It was clear that the battle between Rope and Arceus was about to begin. And even the prelude to this battle was enough to overwhelm many Pokémon.
Hoopa watched as the Pokémon gathered around the defensive barrier he had set up began to tremble one by one, and some even fainted outright. He couldn't help but sigh in exasperation.
You're so weak, why are you even here watching the big shots fight? Isn't this just asking for trouble?
Hoopa helplessly opened a teleportation gate and used Confusion to throw the fainted or incapacitated Pokémon into the gate.
On the other side of the gate, at the research institute, the researchers looked at the fainted Pokémon being thrown over and were equally confused.
Professor Hoopa? What happened?
However, since Hoopa had thrown them over, they simply accepted the Pokémon. Those willing to leave were released, while those unwilling to leave were kept behind. Whether it was for simple research or breeding the next generation of Pokémon, it was a good choice.
It was also a good thing for the Pokémon.
After all, aside from those Pokémon who longed for freedom, few Pokémon could resist the temptation of being taken care of.
After all, research institutes are different from trainers. Research institutes don't form unbreakable bonds with Pokémon. If they eventually felt unhappy, they could simply leave.
Trainers are different. Trainers value their Pokémon, and Pokémon cherish their trainers. For them, they are family.
So deciding to abandon each other is a choice they find hard to make.
Of course, this refers to most trainers. Every group has its share of scoundrels. Trainers may be a minority profession, but their numbers are still significant. So it's understandable that there are more bad apples.
Hoopa doesn't have the heart to worry about the future of the Pokémon he sent away. He did intentionally open the facility at the research institute. But at the end of the day, it was out of good intentions. If he had just opened the door randomly, throwing a Fire-type Pokémon into water would be fine. But throwing a Grass-type Pokémon into fire would be a grave sin.
In theory, the original Hoopa shouldn't care about such trivial matters. After all, the lives of these ants have nothing to do with the Super Demon God.
If these ants can use their lives to please the great Super Demon God, then that is an honor for them.
However, due to Rope's teachings and the fists and flames, Hoopa now holds life in awe.
Especially after meeting Al.
After all, facing a boss who could crush you with a single flick of the wrist, and experiencing the feeling that your life depends entirely on someone else's mood, Hoopa has become much gentler.
After all, as the saying goes, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But sometimes, you have to experience it yourself to truly understand.
"Rope... be careful..."
Hoopa gazed into the depths of the barrier. His vision and perception were excellent, allowing him to sense the tension between Rope and Arceus.
"If you're going to fight, you have to act now! Otherwise, once he gathers all his Plates back, you might not have much of a chance."
A hint of anxiety finally crept onto Hoopa's face.
But he certainly didn't say he was going to join Rope in battle or anything like that.
It's not that he can't help at all. Even if he underestimates Hoopa, Rope wouldn't be so foolish as to think Hoopa can't help. After all, Hoopa is still a deity under Arceus' command. In a sense, the first legitimate divine position Rope obtained after coming to this world was also granted by Arceus.
But now the two of them are about to face off again.
Rope looked at the llama before him, his face betraying a hint of resignation: "Why won't you help me?"
"Just as you refuse to help me."
Arceus certainly doesn't pamper Rope. His arrogant attitude was already cured by Al's brutal beating, and from what he's observed, Rope's arrogance is only just beginning.
So he believed Rope also needed a beating to cure his bad habits, so that Rope could obediently assist him in dealing with Al.
Rope didn't know what Arceus was thinking, but he knew...
"There's no room for compromise now." Rope looked at Arceus seriously, "Even if I have to force you today, I must have you help me."
As he spoke, flames began to surge from Rope's body, quickly forming a set of armor that looked quite impressive.
Rope didn't bring any Pokémon this time, as he knew forcing them to help would be putting them in a difficult position. He had already decided to handle it himself.
Arceus, however, was satisfied with the aura emanating from Rope and nodded, saying, "With such strength, you indeed deserve to be invited."
Rope rolled his eyes in exasperation.
The arrogance of the gods seemed ingrained in this creature's very bones.
As the saying goes, "Old habits die hard," and this was no exception.
Rope didn't waste any more words with Arceus. For him, the battle had already begun, so there was no need to dwell on trivial matters.
As long as he won, everything would be fine. If he lost, there would be nothing to say.
