"Such petty tricks won't work on me."
Primal Groudon stood in the ocean atop a massive stone pillar formed by its Earth Power. The air around it shimmered from the blazing heat radiating off its body—hotter than molten lava. Any seawater that dared approach instantly turned into vapor.
It stared down coldly at Kyogre and Julian on its back, a mocking smile curling at the corners of its mouth. It knew exactly what they had tried to do—drag it into the ocean and use seawater against it.
But that was far too naive.
"That's why you should read more," Julian said with a faint smile.
There wasn't the slightest trace of frustration on his face despite the plan's apparent failure, which slightly confused Primal Groudon, who assumed Julian was just putting on a brave front.
"One."
"Two."
"Human, what are you—"
"Three."
The moment Julian counted to three, a massive explosion erupted around Primal Groudon. The blast churned the seawater violently, and the powerful impact sent Primal Groudon's massive body flying out of the ocean.
---
> Groudon's out!
> Wait—what happened? It looks like Kyogre blasted it right out of the water?!
> The sea surface exploded!
> The ocean's on fire!
---
After Primal Groudon fell into the sea, everyone had lost sight of Groudon, Kyogre, and Julian.
All they could do was wait anxiously.
Fortunately, it didn't take long—about half a minute—before Primal Groudon shot back out of the sea, and from the looks of it, it had been blown up from below.
When fire burns hot enough, steam can decompose into hydrogen and oxygen gases. If the decomposition occurs in large quantities and meets open flame, it triggers a violent explosion.
However, for water vapor to decompose into hydrogen and oxygen, two conditions must be met: the fire's temperature must be extremely high, and the steam must accumulate to a sufficient density.
Primal Groudon happened to fulfill both conditions.
And so, it ended up blasting itself into the air.
"Julian, how did you do that?"
Kyogre was astonished by Julian's maneuver. It had initially thought Julian's plan had failed, but it turned out this was the real plan all along.
"The power of knowledge," Julian said lightly. "When this battle's over, I'll lend you a few books to read."
"But for now—Kyogre, Giga Impact!"
Julian sharply looked up. Through the seawater, he could see Primal Groudon, blasted into the air, already nearly a hundred meters high and still rising.
The force of the steam explosion was clearly even greater than Julian had anticipated.
Now was their chance.
Kyogre's tail slammed hard against the ocean floor, propelling its massive body upward like a rocket. Wrapped in a surge of brilliant energy, it shot from the depths, splitting the sea open as columns of water erupted skyward like dragons rising from the waves.
Its target was clear: Primal Groudon's abdomen.
Though the earlier explosion had sent Primal Groudon flying, it hadn't completely lost mobility. Seeing the big-headed fish charging toward it from below, Groudon raised its left arm, power surging and condensing along its limb.
As long as that big-headed fish continued to approach, it would smash its head in with a single Hammer Arm.
Fifty meters, thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters—
The Giga Impact drew closer and closer.
Five meters!
'Now!'
Just as Primal Groudon was about to strike down with its Hammer Arm, a familiar voice suddenly echoed in its ears.
"Rayquaza, what are you doing here?!"
"What?! The giant green caterpie's here?!"
Instinctively, Primal Groudon glanced upward—but saw nothing.
"Damn you, human!"
Realizing too late that he'd been tricked, Primal Groudon tried to turn back, but the perfect opportunity to strike was already lost.
Kyogre's Giga Impact slammed into Primal Groudon's abdomen like a meteor, the immense force causing a burst of white shockwaves to erupt from Groudon's back.
And its body was sent flying upward uncontrollably.
Meanwhile, the Red Orb slowly began to seep out from its forehead.
Primal Groudon's form began to flicker uncontrollably between its normal and Primal Reversion states.
Fully aware of its current predicament, Groudon's heart filled with panic. But the energy from Giga Impact was still rampaging through its body, disrupting its control over its own power. Otherwise, there was no way the Red Orb could be forced out.
At this moment, half of the Red Orb was still inside Groudon's forehead, while the other half was exposed.
As the power of Kyogre's Giga Impact began to weaken, Groudon regained some control over its energy and immediately tried to pull the Red Orb back into its body.
But just then—
"Metagross! Moltres!"
"Tres!"
Moltres cried out, transforming into a blazing phoenix.
Brave Bird!
Its target was Groudon's eyes—the only place where Moltres could possibly injure it.
"Scram!"
Infuriated that even an insect dared to interfere in its battle with Kyogre, Groudon's eyes flashed coldly as it swatted Moltres away with a single slap.
Crack!
Bones shattered, and blood splattered through the air.
"TRES!"
A shrill, agonized cry tore from Moltres's throat.
Julian clenched his fists and immediately recalled Moltres back into its Poké Ball.
He quickly checked Moltres's condition.
Severely injured, but not life-threatening.
He let out a sigh of relief.
There was no time for anger. Julian's gaze immediately shifted to Metagross.
Thanks to the delay and distraction caused by Moltres, Metagross had already used Teleport to appear right in front of Groudon's forehead.
Its claws gripped the half-exposed Red Orb, and with all its strength, Metagross forcefully pulled the remaining half of the orb out of Groudon's forehead.
The moment the orb was torn free, Primal Groudon's body lost its primal reversion state completely. Its Desolate Land ability also vanished, replaced once again by Drought.
The moment the Red Orb was extracted, Metagross used Teleport again to escape.
With the Red Orb separated from its body, Groudon felt a wave of weakness crash through it. All it could do was glare helplessly as Metagross disappeared from sight.
By then, the power of Kyogre's Giga Impact had also ended.
After three seconds of free fall, Groudon's massive body crashed down onto the very land it had created.
Julian stood once again on Kyogre's head, with Metagross beside him, still clutching the Red Orb in its claws.
"Can it still fuse with the Red Orb again?" Julian asked.
If it could, he planned to have Metagross take the Red Orb and get as far away as possible.
"Not for a while," Kyogre's voice rumbled with barely contained joy.
Without its Primal Reversion state, Groudon was no longer a match for it—especially with the buffs it had received.
Kyogre now held genuine respect for Julian. He had actually managed to pull the Red Orb out of Groudon's body.
Still, his methods were undeniably sneaky.
He'd actually tricked Groudon by claiming Rayquaza had arrived.
If Kyogre hadn't been warned beforehand, it might have fallen for the same trick.
But it couldn't be helped. Over their endless years, that "giant green caterpie" had left far too deep a shadow in their minds.
*****
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