Chapter 151: We Finally Found Groudon!
"Cynthia?? That's Champion Cynthia?!"
"AAAAAAH! WHO IS THIS GUY! How DARE he put his arms around Ms. Cynthia!"
"Nooooo, Ms. Cynthia has a boyfriend, my entire youth is over"
"IMPOSSIBLE. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS."
"I'll DUEL him!! I'll DESTROY him AAAAAAA!! How could Champion Cynthia kiss him!!"
Reading the meltdowns flooding the forums, Mammon felt genuinely wonderful.
Magnificent.
As expected — a fan-favorite Champion like Cynthia, the object of half of Sinnoh's collective fantasies. The devastation was immense.
He found himself wondering what these people's reactions would look like if Cynthia ever got pregnant.
Mammon grinned, entertaining the thought at leisure.
The forums would probably collapse.
Early the next morning, Mammon and the others returned to the villa in Mauville City.
"Mammon!!"
The moment he walked in, Kagura came rushing over.
"Do you know where the Rayquaza went?"
She asked urgently. She'd had her phone off during Pokémon training yesterday afternoon, and by the time she got back she'd seen the trending news.
Legendary Pokémon Clash Leaves Larousse City in Ruins.
The article had come with photos — blurry from the distance, but Kagura had recognized them instantly.
Rayquaza. And Kyogre. And Kyogre was Mammon's.
"How would I know? Shouldn't have skipped the trip." Mammon shrugged.
"Caitlin was calling you all afternoon too."
"I was TRAINING!"
Kagura groaned. A chance to see Rayquaza with her own eyes — right in front of her — and she'd missed it entirely.
"Don't worry. There'll be another opportunity." Mammon said it reassuringly.
"You already have the Key Stone ready, don't you?"
Key Stones weren't difficult to come by for Mammon, so Kagura's collection was actually quite stocked already. Summoning Rayquaza wasn't going to be a problem.
"Still. I'm a little nervous."
Kagura pulled at her hair, expression troubled. The closer it came, the more anxious she felt.
What if her prayer didn't bring Rayquaza down?
"If you can't even believe in yourself, how will you succeed?"
Mammon looked at her with mild exasperation.
Honestly, he thought there was essentially zero chance her summoning would fail. In the original game, it had worked. And in this world, Shelly had died — Rayquaza couldn't have forgotten that. When a new successor appeared and called for it, Rayquaza would come. It wasn't going to ignore that.
"…If I fail…"
But Kagura still held a trace of doubt and uncertainty. She couldn't bring herself to picture it going wrong.
She carried the weight of her clan's legacy and duty. She had inherited Shelly's Pokémon, Shelly's Mega Anklet, and Shelly's blood. She had every reason in the world not to fail.
"We'll all be behind you. Go try." Mammon smiled.
"You're the finest Lorekeeper your clan has produced, Kagura."
His voice was warm and clear.
"And if, against all odds, Rayquaza doesn't come — hand those obligations over to me. I'll deal with them."
"No need to carry anything alone. We're in Team Rocket together — the same ship, the same fate. You trusted me enough to join, so I'm willing to carry whatever your life puts on the table."
Mammon gave her shoulder a light pat.
It wasn't an empty offer. Even without his own formal relationship with the black Rayquaza yet, there was enough of a connection there — if Mammon asked, the black Rayquaza wouldn't refuse to destroy one meteorite.
And besides.
It was just a meteorite. Without even involving Rayquaza, a buffed-up Primal Kyogre could shatter it effortlessly.
At Mammon's genuine words, Kagura went still. She looked at him — this young man in front of her — and something warm rose through her, spreading quietly until her whole body felt light.
"What?" Mammon noticed her expression and raised an eyebrow.
"Nothing. You really do know exactly what to say."
Kagura came back to herself and turned away, but her voice had gone noticeably lighter.
She wasn't a lone Lorekeeper anymore. She had these people at her back.
That feeling was — genuinely good.
"For now, just focus on preparing. Whenever you're ready to go to Sky Pillar, let us know."
"Got it!"
Kagura's trademark bright, fearless smile returned.
Watching it, Caitlin let a soft, gentle smile play at her lips.
Mammon~
Over the following few days, Mammon took Lillie sightseeing around the Mauville area.
And in the process, he confirmed something.
"So the Power of Viridian does bring this little one around for a while."
Mammon looked at the purple crystal on the table — Jirachi's sleeping stone.
"It does! Your energy feels so nice~"
Jirachi's bright, adorable little child-voice chimed in his ear.
"Can you put more in? I don't have enough to move properly." Jirachi asked with complete innocence and expectation.
"You only have yourself to blame for channeling it all into Farnes." Mammon said, resigned.
Every time Jirachi woke, it absorbed the comet's energy. And every time it went back to sleep, that energy flowed back out — unconsciously, endlessly — into the land of Farnes itself.
That was why the region was so extraordinarily lush.
But with all its energy given away to the land, Jirachi didn't have enough left for itself. Its body had crystallized to stone. Even a full awakening was beyond it right now.
Only when the thousand-year comet arrived and bathed it in stellar energy could its body truly revive.
"Because Farnes needs me~!" Jirachi answered with complete guileless sincerity.
"Farnes is doing just fine. It would be fine without your energy too." Mammon was at a loss for words. He didn't know how to describe what Jirachi's selfless generosity was.
Though that, he supposed, was part of what made Pokémon what they were.
"My Power of Viridian has limits too. I'll put a little extra in each day. You can sleep now."
Mammon fed another trickle of the Power of Viridian into the stone.
The Power of Viridian drew on his spiritual energy — it wasn't unlimited. Even for a natural wielder, overuse brought on dizziness and could cause blackouts.
