"Kyogre, use Hydro Pump!"
Damian gave the command without hesitation.
Kyogre immediately opened its mouth. A blue light of water gathered inside, and a massive jet of water shot directly toward the back of the great waterfall.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed, and water splashed violently in every direction.
"Screech—!"
Another sharp, ear-piercing cry rang out. The entire waterfall began to shake violently. A massive black shadow was getting closer and closer. The thick black mist started flowing faster and faster as well.
Those crimson eyes suddenly grew larger, looking like two giant lanterns.
A black wind pressure began to spread. In the next moment, the entire waterfall was blown apart. An incredibly powerful black storm swept toward them.
Shadow Storm!
"Move back!"
Damian ordered immediately.
Kyogre reacted quickly. It carried Damian and pulled back at high speed. The Shadow Storm surged forward, and the strong wind pressure made Damian squint his eyes. He had never seen this move before. Was it a special attack unique to Shadow Lugia?
"Screech—!"
The piercing cry came again. Beneath the collapsed waterfall, a massive black Pokémon slowly rose. Its crimson eyes were like those of a demon, filled with malice and violence.
Shadow Lugia!
Its shape was almost exactly the same as a normal Lugia. However, Shadow Lugia's entire body was a dark black-purple color. Combined with those blood-red eyes, it gave off a feeling of extreme evil. It was the complete opposite of what a normal Lugia looked like.
"Is it really a mutated Lugia?!"
Kyogre looked at this Shadow Lugia with a serious and uncertain expression. Although it had heard Mama Lugia talk about it, Kyogre was still very surprised to see it in person.
To be honest, Kyogre was not a stranger to the Lugia species. After all, Lugia lived far below the surface. Although they didn't interact much, they knew of each other. But seeing this Shadow Lugia truly shocked Kyogre.
"Screech—!"
Blood-red light flashed in Shadow Lugia's eyes. It raised its head and let out another scream. The black, twisting mist that moved as if it were alive began to flow into Shadow Lugia's body.
A black wave of energy gathered in Shadow Lugia's mouth. With a heavy swing of its head, it fired the energy directly at Kyogre.
Shadow Lugia used Dark Pulse!
A gold and blue light flashed across Kyogre's body. In the blink of an eye, it entered its Primal Reversion state. A massive Hydro Pump shot out, meeting the Dark Pulse head-on.
Boom!
The Hydro Pump and the Dark Pulse crashed in mid-air. The two energies fought against each other before exploding loudly. A powerful shockwave vibrated through the air.
As expected, it was very strong!
Seeing this, the corners of Damian's mouth curled up. Being strong was good!
"This Dark Pulse... it seems to have the Dark type. Is it Psychic and Dark? Or Dark and Flying?" Damian thought about the typing of this Shadow Lugia. With such intense malice, it definitely had the Dark type.
However, no matter what, fighting here was inconvenient. This was far below the island. There wasn't enough room to move around. If they fought here, the entire island might collapse.
"Let's go. Lead it outside."
Damian patted Primal Kyogre.
Primal Kyogre understood Damian's meaning. It immediately turned around and sped up to leave the underground space.
Shadow Lugia had no intention of letting them go. Its mind had already been almost completely destroyed by malice. Kyogre's earlier Hydro Pump had caused it to lose all reason. Now, only violence remained in its head.
Seeing Primal Kyogre run, Shadow Lugia flapped its wings and chased after them. It fired black energy waves at Primal Kyogre as if they cost nothing.
However, although Primal Kyogre's body was huge, it was still very flexible. None of the Dark Pulses hit their mark.
On the surface.
Caitlin and Platinum were resting. Little White, the baby Lugia, was comfortably soaking in the seawater.
But then, Little White seemed to feel something. It suddenly turned its head to look into the distance. Its expression was very strange.
"Woo!"
"What's wrong, Little White?"
Caitlin heard the cry and walked over to ask.
"Miss Caitlin, look over there!" Platinum quickly pointed toward the distance.
On the sea level far away, a giant wave rose. A massive gold and blue Pokémon broke through the water and floated in the sky.
It was Damian's Primal Kyogre!
Caitlin was familiar with it, of course. But right behind it, a black Lugia also flew up from below. It screamed at Primal Kyogre. The piercing sound was very uncomfortable for their ears.
Black energy kept leaking out of it. Like a spreading stain, it quickly covered the sky. The entire world turned dark, gloomy, and hostile.
"What kind of Pokémon is that? Is it a Shiny Lugia?" Platinum stared at Shadow Lugia from a distance in shock. A Shiny Lugia? That didn't seem right. Being Shiny just meant the body color was different. But this Lugia was clearly wrong. It wasn't just about the color. That overwhelming malice and those red eyes made people feel afraid.
