Groudon stared blankly at the cloud-filled sky.
The rain fell on its head and body, immediately evaporated by the magma-like scalding temperature within it, letting out a sizzle before turning into water vapor.
White mist gradually covered Groudon's body, making it subconsciously scratch its back.
A bit itchy—
Wait!
Why the hell is it raining!
As the symbol of the land, it was absolutely impossible for it to rain around it as long as it woke up. This was the authority granted to it by the God of Creation; no weather-affecting method could override it!
Even if it were face-to-face with the symbol of the ocean, the weather would only overlap, not be completely overwritten—
So, it absolutely couldn't be that fathead fish!
After snapping out of its daze, the bewildered Groudon immediately looked up at the human hovering in the air, whose very breathing seemed like a provocation to it.
Even though it had just woken up, it could guess that this definitely had something to do with this human.
Not only did he not run away when facing it, but he even deliberately lured it out of its slumbering spot and made it notice the abnormal weather outside—
This kid seems to have a big background!
Groudon immediately realized that things were not simple, so it didn't continue to attack.
Seeing this, Aiden also breathed a sigh of relief.
It seemed that even with the hardest of heads, after getting beaten up by Rayquaza who knows how many times, the Hoenn duo of idiots had finally seen the light.
This was a good thing; at least he didn't have to physically persuade Groudon anymore.
"Groudon, I have no ill intentions."
Aiden took the initiative to speak, using Mewtwo's psychic power to transmit his voice directly into Groudon's mind.
0.o?
Groudon stared with wide eyes, completely not expecting this human to spout such a shameless lie.
You have no ill intentions, so why did you wake me up for no reason?
Although, having sensed that approaching cosmic energy, it was going to wake up soon anyway—
But waking up naturally and being forced awake were two completely different things!
Groudon still felt that the human in the sky was provoking it, and had even secretly mobilized the leyline energy, ready to blast out another full-power Precipice Blades at any moment.
Let him say one more thing; if he was still this ungrateful, it would attack immediately!
Seeing the unconcealable killing intent in Groudon's eyes, Aiden looked down at the ground that had moved far away from him, and suddenly realized.
He almost forgot!
Flying in front of Groudon, the level of mockery was no less than blasting disco music at someone's doorstep in the middle of the night—
So Aiden glanced at Mewtwo, conveying his thoughts with his eyes.
Mewtwo seemed a bit hesitant at first, but quickly lost ground under Aiden's pleading gaze, following his suggestion and slowly descending until it was at eye level with Groudon.
"Now, can we have a good chat?"
Aiden felt he was already very sincere, but Groudon obviously didn't think so.
What's the meaning of this!
You can fly, but you still come closer to let me get a good look?
No, I can't take this anymore!
Groudon was utterly furious!
"Roar——!!!"
It suddenly let out a furious roar, and as it swung its sharp claws, the ground in front of it immediately rose up, shooting towards Aiden's direction in the shape of stone pillars.
It was so fast that it even burst open with an astonishing sonic boom in the air.
Fortunately, Mewtwo had been secretly guarding against Groudon's attack; the moment it struck, Mewtwo immediately used Teleport, transferring itself and Aiden to behind Groudon.
"Tsk—"
Aiden clicked his tongue inwardly.
Take back what I said earlier, it seems there's still no chatting with Groudon.
So, there was only one answer left.
Since they couldn't communicate normally, he could only make Groudon thoroughly submit to him in order to communicate effectively!
So—— "Come out, Rayquaza!"
Aiden simply dropped the act, pointed to the sky, and loudly called out the name of his "Demon King's Guard."
Hearing the name Rayquaza, even though a thousand years had passed, Groudon still subconsciously shuddered.
It couldn't help it; it really couldn't beat that dragon that symbolized the sky—
Even if it teamed up with Kyogre, they could only delay it for a while at most.
But—
What were the chances that a human could summon that arrogant God of the Sky?
Probably about the same as the chance of it willing to be his underling.
Groudon almost laughed listening to him, so it simply stood on the earth with its arms crossed, looking up and quietly waiting for a "miracle" to happen.
But what it didn't expect was that soon, a clear dragon's roar actually came from the sky.
