Groudon's cooperation left Ace with no further complaints.
Putting away his pickaxe, Ace led Crobat away from Groudon's cavern. After backtracking, they followed another tunnel toward where Kyogre was located.
Soon, a space similar to Groudon's appeared before Ace. Within this space, the sleeping Kyogre floated quietly in a pool of water. The area around the pool was covered with ice, making the ambient temperature quite low.
"Kyogre... how should I handle it?"
Ace rubbed his chin. Without the brand or mark imprinted by Kyogre, Ace had no way to communicate with it.
"Forget it. Since I didn't get to stew Groudon, let's see what Kyogre tastes like."
Ace smiled. He routinely took out his pickaxe, walked to the edge of the pool, and raised the pickaxe, ready to strike Kyogre's body.
"Ommm!"
"Hmph!"
Just as Ace was about to strike, an consciousness as vast as the ocean forcefully surged into Ace's mind, immediately attempting to crush Ace's own consciousness.
However, the opponent clearly underestimated the strength of Ace's current consciousness. Besides making Ace grunt in pain, Ace's consciousness was like a reef in the sea. No matter how the opponent attacked, it could not be shaken in the slightest.
Puchi!
Suddenly attacked, Ace grew ruthless. He swung the pickaxe hard, and the sharp point pierced into Kyogre's flesh. Threads of blood slowly seeped out of the wound.
"Insect! You court death!"
Sensing the injury to its body, Kyogre's sleeping consciousness woke up and roared at Ace.
"Stop whining. If you've got the guts, kill me."
Ace wasn't buying it. He pulled out the pickaxe and fiercely drove it into Kyogre's flesh again.
Kyogre was enraged by Ace's actions. It held nothing back, desperately trying to crush Ace's consciousness.
Ace had to use his healing powers three times during this psychic battle.
But after the third time, Kyogre was worn out, collapsing like a dead fish. It was now willing but unable to attack Ace again.
"Is that all it takes?"
Ace continued to taunt Kyogre mentally, but after mocking it for a long time, Kyogre still didn't stir.
Feeling that the time was right, Ace replicated the tactic he used on Groudon.
As expected, Kyogre chose to submit, which allowed Ace's subsequent arrangements to proceed smoothly.
Ace explained his plan to Kyogre and watched until Kyogre had memorized the script entirely. He checked its understanding a few times to ensure Kyogre wouldn't forget, then nodded in satisfaction.
With this, the three behemoths of the Hoenn Region had fallen into Ace's hands. As the two key points for the upcoming plot, Ace had prepared their scripts.
If all went as planned, the story would unfold exactly as he intended, and Ace would fully achieve his goal.
"No..."
Thinking this, Ace shook his head and muttered, "The current chance of the plan succeeding is only 98%. There's still a 2% chance of deviation. Round that up, and it's guaranteed to fail!"
It must be said that the future Celebi showed Ace had deeply affected him.
It was understandable—no one would want to see the Pokémon they spent their lives with perish in battle.
Therefore, for absolute certainty, Ace had to completely eliminate all uncontrollable factors!
So, being cautious and careful was an absolute necessity!
"The only uncontrollable factor right now—I can't find any trace of them. I can only hope that Elder Dragon manages to locate them."
Ace sighed. He truly was helpless regarding this final unpredictable element.
The biggest problem was his inability to track the opponent. Once he had their location, Ace could eliminate this last unpredictable element and completely control the future.
Ace collected a portion of Kyogre's blood in a container, applied some medicine to Kyogre's wound, and then left with Crobat.
Returning to the spot where they entered the Marine Cave, Ace recalled Crobat and released Lapras.
Clamping the underwater breathing apparatus between his teeth, Ace, with Lapras's help, left the Marine Cave and returned to the sea surface.
Instead of switching to the Tao Dragon, Ace sat on Lapras's back and leisurely headed back to the sea area of the Mirage Island.
With his tasks mostly complete, the remaining problem could only be left to chance. Ace finally relaxed a little, no longer in such a hurry.
In the sea area of the Mirage Island, Zinnia was sprawled on Wailord, enjoying a well-deserved break.
"How was your special training?"
Lapras brought Ace close to Wailord. Ace looked at Zinnia and asked.
"It was alright. How about we have a friendly match?"
Zinnia flipped up into a sitting position, looking at Ace with a hint of eagerness.
Ace glanced at Zinnia, guessing that the girl's rapid increase in strength had made her a little overconfident.
Well, a little reality check won't hurt.
With that thought, Ace nodded. "Fine, I'll have a battle with you."
"Hehe, don't be too surprised!"
Zinnia grew excited upon Ace's agreement. She quickly stood up from Wailord's back and said to Ace, "Our training results are quite astonishing!"
With that, Zinnia returned Ace's dedicated Poké Ball, then casually sent out her Salamence first.
Ace saw this and decided not to overdo it. He threw out the Dive Ball, and Blastoise landed in the seawater.
"Thump!"
Zinnia didn't underestimate Blastoise at all. She stomped her right foot, which was adorned with an ankle bracelet, on Wailord's back, and Salamence instantly Mega Evolved.
Ace, in contrast, watched her Mega Evolve, then smiled and said, "Bubble Beam."
In the next moment, three-colored bubbles sprayed out, rapidly shooting toward the high-flying Salamence.
The sunlight shone on the bubbles. Reflecting the light, the three-colored bubbles mixed together, gradually disappearing without a trace!
"Dragon Pulse!"
Facing the virtually invisible attack, Zinnia immediately had Salamence meet force with force.
Dragon Pulse was fired. Even though they couldn't see the Bubble Beam, the continuous sound of bursting bubbles alerted Zinnia and Salamence that they were attacking the correct area.
"The idea isn't wrong, but you're being a little too simplistic," Ace said calmly, then suddenly snapped his fingers.
In the next moment, countless bubbles converged from all around Salamence, shooting at the Dragon-type Pokémon simultaneously, heavily striking its body.
Zinnia's pupils constricted. She only reacted in the instant Salamence was struck.
The bubbles from the Bubble Beam had actually already filled all the space surrounding Salamence!
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