Chapter 286: The God of the Sea is Awakened
Will ran to a large rock and pressed both flippers against it.
He was going to replicate Sir Aaron's move from a thousand years ago!
With Mew's boost and the Tree of Beginning's transmission, he would spread his Aura energy outward, calming all the nearby Water-type Pokémon and stopping their destructive behavior.
VMMMM~
Brilliant blue energy radiated from the rock in all directions.
Any Pokémon touched by the energy gradually calmed down and stopped attacking the buildings.
But they didn't leave.
Manaphy's ability was still influencing them.
Before long, they would be infected by Manaphy's inner rage again, resonate with it, and resume their attack on Alto Mare.
"Will, a thousand years ago, Sir Aaron died from exhausting his Aura," the Tree of Beginning's voice came through the crystal, warning Will.
"Don't worry, I don't need to go that far." Will shook his head.
Sir Aaron had faced an army of tens of thousands of Pokémon from the Dragonite Kingdom and the Sinnoh nation.
Here, there were at most a few hundred Water Pokémon around Alto Mare.
He just needed to keep them calm for a while.
As for those coming later...
Maybe he could find Manaphy's egg before then.
"Be careful. I will watch over you. If necessary..."
Before the Tree of Beginning could finish, Will removed his hands from the crystal.
Every second counted.
He didn't have time to listen to the rest. He dove into the canal of Alto Mare, heading deeper into the city.
'Everyone's Aura is different. The Aura of a group of villains should be as bright as stars.'
Will used Extreme Speed to move rapidly underwater.
At the same time, he strained his senses to perceive the Aura of every human within range.
If that group entered his sensory range... even for a split second... Will would find them immediately.
The problem was, Alto Mare wasn't small. Even at full speed, it would take him at least fifteen minutes to circle it.
He wasn't worried that Lorelei and the others couldn't hold out for 15 minutes.
He was worried about how many Water Pokémon Manaphy would summon in those 15 minutes to besiege Alto Mare.
Mooooo~
A melodious yet furious cry echoed.
Will's heart palpitated.
He searched for the source of the sound, finally fixing his gaze on the seabed.
"...No way."
Will muttered.
Although he hadn't heard it before, a sound that could travel this far underwater...
It seemed only the "Fat Fish" (Kyogre) could make it.
Alto Mare was close to the Johto seas, but still technically within the Hoenn region's waters, and there were many underwater caverns.
It seemed Kyogre's lair might actually be nearby.
And it looked like the commotion caused by Manaphy and the others had woken it up.
If this continued...
It might turn into a three-way brawl.
"Are the heavens determined to destroy Alto Mare?"
Will sped up as much as he could.
With the addition of a First-Tier Legendary (Restricted Legendary), the nature of the battle changed completely.
It was a war where natural disasters were the weapons.
And now, this battlefield was Alto Mare.
Just as Will was getting a headache...
"Found them!"
His eyes suddenly lit up.
A blob of pitch-black Aura, radiating intense malice, entered his perception.
And in the center of this blob, a faint, fearful little Aura flickered.
Will was certain.
This was the pirate crew and Phione (egg)!
SPLASH!
Liquidation.
BOOM!
Will burst out of the canal, water wrapping around him as he smashed through the large iron door of a warehouse.
A group of burly, shirtless, bearded men looked at the door, dumbfounded.
"Still staring? I'm here to collect you."
Will grinned.
He raised a flipper, and a swirling Water Pulse appeared in his hand.
"Run!"
One of the men, wearing a captain's hat and holding the egg, reacted first. He shouted and turned to run.
He dared to steal Manaphy's child; he wasn't stupid enough to miss the danger here.
"Boss, it's just a Piplup?" one henchman asked, confused.
"You idiot! Have you ever seen a Piplup smash through a meter-thick iron door with its head?! That's Lorelei's Ace!"
Smack!
The pirate captain shoved the stupid henchman aside, running and shouting over his shoulder, "Send out all your Pokémon to stop him!"
Instantly, thirty or forty Water-type Pokémon appeared.
"Heh."
Will sneered and casually tossed the water ball.
BOOM!
The small water ball, barely ten centimeters in diameter, exploded upon hitting the ground, unleashing what seemed like an endless torrent.
The Lv. 30-40 minion Pokémon were knocked out instantly.
The pirates and their captain were swept into the canal by the wave.
Will dove into the water right after them.
He saw the pirate captain summoning a Sharpedo, seemingly planning to ride it to escape.
Will flashed behind them instantly.
Two kicks.
Two clouds of blood bloomed in the water.
