Miraculously, Monsu Island remained intact.
Groudon lay on its back, face bruised and swollen, staring blankly at the sky. Compared to its earlier ferocity, it now looked almost… lost.
Ah… why was I fighting again? (゜-゜)
Lugia's Aeroblast had been like a bucket of ice water, instantly sobering the titan—even though Flying-type moves held no advantage over it.
On the sea, the belly-up Kyogre was undergoing similar introspection. The giant Dragonite's full-power Thunder had cleared some of the fever from its brain. With its external brain Archie now unconscious, Kyogre's intelligence had regressed to its natural level. Feeling the thin natural energy and its own even hungrier body, the not-particularly-bright Kyogre suddenly realized something.
What had they been fighting for—risking Rayquaza's wrath—just to seize both orbs and Primal Reversion? With natural energy this sparse, Primal Reversion was pointless. And now they had taken a beating for nothing. Not worth it.
Kyogre's instincts were simple: things were either "worth it" or "not worth it." Fighting while incidentally gorging on natural energy? Worth it. Getting beaten and gaining nothing? Not worth it. The poison had mostly left its system; injuries remained, but Kyogre silently rolled upright. Belly-up was undignified for the ocean's creator.
On Monsu Island, Lucas expressionlessly bound the electrically paralyzed Maxie. The Blue Orb rested beneath Terapagos like a ball; the little one's balance was impeccable. Lugia folded its wings and landed, unconcerned about a sneak attack. Groudon could not recover quickly enough after expending so much energy right after waking—especially not while sustaining damage from the lingering Aeroblast.
"Rooooar——"
Groudon sat up with a weak growl. Lucas noticed it exchanging glances with Kyogre out at sea, as though signaling: I'm tired. Truce today? Otherwise they would just get separated and beaten again. Better to wait for the next natural-energy surge before reminding these humans of divine majesty.
Kyogre did not answer immediately. It looked at Lugia instead. Lugia nodded helplessly and sent a telepathic signal. Only then did Kyogre relax, nod back to Groudon, glance once more at the giant Dragonite and giant Tentacruel, and dive, swimming away.
Time to go home and sleep.
"What did you tell it?" Lucas asked.
Lugia replied via telepathy: "It said It won't sneak into its waters and eat its natural energy while it sleeps."
Lucas held back laughter for several seconds. "…Still quite possessive of its territory."
"Meow-ow!" Luxray—fresh from electro-therapy duty—nodded in agreement. It had seen rare cases of house Pokémon losing their homes over food disputes while roaming human cities. For a being of Kyogre's caliber, territoriality was hardly surprising—nor was its apparent lack of intellect.
Kyogre gone, Groudon rose. Its gaze lingered first on Lugia, then Terapagos, then Lucas for a long moment. Finally it narrowed its eyes. It might look simple, but it knew exactly who was responsible for Lugia's dominance. This human… I'll remember you.
Groudon turned and lumbered toward the now-dormant volcano on Monsu Island. Thanks to the ready-made crater, it needed no long journey—only a short descent into the magma channels it had once carved across Hoenn, leading straight back to Mt. Chimney.
As Groudon's colossal form vanished into the volcano, the disaster that had nearly engulfed all of Hoenn came to a temporary close.
"Temporary," because several more major events still awaited the long-suffering Hoenn region. Lucas knew Groudon and Kyogre's displayed power was merely the tip of the iceberg. Primal Reversion would elevate them to god-like status.
Soon the relay team that had held back the two super-ancient Pokémon gathered once more on Monsu Island. Lance, with his prodigious strength, single-handedly carried the burly Archie and unceremoniously dumped him beside the still-recovering Maxie. No cushioning—Archie grunted on impact.
"Team Aqua and Team Magma's submarines are gone. They probably abandoned these two and fled early."
Lance paused, recalling Team Aqua's Shelly and Team Magma's Courtney trying to approach their orb-fused leaders. "No—more likely they're still lurking, waiting for a chance to rescue them."
Steven nodded. "They can't have gone far. I've already alerted the arriving Elite Four and Gym Leaders to begin the search."
Everyone had been prepared to sacrifice themselves to protect Hoenn. Now that the immediate threat had passed, cleanup and prevention were priorities. Hoenn would soon launch a full-scale purge of both organizations and their high-level collaborators.
Steven's gaze turned icy as it fell on the panting, newly conscious Archie.
"I believe you and your subordinates will soon face justice."
