Want to read ahead. You know where
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Looking up, Sam gazed at the towering structure.
A faint sense of insignificance stirred in his chest.
Compared to this ancient, otherworldly structure that seemed to pierce the heavens, humanity felt... small.
Fleeting.
He reached out, fingertips brushing against the outer wall.
There was no resistance.
It felt like trying to touch a mirage; his fingers sank into the surface as if it were made of mist or cotton.
"So that's what this place is made of..." he muttered to himself.
"No wonder it's lasted for thousands of years."
Sam exhaled slowly, shaking his head in amazement.
This world's technology tree was a mess, but a fascinating one.
The Hoenn region had the Draconid tribe, a secluded people who could erect sky-reaching towers imbued with mystic power.
Meanwhile, during the ancient times of Kalos, there was the infamous "Ultimate Weapon," a device so advanced it could grant eternal life or end countless others.
He let out a quiet sigh, grounding himself.
Then he turned, eyes meeting Zinnia's.
"I'm going in."
"Yes, Master Inheritor!" Zinnia replied instantly, bowing with her usual exaggerated formality.
He drew in a slow breath and stepped inside.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the air shifted.
A crushing pressure descended.
He didn't even have time to brace; his knees buckled instantly under the weight, and he crashed to the ground with a grunt.
"Damn it!"
Sweat dripped down his forehead in steady streams as he forced himself to his hands and knees.
Whatever force permeated the Sky Pillar… it wasn't just psychic pressure.
It was spiritual.
Ancient. Elemental.
It felt like the pillar itself was testing him.
After what felt like several agonizing minutes, Sam finally pushed himself upright, gasping.
He glanced around.
The interior of the pillar was vast and empty, nothing but a spiraling staircase that climbed endlessly toward the top.
At the peak, floating above everything, was a radiant orb of golden light.
Rayquaza.
That must be the connection point.
If he could reach it and touch it, perhaps he could make contact.
Sam took a deep breath and began climbing.
The first steps weren't too difficult.
But with each one he took, the pressure increased.
Step by step, it grew heavier, as though invisible hands were weighing down his limbs, pressing against his lungs, slowing his heartbeat.
He gritted his teeth, sweat soaking through the back of his shirt.
Minutes passed. Or was it hours?
He couldn't tell. Time felt strange here.
Each step devoured his energy.
The divine powers he'd inherited, once flowing through him like rivers, were now running dry.
His legs trembled. His arms felt numb.
The world around him shimmered with static.
And yet, the light was still far above.
"Gah!"
Sam let out a strangled curse, staggering to a halt.
He looked up, he was still only two-thirds of the way up.
So close, but still far enough to crush a weaker person's spirit.
He clenched his fists.
"Doesn't matter," he muttered.
"One third left. I'm not stopping now."
Another breath. Deeper this time.
He forced his foot forward.
Then the next.
There was no room for weakness now.
No time to complain.
Just a single goal, waiting above.
Time inside the Sky Pillar moved differently.
The outside world spun faster, chaotic, uncontrollable.
While Sam climbed steadily toward the light, the world below descended into a storm of awakening titans.
Far away, deep in the heart of Sootopolis City, the ground cracked and burned.
With a thunderous roar, the earth split open, and a colossal form surged up from beneath.
Groudon.
The Continent Pokémon was here.
Its fifty-meter-tall body radiated primal energy, magma glowing beneath its armored hide like veins of fire.
"ROOOAARRR!!"
Its voice shattered the air.
The skies trembled.
Clouds scattered like frightened birds.
In that single roar, it felt the presence of its eternal rival, just beyond the sea.
The sun blazed above, responding to Groudon's presence, the clouds retreating in fear as the temperature soared.
From the sea, a dark shadow rose.
A deep, echoing cry answered the challenge.
"WOOOOOHHH!"
Kyogre.
The Sea Pokémon erupted from the ocean depths, its vast blue body framed by lightning and storm clouds.
Waves surged around it, each one tall as a building, smashing into the shore.
Rain began to pour, a torrential deluge that countered the sun's heat.
Two colossal forces of nature.
Two ancient enemies.
The boundary between sea and land became a battlefield.
Thunder cracked overhead.
Groudon began to move, each step causing the earth to quake.
Stone crumbled beneath its feet, buildings reduced to rubble with a mere brush of its massive claws.
Tsunamis followed Kyogre's every move, slamming against Sootopolis's rocky walls.
Both Pokémon stared each other down across the divide, their powers distorting the atmosphere.
Land vs. Sea.
Sun vs. Storm.
Back in the Sky Pillar, Sam continued climbing.
His breath was ragged, his muscles screaming in protest.
His legs felt like they might collapse beneath him at any moment.
But the light was getting closer.
Each time he raised his head, the glow of that orb burned just a little brighter.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Could've been minutes. Could've been hours.
Time had become meaningless.
Only the next step mattered.
And then the next.
His fingers brushed against the edge of the final platform.
He clenched his jaw and pulled himself up, one final push.
And then,
He stood before it.
The light.
It hovered there, silent, suspended in the air like a heartbeat frozen in time.
Warm. Pulsing.
His breath caught.
So this… this is Rayquaza's presence.
No sound. No movement.
But in the stillness, he could feel it.
Watching.
