"Groudon? Groudon??"
In the backyard of the Viridian Gym, Giovanni heard Groudon's cry for help and rushed outside. When he arrived, the area was completely empty.
PokeBlocks and Pokémon snacks were scattered all over the ground.
Was Groudon missing?
Giovanni frowned as he looked at the ground. There were no signs of a tunnel being dug, and it was impossible for it to have gone into the sky. Who could possibly grab Groudon, with its massive weight, and fly away?
Giovanni did not panic. Instead, he used his Viridian Power to communicate with a nearby Diglett.
"It was taken away by a golden ring that suddenly appeared?" Giovanni received an unexpected answer.
What on earth was that?
Giovanni thought for a moment. He really did not know what this "golden ring" was, but his all-knowing son, Damian, might know.
Giovanni took out his phone and sent Damian a message to ask him about it. Then he went back inside the gym to check the security cameras.
He believed that Groudon would never betray him. After all, his relationship with Groudon was very good, and they got along quite comfortably.
Lately, however, he felt Groudon's personality was becoming stranger and stranger. It even kept talking about using Giovanni's ashes to soak in lava after he died.
But wasn't that just Groudon's way of showing how much it respected him?
Well, even though Giovanni felt some resistance to Groudon's words, he would still prefer to be buried peacefully in the ground. Having his ashes used for someone else's "bath" was a bit too much for Giovanni to accept.
He really could not handle that kind of "affection."
Damian's expression turned strange.
He really had not expected this. Out of all the choices, evil Hoopa had actually picked the "Non-Flyer"?
Seriously? Picking Zacian would have been better than picking the Non-Flyer, right? Even Zamazenta would be better.
Besides, wasn't the Non-Flyer already caught by his old man? Hoopa's space transfer could not move Pokémon that were inside Poké Balls.
Damian had confirmed this with Hoopa Confined. That was why he had originally put Giratina into a Poké Ball to bring it here.
This meant Giovanni had let the Non-Flyer roam freely in the backyard. That was the only reason evil Hoopa could teleport it here.
But was the Non-Flyer actually useful on a battlefield like this?
Damian's expression became even stranger. It was not that the Primal Groudon down there was completely useless, but the problem was that it could not fly!
In a battle between Legendary Pokémon at this level, Primal Groudon could not do much. It could only stand on the ground, watch, and fire long-range attacks.
It was not like Groudon could actually jump up and use Aerial Ace, right? That would be way too ridiculous.
Moreover, while Primal Groudon's special attacks were strong, its real specialty was still physical close combat.
And there was one more important problem. If Hoopa did not send it back after the fight, would it have to walk all the way back to Kanto step by step?
Oh, wait. He forgot. It could also dig a tunnel and go back underground.
Thinking about that made it hard for Damian to keep a straight face.
Kyurem glanced at the newly arrived Primal Groudon, then turned its eyes back toward evil Hoopa.
Clearly, Kyurem did not care about Primal Groudon at all. After all, they had fought before. Kyurem knew exactly what this "Non-Flyer" was capable of.
It was not a threat.
"Kyurem, don't use long-range energy attacks against this evil Hoopa. Its golden rings can swallow energy," Damian warned Kyurem.
This was one of evil Hoopa's most broken abilities. By relying on its spatial rings, it could swallow nearly any energy-based attack.
Not only could Hoopa swallow them, but it could also turn them around and fire those same energy attacks back through the rings.
Therefore, the best way to hit evil Hoopa was with close-combat attacks. Unless a huge number of Pokémon attacked at once, an ordinary group attack usually could not overwhelm it.
With its own powerful close-range combat ability and those broken rings, evil Hoopa's fighting power was extremely high.
A flicker passed through Kyurem's cold, emotionless eyes. But in the next second...
"Roar—!"
Kyurem's roar shook the air. Its massive body flashed with blue lightning as it charged toward evil Hoopa.
Bolt Strike!
