Chapter 356: Primal Kyogre: "Ha! Back in My Day I Even Fought Black Rayquaza!"
Yveltal was thoroughly stunned, every last feather on its body practically standing on end.
This weighed on it more heavily than even the moment Complete Zygarde had come to suppress it, back when its own rampant life-draining had gone too far.
The hell — was this some kind of divine punishment?
Yveltal scanned its surroundings once more — the only thing here it might realistically stand a chance against seemed to be that white dragon...
And even then, only in top condition. Right now, badly injured as it was, there was no way it could take even that white dragon one-on-one.
This was...
"Yveltal, why so quiet all of a sudden?"
Mammon asked, grinning.
Yveltal: "..."
Reshiram stood there with regal composure, its cold, aloof dragon eyes fixed calmly on Yveltal.
But in reality...
"Mammon, Mammon! It doesn't seem too impressed, let me go show it some REAL POWER, I'll have it eating out of my hand in no time!"
Reshiram's excited telepathic voice rang out in Mammon's head.
"Welcoming" a new member — Reshiram was genuinely fired up about this. It loved this exact feeling more than anything: having a genuinely powerful crew backing it up, full security, free to act as reckless and swaggering as it pleased!
Real power! THIS was what real power looked like!
Mammon clicked his tongue. This white dragon really was an attention hog, wasn't it.
Honestly, in a full-strength solo matchup, Mammon genuinely wasn't confident Reshiram could actually beat Yveltal.
But Yveltal had just been badly wounded not long ago — right now was exactly when it was weakest, and Reshiram had clearly picked its moment for exactly that reason.
"I'm genuinely, sincerely inviting you to join my team. I think my sincerity here should already be pretty clear."
So your idea of "sincerity" is stationing a personal bouncer at every single side of me, front, back, left, right, and above?
This isn't sincerity, this is a blatant, thinly-veiled threat!
Yveltal was honestly furious enough to laugh. And you conveniently left the ground open too — is that supposed to mean you want the great and terrible Yveltal to dig a hole and burrow away?!
"Sure, you might be unhappy about this, thinking I'm forcing your hand into submission." Mammon kept right on talking, ignoring Yveltal's visibly displeased glare entirely.
"But doesn't this exactly demonstrate how much I genuinely like you? If I had no interest in a Pokémon at all, I certainly wouldn't have arranged a welcoming ceremony quite like this."
Mammon's tone remained thoroughly sincere.
Yveltal's mind was in genuine disarray. Why did what this human just said actually sound somewhat reasonable?
No, no — something's definitely wrong here.
"If this were Xerneas, for instance, I wouldn't have bothered going to quite this much trouble. Compared to you, Yveltal, honestly, I don't have quite as strong a personal attachment to Xerneas."
Mammon even brought up the rainbow deer as a point of comparison.
This was, of course, a lie.
Truthfully, Mammon really hadn't cared much about Xerneas originally — but after today's genuine encounter and interaction with it, his impression of Xerneas had genuinely shifted quite drastically. Who could possibly dislike having a genuine saintly figure as a friend?
Not to mention Xerneas was actually quite capable in a fight, and genuinely stepped up when it mattered.
Hearing this, something shifted in Yveltal's eyes.
"Human, is that true?"
Yveltal asked, its low, hoarse telepathic voice genuinely curious.
"Of course it's true. If I had to choose between the two of you, I would absolutely choose you as my companion."
Mammon answered without a moment's hesitation.
Yveltal's eyes flickered uncertainly — for once, it found itself feeling a genuine flicker of goodwill toward a human. Yeah, mostly because those words genuinely felt good to hear.
Damn right! It, Yveltal, was absolutely, categorically superior to that rainbow deer!
But even so, Yveltal still had no real desire to follow a human at all — it much preferred its unfettered freedom.
"Human, I have no wish to follow you."
"That truly is a shame. But even so, I still can't bring myself to give up on you."
Mammon shook his head, resigned.
Please. Given the current situation, there was no chance he was letting Yveltal go now.
Not that he intended to force the issue directly — first show off his own strength, then string it along a bit, and finally lure it into a trap. That would work out perfectly, wouldn't it?
Otherwise, given Yveltal's temperament, Mammon genuinely worried that pushing it too hard would drive it to fake compliance and then strike back with a surprise attack in the dead of night.
Honestly, Mammon wouldn't have been the slightest bit surprised if Yveltal actually pulled something that dishonorable.
"Here's what we'll do, Yveltal — I'm a reasonable person. Let's each meet halfway."
"Kyogre, Mewtwo, Giratina — these three are my strongest companions. You may challenge any one of them you choose. If you manage to defeat it, I'll let you go free."
"Otherwise, you become my companion willingly, no more resistance. How does that sound?"
"And of course, I'll heal your wounds before the battle."
Mammon said, feigning reluctance.
"..." Yveltal fell silent at that.
"Yveltal, I'm honestly already giving you a huge amount of leeway here. For any other Pokémon, I wouldn't have extended a chance like this at all — after all, I've already beaten you once, haven't I?"
Mammon said with a smile, watching Yveltal.
If Yveltal had any pride at all, there was no way it could refuse this offer under these circumstances — otherwise its dignity would be utterly shattered.
And sure enough, it worked exactly as intended.
Yveltal might be cold and vicious by nature, but for a Pokémon like it, dignity mattered enormously. It accepted the terms decisively — but figuring out who exactly to fight, that was a genuinely difficult question.
Honestly, Yveltal really wanted to challenge Mega Mewtwo Y, since it had already been defeated by it once before and desperately wanted to wash away that humiliation.
But even Yveltal had a functioning brain in its head. Mega Mewtwo Y was simply too strong — Yveltal had no real way to withstand it, having already been easily reduced to a badly wounded state by it once already.