Mammon's reserves weren't low — but he couldn't supply what Jirachi needed in any short timeframe.
"Mmm~ Mammon is so mean." Jirachi whimpered pitifully. It had barely managed to wake up.
"When you're actually awake, you can do whatever you want."
"Can I ride Kyogre? I've wanted to ride the big fish for so long!" Jirachi said wistfully.
"…"
Mammon tilted his head.
Kyogre was going to be so grateful to hear that.
Elsewhere.
A small island in the open sea. Steven's group touched down, each riding their Pokémon.
"Last location on the list."
Steven looked at the hand-drawn map in his hands — rough, barely legible, but enough to go on.
"Let's go in."
Leon looked toward the cave entrance ahead. If they couldn't find Groudon here…
That would not be a good sign.
The group moved into the cave. It wasn't cool inside — if anything, Steven noticed it was stuffy, running almost warm.
And the deeper they went, the more intense the heat became.
The cave's interior was a maze. After roughly an hour of navigating, they finally found a passage that led deeper.
"It's so hot!"
Wallace wiped his forehead and looked at the walls around him, which had taken on a reddish tinge. He felt like he was walking into an active furnace.
For someone who dedicated his life to Water-type Pokémon, this sweltering environment was deeply unpleasant.
"Dormant volcano, I expect. We're getting close to the magma core." Giovanni said quietly.
"Everyone — look!"
Steven, who had been leading, suddenly froze. He stepped out quickly and called back to the others.
The rest jogged forward through the narrow passage and emerged into a vast open chamber.
At the far end: a pool of molten rock, shimmering and seething with heat.
But that wasn't the point.
The point was the Pokémon sitting in the magma pool.
A crimson behemoth. Built like a primordial colossus, every line of its body radiating raw, geological power. Eyes shut. Two massive arms laid before it. Half its enormous body submerged in lava.
Going by the posture — was it sitting in there?
"Groudon!!"
The group's eyes lit up. None of them had ever seen it before — but there was no mistaking it.
This was the legendary Lord of the Continent, Groudon.
"We actually found it!"
Wallace was genuinely emotional. They'd spent days crawling through one cave after another.
But the result was good. They'd found Groudon.
The legendary Pokémon said to be the living embodiment of the land itself.
"Now what? It looks like it's still asleep."
Giovanni studied the Ground-type legendary with considerable interest.
"Very asleep." Nemona observed, watching Groudon show absolutely zero awareness that strangers had just walked into its home.
They'd been talking at full volume, and it hadn't so much as stirred.
"According to Tabitha, the Orb's energy should be able to stimulate Groudon and wake it." Steven considered.
"But we don't have the Orb." Leon looked pointedly at Wallace.
"I KNOW! That natural-born villain used MY name to steal and swindle his way to it!"
Wallace's face had gone red. Every time he thought about it, the rage came flooding back. Who didn't know that Wallace was the very picture of refinement, elegance, and personal integrity?
Using his name to trick a sweet elderly couple out of their Orbs — was this something a human being was capable of?
And if word got out that Wallace had swindled things from a pair of old people, how was he supposed to show his face in Hoenn again?
Couldn't you at least have used Steven's name?
"Groudon! We need your help! Groudon?"
Steven tried shouting at it for a while. Groudon slept on like a rock, completely unresponsive. By the end, Steven's throat was going dry — partly from the heat, partly from the effort.
"So that's not working." Nemona took a sip of water and looked around.
Steven felt a headache coming on. They'd come all this way and found it, and the thing was dead asleep and wouldn't wake up.
"Shall I try something?"
Wallace wiped his face again. His white cape was damp with sweat by this point.
At this rate, he was going to become a Water-type Champion in more than one sense.
"If shouting won't do it, I suppose we have to try physical methods."
Wallace set his jaw, took out a Poké Ball, and released Milotic.
"Huh?!" Nemona blinked.
"Is that wise? What if Groudon mistakes us for enemies?" Cynthia's brow furrowed.
"Have some faith, everyone. My Milotic has the finest control. And we have to wake Groudon." Wallace waved a hand with confidence.
"It's worth trying. If we can't get Groudon to wake up, this whole trip was for nothing." Giovanni considered it briefly and nodded.
"Fine. We're counting on you, Wallace." Steven deliberated a moment and agreed.
"Of course! You can all always trust me!"
Wallace said it with serene composure. No matter how deeply something was sleeping, Wallace refused to believe anything could keep sleeping through water in the face.
Steven: "…"
"Milotic! Water Gun!"
Wallace swept his arm with a flourish.
Milotic opened her mouth and fired a thin stream of Water Gun directly at Groudon's face.
The moment it touched Groudon's body, the scorching heat vaporized it instantly. A thin curl of white steam rose into the air.
Groudon: zzzZ~
The group: "…"
Wallace: "…huh?"
Wallace stood there blankly. How hot was this thing's body, exactly?
Wallace was not accepting this.
"Milotic! More powerful Water Gun!"
zzzZ~
"Milotic! Hydro Pump!"
zzzZ~
"Milotic! FULL POWER HYDRO PUMP!"
Milotic unleashed a full-force torrent that blasted Groudon squarely in the face. Steam billowed up in great clouds.
Groudon finally showed the faintest sign of life — one enormous claw rose unconsciously and scratched at its face, then it rolled to its side and went straight back to sleep.
It had probably registered something like a mosquito bite.
zzzZ~
"UNACCEPTABLE!!!"
Feeling the looks from Cynthia and the others, Wallace's face burned red.
This was an insult. The fact that Groudon had reacted to a full-power Hydro Pump from his Milotic the way a person reacts to a mosquito —
That was a personal affront.
(End of chapter)
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