However, no matter how Primal Groudon called out for Giovanni, it was useless. Giovanni was not here at all.
Primal Kyogre felt it was a shame. There were no lakes or oceans here. Otherwise, it definitely would have made Primal Groudon suffer from a "swollen belly" again.
Of course, its biggest regret was that before Primal Kyogre could even rush down, Primal Groudon lowered its head, clawed at the sand, and burrowed into the ground.
Yes, Primal Groudon had run away.
"Boring."
Kyurem scoffed. Fire and lightning glowed around its body, and two orbs of light flew out.
The two orbs turned back into Reshiram and Zekrom. Kyurem also returned to its normal form.
As soon as Reshiram came out, it immediately flew back behind Yveltal.
"Thank you very much this time, Kyurem."
Damian ignored Reshiram and thanked Kyurem with a grateful smile.
"I was not helping you. I was just bored and felt like fighting," Kyurem replied through a low, raspy telepathic voice, glancing at Damian with its golden eyes.
"Yes, yes, yes. But no matter what, you helped me this time. I owe you a favor."
The corners of Damian's mouth lifted even higher. Acting tough? That was interesting.
"Humph. That is meaningless. Send me back," Kyurem said calmly.
It was too lazy to fly back to Giant Chasm on its own. That would take far too long.
"Alright. But what about our original agreement?"
Damian nodded. He liked Kyurem more and more. It really knew how to fight.
Hoopa Unbound reacted quickly. A golden ring expanded and flew out.
"I will wait for you at Giant Chasm."
Kyurem's tone remained calm. After saying that, it stepped into the golden ring and returned to Giant Chasm.
Looking at the familiar icy valley, Kyurem quietly lay down to rest. However, images of the satisfying battle from before still lingered in its mind.
This was the first time it had fought for someone else. For Kyurem, it was a completely new experience.
Actually, was it kind of interesting?
Back in the desert.
"Human, do not focus only on Kyurem. When do you plan to fulfill your agreement with me?"
Mega Rayquaza Shiny lowered its head slightly and looked at Damian as it spoke.
Mega Rayquaza stood beside it, looking at Damian with curiosity.
This human was someone it had heard Mega Rayquaza Shiny mention before. "his son" was still with him, after all.
"Oh? Rayquaza, last time you told me I should find a way to catch Kyurem first." Damian smiled meaningfully.
"Ah... but I think you can come to me first."
Mega Rayquaza Shiny replied very naturally.
In reality, it was now certain that Kyurem was cheating!
By "eating" Reshiram and Zekrom, it could enter that fused form. Its combat power in that state was simply too fierce.
"I want to fight Giratina more."
Mega Rayquaza Shiny stated its request directly. It did not want to fight Kyurem again after already doing it once.
"Fine. I'll come looking for you once I'm ready."
Damian found it funny.
Now that he had Hoopa, he really was planning to find a time to catch both Mega Rayquaza Shiny and Kyurem.
After all, with Giratina in his hands, defeating both of them one-on-one was not impossible, especially Kyurem.
Without absorbing Reshiram or Zekrom, Kyurem would not be a problem for Giratina.
But once Kyurem was on his side, it could use that fused form itself.
"It is a deal."
Mega Rayquaza Shiny was very straightforward. At this moment, it really did have a good impression of this human.
After all, they had already fought side by side twice. Mega Rayquaza Shiny had to admit that Damian was very interesting.
"Do you need Hoopa to send you back?"
"No need. For us Rayquaza, the sky is home."
Mega Rayquaza Shiny refused. It flew up into the sky with Mega Rayquaza, and the two of them gradually disappeared over the horizon.
Then...
"Why are you looking at me like that, Ho-Oh?"
Damian looked at Ho-Oh, who was glaring at him, and spread his hands innocently.
"Human, the three things I promised you are finished!"
Ho-Oh said this through gritted teeth.
"That's right. You truly are amazing, Ho-Oh. On my journey so far, your help has been the most important."
Damian sighed sincerely.
However, Ho-Oh just stared at him blankly.
"What is wrong?"
"Give it back to me!"
"Give what back?" Damian asked in confusion.
Seeing that this naturally wicked human was pretending not to understand, Ho-Oh snapped angrily:
"The feather! Give me back my feather!"
Ho-Oh was furious, especially when it saw Jirachi and Victini, who had just finished picking up feathers and were now returning to Damian's side.
Those two were clearly experienced. They immediately hid behind him.
"Wait, Ho-Oh, you're being a little stingy. Those feathers are already damaged goods, and you still want them back?"
Damian could not help clicking his tongue.
"What use would I have for those? Give me back the special feather I gave you at the start!"
Ho-Oh's voice rose even higher. That was one of the feathers with the most essence from its wings. Holding it allowed someone to contact it anytime and anywhere.
Ho-Oh did not care much about those ordinary feathers, even though it was already annoyed that Jirachi and Victini had been collecting the feathers scattered during the battle right in front of it.
There was no way Ho-Oh would ask for those back. But that special Rainbow Wing was different.
"Oh, that one. I already gave it away."
Damian raised an eyebrow, as if only now realizing what Ho-Oh meant.
"You...!"
If Ho-Oh had fists, it would definitely be clenching them right now.
It carefully sensed the Rainbow Wing and found that its aura really was no longer on Damian.
This shameless human!!
Ho-Oh said nothing more. It simply turned around and prepared to leave. How hateful. He had given its feather to someone else without even asking!
Ho-Oh was extremely dissatisfied, but at the same time, it finally felt relieved.
It was finally free!
"Wait."
"I am already even with you, human!"
Ho-Oh turned its head back warily.
"Of course, that's true. Ho-Oh, we've fought side by side three times. Now that we're parting ways, don't you think we should leave each other a souvenir?"