The principle of "the victor takes all" was something Rope had seen countless times in history and understood well.
Arceus seemed to understand this principle as well. After all, he was the ultimate old fox.
A bright yellow light gathered before him, quickly forming into a light sphere, which then transformed into a beam of light and shot directly toward Rope, who was not far away.
Rope knew he couldn't take that head-on. After all, the tiny wind blades Arceus had used to greet him earlier were already sharp enough. Though part of it was due to his own carelessness, ultimately, Arceus had already figured out the basic approach to countering elemental transformation.
Though Rope didn't know the exact principle behind Arceus' countermeasure, he knew it was best not to test the strength of Arceus' skills with his own body.
Of course, using other methods to gauge the strength was perfectly acceptable.
So Rope gathered flames in his hand and swung a powerful punch forward, sending a massive pillar of fire colliding with the bright yellow light pillar.
The light pillar and fire pillar collided. For a moment, everything seemed to fall silent, but that feeling quickly vanished.
A massive explosion erupted from the center and quickly spread outward.
Hoopa sensed the massive energy fluctuations at the center of the battlefield, and his expression immediately turned grim.
He quickly manipulated the barrier to alter its basic form.
After all, if he had to endure the aftermath head-on, Hoopa doubted he could withstand the next wave.
In an instant, the barrier transformed from a bowl-shaped structure enveloping the entire battlefield into a wall encircling it.
However, the height of this wall was extremely high. It was so high that the subsequent aftershocks would not affect the surrounding environment.
Watching the aftershocks surge toward the sky, Hoopa let out a sigh of relief. Blocking is not as effective as diverting; this situation cannot be resolved by simply enduring it. If we think of a solution, we might find the best option.
The Pokémon around him, who had initially felt that they had withstood the first wave of energy release, found themselves in the current situation.
One by one, they all fell, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Hoopa could only throw each of the gates into the teleportation gate.
The staff on the other side had thought that once Hoopa had sent over one wave, their work would be done, but before long, more Pokémon burst out, leaving them scrambling to keep up.
However, after this wave, as a newly established research institute, the Shallow Talk Research Institute's disadvantage in terms of Pokémon numbers is likely gone for good.
Meanwhile, Rope, standing in the middle of the battlefield, licked his lips. The speed at which a skill is executed can sometimes reveal its strength.
For example, under normal circumstances, Solar Beam is a skill that requires one turn to charge and one turn to release. On the other hand, "Thunderbolt" is a priority move.
Everyone is well aware of the difference in power between these two moves.
And clearly, the beam of light that just appeared was nothing more than a minor move for Arceus.
"Your strength is indeed impressive; you have the qualifications to be my ally."
Amidst the dust, Arceus elegantly stepped forward into Rope's line of sight.
Rope gave a faint smile: "Be your ally? Help you with what? To take on Al?"
"Calm down, Arceus. Al could pin you down with one hand. Do you really think you can defeat him?"
Rope's tone was sincere, without a trace of sarcasm.
"You should think it through. As a conceptual avatar from a secondary world, you actually want to replace the original being who has been roaming the void for years and possesses overwhelming power?"
Though these words were undeniably mocking, and it was clear that Rope's sincerity was feigned - he simply wanted to mock Arceus - Arceus wasn't swayed by it.
"I do want to defeat him, but I have no intention of replacing him."
Arceus stared at Rope and said calmly, "All I need is to force him to exert a little more power, then have him leave this world that no longer has much to do with him."
"Once our world completes its ascension, I will no longer be his avatar."
"I am simply myself, Arceus, not the incarnation of the Thousand-Armed God. And afterward, I will be the true Arceus, the 'Creator God' of the Pokémon world."
Rope was stunned by these words. He truly hadn't expected Arceus to be so ambitious. After all, while such a thing was indeed possible, the likelihood of it happening was undeniably slim.
After all, Al wasn't a fool. Though Rope didn't know Al's views on his own identity, it was clear that such a thing couldn't be casually relinquished.
Just as generous as you may be toward someone, you would never give them your home.
"Your plan... ultimately, isn't it just about fighting Al? Take my advice. It's simply impossible. Your strength is far too inferior to Al's; there's no real comparison."
When Rope said this, his sincerity was genuine—he truly did not hold much hope for Arceus's revenge mission. Even if he were to form a Revenge League, it would be meaningless.