"No, it isn't a Shiny," Caitlin said, shaking her head. "But I don't know the exact reason either."
Little White looked at Shadow Lugia. Its eyes were full of confusion and worry. It felt a very conflicting feeling from Shadow Lugia. It felt like its father, but also like it wasn't.
Back with Damian.
Primal Kyogre looked at the rolling "black clouds" above its head. It wanted to sneer. Trying to take the weather from me? Primal Kyogre admitted that this mutated Shadow Lugia was very strong. However, weather was its specialty! It wanted to show this bird what the "Primordial Sea" really was!
Primal Kyogre wanted to activate Primordial Sea to call down a heavy rain, but Damian stopped it.
"Don't change the weather. There's no need," Damian told Primal Kyogre. He didn't plan on using Primal Kyogre for this fight, so there was no need for the Primordial Sea. Besides, the rain would be uncomfortable.
"I have prepared a special opponent for you."
Damian looked at the Shadow Lugia across from him, which was already ready to move. He gave a wild smile.
"Giratina, come forth."
It was perfect. Since obtaining Giratina, he hadn't used it in a battle yet.
A dark, mercury-like black vortex formed in front of Primal Kyogre. The Lord of the Distortion World, glowing with a ghostly light, slowly appeared from the vortex. Its dragon eyes looked calm but were filled with violence as it stared at Shadow Lugia.
Its giant, centipede-like dragon body glided out, and the black vortex slowly disappeared.
Origin Forme Giratina!
"What Pokémon is that?"
Platinum was shocked when she saw the new Pokémon in front of Damian. She didn't recognize it. But that didn't stop her from seeing that this Pokémon looked incredibly powerful!
"That is Giratina. In the myths of creation, it is the violent avatar of the Creator. It is extremely strong."
Caitlin's eyes lit up. She looked at Damian standing on Primal Kyogre's back. A proud smile appeared on her face.
Look! Even the violent clone of the God of Creation from the myths fights for Damian!
"Damian is truly amazing~" Platinum praised from the bottom of her heart. Damian was just too strong!
"Rotom, make sure you record this well."
"Leave it to me, zzt-Rotom!"
The floating Rotom Camera responded.
This was something Caitlin had specially prepared. She realized that Damian had too many "highlight moments," and it would be a shame if they weren't recorded. So, she specifically got a Rotom and let it enter a camera to "change jobs" into a Rotom Camera.
The logic was similar to a Rotom Dex or a Rotom Phone. However, the Rotom Camera could record on its own without Caitlin having to control it. It was very convenient. The main reason was that Caitlin wasn't very good at using cameras herself, and as for using a phone to record... a camera was much better.
In the sky, Shadow Lugia let out a violent scream at Origin Forme Giratina. Even though its mind was destroyed by malice, its instincts still made it feel a strong threat from Giratina. So, it didn't move recklessly.
However, hearing Shadow Lugia's "provocative" scream, the naturally rough-tempered Origin Forme Giratina had a dangerous light flash in its eyes. Especially since it smelled a "scent" it didn't like on Shadow Lugia.
Its giant, centipede-like body twisted slowly, ready to attack at any moment.
"Giratina, can you tell why this Lugia became like this?" Damian asked Giratina curiously.
It was just a random thought. After all, Giratina had lived from the beginning of creation until now. It had seen the world change. Even though it watched from the Distortion World, it still watched.
"Because of His power," Giratina answered with a raspy, low telepathic voice.
"?"
"Plate," Giratina said, remaining brief.
"Do you mean the Dread Plate?" Damian understood immediately.
Giratina did not answer further. As soon as it arrived, it felt the energy of a Plate on Shadow Lugia.
"So it's because of a Plate."
Damian wasn't surprised anymore. No wonder Lugia turned into Shadow Lugia and became so powerful. It was Arceus's Dark-type Plate the Dread Plate.
For all Pokémon, the Plates the source of elemental power were the ultimate treasures. However, even if Arceus didn't come after you, getting a Plate wasn't necessarily a good thing. If a Pokémon absorbed too much power, it would affect the Pokémon itself.
For example, in the anime plot, Heatran was affected by the Fire-type Flame Plate and turned into a violent fire monster. Heatran was a Legendary Pokémon, yet even it was so heavily affected by the Plate's power. This showed how terrifying the power of the Plates could be.
"But where did it get a Dread Plate? Did Arceus lose it?"
Damian looked at Shadow Lugia with confusion. If it became like this because of the Dread Plate, the key question was: where did this Lugia get it? It couldn't be that Arceus just dropped it, right?
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