Archie—pale, soaked-looking—managed a bitter smile. "Whether you believe me or not, Champion, I must state this: today Maxie and I were merely conducting a transaction. The escape of the two super-ancient Pokémon was completely unexpected."
"You're saying someone else interfered?" the injured Wallace asked weakly.
"Possibly." Archie shrugged. A certain figure flashed through his mind—the one who had captured Team Magma's undercover agent Courtney while Team Aqua's captured Shelly claimed someone inside Aqua had leaked information. But with current intel he could not identify the mastermind.
Lucas's eyes flickered with suspicion as well. If the escape had been outside both organizations' plans, someone had released Groudon and Kyogre. It certainly wasn't Team Rocket's trio tailing Ash's group.
Setting the question aside for now, Lucas interrupted. "So what do we do with these two orbs? I don't want them."
He pointed at the stacked orbs beneath Terapagos. Strictly speaking they were his spoils, but he had zero interest in collecting them. Their mere existence would attract endless thieves and evil organizations. Using them as table legs felt excessive—they were too perfectly round anyway. And the notion that their aura might let Pokémon learn Groudon's or Kyogre's signature moves was idealistic at best. Without the titans' direct assistance, teaching Swampert Precipice Blades or Origin Pulse was basically impossible. Besides, Swampert had already flattened Hoenn's Rayquaza without those moves.
Archie and the recovering Maxie glared daggers at him. After all the effort they had spent obtaining the orbs, Lucas looked disgusted?!
Steven remained silent and looked to Wallace. As a native of the Sootopolitan, Wallace held more authority here. Glancing at the two captives, Wallace said quietly, "When Phoebe arrives we can hand them to her."
Phoebe—Hoenn's Ghost-type Elite Four and the group's acknowledged genius girl—would take permanent station at Mt. Pyre once the orbs were returned. Her grandparents had been the orbs' guardians in name only. After this incident the League would implement unprecedented security. Lucas volunteering to return the orbs visibly relieved both leaders; they had been too embarrassed to ask.
Steven and Wallace exchanged glances. Beyond reporting to the League, they clearly intended personal compensation and thanks for Lucas.
Once most matters were settled, conversation among those waiting for reinforcements turned lighter. Steven's eyes gleamed as he stared at Terapagos in Lucas's arms.
"When Lugia unleashed its final attack, what exactly happened?"
From his distant vantage he had seen only Lucas raise the mysterious crystal, after which Terapagos blazed with synchronized light. Lugia had then crystallized entirely, a gorgeous crystal crown appearing on its head. That transformation had given the finishing blow enough power to drop the long-struggling Groudon. Even from afar Steven had felt the air trembling.
Now he wanted the full story.
Under Steven's eager gaze, Terapagos said nothing—it simply dove into Lucas's satchel and refused to emerge. According to Lugia (who had temporarily withdrawn with the giant Dragonite and giant Tentacruel to avoid other humans), Terapagos had gone all-out because it viewed Groudon and Kyogre as the culprits behind the recent cataclysm that had nearly wiped out its species. In its logic, heavy rain plus violent earth-shaking equaled the extinction-level disaster its kind had just survived. How could it not give everything?
But afterward Terapagos was still Terapagos. Socially anxious by nature, it chose to hide from Steven's enthusiastic "attack," even if it meant delivering a critical hit to the champion who so badly wanted to befriend it.
Lucas watched the exchange and suddenly wondered what face Steven would make upon meeting Diancie—especially a Terastalized Diancie. Hiss… I wonder if this stone-lover can handle it.
The whimsical thought didn't stop him from giving Steven a brief explanation of Paldea's unique Terastal phenomenon. Unfortunately, both the Tera Orb and Terapagos had nearly burned out supporting Lugia's Terastallize, and Victini had exhausted itself aiding the giant Dragonite. Lucas could not demonstrate Terastal up close right now.
In the end Steven simply clutched the Tera Orb, silently vowing to finish cleaning up this mess before departing for Paldea to explore its natural beauty—and, most importantly, the raw Terastal crystal mines. Even though Lucas had said Terapagos could gift him one if he wished, Steven wanted to dig his own.
Lucas let him have his obsession. According to the timeline, Steven wouldn't be free for long anyway. By the time he finished all follow-up work, months would have passed. Ash would already be traveling in Sinnoh or Unova, and the champion title would have switched back to Steven from Wallace. Digging stones in Paldea after resuming championship duties would be nearly impossible.
…