Groudon: ?
Wait a minute?
Because it was so familiar, there was no way it could mishear Rayquaza's iconic voice!
But precisely because of this, the expression on Groudon's face turned strange after a moment of panic.
Because besides that familiar dragon roar, it seemed to have heard another somewhat similar, yet subtly different sound.
The voices clearly came from the same race.
This was what truly baffled it.
Could there actually be two Rayquazas?
Groudon felt that its brain, which hadn't been used for a millennium, was about to overheat and smoke.
Until a crack suddenly appeared in the dark clouds, and two Rayquazas of different colors—one black and one green—but with almost identical appearances, emerged.
Its guess had finally become reality.
Rumble—!
The thunderclap in the sky was just as turbulent as Groudon's inner thoughts at this moment.
For a moment, it even felt like it couldn't breathe.
What do you mean there are actually two Rayquazas in this world?
Could it be that they were just skirmishing before, so the other black Rayquaza never showed up?
Even though it could only see their faint silhouettes looking up, Groudon could still clearly sense the difference in strength between the two Rayquazas.
—Alright, it actually just saw it with its eyes.
After all, the green Rayquaza, which it was more familiar with, clearly had several wounds left by Dragon-type attacks on its body, showing that they had just fought before appearing.
This made Groudon feel even more bewildered—
Why were they fighting?
Weren't they from the same clan?
And also, why did that human just shout, and they actually flew over from the sky!
The rain masked the water vapor oozing from Groudon's forehead, making its quietly lowered arms go completely unnoticed.
Good thing it didn't continue to attack just now, otherwise it would probably be getting double-teamed by two Rayquazas right now—
Groudon immediately chose to follow its heart (and survive).
And when it calmed down and looked up carefully at the human before it again, it soon noticed a somewhat familiar aura.
This was—
The Creator's aura!
This thing was much more effective than the oppressive feeling brought by Rayquaza's appearance. Almost instantly, Groudon felt its scalp tingle.
Wait, if you're Arceus's Envoy, you should have said so earlier!
We're all family, how could I possibly want to hurt you, right!
Noticing Groudon's suddenly relaxed expression and the smile that followed—which could almost be described as "sycophantic"—Aiden blinked.
This guy's reaction was quite fast.
"Now we can have a good chat, right?"
After Aiden spoke with a subtle smile, Groudon immediately nodded repeatedly like jackhammer.
With such a hardcore backing like Rayquaza and Arceus, what was there to chat about?
Whatever you say goes!
Even if you told me to go into the ocean right now, drag that fathead fish out, and slap it twice, I wouldn't hesitate!
At this moment, Groudon's behavior could completely be described as docile.
And Aiden kept all this in mind, further confirming his conjecture—making Groudon and Kyogre end their mission might not be an impossible task after all.
So, after thinking for a moment, he spoke again: "This time, Arceus sent me to the Hoenn region to solve the trouble."
"That meteorite falling from the sky, you and Kyogre should both be able to sense it in advance."
Groudon nodded again.
It was precisely because of that massive Infinity Energy from space that it showed signs of waking up again after a millennium, trying to claim more energy after its struggle with Kyogre.
However, the priority of the order might need to be adjusted now.
Even the Creator had been disturbed; if it still acted as hard-headed as before, it would be a bit too ignorant of the heights of heaven and the depths of earth.
So, whatever Arceus's Envoy says, goes!
Anyway, the meteorite was always Rayquaza's responsibility, so it didn't even need to exert itself.
Seeing Groudon looking completely approving of him, Aiden suddenly felt a bit amused—did this count as "Three sentences to make Groudon my number one underling"?
But that wasn't the main point.
So he continued to speak: "The dispute between the ocean and the land should have ended long ago when the current era began. You and Kyogre no longer have any reason to continue fighting."
Hearing this, Groudon instinctively frowned.
Indeed, what this Arceus's Envoy said was the truth.
Ever since that Sinnoh giant used its body to pry the tectonic plates and distribute the land across the world, the boundaries between land and sea had largely been set in stone.
Theoretically, neither it nor Kyogre could reshape the world's layout anymore.