Since long-range attacks were useless, it would just force its way through head-on! The electricity from Bolt Strike formed a sphere around Kyurem.
Evil Hoopa roared at Kyurem, and several spatial rings appeared in the air.
At the same time, Primal Groudon below looked up. Thick flames gathered in its mouth, and massive fireballs shot violently toward Kyurem.
It used Eruption!
It was worth noting that Primal Groudon did not trigger the harsh sunlight from Desolate Land. It was unclear whether Groudon simply had not activated its ability yet, or whether the field created by Stellar Terapagos was still active.
Primal Groudon's Eruption kept slamming into Bolt Strike. The intense flames exploded again and again, and firelight filled the sky. The raging blaze turned the sky red.
However, Eruption could not stop Kyurem. It continued charging toward evil Hoopa.
Seeing this, evil Hoopa lost patience. Six giant fists shot out from the spatial rings and slammed heavily toward Kyurem.
Hyperspace Fury!
Boom!
Hyperspace Fury and Bolt Strike collided with a massive crash. Heavy shockwaves rippled outward, and the air pressure turned into a wild howling wind.
At the same time, Stellar Terapagos quickly rushed toward Yveltal.
"Fall back," Damian ordered without hesitation.
This Terapagos was extremely strong. He could not let Yveltal fight it head-on. Yveltal flapped its wings and retreated, keeping its distance from Stellar Terapagos.
As if sensing this, evil Hoopa's expression became even more twisted and terrifying. It let out another frustrated roar.
Hyperspace Fury and Bolt Strike were evenly matched, pushing both sides back. However, a second later, Kyurem acted as if nothing had happened and continued charging toward evil Hoopa.
Evil Hoopa was furious. It fired a Dark Pulse, which slammed directly into the approaching Kyurem.
Another explosion rang out.
Dust filled the air, but a huge shadow appeared within the smoke. Kyurem pushed straight through the Dark Pulse and reached evil Hoopa.
Its sharp claws glowed with green light as it slashed toward evil Hoopa. Dragon Claw!
Evil Hoopa was not afraid at all. One of its detached arms flew forward.
Throat Chop!
Slash!
Kyurem's Dragon Claw slammed hard into evil Hoopa's chest. Evil Hoopa roared in pain again.
At the same time, however, evil Hoopa's Throat Chop also struck Kyurem hard. Kyurem forced itself to endure the hit. After merging into its three-in-one form, Kyurem's physical endurance had become incredible.
"Ice Beam!"
Opening its massive jaws, Kyurem fired an icy blast at point-blank range.
The Ice Beam hit evil Hoopa directly. With the crackling sound of freezing ice, more than half of evil Hoopa's body was instantly frozen solid.
Although Hoopa's rings naturally countered all energy attacks, they only worked if it had time to use them. At such a close distance, the sudden Ice Beam was too fast for evil Hoopa to control its rings.
"Disappear! Disappear!!"
The intense cold was eating away at its body. The pain drove evil Hoopa even more insane. Its six detached arms flew through the air, smashing toward Kyurem.
Throat Chop, six times!
Evil Hoopa's body structure really was perfect for battle. With six flexible and powerful arms, it had far more attack options than almost any other Pokémon.
Take Kyurem, for example. It was basically a dragon-like Pokémon. It fought with its two claws, teeth, and tail. While it could fire energy from its mouth, that was still basically the same attack direction as its bite.
But evil Hoopa had six arms, a hollow chest that could gather energy attacks, and a thick tail that could also be used to strike. That was a unique combat advantage.
Just like now, it could control all six arms to attack at the same time!
"Freeze Shock!" Damian continued giving orders.
The turbine on Kyurem's tail spun wildly. A massive amount of cold air surged out, and blue-purple energy began to gather.
Freeze Shock!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The six Throat Chops struck Kyurem again and again, but they were all blocked by the glowing shield of Freeze Shock's energy. Instead, a layer of frost formed on each of evil Hoopa's six arms.
