"Steven, even though I am a member of Team Rocket, I still have human rights, right?"
Damian smiled. He looked very innocent.
"Even if you are the Hoenn Champion, you cannot say bad things about me, right? I have been here with you the whole time. What did I do?"
"You!!"
Steven usually had good control over his feelings. But now, he really wanted to run forward and punch the man in front of him.
He was very worried and had no hope.
"Calm down, Champion Steven. Do not act without thinking."
Leon and Giovanni quickly caught Steven to stop him.
Then, Zinnia flew over on her Mega Salamence. She saw Steven like this. She was not angry anymore because she was being ignored. Instead, she started to watch the scene with interest.
"Champion Steven, what happened?" Cynthia asked in a quiet and confused voice.
Steven was breathing fast. He was trying very hard to stay calm.
"The rain... a big storm is going across more than half of the Hoenn region. It is still growing. I think it will cover all of Hoenn in ten minutes."
Steven spoke with a deep and sad voice. He sounded very serious.
Giovanni, Leon, and Cynthia heard this. They were all very surprised.
"The rain is too strong. Sootopolis City is starting to flood. In Lilycove City... the water level is going up fast. If this continues, the sea will cover the city."
"And then there is Fortree City..."
There was silence.
The only sound was the rain falling.
Leon and Cynthia were shocked when they heard this.
This...
Now it made sense why Steven was upset. Many cities were in danger. Also, the people living there had not left yet!
If this did not stop, they would lose more than just some cities.
"Damian, did you do this?!"
Giovanni was now very angry.
"How could you put all those good people in danger?!"
"Do not shout. Also, I do not know what you are talking about," Damian said. He did not care about Giovanni's angry face.
"Primordial Sea! You said the Primordial Sea, right? Primal Kyogre brought this rain!" Leon said strongly.
"The Primordial Sea caused it. So what?"
Damian smiled. He looked very happy.
But that smile made Steven and the others feel afraid.
"You can still smile! Damian! Do you know what you are doing?"
Giovanni was shaking with anger.
"Why are you like this? Do you not care about others at all?"
"I am sorry, but I do not have a good heart. I do not care about people I do not know," Damian said.
"You..." Steven bit his lip.
How can there be such a bad person in the world?!!
"Also, you do not understand something."
Damian stopped Steven's thinking. He looked at the group and smiled a little.
"Were you not the ones who came here to fight me?"
Silence.
The rain fell...
The only sound on the island was the strong rain.
There was also a sound from the sea nearby.
Glug, glug, glug, glug—
The Pokémon that cannot fly felt very full. Its stomach was big. That bad fish! Ahhhh!!
I cannot drink more water. Let me out!!
On the island, Leon and the others were quiet. Steven's face was white.
"If you did not want to fight me, Kyogre would not have changed its form. Without that form, the Primordial Sea would not be here."
Damian smiled at the group to make them feel stupid.
The rain did not stop. At first, Steven did not care, but now he felt cold.
"You thought Primal Kyogre was just strong. You did not think about why people call Kyogre the 'Origin of the Sea.'"
Damian's voice was cold as he spoke in the rain.
"When the Black Rayquaza used Delta Stream in LaRousse City, did you forget what happened?"
Those words made Cynthia and the others think of the strong winds. It looked like the end of the world.
Was that really the power of Mega Rayquaza?!!
Cynthia looked at the rain and looked worried.
"I said you were smart before, right? I said finding Groudon was a good idea. But now, I must say something else: you are all very stupid. Hahaha."
Damian laughed loudly, but the four of them had nothing to say.
They could not argue. The fight had just started, but the Hoenn region was already filling with water. Even if they won against Damian, it would not matter if the sea covered the land.
They could not let that happen.
"You feel it now, right? How long do you think it will take for the Primordial Sea to cover the Hoenn region?"
Damian kept talking to make them feel bad.
"I will give you some good news too. You should be happy that I took the Red Orb."
"If Groudon had changed its form, its ability would be Desolate Land. It is as strong as the Primordial Sea. That power can dry up all of Hoenn."
"If it fought Primal Kyogre, how long would it take to find a winner? And then, think about how long it would take for Desolate Land and Primordial Sea to destroy Hoenn together?"
