"ROAR——"
Walking upon a path of obsidian engulfed in burning flames, Primal Groudon's massive body surged with scorching red light. Molten magma flowed through the crimson patterns on its armor. Every few hundred steps, it unhinged its ferocious jaws and roared loudly at the sky.
It could clearly sense that the energy it so deeply coveted was constantly condensing in the sky above this sea area.
As long as it waited for it to take form and completely absorbed it into its body, its strength would receive a massive boost. Let alone brutally beating down its destined rival Kyogre—who constantly opposed it—it wouldn't even need to spare a second glance at Rayquaza, who always managed to overpower them.
Rayquaza...
Primal Groudon excitedly raised its head and unleashed another roar that shook the heavens.
Unlike its previous roars, which were meant to warn off foreign enemies and declare its territory, this roar was filled with the joy of receiving good news.
It, too, had sensed that Rayquaza seemed to have completely vanished.
Since that troublesome guy was out of the picture, before absorbing the meteorite's energy, it might as well have a good, proper fight with Kyogre!
"Roar~"
Suddenly, an enormous purple dragon formed from pure Dragon-type energy struck from the clouds without any warning. While kicking up surging waves on the sea surface, it violently slammed right into Primal Groudon's back.
Judging by the sonic boom and the resulting shockwaves, the power of this [Dragon Pulse] was quite extraordinary.
But even after taking this attack completely off guard, the super-ancient Pokémon acted as if it were completely unharmed. Its footing was as steady as a boulder, and its colossal body remained firmly planted on the obsidian path it had created.
It raised its massive head and looked toward the sky.
Due to the effect of the [Desolate Land] ability, even though it was approaching evening, a blazing sun capable of scorching the earth to ash still hung high in the sky.
And beneath the sunlight, two Trainers riding Flying-type Pokémon were launching an attack against it.
Looking at the two humans attempting to halt its advance, Primal Groudon revealed a rather human-like, sinister sneer.
No matter the era, there are always these little bugs trying to interfere in my battle with Kyogre—
"Draco Meteor."
Upon realizing that [Dragon Pulse] didn't seem to cause much damage to this beast, Lance uttered these three words.
At the exact same time, Dragonite spat out the golden orb of light it held in its mouth, launching it into the sky at incredible speed.
Immediately after, the energy of the Draco Meteor fully detonated. Scorching draconic fire rained down like a raging tide, completely enveloping and devouring the Primal Groudon directly below, which had no time to dodge.
"ROAR——!!!"
Sensing the meteorites falling from the sky, Primal Groudon raised its face and lifted an arm glowing with a terrifying red light.
It wasn't that it couldn't dodge in time; against an attack of this power level, it simply disdained the very idea of dodging.
"Metagross! Now! Use consecutive Meteor Mashes!"
Taking advantage of Primal Groudon raising its arm to deal with the falling meteors, Metagross flashed forward, its entire body surging with sharp white light. Its two pairs of arm-claws clenched into fists, and tracing a trajectory like a falling comet, it violently smashed down!
BOOM!!!
However, after taking several consecutive hammer blows head-on, Primal Groudon didn't show any reaction to the pain.
When the barrage of attacks ended, the magma flowing over Groudon's outer armor instead forced the Steel-type Metagross to hastily retreat. Immediately after, this super-ancient Pokémon—the creator of the land—twisted its ferocious face toward it.
Amidst a deafening rumble that shook the earth and mountains, the arm-hammer it had raised earlier was already glowing with an astonishingly bright light.
The move [Focus Punch] had instantly coalesced!
"Me-ta!"
Relying on its processing power—which was stronger than a supercomputer—Metagross preemptively deployed a [Protect] barrier.
But it still underestimated the sheer power behind its opponent's descending arm-hammer. With a deafening crash, the barrier instantly shattered.
"Me-ta—" Metagross plummeted rapidly. As it neared the sea's surface, it barely managed to expel a jet of air from beneath its arms, skipping across the water with a series of bangs like a skipping stone before finally managing to stabilize its body.
Having landed a successful hit, Primal Groudon clearly didn't intend to let things end there. It lifted its foot and stomped heavily onto the earth.
Suddenly, cliffs shaped like sharp blades erupted from fissures in the ground, thrusting straight into the clouds.
Precipice Blades!!!
Facing such a high-power, super-effective move, the heavily injured Metagross—whose body was even flashing with electrical sparks of malfunction—was clearly unable to dodge under its own power. Sharply noticing this, Lance immediately issued a support command.
"Dragonite, charge in and use Dragon Claw!"
"Roar~"
Dragonite's claws lit up with an emerald green glow, the gauntlet-like energy claws radiating a dazzling brilliance.