Seeing this, the red glow in evil Hoopa's eyes suddenly flared. Its aura became even more violent and savage.
How could this happen? How could this be happening?!
Bang!
Kyurem did not give it any more time to roar. It slammed into evil Hoopa with all its weight.
Evil Hoopa felt as if it had been struck by lightning. The terrifying cold from Freeze Shock instantly made its entire body go stiff.
Evil Hoopa's body was sent flying like a cannonball and crashed hard into the sandy ground.
Boom!
The entire ground shook violently. Thick frost instantly spread across the surrounding area. It was obvious just how overwhelming Kyurem's power was.
"Hiss!!"
Seeing this, Hoopa Confined could not help gasping.
Oh my god!!
It was a Hoopa itself, so it naturally understood its own strength better than anyone. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it thought evil Hoopa's fighting style was nearly perfect, and its power was no weaker than its own peak state.
But Kyurem had actually suppressed evil Hoopa this completely!
"Kyurem is really too strong," Hoopa Confined whispered, amazed once again from the bottom of its heart.
"You're right. In this world, very few beings can beat Kyurem in a one-on-one fight," Damian agreed.
Even Unbound Hoopa, a Legendary Pokémon with overwhelming combat ability, was being suppressed like this by Kyurem. That already showed the gap.
After the battle in Unova, it was basically certain that even Mega Rayquaza Shiny without any extra enhancement was still slightly weaker than Kyurem.
Unless Arceus showed up, Damian believed that only Ultra Necrozma might have a chance to beat Kyurem, and even that was uncertain. Everyone knew Ultra Necrozma was powerful, but no one knew exactly how powerful it was.
In any case, the outcome of this giant battle was basically settled.
Damian looked toward the place where evil Hoopa had fallen. The dust was too thick to see clearly. However, with evil Hoopa losing, there was no real suspense left in the battle.
Damian glanced around the battlefield. Origin Giratina had beaten Origin Palkia so badly that Palkia was barely breathing. It would be finished off soon.
Mega Mewtwo Y had suppressed Shadow Rider Calyrex and held the advantage.
Mega Rayquaza Shiny was exactly as it had said. It was stronger than regular Mega Rayquaza, and it was also winning.
Primal Kyogre had also done well. Even without the boost from Primordial Sea, it was slightly suppressing Dialga.
As for Stellar Terapagos and Primal Groudon, Damian was not worried about them. They could not cause any more trouble.
"It's basically over. Hoopa, have you thought about how to deal with this Shadow?"
"Emmm..." Hoopa Confined wrinkled its small face and bit its claw, looking very conflicted.
How to deal with the Shadow... it really was a headache.
Should it just kill it completely? But what if the Shadow disappeared and its own power disappeared too? Besides, it was starting to hesitate. Why did the Shadow hate it so much? Hoopa Confined felt there had to be a reason. Maybe it was because of the seal?
While Hoopa Confined was thinking, Damian turned his eyes toward Stellar Terapagos.
Terapagos had the power to let him travel to Hisui!
This power was very important to Damian. He knew that his future daughter was currently in Hisui taking part in a trial. On top of that, he had promised that he would bring her to this timeline to play. As a father, he had to keep his word, right?
So he could not let this little turtle get away!
And...
Damian took out his phone. He opened the photos of him and together and watched a few videos. He felt a little hesitant.
Should he show this "evidence" to Platinum?
Should he tell her that he traveled to Hisui and met their future daughter?
How should he put it... would this "surprise" be a bit too shocking?
----------------------------------
This novel is already complete
Check out my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/c/Serenabunny
Thanks to all of you, we've already reached 180 free members and 30 paid members!
Seriously, thank you so much for all your support. It helps me a lot.
I also want to apologize for the lack of updates this month, haha. My PC completely died, and uploading chapters from my phone was pretty complicated.