Chapter 588: Resonance, the cycle that has been set in motion cannot be stopped
{At the Sky Pillar}
Wally had to stop to catch his breath after moving so much. They were maybe halfway there, and Wally already felt like his legs were killing him. The fact that Pokémon lived here and kept attacking him didn’t make it much better.
But thankfully, thanks to all of Wally’s Pokémon, they were able to fight them off. Gallade was taking a rest, so Wally had actually brought out one that Norman didn’t even expect: a Gabite. Then again, he did hear that Wally had found a Gible during the Mauville incident.
Also, thanks to his new suit, he could breathe normally. If he didn’t have this, he was pretty sure he would be having at least five asthma attacks at once right now. And with his gauntlets, he could use them to launch himself upward with air pressure, which was really useful when half the floors were collapsing.
Meanwhile, Norman was nearby waiting for him. As he stood beside the Flygon, he nodded his head, since he could see just from this how much Wally had changed. With him and his Pokémon, they were getting through this dangerous challenge that most people would have already given up on.
As for why he wasn’t racing up to the top to finish this trial by himself instead of just waiting for Wally to do it, you know full well the answer. Norman couldn’t, since he was part of the original Rayquaza capture mission. Rayquaza would never see him as worthy.
That’s why he needed to rely on Wally. And as he watched him, with his respirator mask still on, Wally was breathing like a wannabe Darth Vader.
Norman walked up to him, and while Wally was petting Gabite, he got his attention, "Wally."
Wally stood up quickly, "Y-yes, Mr. Norman!"
Norman just shook his head and looked out one of the broken walls, "Take off your mask."
Wally was confused, since he was using it to breathe, but he wasn’t out of breath right now, so he decided to listen.
"Okay," he said as he unclasped the respirator.
And when he pulled it down, he took a breath and suddenly felt something, "Oh, I can breathe easier..." he muttered.
Norman nodded, "We are high up. The air up here is much cleaner, and your training has strengthened your lungs." He looked back at him and smirked, "You’re getting stronger."
Wally immediately celebrated by hugging Gabite, but Norman cleared his throat and put on a neutral face again.
"Anyway, you’ll need to fly after this floor, and your Altaria won’t be fast enough, so..."
He pointed behind him to the Flygon, "I want you to have this Flygon. Consider it a gift for you getting stronger."
"Really?! Thank you so much!" Wally bowed.
Norman waved it off, "There’s no need to thank me—"
But before he could finish, they both saw two bright red and blue lights flashing in the distance.
Wally was confused, but Norman immediately narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists.
"Let’s move on to the next step of your training!" Norman said a little too quickly, catching Wally by surprise, but he nodded and decided to follow.
–
Resonance, the cycle that has been set in motion cannot be stopped.
That is the quote that Archie read in the reports he found. He didn’t know what it meant, and frankly, at the time, no one did.
However, when Ash looked through the files he managed to hack from Team Aqua’s base, he found this quote, and while he didn’t immediately know what it meant, he had some theories.
And when he went after Archie and Maxie in the Seafloor Cavern, he did it to confirm what he thought. When he got there and learned from the grunts that they had left not even a minute before, along with all of the other actions that had happened, he began to understand.
How, for some reason, no matter how much preparation Ash did, something would always come in to undo his hard work and push them forward. That’s when he realized what this meant.
You know what Resonance is, so there is no need to explain it too much, but basically, in this case, Resonance is referring to Kyogre and Groudon getting their minds and bodies back. When they get that back, they are going to return to their original selves.
But as for the rest of it, "the cycle that has been set in motion cannot be stopped," that was harder to understand. While there were many ways to interpret this, the one Ash believed was that once they began their plan to revive the legendaries, that became a fixed decision. It is something that happened before and will happen again. No matter how much people in the past or people in the future struggle, it will eventually happen again. That is the nature of a cycle.
Meaning no matter how much Ash struggled, he could not stop the end result, which was for Groudon and Kyogre to awaken and gain their power back. That’s why no matter how much Ash tried to stop this, for some reason, he couldn’t, and why it seemed like Archie and Maxie never appeared in front of him.