It's like if Al hadn't entered this world to raise the ceiling of this world, then even if all the first-tier gods were to unite against Arceus, it wouldn't matter.
The existence of the ceiling is sometimes simply to demonstrate the meaning of invincibility.
Clearly, Arceus had no intention of heeding Rope's advice.
The llama coldly looked down at Rope.
"Whether I can win or not is my business. I acknowledge your strength and don't want to clash with you. If you don't want to join me in fighting Al, then leave here and don't stand in my way."
Rope heard this and helplessly scratched his hair, which had turned into burning flames, and smiled bitterly: " No way. Now that I know your strength, I'm even more interested in capturing you. You may not be able to go head-to-head with Al, but you should be more than enough to handle the trouble I'm facing right now."
Rope truly didn't think that the woman in the black dress could compare to the one standing before him. This was Arceus, the original ceiling of this world!
Arceus coldly stared at Rope, who was blushing. He had no intention of continuing to waste words with Rope.
Suddenly, the surrounding space rippled, and two spatial blades immediately slashed toward Rope. A turquoise glow erupted before Arceus, and a high-pressure water cannon fired directly at Rope.
Rope had no better option. His fiery wings spread, and he soared into the sky.
If he couldn't dodge this move, the game would be over.
Watching Rope soar into the sky, Arceus snorted coldly, then lightly tapped the void with his slender four legs and swiftly pursued Rope.
Seeing this scene, Rope silently shook his head. His fiery wings flapped again, and dozens of fiery feathers fell from his wings. As expected, they soon landed near Arceus, who was closely pursuing Rope.
Arceus sensed something amiss with the feathers the moment he saw them. He quickly raised a spherical shield around himself.
And Rope did not disappoint him. As the crimson-gold feathers approached Arceus, they exploded almost instantly. Even through the shield, Arceus could feel the continuous explosions and a faint sense of heat. More importantly, Arceus could already feel the shield wearing down.
This was the last thing that should have happened.
[His flames can burn my energy...]
Arceus watched as Rope took advantage of the opportunity to pull away, muttering to himself. He knew this person was no ordinary foe, but burning energy was simply too overpowered.
After all, this wasn't energy neutralization; it was one side using the other as nourishment.
[These outsiders' methods are indeed quite cunning.]
Arceus snorted coldly once more, his vigilance reaching its peak. If he had previously not felt that Rope posed any significant threat to him, let alone the possibility of being subdued by him,
Now, however, Arceus was truly unsure of what to do…
After all, this guy seemed like a real pain.
Meanwhile, Rope, who was farther away, watched Arceus catch up and licked his lips.
"He's truly the strongest deity. He's so much stronger than Eternatus, I can't believe that guy had the nerve to say he was evenly matched with Arceus back then."
Rope recalled how Eternatus had been bragging to him after eating the energy blocks, and he couldn't help but feel exasperated. Really... it seems that bragging is something even the Three-Body People can't avoid.
However, Rope had already made up his mind. He knew how to deal with Arceus.
Meanwhile, their battle here had already attracted a lot of attention.
"Can't Rope just calm down? After causing such a commotion, doesn't he need to rest?"
To be honest, Lance was helpless. They were systematically gathering manpower and resources, conducting training for some teams, and urgently negotiating an alliance with the representatives of the divine beasts on the other side.
But Rope had caused another major incident.
Lance slammed the photo he was holding onto the table.
"Great, now that he's done this, I guess we can forget about continuing negotiations with the divine beasts."
Though Lance complained, he couldn't help but feel uneasy upon seeing that crimson-gold figure and the Pokémon resembling a llama trailing behind it.
Damn it, Rope is getting more and more outrageous. I thought he was already pushing the limits in Galar, but now he's taken it to a whole new level.
Lorelei couldn't help but smile wryly. She had been primarily responsible for negotiating the alliance, but now she was free again. After all, the divine beasts weren't exactly calm either.
"It's not just us who are in trouble," Lorelei took a sip of coffee, "the Legendary Pokémon are also investigating, and they want to know who will win in the end."
"If Arceus wins, then our current discussions will be null and void. If Rope wins, then they can put all their concerns to rest."
"After all, Arceus is the king of the gods, while Rope is just a stronger friend."