"Looks like Zinnia and Steven‑sensei are going at it pretty hard."
On the nearest island, Damian glanced over at the distant battlefield where Mega Salamence and Mega Metagross were clashing.
You could tell both Zinnia and Steven were giving it everything they had.
But with their level of strength, deciding a winner quickly wasn't going to be easy.
"Champion Steven will definitely defeat Zinnia!" Giovanni said gravely.
"Damian, even if you command Primal Kyogre and Mewtwo, that doesn't change one basic fact—Team Rocket is an evil organization."
"It has no right to exist. The world does not accept it. We of the Pokémon League will wipe Team Rocket out."
Giovanni's deep, magnetic voice rang with righteous conviction, like he was the very agent of justice itself.
Leon and Cynthia both nodded in agreement. Gym Leader Giovanni was right.
"Evil this, evil that. My ears are getting calluses over here."
Damian let out a derisive chuckle.
"You lot really love slapping the 'justice enforcers' label on yourselves, huh. How noble. Still, let me give you a piece of advice."
He stepped on a shadow, and with a creepy 'keh‑keh‑keh' laugh, a Shiny Gengar slowly rose up from the darkness.
"Don't go spouting big talk so casually. All it does is show how weak you really are."
At that, Giovanni and the other two all darkened.
Big talk?
Like hell they were the ones doing that. Who was actually running his mouth here?
"At the end of the day, you guys are kind of hilarious. All you do is talk in circles. You really think you can beat me?"
Damian's grin stretched, two fingers now holding a beautiful gemstone.
"Even without Kyogre, you still wouldn't be able to win."
"Gengar."
The Key Stone on his person flashed brilliantly. Shiny Gengar flashed a wicked grin at the three opponents as seven‑colored evolutionary light wrapped around it.
In the blink of an eye, the glow faded. Shiny Mega Gengar crouched with its forearms braced on the ground, eerie black eyes staring them down.
"Careful. That Gengar was Damian's first Pokémon. Its strength is insane." Giovanni murmured to Leon and Cynthia.
They both nodded. They knew.
"Mewtwo."
Armored Mewtwo stepped forward, the deep purple flames in its eyes beginning to "burn" brighter.
"The sooner we bring Damian down, the better. Groudon probably can't hold out much longer."
Giovanni's gaze flicked toward the raging waves offshore, where he could just barely make out that red behemoth rolling and thrashing under the surface, Groudon's furious roars echoing faintly.
But without question, Groudon was already on the back foot.
He hadn't expected this much of a gap. Sure, Damian had said the Orbs were vitally important to both Groudon and Kyogre…
But he hadn't imagined the difference between Primal and non‑Primal would be this huge.
The two super‑ancient legends that should've been evenly matched were now in a completely one‑sided beatdown.
It was absurd.
"Yeah. All in."
Leon's face hardened, and he attacked without hesitation.
"Charizard! Fire Blast!"
Even in a downpour, Leon opted to lead with his Charizard's best element—Fire.
After all, neither Armored Mewtwo nor Mega Gengar had any resistance to Fire‑type moves.
And Leon's Charizard was very good at Fire.
But what happened next was… not what anyone expected.
Mega Charizard X opened its jaws and gathered blazing flames—then spat out a roaring Fire Blast.
Only for the flames to visibly weaken the moment they left its mouth, and then get snuffed out by the rain entirely.
Mega Charizard X, who'd spent a lifetime of war at Leon's side, stared blankly at the empty air where its flames had vanished.
Where'd my fire go?
"?!" Leon's pupils constricted.
"This…"
Cynthia and Giovanni both went pale with shock.
"Hahahaha～" Damian almost doubled over laughing.
Leon's expression turned grim as he looked up into the deluge above.
It had to be this rain—but how?
He wasn't arrogant enough to think his Charizard was the strongest in the world, but it was absolutely one of the strongest out there.
And its true specialty, its strongest suit, was Fire‑type offense.
Leon knew better than anyone how his Charizard's fire behaved. Sure, in rain, Fire‑type power would drop—that was basic.
But having Fire Blast literally extinguished on cast?
That was a first.
This was his Mega Charizard X's Fire Blast, for crying out loud.
"Ara ara～ Looks like I forgot to mention something."
Damian smiled lazily at the three of them.
"Primal Kyogre's Ability is called Primordial Sea. It's far stronger than standard rain."
His tone was easy, almost conversational.
"Primordial Sea can't be overridden by ordinary weather. As long as it's active, no Fire‑type attacks can be used. Period."
His grin curled higher. This was the rule of Primordial Sea.
Leon, Giovanni, and Cynthia all stiffened.
Nullifying all Fire‑type attacks? There was a weather that busted?
"Wait—back in LaRousse City, Primal Kyogre's Primordial Sea never activated. It—"
Cynthia suddenly caught the inconsistency. Kyogre had gone Primal back in LaRousse too.
But midway through her sentence, her eyes widened as the realization hit.
"So you do have a brain, Cynthia." Damian shrugged. "The reason Primordial Sea didn't trigger in LaRousse was because of Shiny Rayquaza's Delta Stream."
As expected. It was because of that Shiny Rayquaza…
Cynthia's brows drew tight.
"Delta Stream is a top‑tier weather ability, every bit as strong as Primordial Sea. And Kyogre isn't as strong as Shiny Rayquaza, so it couldn't assert its own weather over it."
Damian sounded calm.
Everyone had seen how terrifying Shiny Rayquaza was. Losing the weather tug‑of‑war to that wasn't exactly something Primal Kyogre needed to be ashamed of.