Shattering the soaring stone swords one by one with X-shaped slashes, its flying speed didn't decrease in the slightest.
"Follow it up with Dragon Rush against the opponent!"
"We'll follow up as well! Metagross, use Earthquake!"
The two commanding voices fell in sync. Dragonite flapped its small wings, its entire body transforming into a golden shooting star as it charged. Meanwhile, Metagross forcefully propped up its weakened body, its giant steel hammer smashing viciously into the magma ground, kicking up a violent seismic wave.
Their flawless coordination left the massive magma behemoth before them completely unable to dodge.
Amidst a deafening roar, Primal Groudon, having tanked the [Dragon Rush] and [Earthquake] head-on, stabilized its massive body and raised its foot once more.
The earth's crust trembled accordingly. Countless pillars of rock carrying searing magma pierced through the freezing ocean.
Another high-power [Precipice Blades]!
However, this time, the magma-stone swords didn't erupt in straight lines. Instead, they formed a small cage, trapping Dragonite inside.
Naturally, the Ground-type [Precipice Blades] had no effect on the Flying-type Dragonite.
But just as Dragonite used [Dragon Claw] to cleave through the blocking stone pillar in front of it, several pre-charged [Stone Edges] thrust right into its face. Caught off guard, even though Lance issued a dodge command in time, Dragonite was still struck by the [Stone Edge], staggering and nearly plunging directly into the seawater.
"Roar—"
The reason gods are gods isn't just because of their base stats. The combat experience accumulated from thousands of years of brawling with each other was not to be taken lightly.
After just two or three short rounds of exchanges, the ace Pokémon of the two Champions saw their health bars plummet instantly, flickering like candles in the wind.
Looking at Dragonite—which was caught in time by Aerodactyl and was currently using [Roost] to recover—Lance suppressed his worry, a helpless expression on his face.
"The gap in strength is too massive. We simply can't match this guy in a head-on clash."
In this moment, the Dragon Master who fancied himself invincible felt this sense of powerlessness for the very first time.
After all, even though his Dragonite had stacked six Dragon Dances prior to the battle, a STAB [Dragon Rush] smashing down still hadn't produced any significant effect.
Furthermore, if it weren't for the [Multiscale] ability, just taking that single hit earlier would have caused his Dragonite to faint on the spot.
Regarding this, Steven, who breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that his Metagross could still battle, felt his heart equally heavy.
He had still vastly underestimated the strength of a Legendary Pokémon.
This Primal Groudon's stamina was simply incomparable to that of a normal Pokémon. Not only did it tank so many attacks as if nothing happened, but continuously unleashing a high-power move like [Precipice Blades] didn't seem to place any burden on it whatsoever.
Are we really capable of dealing with an opponent of this caliber just by ourselves?
Facing this Primal Groudon—which only revealed a ferocious grin, seemingly implying that the battle just now was merely child's play—Steven and Lance exchanged a glance, trying their best to maintain their composure.
"Camerupt, use Overheat."
Just at this moment, Courtney, standing on the shoreline, threw a Poké Ball and issued a command.
On the other side, although Roxanne couldn't understand why Team Magma—who had clearly summoned and awakened Primal Groudon—was now standing on the same side as the League, after casting a suspicious glance at Courtney, she quickly followed suit and launched an attack against Primal Groudon.
Delaying Primal Groudon and protecting Rustboro City was inherently her duty as a Gym Leader.
"Probopass, Power Gem!"
"Aggron, Stone Edge!"
"Steelix, Rock Slide!"
Engulfed by the searing flames triggered by Camerupt, Primal Groudon remained completely unaffected. It swung its arm-hammer, shattering the massive stone blades and the boulders falling from the sky into pieces.
In the next moment, Primal Groudon raised its head and roared furiously, and the magma earth rapidly expanded outward in all directions.
Another Precipice Blades?!
Realizing this, Roxanne's mind spun for a second before she loudly commanded:
"Everyone, use Protect!!!"
Four layers of light barriers stacked together lit up sequentially.
However, countless crimson magma pillars continuously erupted from the ground. Thud, thud, thud, thud! Like muffled drumbeats, they surged toward them from all directions like a forest of stone. Such terrifying destructive power instantly shattered the blocking [Protect] barriers.
[Precipice Blades] ruthlessly struck all the Pokémon on the field. The scene seemingly turned black and white in an instant.
"No way..."
Roxanne blanked out.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, knowing full well she wasn't a match for Primal Groudon.
But just now, including Courtney's Camerupt, they had stacked a full four layers of [Protect]... yet they were still instantly wiped out in a single turn.
At this moment, before the young teacher could even process the fact that her three main Pokémon had been instantly one-shot, Primal Groudon bared its intimidating fangs, that familiar, ferocious grin resurfacing on its face.
