Facing Rayquaza, the Camerupt stationed beside Maxie to protect the Trainer clawed the ground uneasily, scorching white steam blasting from its nostrils.
"ROAR!", In Groudon's crimson eyes, aside from the burning ancient rage, there was also a trace of instinctive fear.
It roared as its forelimbs slammed into the earth, flames gathering in its mouth.
But Rayquaza was far too fast. Before the eruption had fully formed, the black dragon's shadow was already upon it.
Carrying the terrifying might of Dragon Ascent, it lashed brutally against the side of Groudon's massive body.
BOOM!
A deafening crash like a mountain shattering exploded outward. Groudon let out a terrifying muffled roar as its huge body was whipped sideways.
Its vermilion armor instantly filled with spiderweb-like cracks, molten magma seeping out from within.
With the "Sky Dominator" trait in effect, even though Rayquaza wasn't using a Flying-type move, it could still deal massive damage to Groudon, which couldn't fly.
Combined with fully stacked Dragon Dance, Rayquaza's attack power had reached an utterly horrifying level. This casual strike could already be called a finishing blow.
"Kyogre, use Origin Pulse! Stop Rayquaza!"
Seeing Groudon, its companion, be so utterly helpless before Rayquaza, Archie was terrified to his core.
Because his Kyogre was on the same level as Maxie's Groudon. If Rayquaza could crush Maxie, it could crush him too.
He knew that Shiny Pokémon were generally a bit stronger than others of the same species, but he never imagined that this black Rayquaza would be this much stronger than the green one they had faced before.
One hit, heavily injuring Groudon.
'Is this thing even real?'
Kyogre let out a long, furious cry. The blue spots on its back lit up instantly, condensing several terrifying energy beams powerful enough to pierce the ocean, firing them at Rayquaza as it pursued Groudon.
Rayquaza twisted flexibly through the air, as if ignoring the laws of physics, easily dodging most of the Origin Pulses.
Only one beam grazed its jet-black scales, leaving a scorched mark, but it failed to cause any real hindrance.
"ROAR!", The dragon's roar rang out again as violent winds surged around Rayquaza.
Flying-type energy continued to gather. Exploding blue light points, carrying an aura of total destruction, instantly formed into a massive storm that swallowed up the Groudon that had just managed to steady itself.
Within the radiance of Mother's Mercy, Groudon's enormous body was completely submerged. All that could be heard were its agonized roars and the sound of the storm skill slicing into its body.
The surrounding seas were also affected by the terrifying tempest. Enormous waves, hundreds of meters high, rose unnaturally, yet crashed from inland back toward the deep sea.
Under the influence of these monstrous waves, Maxie couldn't see any trace of Groudon's condition at all.
Kyogre hurriedly controlled the power of the sea, forcing the towering waves to fall, preventing Groudon from being assaulted by seawater and suffering secondary damage.
"ROAR!", Groudon seemed to go completely mad, roaring furiously at Rayquaza in the sky.
It couldn't understand why every single time, every single Rayquaza that appeared, always hit it first.
'Do they really think Groudon is easy to bully?'
At the peak of its rage, rumbling thunder sounded from Groudon's chest. Flames burst from its mouth, and even its nostrils spewed thick smoke.
But just as it was about to unleash its charged attack, terrified voices suddenly rang out from beside it.
"Damn it, no wonder Lysandre crashed and burned. Aside from the Pokémon in our hands, there really are plenty of other dangers in this world."
"This Rayquaza in front of us is something we simply can't contend with!"
As Archie spoke, his back was already drenched in cold sweat, soaking through the back of his "R" uniform. He fully understood now that fighting head-on meant only death.
"Archie, we're running!", Maxie reacted instantly, practically shouting the words.
Under Rayquaza's overwhelming offensive, their greed for power was shattered in an instant.
A completely dumbfounded Groudon hadn't even had time to unleash its fully charged strike when a Poké Ball slammed into its body, turning it into a red beam of light, leaving behind only its unwilling roar.
It swore to the heavens that as soon as it got out of the ball, it would tear apart the very first living thing it laid eyes on.
'Anything!'
Archie also reacted quickly. He slammed a hand down on the back of his Sharpedo.
"Use Water Jet at maximum power to distract Rayquaza! Kyogre, take us and use Dive!"
Sharpedo roared as high-pressure water blasted from its tail, shooting toward Rayquaza like a cannonball.
Though the power wasn't enough to pose a threat, it was sufficient to draw Rayquaza's attention for a brief moment.
At the same time, Kyogre's massive body erupted with astonishing Water-type energy. With a violent flick of its tail, its huge fin whipped up towering waves that slammed viciously toward Rayquaza.
Simultaneously, the seawater around its body surged violently, forming a gigantic, rapidly spinning vortex cavity.
["Trying to run?",] Cold light flashed in Rayquaza's dark-golden eyes. It easily dodged Sharpedo's Water Jet and the massive wave raised by Kyogre, then opened its huge jaws and blasted a terrifying Dragon Pulse at the sinking Kyogre.
"Camerupt, use Protect! Block it!"
Maxie screamed himself hoarse. With their other two Pokémon caught in move cooldowns, this was their only hope!
Bang!
The Dragon Pulse instantly shattered Protect and smashed into Kyogre's broad back. While it cost Kyogre a huge amount of stamina, it also further accelerated its descent into the depths.
Kyogre's massive body carried everyone down into the rapidly spinning deep-sea vortex. The seawater quickly closed in, leaving behind only a huge, slowly calming swell and countless bubbling eddies.
Rayquaza watched their disappearance indifferently. In its eyes, no matter how well these guys could run, how far could they possibly go?
Besides, Rayquaza had actually held back just now, because Axel had said the plan was to use Kyogre and Groudon to lure out Aether Paradise.
As for the matter of Groudon daring to lose its temper at him...
Rayquaza decided that when these guys showed up again, it would just beat them up one more time.
Thinking that, Rayquaza pulled out the communicator Axel had equipped it with and replied to the message from Rotom.
[Almost there. Ran into Kyogre, Groudon, and Archie and Maxie on the way, so it delayed me a bit.]
[But according to your plan, I didn't capture them directly.]
On the other side of Hoenn, Axel stared at the message from Rayquaza on Rotom, completely dumbfounded.
'If Rayquaza ran into Archie and Maxie, then who the hell were the ones I just sent down into the Seafloor Cavern?'
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