Which left only Primal Kyogre and Giratina as remaining options.
Both of them were genuinely tough customers — especially Giratina. That thing looked like a genuinely dangerous, ruthless opponent. Better to steer clear of it entirely.
With its own freedom as a bird on the line, Yveltal took the decision genuinely seriously — Giratina was absolutely off the table, which left it with only one option: this fish.
Yveltal studied the big, plump blue-and-gold creature to its left, its gaze cold and severe.
Birds eat fish, after all! Especially a fierce bird like itself!
Noticing Yveltal's gaze fixed squarely on it, Primal Kyogre startled for a moment, then burst out laughing furiously.
Oh, alright then! Skipping Giratina, skipping Mewtwo, picking ME instead? Taking this fish for an easy mark, huh? Fine, FINE! You're going to regret this SO much!!!
Primal Kyogre glared coldly at Yveltal, thoroughly resolved: it wasn't stopping today until this Yveltal was thoroughly, completely waterlogged.
"Looks like you've chosen Primal Kyogre. Then that's settled."
Mammon chuckled, pulling out some Little Sacred Ash to heal Yveltal's wounds.
The Little Sacred Ash's effects took hold immediately — after all, being made from Ho-Oh's own feathers, its restorative power really was in a league of its own.
After roughly half an hour of rest, Primal Kyogre and Yveltal squared off high in the sky.
Dark, ominous rain clouds blanketed the sky, Primordial Sea covering the entire region as heavy rain poured down relentlessly. On Yveltal's side, its Dark Aura spread out around it — under Dark Aura's effect, Dark-type moves hit even harder.
No question about it — both Primal Kyogre and Yveltal stood fully braced, ready for a serious fight.
And then...
RIBBIT!!
Yveltal, its body a mess of bruises and wounds, dragged itself painfully out of the lake onto the shore, sprawling flat on the ground, its beak wide open, coughing up water violently, over and over.
Its stomach was now grotesquely bloated, completely stuffed full, looking eerily like a heavily pregnant woman about to give birth.
Mammon's expression had grown genuinely, distinctly strange.
Honestly, Mammon wasn't the least bit surprised Yveltal had lost to Primal Kyogre — sure, Primal Kyogre couldn't quite match Rayquaza, Kyurem, or Giratina, the truly top-tier third-generation Legendaries, but it absolutely ranked among the genuine upper tier regardless, just a notch below the very best.
Handling Yveltal was well within its capability.
But the actual issue here was that Primal Kyogre had gone and force-fed Yveltal water again...
Yeah — after beating Yveltal, it had dragged the bird straight into a nearby lake and repeatedly shoved it underwater, forcing it to swallow a stomach full of water.
Come to think of it, this was exactly what it had once done to Groudon too. Though, technically, Yveltal hadn't even done anything to offend Primal Kyogre — it had simply picked Kyogre to fight. Was Primal Kyogre really holding onto that much of a grudge over it?
Yeah — turns out this plump fish really did carry a chip on its shoulder.
"Kyogre... is this normal?"
Behind Mammon, AZ's expression was genuinely bizarre, looking like he wanted to say something but couldn't quite find the words.
This was the first time he'd ever witnessed a battle at this tier of Legendary — and honestly, it was thoroughly upending everything he'd imagined such a fight would look like.
Especially the sight of Yveltal thrashing its wings desperately against the water's surface, trying to take flight, while Primal Kyogre had its jaws clamped around Yveltal's tail, forcefully hauling it back down toward the lake bottom.
AZ figured he'd probably never manage to unsee that image for the rest of his very, very long life.
That had been genuinely, thoroughly shocking to witness.
The Eternal Flower Floette had curled itself into the back of AZ's neck, wearing an expression of pure terror.
Mammon: "..."
Meanwhile, behind the still-violently-heaving Yveltal, Primal Kyogre slowly rose out of the water, its golden beast-eyes cold and thoroughly self-satisfied.
Ha, thought it had some real skill, huh? THIS is all it's got? And it thinks it can call ME out for a fight with THIS little firepower? Must've had way too much time on its hands.
Does it even know who it's dealing with? Back in the day, in Sootopolis City, this fish went toe-to-toe with Black Mega Rayquaza itself!!
Heh heh heh~
Having won, the primal plump fish flew over to Mammon, thoroughly pleased with itself.
"Nice work."
Mammon still offered Primal Kyogre a genuine compliment — it had, after all, won this fight in genuinely impressive fashion.
Primal Kyogre lifted its massive head with a distinctly human-like flourish, thoroughly proud of itself.
Mammon then turned his attention to Yveltal, still sprawled at the water's edge, still coughing up water — and Mammon noticed that it wasn't just spilling from its beak, either; there was quite a lot pooled beneath it as well.
This...
"Yveltal, do you need a strong emetic to help clear this out?"
Mammon asked.
"Human... please, put me back in the ball right now."
Yveltal's hoarse telepathic voice, connected privately just to Mammon, was thoroughly frantic.
Damn it! It was YVELTAL, for crying out loud!
Having its own thoroughly humiliating state witnessed by three separate humans — Yveltal genuinely felt like it might pass out from sheer shame.
AAAAAHHH! That damned plump fish! It was going to KILL it! Kill it a hundred times over!
It had never in its entire life been force-fed this much water before!
"Sure." Mammon chuckled, but acted quickly regardless.
He pulled out Yveltal's Poké Ball and recalled it.
And then...
Watching the water steadily leaking out through the seams of the ball in his hand, Mammon quietly pulled out a waterproof bag and tucked Yveltal's Poké Ball inside.
Good news: Yveltal was, at last, thoroughly and completely caught.
Bad news: Yveltal simply could not stop spewing water.
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