"You two, watch out!"
Steven, riding his Skarmory, and Lance, riding his other Dragonite, experienced a drastic change in expression, shouting loudly in unison.
Their rich combat experience allowed the two Champions to decisively command their standby Aerodactyl and Kingdra to attack.
Aerodactyl condensed dozens of sharp boulders in front of it, while Kingdra spewed a bone-chilling beam from its throat. In the next moment, the forcefully launched [Stone Edge] and [Ice Beam] blasted toward Primal Groudon simultaneously.
But unfortunately, they were out of time.
Primal Groudon opened its massive maw, a white light resembling nuclear fission blooming within.
Searing flames gathered, churned, and were then violently unleashed!
Fire Blast!!!
The explosive fireball, shaped like the character '大' (Dai/Great), streaked rapidly across the sea's surface, instantly evaporating the seawater, and surged toward the shore with flames reaching the heavens!
The speed of the attack was so fast that Roxanne didn't even have time to recall her unconscious Pokémon one by one. She could only quickly throw out two Poké Balls, opting to send out her Kabutops and Carracosta—who possessed a 4x resistance to Fire—to deploy protective barriers.
Under normal circumstances, bolstered by the [Harsh Sunlight] weather condition, this full-power [Fire Blast] from Primal Groudon shouldn't be something a Gym Leader's main Pokémon could block with [Protect].
The Kabutops and Carracosta that activated [Protect] wore incredibly serious expressions, looking very much like they were prepared to say, "Thirty years from now, we'll still be good Pokémon" (ready to die heroically).
However, before the flames arrived, a silhouette suddenly appeared in front of them.
"Nai~"
Stopping Primal Groudon's [Fire Blast] with a single hand, the suddenly-appearing whipped cream Pokémon—aside from being pushed back several dozen steps by the impact—seemed completely unharmed by the flames.
Falling behind, using her own body to shield her unconscious Pokémon, Roxanne instinctively squeezed her eyes shut. It was only after a long moment passed that she realized the expected agonizing pain of high-temperature burns never came.
"This is..."
The young teacher turned around and immediately recognized the Pokémon standing in front of Kabutops.
Looking at Alcremie's petite yet incredibly reliable back, an inexplicable sense of safety welled up in Roxanne's heart.
Among all the Trainers she knew, only one person possessed a Pokémon like Alcremie.
And only he could raise an Alcremie capable of possessing such terrifying power.
Even now, taking Primal Groudon's [Fire Blast] head-on, it could emerge completely unscathed.
"Mr. Hakuya!"
The moment she thought of that familiar name, Roxanne's eyes instantly sparkled with light. She unconsciously looked up toward the sky.
"Salamence, let that guy see our power! Use Hyper Voice!"
"Roar?"
Initially surprised by how such a tiny Pokémon like Alcremie could block its attack, Groudon instinctively looked up upon hearing the dragon's roar... only to take a face full of oncoming sonic vibrations.
Although the damage from this [Hyper Voice] was practically negligible to Primal Groudon, the insult was extreme.
Just as Primal Groudon opened its eyes amidst the howling gale, preparing to deliver a [Stone Edge] face-washing service... the wind roared furiously over the sea's surface once again. Then, at the far end of the coastline, an astonishingly bright point of light violently erupted.
Having crawled and rolled through the randomized world for so long, and deeply understanding how to elbow overpowered monsters, the corners of Hakuya's mouth curled up slightly. Without hesitation, he launched a sneak attack on Primal Groudon, whose attention was entirely focused on Salamence.
"Latias, consecutive Draco Meteors!"
"La-woo~"
Destructive light flashed in an instant! Latias raised her head and unleashed several dazzling energy projectiles!
Before officially arriving at the battlefield, Hakuya—under Zinnia's bewildered gaze—had the little jet plane fire off several [Draco Meteors] along the way.
Therefore, this wasn't an ordinary [Draco Meteor]; this was a super-massive [Draco Meteor] with a +6 Special Attack boost!
BANG!
Flames mixed with shockwaves exploded across the harshly sunlit sky. Meteors raining down like a shower, wrapped in blinding Dragon-type energy, plummeted from the heavens, frantically bombarding Primal Groudon like cluster rockets!
RUMBLE——!!!
The continuous sound of explosions echoed across the entire ocean, making one's eardrums throb with pain.
Primal Groudon, in a sorry state on the magma earth, raised its arms in an attempt to block the terrifying assault. Its entire body was completely engulfed in thick, billowing dust, and the ground beneath its feet instantly cracked and splintered.
This scene, akin to the apocalypse, reduced everyone present to mere supporting characters and spectators.
