| Combusken POV |
They told me this area was safe.
That the surrounding mountains made it a perfect place to fend off the legions of uglies running around.
That we only needed to hold out for a couple of days at most before I can get back to stealing May's food.
RUMBLE!!!
So why in Rio's name does it feel like the earth will open up and eat us whole any second now?!
My feathers prickled in protest as the ground beneath me shuddered like a beast in agony. I could practically taste the fear in the charged air—hot, metallic, and bitter. The cultists, my so-called "faithful," froze in mid-chant, their voices cutting off abruptly. I swore I heard even the ruins moan in despair.
I glanced up at the group of crazed, chanting cultists. Some of them were still waving around those dumb banners of theirs, while the others huddled close like they were waiting for a miracle—or a disaster. If it was up to me, I'd prefer the miracle, but at this point, it was hard to tell what was going on.
A faint vibration rippled through the ground beneath me. Not the usual earthquake tremor you get when the world shifts in some distant corner. This was... different. It felt like something was pushing from beneath, like a pressure building, waiting to burst out and ruin whatever was in its way.
The cultists seemed to sense it too. Their chanting stopped, and the air was filled with an eerie kind of stillness—one that only precedes something big and bad.
The rumbling came again, louder this time.
RUMBLE!!
I felt it in my chest. My feathers fluffed up as an uneasy chill crawled up my spine. Something was wrong. I scanned the horizon, looking for a sign, but nothing looked out of the ordinary. No giant trees crashing down, no sky turning a strange shade of red.
But that feeling... it was growing. The air felt too thick, the ground felt too heavy. And then, from the depths of the earth, a sound like thunder cracked through the silence.
I heard a voice, or at least I thought I did.
"Combusken… the fire calls. The ground trembles in anger..."
I shook my head. Probably just the stress getting to me. I didn't have time for this. I needed to find a way to get everyone to safety, not listen to the voices in my head.
Then the ground shook again.
RUMBLE!
This time, the mountains in the distance trembled. The sky above started to darken, the clouds rolling in like a storm was about to burst. But this wasn't any ordinary storm. I could feel it. Something ancient was awakening.
And I had a sinking feeling I knew exactly what it was.
A massive, rumbling roar echoed from the depths. It wasn't loud in the sense of volume—more like the sound of the very earth itself screaming. The mountains, the ground, the world itself seemed to groan in protest. And that's when I remembered.
Groudon.
I thought Rio was just joking when he said it was taking a nap somewhere bellow the crust... That it was only a matter of time before some red wearing idiots decided to wake it up... Wait did I wake it up?
My heart skipped a beat.
Of course. Of course this was happening now. Out of all the times I could have been stuck with a bunch of delusional cultists, it had to be when the god of magma, tremors, and explosive personalities decided to wake up from his centuries-long nap.
There was no running from this. We were going to have to deal with it. Probably fight it. Maybe even survive it. Probably not, but Rio would be disappointed if I just gave up and keeled over.
But first, I had to get these cultists to stop acting like it was just another day in paradise.
"HEY!" I shouted over the rumbling, my voice cutting through their chanting. "DO YOU GUYS HEAR THAT?!"
They paused, looking around in confusion.
"That's not an earthquake, you idiots!" I snapped. "That's something way worse!"
They looked at each other, wide-eyed, and some of them started muttering prayers. One of them, the overly dramatic Meowth, was shaking his paws in the air like he was summoning some kind of divine miracle.
"Firebringer! The flames are calling us!" he shouted, his voice trembling.
"No, it's not the flames, you dolt!" I shouted back. "It's Groudon!"
There was a beat of silence. Then all hell broke loose.
"Groudon?!" One of the cultists gasped.
"THE GOD OF THE EARTH AND FIRE!?" another cried out, falling to his knees in worship. "We are not worthy!"
I ran a hand over my face. "Yeah, you're not wrong. You're definitely not worthy of this."
But that didn't matter. What mattered was that the ground beneath us was shaking like the end of the world, and the monstrous roar of Groudon was getting closer. We didn't have much time before the earth would swallow us whole.
I turned to the rest of the cultists. "Listen, if you want to worship something, go pray to the mountain, because that's what's going to save you now. Otherwise, we need to get moving—NOW!"
They stared at me, still in awe, until I grabbed one of them by the collar and pulled them up to their feet.
"Get your act together!" I barked, more to myself than to them. I'd set out to be their reluctant savior, not the scapegoat of seismic disasters.
"Move it, or we're all dead!"
That snapped them out of their daze, and in a frenzy, they began scrambling toward the makeshift barricade they'd built. The ground continued to shake, the air growing hotter by the second.
I didn't have much faith in this group, but maybe, just maybe, we'd survive long enough for someone to rescue us. Maybe Rio would show up with a legendary or two and kick Groudon's massive butt.
Yeah, probably not.
But if I was going to die today, I wasn't going to go down as a martyr to some delusional cult.
I had my own survival to focus on.
And maybe some snacks, if the cultists weren't too busy running for their lives.
(To be continued)
MC: Why the hell are you stalling that long?
I wanted to say dramatic effect. But its really because I want to spare Groudon from getting his back broken in half by someone not even 1% of his size.
MC: Awww, So you do believe in me!
I believe in your overpowered stats, you're just as much of a dumbass ass you were in your last life.