Will, expression unchanging, grabbed the Pokémon egg and turned back toward Alto Mare's harbor.
As for the pirates swept away by the turbulent canal?
They could pray for luck.
Although the method was a bit ruthless and violated League laws...
No one saw it, right?
Besides.
He was just a pure, harmless Piplup.
He just wanted to retrieve Manaphy's egg and save everyone in Alto Mare from disaster.
People wouldn't blame him; they would praise him.
Surely no one would sympathize with a group of pirates who stole someone's child, causing Manaphy to attack and waking up Kyogre to join the fray?
The currents in the canal grew more violent.
Even Will started to feel resistance moving forward.
"Has Kyogre arrived?"
Will hugged the egg containing Phione tightly and sped up.
Sure enough.
When Will returned to Lorelei's side, the scene had changed.
After eating an Origin Pulse from Kyogre...
Manaphy seemed to have regained some sanity.
Now, there was a trend of Manaphy joining forces with the Eon Duo to resist the Fat Fish.
"Manaphy, look here!"
Thanks to Kyogre...
Manaphy seemed to hear Will.
It turned its head, saw the egg in Will's arms, and immediately pounced.
To avoid being attacked, Will had to throw the egg high toward Manaphy.
Manaphy caught the egg, inspected it carefully, and caressed it.
Will saw Manaphy's Aura stabilizing, but it was still stuck at a certain line.
"The leader of the group who stole your egg is dead. The remaining minions fell into the water; it's hard to say how many will survive."
After thinking for a moment, Will added this sentence.
Only then did Manaphy turn to look at Will.
It bowed to him, as if saying thanks.
"You won't leave this mess and run back to Samiya alone, will you?"
Will pointed at the big fish head floating on the sea nearby.
"...Maaa."
Manaphy looked at Kyogre intently, then called out to the distant Fat Fish.
"Maaaa~"
Will interpreted it as Manaphy apologizing to Kyogre for waking it up.
But the effect seemed poor.
Among the many Legendary Pokémon...
The Hoenn Weather Trio (Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza) and the Sinnoh Creation Trio (Dialga, Palkia, Giratina) had the worst tempers, regardless of their combat power.
Dialga chased Palkia to Alamos Town just because Palkia passed through its territory.
Giratina wanted to chew on Dialga because Dialga's ability messed up its dimension.
Groudon and Kyogre... well, they had fought countless times over ancient natural energy.
Manaphy's actions just now...
Were equivalent to playing with a big knife in front of Guan Yu's house, then accidentally chopping Guan Yu's door and waking him up.
If it were the real Guan Yu, maybe he'd forgive Manaphy.
But Kyogre wasn't.
It was the "God of the Sea," the No. 1 in the ocean.
Gods of currents, princes of the sea, Eon Pokémon... they all had to step aside in the ocean.
Right now, Kyogre clearly had "waking up on the wrong side of the bed" rage.
And it was big rage.
"Lios?"
Latios looked at Will.
Asking what to do, and if Will could use Aura to calm Kyogre.
Will wanted to say, "You overestimate me."
He had struggled enough calming the two Eon Pokémon. How could he calm a furious First-Tier Legendary?
Remember, Latios and Latias were known as Pokémon who "disliked fighting and were very gentle."
If Will could barely calm them when they went berserk...
How could he calm a naturally ill-tempered god?
Forget the distance.
Even if he ran into the Fat Fish's stomach, it probably wouldn't work.
This was the limitation of Aura Power.
Jack of all trades, master of none.
In this situation, only the power of Cheering (or Heart Swap/Voice of the Forest/etc., specifically referring to the ability from the movie Arceus and the Jewel of Life to connect hearts) might work.
"Lias?"
Latias flew to Will's side.
"If we stall for time, maybe we can win with Manaphy's ability. But... Alto Mare is still finished."
Will wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead.
This was why he said the heavens wanted to destroy Alto Mare.
Solving Manaphy's problem wasn't enough.
A bigger problem had appeared.
They could fight.
Champion-level combatants included him, Metagross, Lapras, Latios, Latias, and Manaphy. The latter three weren't ordinary Pokémon.
And Manaphy could constantly summon Water Pokémon to help.
If a thousand couldn't beat Kyogre... could ten thousand? A hundred thousand?
How many Water Pokémon were in this ocean?
But the problem was... by then, Alto Mare would be history.
"Maaa!"
Manaphy's expression set. It looked around.
Seemingly looking for a target.
Its gaze moved from the Eon Duo, then assessed Will.
"What are you doing?"
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