Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

[Quickly, give it to me!]

Groudon responded to the annoying human coming from the direction of the Aura while dodging Kyogre's attacks.

Although his body was disheveled, he still spoke harshly and aggressively, showing no sign of begging for help.

Xia Chen chuckled and replied, "Looks like you haven't had enough of that fathead fish's beating yet. I'll ask again later."

Groudon: "."

He longed to unleash another Cliffbreaker on that despicable human, but the even more wicked Kyogre had already exhausted him, leaving him no time to search for Xia Chen.

Even so, it had no intention of lowering itself to beg Xia Chen for the Crimson Pearl.

Even if I, Groudon, were to be killed by Root Pulse today, or even jump into the sea, I would never do such a thing!

At this moment, Groudon thought this with great pride.

…………

Meanwhile, the helicopter that had been following Groudon also flew here and had the misfortune of witnessing Kyogre unilaterally beating Groudon.

The torrential rain made the helicopter sway wildly, and when it was about a kilometer away from the two ancient elves, the pilot refused to fly any further.

Fortunately, the two legendary Pokémon are quite large, so even from that distance, the camera was able to capture the battle between the two gods through the airplane window.

"I apologize to the viewers, but for safety reasons, we can only film here. The mysterious person's purpose in luring Groudon here is clear: to have Kyogre hold Groudon back. However, as we can see, that Kyogre, which looks very different, completely overwhelms Groudon. This is not a good thing either."

"If Groudon loses, no one will be able to stop Kyogre either, and the sea will flood the entire Hoenn region! Go Groudon!"

Groudon is not Ultraman Tiga; humans cannot lend it light.

After being hit by yet another Star Destroyer-like [water jet], Groudon was finally defeated by the evil Gatanothor—no, by Kyogre—and fell into the sea.

This time, the commotion was far more than just splashing waves. The entire sea area was stirred up by this colossal beast weighing tens of thousands of tons, and countless innocent water spirits living in the deep layers leaped out of the sea, creating a spectacular scene.

Groudon lay on its back, sinking into the sea, its heart filled with the humiliation of being utterly defeated by Kyogre.

They've clashed several times in the past thousand years, but when has it ever been beaten so badly?

If it weren't for that green thing interfering, Groudon felt it would have already expanded the entire world's oceans into land.

but now

"Groudon, do you crave power?"

A familiar voice, half-teasing and half-tempting, rang in its mind. Groudon wasn't so angry this time. It suddenly felt that this human was actually quite cute compared to Kyogre.

After hesitating for a while, it finally managed to transmit its voice: "Please...give me the Crimson Pearl, okay?"

Compared to the humiliation of being brutally beaten by Kyogre, bowing slightly to a human seems insignificant.

Xia Chen replied quietly, "Then, Groudon, what is the price?"

"Price? What do you want to do?"

Even with telepathy, Groudon's tone was full of vigilance.

Groudon had certainly heard about the human's attempt to control it with the Crimson Jewel. Would this human also make such a foolish request?

Xia Chen smiled slightly and replied, "I'll do nothing, it's free, I just want to be friends with you."

call--

Groudon breathed a sigh of relief. Free?

Is there such a good thing?

This human is actually quite nice!

etc.

"If it's free, why didn't you give it to me before? You even made me get 'Gai'."

Groudon asked skeptically.

"Because I want to be your friend!"

Xia Chen's sincere and matter-of-fact answer surprised Groudon slightly, and a touch of emotion welled up in its heart.

Its brain capacity was clearly insufficient, and it didn't immediately realize that there seemed to be no causal relationship between the two.

Xia Chen, fearing Groudon would realize what was happening, quickly urged, "Alright, enough talk, hurry up and open your mouth to catch it!"

Groudon instinctively opened its mouth wide as Xia Chen instructed, and then a crimson figure flashed past, precisely dropping the Crimson Orb into its wide-open mouth.

The crimson orb entered Groudon's body along with the seawater, and immediately, a bright crimson-gold light shone forth.

The ancient natural energy contained within activates Groudon's genes, unleashing a surge of power that begins to awaken!

"Roar--"

Groudon roared with excitement, and a colossal wave crashed down.

Hearing the commotion coming from beneath the sea while flying in mid-air, Kyogre seemed to understand something and quickly swooped down, trying to nip Groudon's Primal Reversion in the bud.

However, it was too late. Groudon, bathed in crimson-gold light, rose from the sea, and the surrounding seawater seemed to be infected, turning into scalding lava.

Boom——

A stone sword, thicker, harder, and sharper at the tip than before, emerged from the scorching hot magma!

Along with it flew out, so too did Kyogre, who had just been so arrogant and domineering!

Immediately, the torrential rain stopped, the sky cleared, and the sun shone brightly.