However, that does not mean things are hopeless. That just means he can’t stop the cycle. But once the cycle is finished, they won’t have the protection of fate making this a fixed event, meaning Ash can still change the outcome.
That’s mainly why, as soon as Ash found out about this, he didn’t immediately rush to help everyone fighting. There was no point if it meant he couldn’t stop it. Instead, he prepared everything for once the cycle was finished.
And now everything was finished. He could make his move, but first he needed help from one good frendo.
As he stood on a mountain watching the lights shine in the sky, Ash pulled out a certain flute that had been blessed by a certain red Pokémon, and he played it slowly.
It only took a few moments. Then, when he opened his eyes, he saw something cut through the clouds and fly directly toward him, but Ash didn’t move from his spot.
The red blur sped through the sky faster than the speed of sound, coming all the way from Johto to here, and when she got close, Ash could finally see her again, Latias.
But as she flew closer to him, suddenly she began shining and transforming. Then, at the last moment, when she was right in front of him, she transformed into her human form and gave Ash a hug.
"Yay! Ash, you remembered! I thought you forgot about me!" Latias said excitedly.
Ash blinked for a second, "Wait...Latias, you can talk now?"
Latias jumped back and grinned, "Yep! I started practicing with Bianca, and now I can talk. Also, do you like my new form? We practiced a lot for it!"
She did a quick spin as Pikachu and Vee jumped up into her arms, hugging her, and Latias happily hugged them both back.
Ash finally noticed. Oh yeah, she looked different.
Before, she had to copy Bianca to turn human, but her new form, while it still looked like Bianca, had a few differences. Instead of short brown hair, she had long red hair that also resembled Latias’s little ears, and her eyes were bright yellow.
Ash shook his head helplessly, "Right, sorry I didn’t, um...’call’ you earlier," Ash said, looking at the flute.
But he cleared his throat, "But right now, I need your help. See that?"
Ash pointed off into the distance, "Yep, I could feel that all the way from my garden."
Latias crossed her arms and put a finger to her chin, "But Latios told me we shouldn’t get involved. But you know, when I told him I was coming here to visit you, he finally agreed, sooooo~"
She put a finger on her lips, "I can help, just don’t tell him I did~"
Ash snorted as he took Pikachu and Vee out of her arms, "Fine, here’s the plan—"
—
{Back at the battle}
The red and blue light exploded outward across the entire sky.
The ocean beneath Kyogre began violently spiraling, while the land around Groudon cracked apart even farther than before, causing rivers of magma to burst upward from deep underground while gigantic whirlpools formed around Sootopolis City.
Everyone watching felt their hearts sink.
They were still processing the fact that they had basically just watched two people die, and now this.
Maxie and Archie floated above the two Legendaries while laughing unnaturally, their voices almost distorted now. Slowly, everyone began to see that they were starting to look more and more like the Legendaries.
And most of all, their symbols were beginning to glow right in the center of their foreheads, like branding irons.
Now, I have to ask you a question.
Tell me, do you remember in the original Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, where everyone called Archie and Maxie color-blind for not understanding that the Blue Orb goes to Kyogre and the Red Orb goes to Groudon?
Well, what if I told you that was actually the correct way to use them?
You see, both Orbs have enough power to control the Legendaries they correspond to, and also the other one, because the Orbs themselves aren’t just glass balls. Actually, they have half of the power of Groudon and Kyogre sealed inside them.
Yes, that also means that the Groudon and Kyogre everyone spent so much time fighting were only at half power, and even that was too much for them to handle.
Now you see, they both have enough power to control the Legendaries. Simple as that. But that’s when things get interesting.
You see, if the Blue Orb was used to control Groudon and the Red Orb was used for Kyogre, nothing would happen. Their plan would actually succeed. They would gain full control over them.
However, that is not the case.
Now let’s do a little trivia. What happens when two Legendaries finally find the objects that contain the other half of their power, power that was taken away from them back in ancient times?
Will they, 1. Sit there and obey? Or 2. Use their strength to take their power back once and for all?
And I’ll give you a hint: the first one is wrong.
So, with Maxie and Archie using the Orbs so close to them, Groudon and Kyogre began absorbing their power back.