"This power is truly unbelievable."
At this moment, having hurriedly commanded his Dragonite to take advantage of the chaos and hit Groudon with a [Dragon Pulse], Lance looked down at the scene of the continuous meteor bombardment. Crossing his arms, he couldn't help but click his tongue. "Steven, is that Trainer the one you mentioned earlier..."
"Mhm... There's no need to be too surprised, Lance. Hakuya's battling style has always been like this."
Steven smiled, indicating he understood the unspoken meaning behind Lance's words.
Moves like [Draco Meteor], although immensely powerful, usually came with extremely severe side effects. Most Trainers wouldn't use them lightly. Nobody would furiously spam them like they cost absolutely nothing, exactly like Hakuya was doing.
It was a bit too terrifying~
"Latias, Dragon Ascent!"
Following Hakuya's command, Latias tucked in her jet wings, her entire body enveloped in azure light.
"ROAR——!!!"
Locked on by the surging air currents, Primal Groudon felt its eyelid twitching madly. It instinctively tried to raise its arms again to cross them in front of its chest to block the attack, but it was ultimately a step too late.
Dragging a vapor trail so fast it left only afterimages, Latias—transformed into a furious dragon of light—kicked up massive waves and charged straight for Primal Groudon's kidney.
A terrifying momentum rapidly closed in from the distance. Locked on by the aura of [Dragon Ascent], Primal Groudon, despite possessing a colossal body dozens of meters tall, suddenly had the illusion that it couldn't move an inch. It could only brace itself as it was sent flying several dozen meters away.
If the [Draco Meteor] with six stacks of Special Attack was a purely physical-level strike, capable of dealing significant damage to the thick-skinned Primal Groudon... then this [Dragon Ascent], while dealing damage, also crushed its fighting spirit on a mental level to a certain extent, diminishing its control over its own energy.
—After all, it was Rayquaza's signature move. Even though Latias had absolutely zero relation to the Guardian of the Sky and God of Suppression, upon using [Dragon Ascent], she would still trigger that special 'judging' effect against Groudon and Kyogre.
Realizing this, Hakuya's mood instantly brightened.
That trip to the Sky Pillar wasn't in vain!
"Roar—"
Sensing the familiar yet unfamiliar energy of the move, Primal Groudon stood back up, clutching its kidney in pain.
As the super-ancient Pokémon capable of expanding the continents, Primal Groudon naturally wasn't something that could be easily defeated by Latias's [Draco Meteor] and [Dragon Ascent]. It still had a massive reserve of stamina left.
However, after the pain subsided, Primal Groudon stood silently on the magma earth, looking at the opponent before it with a face full of extreme wariness.
Even if Rayquaza's aura had disappeared, the lingering dread it left behind was still present.
Facing [Dragon Ascent] once again, memories of being brutally beaten down by Rayquaza alongside Kyogre resurfaced in Primal Groudon's mind. This caused it to simply bare its fangs after taking the hit, not daring to act rashly for the time being.
Confirming that this magma behemoth had temporarily chosen a standoff and wasn't launching any further attacks, Hakuya, having successfully arrived exactly in the nick of time, nodded secretly to himself. He then jumped down from Latias's back.
"I'm a bit late. You must have..."
"It's fine! You arrived at exactly the right time, Mr. Hakuya!"
Roxanne interrupted Hakuya's words. She simply stepped forward, opened her arms, and hugged him tightly.
Even though her personality was usually as steady and calm as a rock, after going through the ordeal just now, Roxanne was still prone to the emotional vulnerability of a normal young girl. She couldn't help but let her eyes rim red, wishing she could wrap her arms around him even tighter.
However, whether it was because she realized the current situation was an emergency—and not the time for hugs and lengthy expressions of gratitude—or because her inherently conservative nature quickly made her realize this action seemed a bit inappropriate, the young teacher ultimately feigned composure, coughed a few times, and released Hakuya with a bright red face.
And after being released by Roxanne, Hakuya finally noticed there was another girl present.
At this time, Courtney had already used her Poké Ball to recall her incapacitated Camerupt.
"...Thank you."
Tilting her head in a playful yet unconscious manner, she first looked at Alcremie, then at Hakuya standing right in front of her.
On that previously emotionless, deadpan face, as if discovering something interesting for the very first time, the corners of the girl's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a moving yet heart-stopping smile.
"...I am Courtney... You and your Pokémon seem very interesting..."
Being stared at by those limpid, light-purple eyes, Hakuya suddenly had the illusion of being targeted by a yandere.
But immediately after, recognizing the girl's identity, he was a bit dumbfounded.
Wait a minute, why is Team Magma here intercepting Groudon too?!