Chapter 225: Groudon: If the Fat Fish Can Do It, I Can Do It! I'm Going to Challenge Rayquaza Too!!
"ROOOARR!!"
The young Rayquaza's outraged cry carried across half the ruins.
Mammon very nearly lost his composure.
"The non-flying type is hitting me." How did you even say that out loud. What are you.
But the important part was whether the call got through. And for that, they needed to wait.
He looked back at Black Kyurem. It was still running down Primal Kyogre — Kyogre barely staying ahead, improvising defensive responses, not able to deal any meaningful damage. The matchup was genuinely bad. Kyogre's best options against an Ice-type legendary with Dragon as its secondary typing were almost nonexistent: Rock Slide was super-effective but physical, and Kyogre's physical attack was not its strength. Ice Beam and Blizzard were neutral. Origin Pulse was resisted. The only consistent answer was "survive until something changes."
Something needed to change.
Meanwhile, in a different corner of the ruins:
"Giovanni."
"Hm?"
"What if we just. Retreated. From this flying green Caterpie situation."
Primal Groudon's psychic link delivered this with the quality of something it had been considering for a few minutes and had only now gotten around to saying.
It was not happy about young Rayquaza. Specifically, it was not happy that the creature had the audacity to call for parental assistance mid-battle when it had started the confrontation voluntarily, and even more specifically, it was not happy that said parental assistance was potentially going to arrive.
"You're afraid?"
Giovanni's mouth curved slightly.
"I am not AFRAID." Groudon's response was immediate and emphatic. "I simply think the strategic calculus—"
"Kyogre defeated a Shiny Mega Rayquaza."
Giovanni said this with the careful neutrality of someone placing information in a location where it can be observed.
"That's not possible."
The response came fast and certain.
"The fat fish cannot beat Rayquaza. That's not a thing that happened."
Primal Groudon knew what it knew. As one of the ancient primordial legendaries, it had considerable direct knowledge of relative power levels. It and Kyogre were approximately equivalent. Mega Rayquaza — the Sky High Pokémon at its peak — was well above them both.
Kyogre beating a Shiny Mega Rayquaza was the kind of claim that didn't pass even basic scrutiny.
Come to think of it, the fat fish had said something like this before.
No. That was bragging. That was definitely bragging.
Giovanni said nothing. He simply maintained his expression of mild, knowing amusement.
Groudon's eyes got very large, very gradually.
…Is it true?
Did the fat fish actually—
Wait. Wait wait wait.
If that was true—
Unless—
The alternative hypothesis arrived: what if the Rayquaza in question had been weak? What if "Shiny Mega Rayquaza" was just a particularly unremarkable specimen and the distinction didn't actually mean much?
Come to think of it: the Rayquaza that had defeated both Groudon and Kyogre in ancient times — the one that appeared in the old stories — had been green. Standard coloring. Rayquaza's normal appearance.
Maybe "Shiny Mega Rayquaza" didn't mean what it sounded like it meant.
"I understand now," Primal Groudon announced, with the energy of a creature that has successfully rationalized itself into a worldview it finds acceptable.
"I completely understand now. Giovanni, watch carefully—"
It raised its chin.
"If the fat fish can do it, I can do it. There is no version of this where the fat fish does something and I cannot also do it. That is my position."
Giovanni opened his mouth. Decided against it.
"That Shiny Rayquaza," Primal Groudon continued, now with the conviction of something that has committed, "I am going to beat it."
It had just slammed the young Rayquaza into the ground repeatedly. It felt good about its prospects.
"Groudon," said Giovanni carefully. "Don't push yourself."
"Giovanni."
"Today I am going to break through my limits. This is happening."
Giovanni regarded his Primal Groudon for a moment. Weighed his words.
Then he decided that whatever was going to happen was going to happen, and began mentally drafting the consolation speech he would need later.
Lacunosa Town, some distance away:
"Why is it raining and snowing at the same time?"
Touko stood at the window of her lodging and stared at the sky, which had gone a deeply unsettling grey, with rain coming down interspersed with snowflakes. The temperature had dropped enough that she'd pulled her arms in against herself automatically.
"Something feels off," she said to no one in particular.
She tilted her head, looking at the accumulated water on the road below.
Something definitely feels off.
Back at the ruins:
"I must say — neither of you quite lived up to expectations."
Colress looked at Alder and Wallace, trussed together in Mega Metagross's grip, and offered this observation with the serene tone of a professor noting a student's grade.
"Insufferable," Wallace said through his teeth.
He was genuinely baffled by what had just happened. He'd entered that fight with two Champions against one researcher, with favorable type matchups, and he was still here.
How strong was this person?
Why was he just a researcher if he was this strong?
(The answer, had anyone been inclined to explain it to Wallace at this moment, was that Colress genuinely found research more interesting than battling, and the fact that he was exceptional at both was simply how things were.)
In the aftermath of Leon's Incineroar protecting Wallace during the Glaciate wave, Leon had tried to get back to extracting Wallace from Mega Metagross — and had been cut off by Mega Metagross returning its attention to the fight.