The air around Groudon erupted into blinding sunlight while countless streams of magma burst from the earth and wrapped around its body like armor. Its massive form began changing, ancient glowing lines spreading across its skin while molten energy poured from the cracks. Groudon’s body expanded as magma flowed between its armor plates.
At the same time, Kyogre’s body became surrounded by spiraling water rings glowing with deep blue energy. The ocean itself rose upward around it. Strange glowing symbols spread across its body while the rain intensified into an almost impossible storm.
And with a final flash of light, both of them transformed again for the first time in thousands of years, returning to their Primal forms.
The pressure that exploded outward from them instantly dropped multiple trainers to one knee.
"Gah—!" Brendan hit the ground hard.
May grabbed onto Blaziken to stop herself from falling.
Even Wallace looked shaken.
The two ancient titans stared at one another, then both roared simultaneously.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
A clash of red and blue energy exploded between them before either one even physically moved. The collision alone split apart the ocean near Sootopolis while molten rock exploded into the air like meteors.
"This is insane..." Roxanne whispered.
Then suddenly, Primal Groudon moved first, it slammed one claw into the earth. Hundreds of gigantic lava pillars exploded upward across the battlefield at once.
"MOVE!" Wallace shouted.
Everyone scattered immediately. Winona’s Altaria barely avoided being clipped by one eruption, while Wattson and Manectric dove behind a rock formation moments before it exploded from the heat.
Then, when everyone finally managed to look up while flying through the sky, they saw Maxie and Archie. But they had both suddenly stopped laughing, in fact, they weren’t doing much of anything anymore.
"So much chaos all over Hoenn! And finally you show your face here!" Archie yelled.
However, the voice coming out of his mouth wasn’t his own.
"The only thing left to do now is get rid of you," Maxie also said, and just like Archie, his voice was different.
And everyone immediately understood why. Because Groudon and Kyogre, now that they had their full power back, had turned things around. So now, instead of Archie and Maxie controlling them, they were controlling the duo.
What’s worse, after they transformed, it looked like all of their injuries had completely healed. And just based on the pressure they were giving off, they were now grasping at the edge of EX-rank. So yeah, now things were starting to seem hopeless.
"You should feel honored," Archie spoke.
"You have the privilege to watch a historical moment," Maxie finished.
"None of you better interfere, or we’ll destroy you first," Archie said.
And as soon as he said that, the two Legendaries started approaching each other.
For a moment, everyone watching was too stunned to speak. The situation had become far worse than any of them had imagined, but in this moment, they couldn’t hesitate anymore.
Wallace stepped forward first. His cape whipped violently in the heat and rain as Milotic coiled beside him.
"No," Wallace said calmly.
"This region is our home. These are our people. I refuse to stand by and watch Hoenn burn."
"Yeah!" Brawly shouted, slamming his fist into his palm despite all his injuries, "You giant lizards picked the wrong region to mess with!"
Roxanne nodded as Probopass floated protectively beside her, "Even if the odds are impossible, we still have to try."
Nearby, Winona climbed back onto Altaria while rain poured endlessly around her.
Flannery wiped blood from the corner of her forehead and grinned as she took a bandana and tied it around her head.
Wattson cracked his back with a groan, "Well, ah suppose retirement can wait a little longer."
Even Shelly and Amber stepped forward.
Shelly swallowed nervously, "We helped cause this, so we’re helping fix it."
Tabitha saw Shelly, and Shelly saw him, but now wasn’t the time for reunions. Instead, Tabitha walked up, standing next to her, and beat his chest.
"Same here. I refuse to let you win after everything," he said, while Blaise walked up too.
May took a deep breath beside Blaziken. Her hands still shook a little from fear, and she could feel her heart beating so fast it felt like it was going to burst out of her chest. But then she remembered everything from this journey: how she started and how she got here.
She was scared, but she wasn’t running. She looked up head-on, "We WILL stop you."
Then Brendan stepped forward last and looked up at the monsters towering over them, "Yeah, we’re not letting Hoenn disappear."
Then Wallace raised his hand, "All together!"
At once, every Pokémon that was out charged forward, and anyone who didn’t have a Pokémon out yet released one to join in.