"No. I do not want to have any memories with you," Ho-Oh replied with a smile.
"Don't be so cold. I still remember the scene of you fighting beside me against Mega Rayquaza Shiny and Kyurem. It's still fresh in my mind, Ho-Oh."
"..."
Are you remembering how I got beaten up by them?
Ho-Oh kept a blank expression.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Ho-Oh asked impatiently.
"Leave me a souvenir. We're comrades, after all. One feather is enough."
"???"
Ho-Oh laughed from sheer anger.
"Human, look behind you. How many of my feathers are those two holding?"
"Those are all damaged goods. You know I need to use them to make medicine. Give me one complete, beautiful feather, and I'll keep it in a display case for my collection."
Damian said this very seriously.
He had no choice. He had already given Ho-Oh's special feather to Akari.
"You're dreaming! Get away from me!"
Ho-Oh finally lost it. It cursed at him and complained nonstop.
"Meeting you is the worst luck of my life. I helped you three times, and I've almost replaced my whole coat of feathers. Now you still want more of them? Don't even think about it. Goodbye."
The more it thought about it, the angrier it became. Every time it helped, it got beaten up. Every time it got beaten up, a pile of feathers fell out. After these three times...
Ho-Oh really felt like its feathers had practically been replaced from top to bottom. And this human was still thinking about its feathers. Was he even human?
After cursing at him, Ho-Oh prepared to leave. This human was really dreaming.
"I know, Ho-Oh. You're just acting tough."
Damian sighed.
Ho-Oh: "??"
Suddenly, Ho-Oh felt an itch on one wing. It turned its head and saw a small hand reaching out from a golden ring in space. That hand was clutching a bright, beautiful rainbow-colored feather.
"Hoopa!!!"
Ho-Oh roared.
"Hehe~" Hoopa Confined, who had apparently already changed back at some point, stuck out its tongue. It quickly pulled back its arm and floated to Damian's side.
"Thank you for the feather, Ho-Oh. I knew it. You really can't forget our friendship from the battle either. I'll treasure it for the rest of my life."
Damian held the Rainbow Wing Hoopa Confined had pulled out. His words sounded completely sincere.
"???"
Ho-Oh laughed in anger again. Did I give that to you? You stole it!
"Human, may we never meet again!!"
Ho-Oh did not want to say another word to this shameless human. It sped away without even looking back.
"Wait a moment, Ho-Oh, there's one more thing..."
However, Ho-Oh ignored him completely and only flew faster.
Seeing that, Damian felt a little helpless.
"Ho-Oh seems to dislike you a lot, Damian." Hoopa Confined tilted its head.
"I wanted to remind it that if it ever runs into danger, it can call me. But this big bird is too biased against me."
Damian shrugged. After all, he had just taken a brand-new feather, so he had actually planned to give something back.
But the colorful big bird had ignored him.
"I didn't expect Ho-Oh to misunderstand me this badly. That's really sad."
Damian put the Rainbow Wing into his backpack and sighed.
"I think its opinion of you is probably correct," Hoopa Confined said, blinking.
After all, Damian had been the one telling it to secretly pull out Ho-Oh's beautiful feather. He had even said that if it did not get caught, it should pull out a few more.
"Hoopa, I'm not happy hearing you say that." Damian gave Hoopa Confined a sideways look.
Hoopa Confined covered its mouth and giggled.
"And then... little turtle, do you need something?"
Damian looked at the beautiful turtle, Terapagos, in front of him and showed a friendly smile.
"You are very interesting. Can I follow you for a while, human?"
A light flashed around Terapagos's body. It changed into its small normal form and flew in front of Damian. It spoke through telepathy with a clear, childlike voice.
Well, after coming out, Terapagos did not really want to go back.
"Oh ho~ little turtle, you really do have good taste. You're much better than that big bird."
Damian's eyes lit up. Smiling, he gently rubbed the little turtle's head.
"Because you really are interesting." Terapagos blinked. It looked very cute.
It truly felt that Damian was an interesting person. Also, the aura on his body made the simple-minded Terapagos feel very comfortable.
That was right. In reality, Terapagos was very simple-minded. That was because it had never left Area Zero. It had basically been sleeping the whole time in the deepest part of Area Zero.
Since it had been dragged into the outside world by evil Hoopa this time, Terapagos decided to follow this human and take a good look at the world.
Damian was naturally very happy about this. He was not stingy at all and immediately took out some Pokémon snacks from his bag.
Terapagos had never seen these before. After trying one bite cautiously, it could not stop.
"Not bad, not bad. I didn't even have to say anything, and Terapagos was already won over."
Damian was very satisfied. Terapagos, the source of Terastal energy. This was the third legendary of the Paldea region!
Furthermore, in the battle just now, Terapagos's Stellar Form had also shown very impressive combat power. It could be cute, and it could fight too!
Most importantly, with Terapagos around, as long as its time-travel ability could still be used normally, he could return to the Hisui era anytime.
After all, showing photos and videos to Platinum was not as good as letting her see the real person.
"Platinum, I brought you to see our daughter."
Damian felt that this sentence would probably make Platinum's brain freeze for a very, very long time.
But if it were him, his brain would probably freeze too.
What kind of logic is it for the sixteen-year-old me to already have a sixteen-year-old daughter?
Meanwhile, on the other side.
"Giovanni, you're too far away."
Groudon had already returned to its normal form. It stood by the sea, looking sadly at the endless horizon.
Groudon could vaguely sense Giovanni's location. But the problem was, it was too far away!
If it wanted to return to Giovanni's side, how long would it have to walk??
Damn that Hoopa! Damn that big-headed fish!
Pain. This was too painful!
Groudon began its long journey home, one step at a time.