"I didn't expect this day," Alder said quietly, with the particular dignity of a Champion-class trainer accepting an outcome with as much grace as possible. "Being captured on a battlefield."
Colress glanced around. Kagura and Steven were still in the distance, their fight continuing at high intensity — neither side with clear advantage. Not his concern yet.
"I seem to have been assigned the two weakest opponents," he remarked, apparently to himself.
The sharp intakes of breath from Alder and Wallace were synchronized.
But looking at the other battles — honestly, it wasn't wrong. Caitlin was clearly at a disadvantage against Leon, and getting worse. Cynthia had N well contained. Both of those were favorable to Team Rocket's side.
"I suppose I should go contribute elsewhere," Colress murmured, looking between the two ongoing fights.
He considered for a second and walked toward where Leon and Caitlin were engaged.
Caitlin's situation first. She's the more immediately at risk.
"Champion Alder." Wallace's voice had taken on a particular edge. "We cannot simply sit here."
"Do you have a plan?"
"I do."
Alder looked at him expectantly.
Wallace cleared his throat, assessed his options, and directed his gaze toward the one person in range who might be both available and capable of helping.
Cynthia was pressing N at a clear advantage. Brief distraction shouldn't compromise her.
"CYNTHIA!!" Wallace deployed his full vocal range. "A LITTLE HELP PLEASE!!"
Cynthia, mid-exchange with N, turned her head.
Processed the scene — two Champions sitting on the ground, secured by what appeared to be psychic binding, looking back at her with varying degrees of dignity.
She came extremely close to losing her composure entirely.
"…Give me a moment," she said.
Alder felt the specific feeling of having his toes curl with embarrassment inside his shoes.
And then, from high above:
A sound.
Not from the ongoing battle. From somewhere further away, getting closer.
A dragon's call, deep and resonant and with a quality that none of the sounds in this fight had had — something that was weight, that was age, that was something considerably larger in every sense than what had been here before.
A long black shape, moving fast.
"That's—" Wallace had seen it before, from a much less comfortable vantage point, and the memory was immediate and complete. "That's the Rayquaza. That Rayquaza!!"
The sky, the city, the screaming wind — the Rustboro incident was not something that faded easily.
"Rayquaza?" Alder frowned.
"ROOOARR~!!"
Another cry, closer.
Black Kyurem — which had been relentlessly pursuing Primal Kyogre across the battle zone — stopped.
Raised its head.
The golden eyes scanned the sky.
A black Rayquaza descended from the cloud ceiling, and the draconic pressure it exerted was not subtle or contained. It filled the available space and then kept going. The Shiny Mega Rayquaza looked at the ruins below, at the battle, at the participants — and its gaze settled on Mammon.
"Father!!"
Young Rayquaza was there immediately, appearing at the larger dragon's side with the energy of someone who has been waiting for this moment with intense relief. It arranged its expression into something dignified and attentive.
Black Shiny Mega Rayquaza glanced at young Rayquaza with one eye. Then returned its attention to Black Kyurem.
"Human. Explain." The psychic link found Mammon with the ease of something that had done this before. "How did you end up fighting Kyurem."
"It wants to absorb my Reshiram. I'm hoping you'll help."
"Kyurem is not an easy opponent."
Black Rayquaza surveyed the scene with unhurried attention. The last time had been Mammon and a collection of regional Champions against a black Shiny Mega Rayquaza. Now it was Mammon against an ice dragon that had apparently gotten stronger since the glacier canyon encounter. The situation this human managed to put himself in—
"Rayquaza," Mammon said, "I've always believed you're stronger than Kyurem. You wouldn't be afraid of it."
A pause.
"Besides. I've been looking after your child for a while now."
"Don't try to provoke me, human."
Black Rayquaza's eye found Mammon again, level and unimpressed.
"As for 'looking after my child' — do you mean the part where you put it in a situation where it had to call for rescue?"
Something in the psychic transmission suggested this had been privately funny.
"I prefer to think of it as practical experience," Mammon said. "And we're going to be partners eventually. This seems like a good opportunity to see what you can do."
"I haven't agreed to be your partner."
"It's a matter of time."
"…"
Black Rayquaza was quiet for a moment.
Mammon was, it had to acknowledge, not wrong about being a capable human. It had watched this situation developing from a distance, and the person who had been reasonably impressive before was now substantially more so. The collection of legendaries here, the way the battle had been structured — not a coincidence.
It didn't particularly like being manipulated. But it didn't dislike this human either.
"ROOOARR~!!"
The challenge cry was aimed directly at Black Kyurem. Full power, full intent, the draconic pressure cranked up to something that pressed against everything in range.
Black Kyurem threw it right back — equally loud, equally unafraid.
I am the strongest dragon. You are not exempt.
Two titanic presences, face to face above the frozen ruins, neither one inclined to yield.
"Looks like you've got your wish," Mammon said quietly, watching.
"The Shiny Rayquaza is here, Groudon," Giovanni said, with a very specific quality of casualness. "Go ahead and challenge it."
Primal Groudon went: Σ()
(End of Chapter)
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