Otherwise, the only thing waiting for them was a Rayquaza descending from the sky———
But having fought for so long, as mortal enemies, they had never settled the score, and both had accumulated boundless rage.
Therefore, the moment they woke up, they would instinctively seek each other out, unleashing a thousand years' worth of pent-up anger all at once.
Sometimes they went too far, and Rayquaza would come over to drive them away, sending them back to their own territories to continue their long slumber.
This kind of life had continued for who knows how long, and it had long since become a habit, etched deep into their memories.
To make it shake hands and make peace with Kyogre right now, it really couldn't do—
After Groudon fell silent, Aiden quietly observed its changing expression, then shook his head helplessly.
As expected, it wasn't that easy.
So, he had to add a little more fire.
"Actually, before leaving this world, Arceus left me one last message. It hoped I could grant you a wish."
Aiden spoke again.
"If I could make you forget your hatred for Kyogre, I would be very happy to grant your wish."
"Roar?"
Groudon let out a low grow, subconsciously scratching its head.
A wish—
A wish, of course, it had one.
Actually, the rivalry between the ocean and the land had long ceased to exist.
It and Kyogre both knew that if they still dared to recklessly alter the layout Arceus left behind, what would greet them would definitely be more than just one Rayquaza.
Even that Legendary Giant, or Arceus Themself, might appear.
So, all this time, they were just skirmishing, creating a tiny patch of land near Hoenn's seas at most.
The real reason Groudon got triggered actually lay elsewhere—Why did that guy have to fly out of the water to mock it the moment it appeared!
Every time, it was the one who sickened it first, and it only attacked because it couldn't bear it anymore!
Thinking of this, Groudon even felt a bit wronged.
It was, after all, one of the "Legendary Pokémon" left behind by the Creator to maintain world order. Why did it seem like among so many legendary existences, it was the only one that couldn't fly!
Forget Rayquaza; it was born the master of the sky.
But why on earth could a fathead fish fly!
Even Regigigas, who was just like it, relied on recoil to forcefully launch into the sky and achieve sustained flight.
Although, theoretically, it could learn this move too—
But it felt that if it made its entrance with its head pointing down, continuously spewing fire towards the ground, it would definitely be mocked by the other Legendary Pokémon!
Sigh—
Groudon sighed inwardly.
My life is so hard!
As for a wish—
As long as it could let it learn to fly, that would be enough. Its wish had always, and only, been this one——
I, Groudon!
Don't want to be laughed at anymore!
"Roar——!"
Groudon's heart firmly solidified its thoughts, using its roar to express its wish to the Arceus's Envoy before it.
As long as you can make me fly, we'll be best friends forever!
Let alone Kyogre, even if you command me to fly up and slap Rayquaza twice, I'd dare to do it!
Aiden: ???
Hearing its incredibly simple wish, Aiden was actually a bit stunned.
Ever since his past life, the meme of "Groudon can't fly" was like memetic contamination, frequently appearing in various Pokémon-related contexts.
But he had never really thought that even Groudon's main body held such a huge grudge about this—
Originally, he thought Groudon would wish for more powerful strength, or to expand the land's coverage on the planet—difficult problems like that.
He might not have had the authority for that and would have to ask the Alpaca (Arceus) what to do.
But Groudon just happened to choose the strategy with the most bullet screen reactions—
It really wanted to fly!
Just looking at those expectant eyes, Aiden knew its thoughts were absolutely genuine.
However, the problem was also quite obvious.
According to the Pokédex, a Primal Groudon was 5 meters tall and weighed 2 tons.
How much pure BS was in these parameters, Aiden, who was standing right in front of Groudon, of course knew better than anyone.
I didn't expect you, Professor Birch, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, to also commit academic fraud!
Its height alone was probably four or five times the Pokédex entry, and its weight was an astronomical figure.
Trying to give such a heavyweight guy the ability to fly was truly not easy.
Even Mewtwo or even Rayquaza probably couldn't make it float.
So, fulfilling its wish was definitely extremely difficult.
But it wasn't entirely impossible.
Aiden thought for a moment, and soon a rough plan formed in his mind.
"Alright, but I'll need a little time."
"There is a special power in Paldea; perhaps it can help you fulfill your wish?"
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