Dazzling white light flared, and before Veranica's astonished eyes, Diancie underwent a Mega Evolution she had never heard of.
The diamond on its head became heart-shaped, and two white ribbons descended from its crown. Three curved rings appeared around its neck, waist, and skirt-like lower body.
A massive diamond replaced its lower body, surrounded by several elongated diamonds. One or two tiny octahedral diamonds adorned the ends of the ribbons and elongated diamonds.
"Wh-what? What the hell is that?" Veranica exclaimed.
"No time to explain. Hold off the ones in front. Leave the Ground- and Rock-type Pokémon behind us to me!" Xiao Ran said gravely. Maintaining Mega Evolution drained enormous amounts of his stamina and energy every second. This was clearly no time for idle chatter.
"Diancie, control the energy in the ground, then use Rock Tomb!" Xiao Ran shouted.
After Mega Evolution, Diancie possessed strength rivaling that of an Elite Four Class Pokémon. It immediately manipulated Rock-type energy to stabilize the ground, preventing Earthquake from tearing it apart.
Then it summoned a mass of shattered rocks and hurled them at the Golem rolling toward them, completely blocking their advance.
"Diancie, Calm Mind!" Before the enemy could truly close in, Xiao Ran had Diancie bolster itself with a status move. There were so many enemies this time that taking them down in one hit would conserve more stamina than attacking repeatedly.
"Salamence, Breaking Swipe!" Behind him, Veranica launched her own offensive.
Although Salamence was only at the middle stage of Gym Leader Class, it was still a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon with exceptionally high base stats. Against a crowd of Grass-type Pokémon, defeat was only a matter of time, but it would not fall so quickly.
Its long tail swept out, sending several comparatively fragile Bellossom and Breloom flying.
As an area