"Roar--"

The Primal Groudon, reborn from the ashes, spread its arms and roared wildly to the sky with its bright red-gold eyes.

Kyokkah, now it's my turn!

…………

at the same time.

The live stream of this epic battle was already packed with viewers from all over the world, and Groudon's ability to undergo "secondary evolution" sparked unprecedented heated discussions.

"Holy crap! What am I seeing? Is this evolution? Groudon can evolve again??"

"Didn't you guys notice that that Kyogre doesn't look like its original form either? Groudon should be in the same state too, right?"

"No wonder Kyogre was able to overpower Groudon just now. So this is their true power. This is so exciting!"

"The weather has changed too, from a massive storm to a scorching sunny day. Isn't that a bit too much?"

"By the way, is the sun in the sky real? Isn't it only 5 a.m. in Hoenn?"

"Holy crap, that was a brutal strike! Looks like I should cheer for Kyogre now!"

"The power of legend is truly terrifying!"

While the audience was discussing it enthusiastically, Primal Groudon had already built up the energy for its second move.

The gaping maw, like an abyss, opened, and energy bombs filled with scorching magma erupted from its mouth like a volcanic eruption, shooting precisely toward Primal Kyogre in parabolic trajectories.

It was still a lava-bullet-shaped [large-character explosion], but unlike before, both its energy intensity and quantity had been greatly amplified under the blessing of primordial natural energy and [the Land of the End].

Primal Kyogre, who had just been sent flying by the Precipice Sword, managed to flip over in mid-air and responded with a solemn Ice Beam.

As its old rival, it naturally knew that in this environment, its most proficient Water-type moves would be weakened to almost no power, just like Groudon's Magma Bomb before.

In an instant, the fireball streaked across the sky, transforming into a blazing rain of fire that crashed down from the heavens.

Being able to fly has its advantages. Primal Kyogre nimbly dodged and weaved with a posture completely out of proportion to its massive body, and used its ice beam to resist when it couldn't dodge.

Although it's not very useful, it's better to block it than not, right?

Rumbling--

The deafening explosions echoed across the sea and over Georga's body, so loud that even those in helicopters a kilometer away were buzzing.

However, they didn't complain at all, because looking at the apocalyptic scene over there, the discomfort in their ears was nothing.

thump--

The sound of a heavy object falling into the water rang out, and the sea creatures were once again forced to leap out of the water to breathe.

Undoubtedly, it was Kyogre that was thrown into the sea this time.

Groudon unleashed two powerful attacks after holding back for so long, knocking Kyogre, who was flying in mid-air, into the sea.

It's hard not to suspect that this petty guy wasn't doing it on purpose; he couldn't fly himself, so he wanted everyone else to be unable to fly either.

"Well done, that's it, stomp it!"

Xia Chen encouraged Groudon with a shared sense of righteous indignation.

"Thank you for the crimson jewel, my friend!"

Groudon, having finally vented its anger, seemed to be in a good mood and addressed Xia Chen as a "friend".

"You're welcome. Well, you can keep playing for now. I have something to do and I'll come back to you later."

With both sides evenly matched, Xia Chen felt that a decisive victory or defeat was unlikely to be decided anytime soon, and there was no need to continue watching. It was time to take the Grass Green Orb to the Sky Pillar to find Rayquaza and mediate the fight.

Groudon, unaware that his newly acquainted friend was about to betray him, happily said, "Okay, go ahead. When I come back, I'll have beaten that stinky fish to a pulp!"

Xia Chen chuckled inwardly, knowing that this was Groudon's boasting; it would probably take them three days and three nights to defeat each other.

However, he certainly couldn't say that out loud. Instead, he replied, "Of course, I believe in you, my friend. I wish you great success!"

Having managed to maintain a balance between the two ancient legendary Pokémon and gained Groudon's superficial friendship, Xia Chen set off on his Guradon towards the Sky Pillar in the west.

…………

The Sky Pillar is located on a small island southwest of Ryukyu City.

Legend has it that, like the Temple of Awakening, it also has a history of over a thousand years.

The Sky Pillars were built by the ancestors of the Meteor Dwellers, and it is said that a seven-colored meteorite can be enshrined at the top to summon Rayquaza.

As for why it's said to be "alleged," it's because no one has ever managed to get through the layers of mechanisms designed by the Meteor People to reach the top.

There is also a theory that it was built by the meteorites of that time in preparation for the cataclysmic disaster that would occur a thousand years later.

One thing Xia Chen had always been confused about was why the Meteor Clan, who lived in Kanaz City, the westernmost city of Hoenn, would build this towering, almost sky-reaching giant tower near Sootopolis City, which was quite far to the east.

Now he understood a little better: the Meteor People had predicted this great battle of Gugai that was taking place nearby a thousand years in advance!