"But today, there's no Rayquaza here to mess with Primordial Sea. Which means it can keep going… forever."
His voice took on a faintly meaningful edge.
Leon and the others clearly didn't yet grasp what "forever" really meant in this context.
"Even without Fire‑type moves, we can still fight!"
Leon took a deep breath. Losing Fire definitely limited Mega Charizard X—but hardly made it useless.
"Charizard! Dragon Rush!"
Roar!!
With a savage cry, Mega Charizard X shot into the sky, Dragon‑type energy condensing into a feral dragon silhouette around it as it dived straight for Armored Mewtwo.
Dragon‑type Dragon Rush.
"Pin Missile!" Giovanni ordered instantly.
Mega Beedrill's wings buzzed as five needle‑tips flared white.
Bug‑type Pin Missile.
A storm of dazzling Pin Missile beams tore through the air, raining down over Armored Mewtwo and Mega Gengar in a dense barrage.
With Adaptability boosting it, Mega Beedrill's Pin Missile hit hard.
Armored Mewtwo raised one arm as a deep purple psychic barrier surged into existence.
Pin Missile landed first—striking the psychic wall like a torrential downpour of bullets, pounding it relentlessly.
Boom boom boom!!
The rolling detonations boomed in their ears, but every cloud of smoke was instantly beaten flat by the downpour.
The psychic flames in Armored Mewtwo's eyes flickered madly as the barrier shook. Under the relentless Pin Missile barrage, it grew more and more unstable.
After three full waves of Pin Missile, Mega Charizard X's Dragon Rush finally crashed in, slamming into the barrier.
Deep purple and light blue dragon energy met head‑on, the spectral dragon tearing at the psychic wall in a soundless roar.
Armored Mewtwo poured more power into the barrier, trying to reinforce the cracks webbing through it—but it wasn't enough.
Crack—
With a sound like shattering glass, Dragon Rush punched through the psychic wall.
Armored Mewtwo's eyes went cold. Psychic power condensed around its right palm as it braced against the onrushing dragon.
Mega Charizard X roared, earth‑shaking, muscles straining as its raw force drove Armored Mewtwo back step by step.
Boom!!
With a final thunderous impact, Mega Charizard X was blown backward by the counterforce, tumbling through the air. Armored Mewtwo slid several yards across the ground before it finally dug in and stopped.
It straightened slowly, glancing down at the damage on its right hand, psychic flames still flickering in its eyes.
"Well?"
Damian smiled at it.
"They're strong. In this armor, I can't beat them."
Armored Mewtwo's telepathic voice came out rough and calm.
"Of course. They're some of the strongest Trainers in this world."
Damian looked at Mega Beedrill and Mega Charizard X—Giovanni and Leon's ace partners.
"Interesting. Then I'll fight them seriously."
Armored Mewtwo raised its hands and stripped away its limiter armor. Solid, deep purple psychic energy flared around it like an aura.
Leon and Giovanni both tensed at once.
Cynthia's Mega Garchomp, meanwhile, still faced off with Mega Gengar. Mega Gengar for its part was completely relaxed; it even wanted to pull little cakes and soda out of the shadows and happily watch Shadow Mewtwo fight the other two.
As for Groudon…
Glub glub glub～
...
On Steven's side, he was still locked in battle with Zinnia.
Her strength was honestly beyond what he'd expected. Even with his ace Metagross, he only held a slight advantage.
And that was all.
His Aggron, on the other hand, was being thoroughly suppressed by her Naganadel.
There was nothing for it—Aggron was simply too heavy and slow.
Her Naganadel, an Ultra Beast from Alola, was freakishly fast with brutal Special Attack.
Aggron couldn't land a hit and just kept eating beams.
Steven knew he couldn't rush this.
But—
Beep‑beep‑beep…
He tried to ignore it, but the vibration in his pocket just wouldn't stop. With a frown, he finally pulled the phone out.
It was from Jenny's commander.
Steven answered—and by the time he finished listening, he was completely stunned.
"You dare get distracted while fighting me?"
Zinnia bristled as she watched him take a call mid‑battle, anger flaring at being so blatantly underestimated.
"Wait, Zinnia—I have something I have to do."
Steven could no longer afford to keep fighting. He quickly released Skarmory and leapt onto its back.
Leaving Mega Metagross to cover the retreat, he sent Skarmory hurtling toward Leon and the others' battlefield.
He knew this meant Mega Metagross would be chased hard by Zinnia's Mega Salamence and Naganadel—but he had no choice.
"Hn?"
Damian looked toward the direction Skarmory was coming from.
"Damian!!"
Skarmory landed beside the other three. Steven's voice shook with anger.
Giovanni and the others all stared. Steven was normally calm and composed, but right now he was clearly more anxious and furious than they'd ever seen him. Something serious had happened.
"Looks like someone's in a bad mood. Steven‑sensei, something wrong?"
Damian spread his hands, face all innocence.
"Damian! You know exactly what's wrong. What did you do?!"
Steven forced his emotions down with an effort and shouted up at him.
Officer Jenny had just called with an emergency alert—
Two‑thirds of Hoenn was currently under an unprecedented downpour.
Especially Lilycove City, Fortree City, and Sootopolis City, the first three to be hit.
The drainage systems in those cities were already failing.
Sootopolis in particular—
A city famous for its waterworks, its channels and waterways one of its defining features—
Was on the verge of drowning. The standing water in its streets had already reached an adult's knees.
At this rate…
Sootopolis City was going to turn straight into Venice, Italy.
~~~
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