The Legendaries looked more annoyed than anything and decided to deal with this first while continuing their own fight.
Primal Kyogre unleashed a gigantic [Origin Pulse] across the ocean while Primal Groudon slammed both claws into the earth simultaneously.
"MOVE!" Wallace shouted.
Gigantic blue beams tore across the sea, vaporizing entire chunks of coastline, while enormous volcanic eruptions blasted upward beneath everyone’s feet.
Winona’s Mega Altaria darted through the sky, avoiding pillars of magma by inches, "Altaria, [Dragon Pulse]!"
A massive purple blast slammed into Kyogre’s side.
At the same moment, Wallace pointed forward, "[Hydro Pump]!"
Milotic surged forward and fired a blast of water directly toward Groudon. But as the water got close, they all watched it evaporate into steam before it could even reach him.
Wallace’s eyes widened. Then he quickly looked around and noticed it. In the sky above Groudon, the sun was shining down with a harsh intensity, hotter than anything he had ever experienced.
That’s when he realized it, Groudon must be able to evaporate Water-type moves.
But that only gave him an idea.
"[Ice Beam]!"
Milotic changed its plan and fired a bright blue blast. The beam shot through the air and began to melt, but before it could completely evaporate, it still managed to hit Groudon as water.
When everyone saw that, they understood something important. These Pokémon might be strong, but they clearly weren’t at their full power yet. That meant they still had a chance.
"Probopass, [Stone Edge]!"
Huge stone spikes erupted around Groudon’s legs.
"Hariyama, hit it head-on!"
Brawly’s Hariyama charged directly into Primal Groudon’s advancing arm with a deafening impact.
Meanwhile, May called out, "[Thunder Punch]!"
Blaziken shot through the rain and slammed a blazing electric punch into Kyogre’s jaw. But before Kyogre could counterattack, Blaziken once again formed hundreds of clones with [Double Team] that distracted the giant whale while the real one darted in and out, landing repeated [Thunder Punches].
"It moved!" May shouted excitedly.
"Don’t celebrate yet!" Wattson yelled.
Primal Groudon suddenly roared, and magma pillars burst out beneath everyone simultaneously.
"Scatter!" Roxanne warned.
Probopass barely managed to shield Brendan and Aggron from one eruption, while Brawly’s Hariyama physically grabbed Flannery and leaped out of the way of another.
Then Kyogre retaliated.
A gigantic spiraling ring of water formed around its body before exploding outward.
"Incoming!" Shelly shouted in panic.
Multiple blue beams tore across the battlefield. Altaria barely avoided one, while another sliced straight through a mountain behind them.
One nearly hit May before Wattson’s Manectric suddenly tackled both Blaziken and May out of the way at the last second.
The beam obliterated the cliff behind them.
"Thanks!" May breathed.
"Don’t mention it!" Wattson grinned despite sweating heavily.
They continued their assault.
"Hariyama, [Close Combat]!" Brawly commanded.
Hariyama charged straight at Groudon again while Aggron slammed into its side simultaneously.
"Probopass, pin its legs!"
Massive stone pillars erupted around Groudon’s feet.
At the same time, Flannery pointed forward.
"Torkoal, [Solar Beam]!"
A massive golden beam slammed into Kyogre’s side while Winona followed up immediately.
"Altaria, [Dragon Pulse]!"
The combined assault actually forced Kyogre backward several feet through the ocean.
Then the Admins were about to join in and support everyone, but right as Tabitha was about to give his first command, he froze. His body suddenly twitched violently.
Shelly blinked, "Tabitha?"
The side of his face suddenly darkened with glowing blue markings. Then everyone saw it, a glowing Alpha symbol was beginning to form on his forehead.
"Oh no..." Blaise whispered.
Tabitha grabbed his own head violently, "GET OUT OF MY—!"
Then suddenly he stopped resisting, his pupils vanished, and a feral growl escaped his throat. Everyone immediately stepped backward.
"Tabitha?" Shelly asked carefully.
Tabitha suddenly lunged forward like an animal, but before he could tackle Shelly, Blaise grabbed him from behind and locked both arms around him, "TABITHA!"
Tabitha thrashed violently, trying to break free.
