts externally. It could only explain loudly:
"Behemoth Roar… Behemoth Roar…" Ho-Oh muttered. "Just from the name, it sounds like something meant for gigantic Pokémon. My size doesn't even come close to Mega Aggron's. If that's the case, I think Giratina would be far more suitable."
Giratina's crimson eyes immediately locked onto Ho-Oh.
"What did you just say? What do you mean more suitable?"
Ho-Oh didn't dare meet Giratina's gaze.
"No, you're perfect," John said decisively. "If I'm guessing right, Behemoth Roar, and Behemoth Bash too, should have extra effects against gigantic Pokémon, probably dealing double damage."
"What... what?" Ho-Oh froze. Apparently John had made up his mind that it would serve as the target dummy.
Hmph! It's just getting hit a little bit, right?
What's so scary about that!
Ho-Oh suddenly straightened with stubborn pride, gritting its teeth and puffing out its chest as it followed John flying into the Distortion World. As though making some momentous decision. Without looking back.
Inside the Distortion World, gravity behaved inconsistently. Floating landmasses drifted through purple-tinged void space. The laws of physics held only suggestions here, not commandments.
Perfect testing grounds.
"Alright, Ho-Oh, just hover there," John instructed, pointing to a relatively stable floating platform. "Aggron will demonstrate the full power of its new abilities."
Ho-Oh landed on the designated spot, trying to maintain its divine dignity despite being demoted to target practice.
"Ready, Aggron?" John called out.
"Aggron!!" Mega Aggron raised the King's Sword high. The blade erupted with brilliant crimson and silver light, Steel-type energy condensing to apocalyptic levels.
"Behemoth Roar!"
The technique's name was somewhat misleading, rather than producing sound, Mega Aggron's sword carved through reality itself. A crescent slash of pure Steel-type energy, amplified by the King's Armament's absurd 200% power boost, tore through the Distortion World's unstable space.
The attack moved faster than Ho-Oh could properly react.
CRASH!
The impact sent Ho-Oh tumbling backward through three floating platforms, its phoenix flames flickering wildly as it struggled to recover.
"Incredible," John breathed, genuinely impressed. The raw destructive power exceeded even his optimistic projections.
Ho-Oh slowly righted itself, looking considerably more disheveled but still conscious. Its Regenerator ability immediately began repairing the damage.