Ho-Oh, shrouded in the ashen-white masses that had animated from the surrounding buildings, clearly hadn't expected such resistance. With a shrill cry, it flared a sacred, rainbow-hued aura that blasted the gray matter clinging to its body into fragments.
It was just about to take flight when a golden beam, fired from the ∞ Energy weapon, lashed through the sky again, slamming into its radiant barrier and hurling it back to the ground.
The ashen-white monsters it had shaken off surged toward it once more, like a relentless tide.
A flash of ruthless resolve passed through Ho-Oh's eyes. Every feather on its body ignited in brilliant, searing white flames.
Then, centered on its form, those flames erupted outward, radiating in every direction like a detonation of divine wrath.
This was its full-power Sacred Fire, a move meant to purge the entire city from existence in one strike.
Just as the inferno began to sweep outward, a rift tore open in the sky above, a spatial wormhole, and from it, a beam of bluish-white light lanced downward, piercing through Ho-Oh's sacred blaze and striking squarely between its wings.
Sheer Cold.
The release of Sacred Fire was violently cut off, and the spreading flames died out in an instant.
With a cry of pain, Ho-Oh beat its wings, but failed to rise. Instead, it burst forward in a trail of crimson-gold light—
Brave Bird, the most powerful Flying-type move.
In a blink, the beam of light tore through Vermilion City, annihilating every obstacle in its path with impossible speed, faster than the eye could follow. Were it not for the trail it left behind, it might have gone unseen altogether.
Though not a Dragon-type, the devastating Ice-type move had inflicted serious damage. Ho-Oh had no choice but to retreat.
Meanwhile, multiple major cities came under simultaneous assault: Viridian City in Kanto, Mandarin Island in the Orange Archipelago, Goldenrod City and Olivine City in Johto, Slateport City and Mauville City in Hoenn, Veilstone City and Hearthome City in Sinnoh.
These were the most economically vital and populous cities in their respective regions.
Some were razed. Others repelled their invaders. But across the board, the damage was severe.
"Heh… the League still thinks like it's the old world," Lucius chuckled as he sensed the situation unfolding across the globe.
Just looking at the Unova strike targets made it clear, they still didn't understand the New Empire. They were treating it like a conventional nation, trying to inflict damage by crippling key economic centers.
But what they failed to realize was that, in a society where the entire population was infected, economics no longer held dominion, only the will of the virus's source did.
Cities could be rebuilt. The virus would persist.
"Should we pursue?" Lance asked.
"Pursue Ho-Oh, Lugia, and Yveltal," Lucius ordered.
Though Unova had deployed its full roster of mythic Pokémon, Groudon overseeing operations from within the region, it was these three ancient beings bearing the Primal Gene that Lucius had deemed highest priority.
Ho-Oh had been repelled from Vermilion, but Lugia had already devastated Goldenrod, and Yveltal was currently laying siege to Veilstone.
Following Lucius' command, Mega Rayquaza, Black Rayquaza, and Kyogre immediately moved to intercept Ho-Oh over the Kanto Sea.
Xerneas, Zygarde, and Dawn Wings Necrozma moved to engage Yveltal.
Lucius himself tore through subspace to intercept Lugia directly.
A shimmer of warped spacetime announced his arrival, he emerged just as Lugia soared from the smoking ruins of Goldenrod.
"We meet again," Lucius said with a smile.
"Indeed," Lugia replied grimly. "Only a virus could smile after watching so many cities fall."
"Striking first was bold," Lucius said, shaking his head. "But you made a mistake."
"Oh? And what mistake would that be?" Lugia narrowed its eyes. While the strike targets had been chosen by Charles Goodshow, Lugia had agreed with the plan.
"You should've all attacked together. Did it never occur to you I'd take you down one by one?"
Lugia burst into laughter. "Our numbers surpass yours. With so many of us, none of us fights alone."
Even before the words finished, the space beside Lugia rippled like disturbed water. A vortex opened, and from it floated a colossal, ominous silhouette—
Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon.
The three gods of space, time, and antimatter could traverse dimensions freely, appearing wherever and whenever needed to support their allies.
From the battles Lucius was tracking, Palkia and Dialga had already arrived on their respective fronts. Both sides had formed 2-vs-3 standoffs.
But when dealing with mythic Pokémon wielding near-limitless powers, a true victory was rare unless overwhelming force was applied.
With Dialga and Palkia backing them, Ho-Oh and Yveltal could easily escape through wormholes if needed.
"You really think that's enough?" Lucius smiled faintly. "Your fear of humanity is justified. They've developed technology capable of overturning even the power of myth."
Lugia's expression shifted. Something was wrong. It sensed… something overlooked.
Below the surface of the Kanto Sea, directly beneath the clash between Ho-Oh, Palkia, and the two Rayquazas, a submarine surfaced beside Kyogre.
Both Ho-Oh and Palkia saw it, but dismissed it. What could a mere human submarine possibly do?
Electricity crackled. A thick golden bolt fired from the submarine's top, arcing into the sky, where it exploded into countless smaller bolts that scattered outward like lightning fractals.
"Not good," Palkia muttered. Its violet crystal pulsed, twisting the space around it as it began to open a wormhole.
But Kyogre was faster. A Thunderbolt lashed into the forming rift, disrupting the flow of subspace and collapsing the portal.
That moment of delay was all it took. The scattered electrical arcs curved back down and re-entered the submarine.
In a flash, the surrounding hundred-mile radius lit up with a vast electric grid, an energy cage.
The electrical field scrambled dimensional currents. Until the grid was broken, Palkia could no longer open any wormholes.
Ho-Oh and Palkia exchanged glances.
They had no choice now: a direct confrontation was inevitable.
A similar scenario played out on Yveltal's front.
It mirrored the technique Anabel once used at sea to trap Lucius, her Metagross deploying an electric net to block teleportation.
But these submarines operated on a much grander scale. Co-developed by Devon Corporation, Stern's Shipyard, and Greater Mauville Holdings, they each served a critical role: Stern's Shipyard constructed the submarine hulls, Devon provided ∞ Energy cores, and Greater Mauville Holdings manufactured the electric grid weapon systems.
Only through this tri-corporate collaboration had they created strategic submarines capable of nullifying spatial travel.
"You came too," Lucius said as he gazed upon Giratina, now fully manifested in the material world, its form subtly altered by its passage.
Giratina didn't respond.
It had just realized—
It could no longer sense Dialga or Palkia.
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