"What’s going on with you?!"
But then Amber remembered something. Back when they were down below, Tabitha had touched the Blue Orb. Even if it was only for a moment, if Kyogre was doing that to Archie, then it meant Tabitha must also be possessed.
"Guys, he touched the Blue Orb before, so Kyogre is controlling him," Amber revealed.
Blaise clicked his tongue, "Everyone keep fighting. I’ll try and snap him out of this."
"Wait, but—" Shelly was about to argue, but Blaise cut her off.
"Don’t worry about me. I’ll join in as soon as Tabitha stops acting like an animal, literally."
Everyone nodded and kept up their Fire-type attacks on the Legendaries. Right now, their first priority was getting them away from Sootopolis City, and since that was what they were focusing on, they were starting to push the Legendaries closer to the sea.
But, of course, as for damage, it was almost nonexistent.
Just as the two were about to retaliate, they all heard the sound of a ship’s whistle.
Everyone turned and saw ships in the distance quickly approaching, and they immediately recognized them.
"THE ELITE FOUR!" Brendan shouted.
Sidney stood at the front of one ship, grinning wildly, "YO! Sorry we’re late!"
"But we’ll make up for it!" Phoebe said as she immediately released multiple Ghost Pokémon onto the battlefield.
Glacia’s Walrein and Froslass emerged beside her, "Ohohohoho, shall we begin, everyone?"
And Drake stood calmly at the very front of the ship.
But next to him were two figures that May and Brendan recognized.
"GREEN?!" May blinked.
"And Gary?!" Brendan added.
"You didn’t think we’d sit this out, right?" Green waved at them as they got closer.
Gary adjusted his jacket while immediately releasing Blastoise, "Let’s skip the reunion. We’ve got giant problems."
Drake pointed forward, "All units, attack!"
Immediately, the Elite Four joined the battle.
Sidney’s Absol and Shiftry rushed Groudon, Phoebe’s Dusclops created barriers to redirect Origin Pulse attacks, and Glacia instantly supported Wallace by freezing entire sections of the ocean solid.
Things were starting to ease up a little, but right now that still wasn’t enough to take on these two Legendaries at once.
But then another ship appeared behind them, and standing at the front of it, waving both arms wildly, was their good friend Brock.
"BROCK!" May shouted happily.
"WE BROUGHT BACKUP!" Brock yelled.
Behind him stood the Frontier Brains: Anabel, Tucker, Lucy, Greta, Noland, Spenser, and Brandon.
At the same time, everyone heard the sound of a helicopter. They looked up, and in the sky was a black helicopter. As the side door opened, everyone saw Steven Stone, and one extra guy no one recognized, Alain.
Steven smirked. He gave Alain a nod before stepping back and beginning to free-fall from the helicopter.
Alain’s eye twitched, but he sighed and jumped off as well, letting the pilot fly away.
As they fell, Steven released his Metagross and Alain his Charizard. Both were caught and immediately took flight.
Steven flew closer to the group and called out, "Sorry we’re late. We needed to pick some things up," he said, holding three Poké Balls between his fingers.
"Better late than never," Wallace said, looking relieved.
Steven nodded, then looked toward the ship carrying the Frontier Brains and locked eyes with Brandon. Of course, he knew about Brandon and how he possessed another trio of Legendary giants, but Brandon’s were different from the ones Steven had gone to retrieve.
Steven and Brandon seemed to have an understanding. Maybe it was because they both had a trio of Legendary giants, or maybe because, in this moment devoid of hope, they were doing everything they could to survive.
Brandon stepped forward on his ship, which was still a bit too far away to effectively send out a Pokémon and join the battle. But with a glance back, Spenser released Crobat.
Crobat grabbed Brandon by the back of his coat before launching high into the sky at incredible speed.
Brandon came flying over the so-called battlefield, and without saying a word, he pulled out 3 Pokéballs and threw them, "Go."
As the Poké Balls fell, they opened, and from them emerged Regirock, Regice, and Registeel. The three giants fell like meteors.
