From the broadcast feed, it was clear—thick storm clouds blanketed the skies above the entire Hoenn Sea. Roaring gales and mountainous waves swept the waters, while more than a dozen cyclones, each over a hundred meters wide, raged and spiraled skyward. Tsunamis surged and smashed relentlessly against the coastline.
A massive deep-blue figure shimmered with golden light, gliding above the sea's surface. Facing it was a serpentine green dragon, coiling and twisting through the storm, its movement alone churning the heavens.
"Rayquaza…"
"Kyogre…"
Everyone in the conference room immediately recognized the two mythic Pokémon—legendary beings woven throughout history and myth, embodiments of boundless elemental power.
The tension in the room was palpable. These two hadn't even begun to clash, yet the sky and earth were already in turmoil. If they truly began to fight, the entire Hoenn region could be at risk.
After all, according to legend, the battle between Groudon and Kyogre had once brought an ancient civilization to ruin.
Just then, a second communication line came through—it was Steven Stone.
"I've already issued orders to begin evacuating all major cities in Hoenn," Steven reported calmly. "League personnel are being mobilized to prepare for disaster response."
As Hoenn's acting League Champion, Steven was the top authority in such crises.
"Fortify city defenses. I'll organize reinforcements immediately," instructed Goodshow, head of the Goodshow Pokémon University and director of global League affairs.
In a clash of this scale—between mythic Pokémon capable of triggering cataclysms—ordinary people and Pokémon stood little chance. Their only hope was to survive. Only professional trainers and elite task forces could participate in emergency operations under the League's coordinated command.
But when it came to actual combat, only the Elites and Champions could make a difference.
"We'll deal with the Hive matter once this is resolved," Goodshow added tersely.
Before anyone could respond, he tossed two Poké Balls.
In a flash of white light, two Pokémon appeared—one glowing with soft violet hues, the other cloaked in shifting shadows.
They were none other than Cresselia, the Lunar Pokémon known as the goddess of beautiful dreams, and Darkrai, the embodiment of nightmares.
Everyone present recognized them immediately. Legendary Pokémon often referred to in folklore as the Dream God and Nightmare God.
Goodshow had held his position for many years. Though rumors of his Champion-tier strength were widespread, few had ever seen him battle personally. For many in the room, this was the first time they had laid eyes on his own Pokémon.
A shimmer of silver light enveloped Cresselia's body. In the next instant, Goodshow vanished into thin air, dissolving like moonlight.
Lance and Brandon exchanged glances. They understood immediately—until the Kyogre crisis was resolved, the League wouldn't have time to consider legalizing the Hive.
Still, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing. It would give them a perfect opportunity to recruit more members into the Hive.
After all, they had already received intel from the Source: Kyogre had been subjugated and assimilated.
The fact that the Source had managed to infect Kyogre so quickly was shocking—but for those who had already pledged allegiance, it was a cause for grim satisfaction.
Lucius stood tall atop Kyogre's head, facing Rayquaza head-on.
Kyogre's consciousness and body had both been fully overtaken by the Veronica Virus—it was, by far, the most thoroughly modified of all infected entities.
And after undergoing Primal Reversion, its strength now surpassed that of Rayquaza's standard form.
Golden light shimmered from Kyogre's body. Its massive fins stirred the storm as razor-sharp gales whipped across the sea, accompanied by hailstones the size of watermelons. A chilling front swept toward Rayquaza.
The Sky High Pokémon let out a defiant roar. Its serpentine body spiraled through the air, drawing up torrents of Dragon Energy that formed into a piercing cyclone. The twister shredded through the incoming blizzard, racing toward Kyogre.
Dragon Dance.
A move worthy of a legend—enhancing both speed and power while countering Ice-type moves that would normally be its weakness.
As Rayquaza charged forward like a storm incarnate, Kyogre's eyes gleamed gold. From the thunderclouds above, countless bolts of lightning rained down in a relentless barrage, striking the heart of the oncoming vortex.
Thousands of thunderbolts crashed down within mere seconds, blowing Rayquaza's storm apart in a blinding explosion.
Revealed from the scattered winds, Rayquaza's body now gleamed with an aura of draconic energy. On its back, two massive wings of light—each over a hundred meters long—unfurled like blades. It surged forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Dragon Ascent.
Its speed was staggering. The sonic boom only reached the sea moments after it had already passed.
Kyogre flapped its colossal fins, channeling the turbulence it had stirred up. With a swift twist, it dodged Rayquaza's strike from the side.
Rayquaza zipped past Kyogre, its energy fading. With a sudden turn, it unleashed a thunderous roar aimed at the Primal Kyogre preparing to summon another storm.
Invisible currents radiated outward. In the stormy sky, a rift tore open among the clouds, allowing golden sunlight to pierce through.
Ability activated: Air Lock.
This was Rayquaza's power—to negate all weather effects. The torrential rain and hurricane winds summoned by Kyogre began to fade.
As the Lord of the Sea, Kyogre's powers surged under the rain. Rayquaza knew it could only regain the upper hand by clearing the skies.
Seizing the moment, Kyogre opened its jaws. A tremendous pulse of blue and white energy surged forth, shattering the sky.
Rayquaza twisted midair, barely dodging.
The beam sliced through the atmosphere and slammed into the Hoenn mainland, carving out a kilometer-long gorge—tens of meters wide and unfathomably deep.
The edges of the chasm glistened smooth as glass—a scar upon the face of Hoenn.
Although this attack didn't strike any cities or heavily populated areas, sparing human lives for now, the sheer sense of destruction it carried sent tremors through the hearts of everyone in Hoenn. Both wild and domesticated Pokémon reacted as if the end of the world was upon them—growing agitated and terrified, plunging the region into chaos.
Rayquaza spiraled through the sky in wide arcs, continuing its Dragon Dance.
Suddenly, its body—shrouded in a gleaming azure-gold draconic aura—froze midair. A powerful surge of psychic energy had locked it in place.
Its golden eyes flicked around until they found the source: a human, glowing with a brilliant blue light, levitating in the sky.
That energy… it was the same as the alien lifeform Rayquaza had slain in the polar regions three years ago.
That was the reason it had come to Hoenn.
At the same moment Rayquaza recognized the aura of Deoxys, a searing Ice Beam slammed into its flank.
The direct hit from the Ice-type move—a natural counter to Dragon-types—elicited a sharp, agonized roar from the Sky High Pokémon.
But this was no ordinary creature. A mythical Pokémon, Rayquaza fought back with divine force. With a violent surge, it broke free from Lucius's psychic grip, the frozen chunks of ice shattering and falling away as it shot upward—straight into space.
Kyogre spread its massive fins and surged into the sky, pursuing Rayquaza with powerful beats of its wings. Lucius followed close behind, flanking it from the other side.
After claiming the meteorite, Lucius had gained energy identical to that of Deoxys. Enhanced further by the power of over ten thousand infected infected hosts and a temporal surge from Kyogre, his strength had skyrocketed—surpassing the threshold of Champion-level and brushing the realm of mythical Pokémon.
Now, in tandem with Primal Kyogre, Lucius could fully suppress a Rayquaza in its normal state—power against power, god against god.
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