Chapter 227: Kyogre: What Do You Mean Groudon Is Flying Toward Me?!

The scene changed.

Somewhere in an uninhabited stretch of ocean in the Hoenn region.

The sky was clear and cloudless, and the ocean was as calm as a vast blue mirror.

Kyogre was floating belly-up on the surface, its two enormous fins spread wide like an oversized waterbed drifting across the sea.

It had been lying like this for three whole hours.

Every now and then, it lazily slapped the water with its tail, sending droplets into the air that refracted into tiny rainbows beneath the sunlight.

A Wingull happened to fly overhead.

The moment it saw the enormous creature floating below, it was so startled that it nearly forgot how to flap its wings.

Kyogre narrowed its eyes in contentment and let out an extremely satisfied rumble from deep in its throat.

Translated into human language, it roughly meant—

This is the life.

Just then a golden ring suddenly tore open in the sky.

Kyogre curiously opened one eye.

The ring grew larger and larger, expanding from a tiny point into a massive halo dozens of meters across.

"Wooo?" (Hoopa?)

Kyogre tilted its head.

"Wooo wooo?" (What’s it up to this time? Last time it summoned me onto a mountaintop and didn’t even make the ring big enough, so I got stuck halfway through and couldn’t get out.)

Kyogre started wondering to itself.

Could Elaria have come to visit again?

It wasn’t particularly happy about Elaria calling it the "Chubby Fish" but the kid was admittedly pretty cute.

Besides, Kyogre had nothing better to do than sunbathe all day anyway.

A visit would at least help pass the time.

With that thought, Kyogre lazily pulled itself upright on the surface and swished its tail.

It even deliberately adjusted its posture, preparing an expression that was supposed to look "majestic yet benevolent."

It was the God of the Sea, after all.

There was still a certain amount of dignity it needed to maintain.

The ring fully opened.

Kyogre had just raised one fin, preparing to wave toward it—

When, in the very next second—

An enormous crimson figure came flying out of the ring.

It traced an extremely scientifically questionable arc through the sky before rapidly beginning to fall.

Hm?

What’s that?

Kyogre immediately activated the incredible dynamic vision it had developed over tens of thousands of years and successfully made out the figure’s shape.

Crimson scales.

Two short legs flailing wildly in midair.

And a face distorted slightly by the sheer speed of its descent.

Hiss... Those features...

That kind of looks like Groudon.

Kyogre must not have fully woken up yet.

How could Groudon possibly be flying through the sky?

Wait.

Is Groudon flying toward me?!

Kyogre finally realized what was happening.

But it was already too late.

Like a crimson meteor, Groudon tore across the Hoenn sky—

Straight toward Kyogre.

The final thought that flashed through Kyogre’s mind was—

I really shouldn’t have come out to sunbathe today.

BOOOOOOM——!!!

The instant they collided, the entire surrounding sea shook.

Kyogre was smashed nearly thirty meters beneath the surface by Groudon.

A wall of seawater dozens of meters high exploded upward.

The shock wave sent every Alomomola within several kilometers flying through the air.

The Alomomola traced perfectly neat arcs through the sky—

Then came splashing back into the ocean one after another like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Several of them even landed directly on Wingull that had also been blasted into the air.

Feathers and fish scales went flying everywhere.

Before the spray had even settled—

A pair of incredibly chaotic roars erupted from beneath the ocean.

"WOOOOOOOO——!!!" (GROUDON, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! I JUST FINISHED POLISHING MY SCALES!! YOU OWE ME NEW SCALES!!!)

Groudon immediately roared back, refusing to be outdone.

"ROAR!" (You think I wanted to land on your face?! You fat-headed fish who does nothing but soak in the water!)

"WOOOOOO——!!!" (YOU STILL HAVE THE NERVE TO CALL ME FAT?! WHEN YOU LANDED ON ME JUST NOW, YOU ALMOST SQUASHED ME INTO A FISH CAKE!!!)

The next second—

The ocean surface split apart.

Groudon created a rocky platform and climbed up out of the water.