Leon and the others were shocked. They looked at the sea.
The waves were big. They could see something red moving in the water.
It looked a little funny, but Leon could not laugh.
Damian was right. If Groudon was in its Primal form, the Desolate Land would have dried up the region.
"This..."
Leon looked very upset. They made a mistake.
They only thought about how strong Primal Kyogre was. They did not think about the damage to the world.
But was it their fault? This was the first time they fought legendary Pokémon like these.
Still, Leon felt bad. If they studied Primal Kyogre more, they might have stopped this.
"It is all my fault..."
Steven held his hands tight. He looked down and spoke with a dry voice.
Cold rain fell from his hair. He felt very sad.
He only wanted to make Team Rocket leave Hoenn fast. He chose to find Groudon and use it against Kyogre.
Now, it was his fault.
Yes, he was okay with losing one city if it meant stopping Team Rocket.
But it was only one city before. Now, the Primordial Sea covered the whole region. If it continued, the sea might cover everything.
Steven could not accept this.
"Champion Steven..."
Leon and Cynthia looked at the sad Steven. He made the final choice, but they also said yes. They thought the plan was good.
"Zinnia, you go now."
Damian was very happy. He took some photos of Steven and the others.
"Alright."
Zinnia was sad she could not stay, but she had work to do.
She touched Mega Salamence. The Pokémon flew away fast into the rain.
Giovanni and the others saw Zinnia leave. But they were too tired to care.
Giovanni took a deep breath. His voice was softer now.
"Damian, this is a fight between us. I hope you will not hurt other people."
He was clearly giving up.
Leon and Cynthia were quiet. They had to try to make peace. They had no other choice.
Some cities were already flooded. If the Primordial Sea continued, all of Hoenn would be in trouble.
"Oh?" Damian looked at them with interest.
"I do not understand very well, Steven. Can you explain? What does Giovanni mean by those words?"
Damian smiled. His bad smile in the rain made him look like a monster.
He did not feel bad. Steven and the others started the trouble.
Damian just wanted to work hard to build Team Rocket.
But these people came here. They shouted about stopping Team Rocket and fighting for justice. He could not stop them!
He was only protecting himself.
"Damian, what I mean is..." Giovanni tried to speak.
"Shh~"
Damian told Giovanni to be quiet.
"I was not asking you, Father. I want Steven to explain it to me." Damian's smile looked dangerous.
"Damian! Do not be too—"
Giovanni spoke quietly. But Steven stopped him.
"I will do it, Leader Giovanni. This is my responsibility."
Steven took a deep breath. He tried to be strong. He looked at Damian.
"Damian, I am very sorry. I was wrong. Please forgive me."
Steven bowed to Damian. Giovanni, Leon, and Cynthia watched him quietly.
"You are smart, Steven. You can change when things are different. You are an important person."
Damian made a sound. Steven did not wait to bow.
"I will tell the Officer Jennys to leave now. We will let the Team Rocket members go. Damian, please tell Kyogre to stop the rain."
Steven's face was very white. He never thought he would have to ask a bad group for peace.
"Since Champion Steven is being honest, I think it is possible."
Damian nodded. He was happy. He was not going to let the Primordial Sea stay forever.
Damian did not care about people, but sinking Hoenn was a bad thing to do. He did not want to destroy the world.
It was not necessary.
He wanted to show Steven and the others how strong Primal Kyogre was.
It worked well, right?
The damage from the rain was not Damian's fault. Steven and the others wanted to fight.
"Thank you." Steven felt better when he heard this.
Damian was bad, but he kept his promises. This was a good thing about him. He was like this before too.
But Steven was still sad. The plan failed. They lost a lot. Steven felt he failed Hoenn. He thought about leaving his job.
"Kyogre, hmm?"
Damian looked at Primal Kyogre. The big fish had enough fun now, right?
But then Damian stopped moving.
Something big and red was in the sea. It was Groudon.
Groudon's stomach was very big. It looked like a pregnant woman.
Groudon really looked like that!
It was floating on the sea. How much water did Primal Kyogre put into its stomach?
Groudon rolled its eyes. Some water came out of its mouth. It was too full of sea water.
"Glug... I really... cannot fit more..."
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