Regirock and Registeel went after Groudon, slamming into the Legendary as they fell and driving him back toward the ocean. However, he didn’t fall in. The intense magma and heat pouring off his body rapidly created new land beneath him, giving Groudon somewhere to land, but at least it pushed him farther away from the town.
Regice did the same to Kyogre, crashing into the Legendary and sending it flying into the ocean and away from the city.
Once the two were away from the town, Steven made his move. He threw three Poké Balls into the air, and from them emerged his own Regirock, Regice, and Registeel.
But instead of going on the offensive, the three Regis spread out around where the battle would take place. Then they slammed their hands together, and what looked like a transparent dome expanded outward, covering the entire battlefield.
Groudon and Kyogre quickly recovered and stood back up, roaring as they unleashed another devastating shockwave. Everyone inside the dome could feel the force of it, but when the energy reached the barrier, it couldn’t escape. Instead, it was absorbed.
That’s right. What made Steven’s Regi trio different from Brandon’s was that, while they weren’t as strong, they could absorb energy. That gave them the most important job of all: protecting the rest of Hoenn and its people while everyone else fought without holding back.
Everyone took a moment to realize what Steven had just done, but before they could say anything, Steven looked back and called out, "Everyone! This is our chance to go all out!"
Everyone who could began pulling out a Keystone, and as dozens of them appeared across the battlefield, the ones May and Brendan carried began glowing as well, catching them by surprise.
Meanwhile, as the ship got close enough, Gary jumped off and landed beside May and Brendan. Tugging on the necklace that held his Keystone, he smirked, "Alright then, let’s get serious."
Green jumped down as well, brandishing the Keystone embedded in her earring, "Okay, let’s take care of all of this before Ashy gets here~"
Wattson laughed loudly, "Well now, this is excitin’!"
"Looks like it’s time," Drake said calmly as Salamence stepped forward.
Steven raised his hand and pressed his Mega Stickpin, "Mega Evolution!"
Brilliant rainbow-colored energy exploded across the battlefield simultaneously. Steven’s Metagross transformed first, its metallic limbs expanding outward as Mega Metagross emerged with glowing red eyes.
Beside him, Alain thrust his fist forward, "Charizard!"
Blue flames erupted skyward as Mega Charizard X roared into existence.
"Mega Evolve," Drake commanded as he pressed his Keystone.
Salamence became engulfed in swirling energy before Mega Salamence burst through the light with its massive crescent-shaped wings.
Green grinned wildly, "Venusaur, let’s do this!"
She released Venusaur and immediately activated her Keystone, transforming it into Mega Venusaur.
Gary pressed his necklace, "Blastoise!"
The cannons on Blastoise’s shell expanded outward as Mega Blastoise roared.
Wattson slammed both fists together, "Manectric!"
Lightning exploded across the battlefield as Mega Manectric appeared.
And when the ship carrying the Frontier Brains finally docked, Brock jumped off, threw out Tyranitar, and Mega Evolved it immediately.
At the same time, the Frontier Brains spread out across the battlefield to join the others, while Brandon was finally lowered back down from the sky.
Anabel ran forward as well, her eyes scanning the area as if she were looking for something. When she didn’t see it, she clicked her tongue slightly but said nothing as she pulled out her Keystone.
Alakazam teleported in front of her, "Mega Evolve," she said, pressing the stone.
Her partner transformed into Mega Alakazam.
The others didn’t have Keystones, either because they weren’t experienced enough to receive one from the League yet, like Roxanne or Flannery, or because they had simply never gone out of their way to get one, like Brawly or even Wallace.
Still, that didn’t mean the rest of them weren’t going to fight. Power-up or not, they were joining the battle.
As everyone prepared themselves, May looked down at her Keystone.
She had never actually Mega Evolved before. She really should have asked Ash to add this to her training.
But then she remembered how Ash had entrusted her to help out, not sit on the sidelines and do nothing.
Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself and pulled out Blaziken’s Mega Stone before quickly tossing it to her partner, who caught it easily.
"Okay, I can do this," May muttered.
Even Winona gave her a thumbs-up, silently encouraging her to go for it.
May swallowed nervously. Then she clenched her fist, "Blaziken...Mega Evolve!" She pressed her Keystone.