"Roooar~" (I hate water.)

"Wooo~" (If you hate water, then why did you crash into the ocean?!)

Kyogre surfaced as well, holding its still-dizzy head with one fin.

"ROAR ROAR!" (Hoopa screwed me over! It said it would let me experience what flying feels like! I figured I’d never flown before, so I might as well try it once! Then it threw me out of the sky! HOW IS THAT FLYING?!!!)

The golden ring was still open above the ocean.

Hoopa poked half its head through, holding the enormous black camera and continuously filming everything below.

"Recording, recording!"

"Hoopa is calling this one The God of the Land’s First Flight: A Documentary Record!"

"We can use it as documentary footage for Elaria later!"

Elaria reached over and lightly bonked Hoopa on the head.

"Honestly, Hoopa. There’s a limit to how much you can mess around!"

[VIP Chat Group]

[Sidney]: Hahahahahaha! So when Hoopa said it would let Groudon fly, it meant throwing Groudon straight down from thousands of meters in the air?!

[Steven]: Well, answer me this—did Groudon leave the ground or not?

[Winona]: ...We Flying-type Trainers refuse to recognize this as a legitimate method of flight.

[Falkner]: Exactly! What kind of flying is that supposed to be? Groudon seriously got scammed by Hoopa.

[Lana]: Isn’t Kyogre the one who had it worse? It was peacefully sunbathing, and then Groudon suddenly dropped out of the sky and smashed it underwater.

[Max]: Do you think Hoopa has secretly held a grudge ever since Kyogre splashed water all over its face last time, so this time it deliberately aimed Groudon at Kyogre?

[May]: Hoopa... wouldn’t go that far, right?

[Flint]: Was it intentional or an accident?

[Volkner]: Intentional. Because in my opinion, unless you include the landing, you haven’t experienced the complete process of flying.

[Cynthia]: Pfft...

[Lucian]: You two really know how to cause trouble...

The video continued playing.

A golden ring opened above the rocky platform Groudon had created.

Hoopa flew out and rubbed its little hands together.

"Good friend! So, how did flying feel?"

"Hoopa even specially picked a soft landing spot for you!"

"Look how soft Kyogre’s head is! Wasn’t that way more comfortable than smashing straight into the ground?"

Kyogre immediately let out an indignant roar.

"WOOO!" (Comfortable, my ass! Did you ever stop to think about how I felt?!)

Two streams of scorching steam blasted from Groudon’s nostrils.

"ROAR!" (I only used your fat head as a seat for a second. Do you really have to be that petty?)

"Wooo~" (Petty?! Then why don’t you let me sit on you?!)

Kyogre angrily slapped its tail against the water.

Another wave dozens of meters high immediately rose from the sea.

Hoopa excitedly pulled out the camera again.

"Fight, fight!"

"Hoopa’s ready!"

"On one side, the God of the Land!"

"On the other, the God of the Sea!"

"This destined battle spanning hundreds of millions of years will finally——Ow!"

Elaria grabbed Hoopa and pulled it back into her arms.

Her voice was soft, but her tone was completely serious.

"Mr. Groudon, Mr. Kyogre, I’m sorry. Hoopa was being too mischievous and caused trouble for both of you."

Hoopa’s head was being held down, but it still struggled to raise one little hand.

"Hoopa was only trying to help Elaria collect movie footage..."

Groudon turned its head away.

The tip of its tail lightly tapped against the rock a couple of times, making it very obvious that it was still in a bad mood.

Kyogre also rubbed the top of its head where Groudon had landed with one fin, letting out a gloomy little rumble.

"Wooo..."

Seeing this, Elaria reached into her pocket and took out a small box.

The moment she opened the lid—

An incredibly gentle rainbow-colored light spilled out.

"This is a meteorite fragment Daddy gave me."

Elaria held the box out toward them.

"He said it contains Creation Energy. It can speed up the recovery of injuries and increase your maximum energy."

"Can I give this to you as an apology?"

...

TL: Winona my beloved.