Pillars of earthen-yellow energy erupted violently from the molten depths, shaking the landscape with their ferocity. Cracks spread like spiderwebs across the surrounding mountains. Underneath the blistering magma, Lucius extended his psychic sense downward—something colossal was slowly ascending.
From the outline forming in his psychic perception, Lucius had no doubt.
It was Groudon—the Lord of the Land.
"Anabel, we fall back for now,"
Lucius transmitted telepathically to her.
The awakening of a Mythical Pokémon was always catastrophic. When Kyogre had stirred from its slumber, its fury had summoned waves and storms powerful enough to drown the Hoenn region. Groudon may not yet be in a frenzy, but who knew what kind of "mood" it would wake up in? Best to steer clear—for now.
As Lucius and Anabel flickered out of sight, teleporting to a distant ridge, Mewtwo remained hovering above the magma lake, unmoved.
Just as Groudon was about to break the surface, Mewtwo raised its right arm. A blazing fireball, over five meters in diameter, materialized in its palm—burning like a miniature sun.
What is it doing? Is it planning to attack Groudon?!
Lucius narrowed his eyes. Before he could react, Mewtwo hurled the fireball directly into the magma below.
As the fireball sank halfway into the molten sea, a massive crimson head broke through the lava. Groudon's jaws snapped open—and it devoured the fireball whole.
The moment the blazing sphere disappeared down its throat, Groudon's mountainous frame began to swell. Cracks along its obsidian-red armor flared with molten orange light, like veins of lava. Its tail, already like a jagged bulldozer blade, grew broader and more vicious. On each shoulder, glowing glyphs resembling the Greek letter "Ω" began to pulse.
"Primal Reversion…"
Lucius' eyes twitched in realization.
"So that's what Mewtwo was doing."
The fireball had been infused with the energy of the Red Orb—Nature's Blessing in elemental form. By swallowing it, Groudon had reclaimed the primal power that once belonged to it.
They must have known. The Mythical Pokémon must have foreseen that Lucius would try to infect Groudon the same way he once corrupted Kyogre. Mewtwo had been sent to prevent that outcome.
"This must be what Dialga saw through the timeline…"
As Primal Groudon rose from the lava, its height now over 150 meters, molten rivers flowed from the cracks in its body like flaming waterfalls.
"ROAAARRR!!!"
The earth-shaking roar burst from Groudon's mouth, glowing orange with restrained fury. The sheer force of its voice sent Pokémon across Hoenn collapsing in submission, even hundreds of miles away.
The Lord of the Land had awakened—after an age of slumber—and the world now knew it.
Lucius narrowed his focus. An invisible swarm of Mindworms surged from his thoughts toward Groudon like a psychic plague.
Even if I can't infect its body, maybe its mind is vulnerable…
But before the viral wave could engulf Groudon, Mewtwo's eyes flashed a brilliant blue. A shimmering psychic barrier appeared around Groudon, repelling every single Mindworm with surgical precision.
Of course. So that's why Mewtwo is here…
Even if the virus—like the Mindworm—couldn't corrupt their bodies, it posed a real threat to their minds. Only a Pokémon with psychic power equal to Mewtwo's could offer such complete protection.
Kyogre had joined Lucius. Groudon, it seemed, had chosen Lugia's side.
Destiny, it seemed, had already drawn its battle lines.
And if Groudon and Mewtwo fought together… even with a weapon fueled by infinite energy, Lucius stood little chance—especially with Lugia and the others still unaccounted for.
"We retreat. Now."
Lucius turned to Anabel.
"Just like that? We're giving up?"
Anabel's voice wavered, frustrated. Groudon's power was legendary—its influence over the coming war could tip the scales. Wasn't it too important to just walk away?
"Unless you want to blow up Mt. Chimney," Lucius shot her a glance.
"Let's not forget the payload we planted beneath the volcano."
Every human was a potential battery for his vision of the future—he couldn't waste lives like he used to. Not anymore.
(…Enemies didn't count.)
"Tch."
Anabel huffed but didn't argue. She understood the risk.
With a flick of her gloved hand, she summoned a dimensional rift. The two vanished into the wormhole.
"Groudon's awakened?!"
As they emerged, Lance, Steven, and Cynthia immediately approached. They had already felt the pressure—an earthbound force as ancient and vast as the continents themselves.
Lucius nodded.
"And more than that. We have another dangerous variable now."
He relayed what had happened—Mewtwo's appearance, the Red Orb fireball, the failed mental infection. The champions listened, grim-faced.
"Get the weapons we placed around the perimeter. We don't wait."
These weapons—more advanced than what they had once used against Rayquaza, far beyond even their miniaturized tech—were now their last line of defense.
All they could do now… was prepare.
The moment Groudon and Mewtwo stepped beyond Mt. Chimney, they'd strike.
...
Goldenrod City — Former Team Rocket Base.
Proton stood at the heart of the once-feared Rocket HQ, now overseeing operations from what had become the new central command of Hive.
Ever since Hive fully supplanted Team Rocket, this former S-Class stronghold had been repurposed, with Proton installed as its highest-ranking officer.
And now, with Hive gradually revealing its deeper ties to the League's covert agencies, Proton had undergone a remarkable transformation—from wanted criminal to government official, effectively becoming the administrative head of Hive's largest known facility.
He no longer had to live in the shadows, dodging the pursuit of officers and League investigators. Now, he could appear in broad daylight at the Police Academy, even giving lectures to the next generation of cadets about the inner workings and strategies of criminal organizations—so they might better understand their adversaries.
In what felt like the blink of an eye, former Rocket elites like Archer, Vicious, and Ariana had all fallen, one after another. Proton had been trailing Giovanni in Johto, but since the collapse of the Johto cell, his fate remained unknown.
And yet Proton—once one of their own—had not only survived but emerged cleaner than anyone could have imagined.
Talk about the irony of fate.
Suddenly, his communicator crackled with urgency.
"Alert! Intruder detected in the base!"
An intruder?
"Seal off the base. Initiate a full sweep. Try to capture them alive," Proton ordered immediately, his expression hardening.
This was an S-Class base. No ordinary person could breach its defenses.
Screeeeech—
An ear-splitting grinding noise cut through the room.
The heavy metal door to his command office—reinforced to withstand even explosions—was now being carved open, a man-sized passage taking shape as molten metal sparked away.
With a deafening crash, the sliced doorway collapsed to the floor.
Buzzing wings filled the air as a Beedrill flew in, followed by the imposing figure of a man shrouded in sharp authority.
"Proton. It's been a while."
Proton's pupils contracted as he recognized the voice.
"…Giovanni."
The cold smirk playing at Giovanni's lips only deepened at Proton's stunned expression.
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