Fiery energy suddenly erupted around Blaziken. Flames exploded upward into the sky before Mega Blaziken finally emerged.
May stared in shock for half a second before grinning widely, "We did it!"
Mega Blaziken crossed her arms coolly, looking away while maintaining a proud pose.
Nearby, Brendan laughed loudly, "Well, I’m not getting left behind!"
He quickly threw out Swampert.
Grabbing his Keystone, he shouted, "Swampert, Mega Evolve!"
Water spiraled upward around Swampert before Mega Swampert crashed heavily onto the battlefield.
Brendan pumped his fist, "THAT’S AWESOME!"
Wallace smiled softly as he watched the younger trainers.
Then he turned back toward the two Legendaries, "Everyone!"
No one needed more than that. Every available trainer and Pokémon charged forward. Now that they could finally go all out, the final push had begun.
This was it, they were putting everything on the line.
Meanwhile, you may be wondering what happened to the command Archie and Maxie gave before they were controlled, the one where they ordered their remaining grunts to destroy Hoenn.
Well, the grunts Ash had already gathered went out and convinced their friends at the various bases not to follow their former bosses.
As for the zealots who decided to carry out the order anyway, Ash had also instructed the grunts he saved to fight back against them.
And what’s also nice is that some totally random people joined the battle and started fighting against the Team Magma and Team Aqua grunts.
These other guys definitely weren’t members of Team Rocket who had come to help protect Hoenn.
What are you talking about? You’re crazy if you think that.
He even noticed a certain trio helping out with a boat, but that’s a different story.
As for Ash, you might be wondering why, after supposedly having everything ready, he still hadn’t arrived to help fight.
Where was he? Well, right now he was above the clouds, riding on Latias’s back. And he was up there because he needed to land a sneak attack.
If Groudon and Kyogre spotted him, they wouldn’t leave themselves open again. So Ash effectively had one shot.
Once Ash saw how the situation had developed, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what appeared to be an ordinary rock, it was actually a fragment of the meteorite.
Ash had shaved off another piece earlier since he didn’t need the entire thing, just a single fragment was enough
As for why the meteorite was so important and valuable, so valuable that Juan had agreed to Ash’s plan the moment he saw it, the answer was simple.
The meteorite was special, it could absorb natural energy. Which also meant Ash could use it to knock the Orbs right out of Archie and Maxie.
Yes, Ash’s target wasn’t Groudon or Kyogre. It was Archie and Maxie, who were still floating in the air.
Ironically enough, Groudon and Kyogre seemed to be using them like Pokémon, forcing them to fight. But that was perfect.
Ash nodded at Latias, and she immediately began diving. As they plummeted through the clouds, Ash activated his Victory Sight, making everything seem slower and giving him the chance to aim.
Beside him were Pikachu and Vee, both equipped with Zoom Lenses and waiting for Ash’s command.
Ash positioned the meteorite shard between his fingers and held his hand out. Then he poured Aura into both his fingers and the shard.
He only had one shot. If he missed, they would never leave themselves open again. Taking one final breath, Ash flicked his finger, the shard shot forward like a railgun round.
It traveled so fast that in less than a second it appeared directly between Archie and Maxie.
To Ash, time seemed to slow even further. He reached his hand out and snapped his fingers, "Jackpot."
Pikachu and Vee unleashed a duo [Thunderbolt]
The twin bolts of electricity tore through the air, and just as Archie and Maxie noticed them, just as everyone below saw the streaks of lightning, they struck the meteorite shard. The shard split cleanly in two.
Both fragments shot outward and struck Archie and Maxie directly in the forehead. After all, that was where the Orbs moved to
The instant the fragments connected, an explosion of white light erupted across the sky. Everyone shielded their eyes.
When the light finally faded, Archie and Maxie were falling from the air towards the water, both unconscious. The strange markings covering their bodies were gone.
And there was no one in the sky
At first, nobody understood what had happened. Then they realized something even more shocking.
May and Brendan were gone as well along with their Pokémon. There wasn’t a single clue as to where any of them had disappeared to.
But there was no time to look for them as much as they would like to, Groudon and Kyogre were still rampaging. So, despite the confusion, everyone had no choice but to keep fighting.
