When they saw those small portals, everyone was shocked and froze for a moment.
The League Champions tried to stop them, but the space passages were strange and short-lived, disappearing in an instant.
"So they really had backup plans," Steven recalled Metagross and let out a cold snort, though he was not too surprised.
If Rainbow Rocket Team were really that easy to crush, they could never have destroyed the region he protected.
"Doesn't matter. This saves us the trouble of hunting them down one by one," Lance looked at the fleeing legendary Pokemon lights with sharp eyes.
Their surprise attack had not been without results. Not only had they defeated many of Giovanni's subordinates, they had also saved most of the humans and Pokemon in this world.
As several leaders died, the evil devices built across the regions and powered by legendary Pokemon either shut down or exploded.
The collars imprisoning Electric-type Pokemon sparked and lost power. The Pokemon slowly raised their heads in confusion.
The pipes draining energy from Fire-type Pokemon broke apart, and the flame on Charmander's tail regained its life.
The shackles on Flying-type Pokemon opened on their own. Trembling, they tried to fly freely once again.
In the mines, Rock-type Pokemon felt the pressure disappear. Dragging their injured bodies, they walked out of the darkness in confusion.
Inside the breeding farms, the forced pairing machines stopped working. Female Pokemon rushed toward the direction where their young had been taken.
The suppressors around the necks of the human slaves also stopped working. The chains that had suppressed their strength and minds for so long shattered apart.
Silence.
First came dead silence.
Whether human or Pokemon, nobody could believe what they were seeing.
The terrifying rule that had oppressed them day after day had collapsed completely in such a short time?
Then, the first quiet and hesitant sob came from a skinny little girl holding an equally thin Dedenne.
Right after that, it exploded like a flood.
Crying, cheering, and the confused cries of Pokemon who had survived disaster echoed throughout every liberated region.
People hugged each other with tears running down their faces. Whether they knew each other or not, at this moment they shared the same joy and relief.
Pokemon cautiously approached the humans who had once enslaved them, only to discover those overseers had either fled or been captured. The new people standing before them carried something they had not seen for a long time in their eyes.
Kindness and care.
The refugees of Kalos watched Diantha and the Gym Leaders direct League members to clear ruins, distribute food and medicine, and treat injured Pokemon. Hope slowly returned to their eyes.
Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova... the same scenes were happening in every liberated region. The League Trainers were not only powerful fighters, but also efficient rescuers. They used Pokemon powers to clear wreckage, had medical Pokemon treat the injured, and delivered food and water to every survivor.
The feeling of salvation did not come simply from being freed, but from the care and hope of rebuilding that followed.
An old man shakily touched the collar finally removed from his neck, tears streaming down his face.
"It's over... it's really over..."
An Arcanine carefully licked the hand of a League medic treating the wound on its back, its eyes filled with grateful tears.
The rescued baby Pokemon stumbled into their mothers' arms, crying out in relief and grievance.
Axel stood high in the sky, looking down at the land that was beginning to recover, looking at the countless faces changing from numb despair into hope and gratitude.
Giovanni's gloomy face and the lights of the legendary Pokemon fleeing toward Mt. Coronet flashed through his mind.
"The first part of the reckoning is over," Axel spoke softly, his cold gaze turning toward distant Mt. Coronet, "Next comes the final root of it all. Giovanni, collecting legendary Pokemon works perfectly for me."
"It saves me... the trouble of finding them one by one."
Damalanche did not head to the Galar region immediately. Instead, he stayed beside Axel.
Step by step, he made plans, arranging the Champions and Gym Leaders across regions like Kanto, Alola, and Paldea so they could continue liberating the enslaved humans and Pokemon there.
As for Aurient, because of slight differences between worlds, this world did not have a Aurient region.
After retrieving their Pokemon, Axel said goodbye to Damalanche and directly brought Gardevoir and Gyarados to the Alola region.
This place connected to Ultra Wormholes and was very important.
Axel wanted to see whether he could use this place to judge the level of strength Giovanni's Necrozma had reached.
But just after arriving in Alola from Kalos, before he could locate the Ultra Wormhole coordinates, urgent beeping came from Rotom.
["Axel, leave where you are right now and come to the Galar region immediately,"] Damalanche's aged face appeared on the Rotom screen, his voice filled with unease.
["We just lost contact with all our people. According to this world's Rose, Rainbow Rocket Team has coordinates to multiple worlds and timelines. One of them is a special world called the Orre Region, where cruel arena rules exist."]
["The winners leave. The losers die!"]
["We don't know what method Giovanni used, but he quickly restored those legendary Pokemon and dragged all of our allied forces into the god-level arena in the Orre Region."]
["In other words... you've now lost all allies in the entire Pokemon world!"]
"What?", Axel felt uneasy inside. He was not afraid of being dragged into the Orre Region himself. What worried him was whether the Champions could hold out.
The enemy had real legendary Pokemon!
From Steven and Cynthia's performance, top Champions like them were probably only at the level of resisting legendary Pokemon for two or three months.
That amount of time was enough, but the problem was that among the Champions they brought, there were also weaker ones like Diantha and Geeta.
If any team ran into trouble, it would be a massive loss for the Pokemon world.
Just as Axel was thinking, a space portal appeared beside him. Cynthia's voice, strengthened by Palkia, rang out.
["Axel, something happened in the Pokemon world."]
["Kyogre and Groudon were teleported over by Giovanni, and both Pokemon are extremely powerful. They likely carry the Earth Plate and Splash Plate."]
["I'm handling Necrozma here and can't go stop them, but according to our guesses, the Giovanni from Kanto's Team Rocket may be going to find Groudon."]
["And Karen's adoptive father also seems to be guarding a harbor in Johto. He's expected to encounter Kyogre within an hour."]
["We don't know what they're planning. If they join forces with those two legendary Pokemon..."]
"They probably won't," Axel thought for a moment and lightly shook his head. He understood Giovanni and Pryce better than Cynthia did.
Giovanni might rule the world, but he would never allow any living thing to destroy it.
Especially after Silver appeared, there was no way he would watch the Pokemon world get invaded.
As for Pryce... Lapras died in the Johto region. He would never allow other Pokemon to trample over Lapras's grave.
'In that case...'
Axel narrowed his eyes and suddenly looked toward Mt. Coronet.
"Nana, the Champions here are also in trouble. I can't return to the Pokemon world for now, so I'll have to leave things there to you first.
"Speed up the energy output from Lumiose City and restore Necrozma as soon as possible. Once it recovers, both Groudon and Kyogre will remain within a controllable range.
"As for me... today I'm going straight to Mt. Coronet. We'll see whether Giovanni's people return from the Orre Region faster, or whether Rainbow Rocket Team disappears faster!"