Waiting.
He reached out a trembling hand toward the orb.
-------------
Sootopolis City was in dire straits.
The once peaceful sanctuary nestled in the heart of a crater lake was now barely recognizable.
Half the city had already crumbled before the battle even began.
The streets were cracked and scorched, buildings shattered like glass under an invisible fist.
Fountains ran dry, and the sky, once a gentle blue, was now a patchwork of blazing sunlight and swirling storm clouds.
Groudon had arrived.
And its very presence warped the environment.
Thankfully, the Hoenn League had acted quickly.
The League had set up a temporary evacuation camp on one of the city's highest natural ridges.
From there, the displaced citizens of Sootopolis huddled in fear, watching from afar as the city below was slowly being torn apart.
Wallace stood among them, fists clenched at his sides, his pristine white coat billowing in the heatwaves.
He was silent, visibly trembling.
He was no longer the Gym Leader, but Sootopolis was his home.
His pride.
And now... it was crumbling beneath the feet of a walking catastrophe.
"The god of the earth…" he muttered, voice hoarse.
"Groudon instinctively repels all moisture."
His jaw tightened, eyes burning with a mix of helplessness and rage.
"Even my Milotic… within two hundred miles of Groudon, it can't use even a basic Water Gun. The air's too dry, too hot. There's nothing we can do...!"
He watched as another building collapsed into rubble, swallowed by a sudden burst of molten rock from the ground.
Wallace winced as if he'd taken the blow himself.
"Damn it all!"
His teeth ground together.
He had spent years protecting this place, training here, growing stronger.
But now?
What good was strength against a god?
He could command beauty and elegance in battle.
But Groudon wasn't a Pokémon one could tame, it was a force of nature.
An ancient titan.
How could a butterfly resist the blaze of the sun?
Steven Stone stood beside him, silent as ever.
His usual calm expression was shadowed with something colder, helplessness.
He could feel Wallace's pain.
He didn't need words to understand.
They were friends.
And like Wallace, Steven knew that even the strongest Trainer couldn't stop what was coming.
He placed a hand on Wallace's shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze.
It was all he could offer.
Alder stood not far behind, arms crossed, his expression unusually grim.
The champion of Unova Alder had seen his share of disasters, but nothing like this.
He let out a long breath, shaking his head.
"…This isn't a battle anymore," he muttered.
"This is war."
Around them, Elite Four members and Gym Leaders had gathered, Glacia, Drake, Phoebe, Flannery, Winona.
All of them stared down at the chaos with clenched jaws and wide eyes.
They had fought tough opponents before.
But this was something else entirely.
This was primordial fear.
And yet...
One person was missing.
Cynthia stood slightly apart from the group, golden hair whipping in the wind as her eyes scanned the skyline.
Her brows furrowed.
"…Where's Sam?" she asked, her voice low.
She turned toward Glacia, who stood nearby.
"You've seen him, right?"
Glacia blinked, then followed Cynthia's gaze toward the shattered horizon.
Past the flames. Toward the ocean where another storm was brewing.
"…No. Not recently," Glacia replied.
"I haven't seen Professor Samuel in a while."
Cynthia's stomach tightened.
Without hesitation, she pulled out her Pokégear and dialed his number.
She needed to hear his voice.
To know he was still okay.
Before she could press 'call',
A massive roar shook the heavens.
All heads turned at once.
The ancient feud had begun.
Groudon stomped forward, claws digging into the molten earth.
A low growl rumbled from deep within its chest before erupting into a full-throated roar that split the sky.
"ROOOAAAARRRRR!!!!"
Its massive maw opened.
And from it, a brilliant, blinding light began to gather.
A beam of condensed solar energy formed, pure sunlight, harnessed and weaponized.
A grass-type move, in this dry, blazing climate?
Solar Beam.
And Groudon didn't even need to charge.
It fired.
The golden ray cut through the air like a lance aimed straight toward the ocean.
Out at sea, Kyogre responded.
It had been watching from beneath the waves.
Now, it surged upward in a colossal spray of seawater, its blue form glowing with furious energy.
The sea churned beneath it, waves spiraling like living things.
It stared Groudon down with unblinking red eyes.
Then came the cry.
"WOOOOOHHHH!!!"
It wasn't just a roar, it was a declaration.
A challenge accepted.
Kyogre would not dodge.
To evade was to concede dominance.
And neither of them were here to show weakness.
Kyogre's tail fin slapped the ocean, churning the water into a whirlpool.
From it, a colossal torrent surged skyward, thick as a skyscraper and roaring with pressure.
A devastating Hydro Pump.
The two attacks collided midair.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The resulting explosion sent a shockwave across the entire city.
It shattered the few remaining windows in Sootopolis.
Blew out communications equipment.
Cracked rooftops.
People on the ridge screamed, shielding their ears and ducking as debris flew through the air.
Wallace's breath caught.
He could feel it.
This was just the beginning.
From the smoke, Groudon surged forward, its SolarBeam spent, but its fury not.
"ROOOAAAARRRRR!!"
Another attack was already forming.
Kyogre didn't hesitate.
With a thundering roar, it began condensing water energy again, eyes locked on its ancient rival.
The two were no longer just warming up.
The real battle had begun.
And the world would be caught in the crossfire.