Chapter 665: Star-Terastallized Lugia, Cyclone Attack!

“—Wow, so amazing!”

On the back of Whiscash, Nimo and the others stared wide-eyed, their mouths gaping open wide enough to fit an egg.

From afar, they clearly saw Luo Mu and Lugia overwhelmingly overpowering Groudon.

Only the word “shock” could capture their true emotions.

Wallace supported Milotic, whose bleeding had been urgently stopped by Shizuka and who had been forcibly fed a “egg”; both their expressions were deeply complex.

From their perspective, it wasn’t hard to guess how Luo Mu made Lugia dominate Groudon so completely.

Even if they were in his place, they could have done the same thing.

—Just not as fast or as precise as Luo Mu.

With just one prediction, neither Wallace nor Milotic could think of anyone stronger than Luo Mu.

Who in their right mind would, the instant Groudon opened its mouth to charge up “Flamethrower,” immediately order Lugia to blast “Water Pulse” straight into its jaws?

Then again, even if both of them were confident they could predict Groudon and Kyogre’s patterns to some degree through experience,

predicting them and actually handling them were two entirely different matters.

How could Luo Mu overpower Groudon?

Because Lugia’s base stats are high enough!

It’s a Legendary Pokémon on the same level as Groudon and Kyogre, with physical endurance and energy reserves far beyond ordinary Pokémon.

Wallace and Milotic had suppressed Groudon and Kyogre before, but precisely because of this “weakness,” they quickly fell behind as Groudon and Kyogre’s unreasonable physiques wore them down.

Now look at the ongoing battle between Luo Mu & Lugia and Groudon & Flannery.

Perhaps influenced by Groudon, Flannery, acting as the external brain, had also grown less intelligent.

In contrast, Lugia, under Luo Mu’s command, grew fiercer with every strike, showing no trace of the desperation it showed during the Orange Islands incident when it was hunted by the Three Birds.

Groudon was in a newly awakened, ravenous state.

Maybe they really could win!

The two Champions exchanged glances and saw a glimmer of hope in each other’s eyes.

On the other side, Steven’s focus, besides Luo Mu’s side, was mostly on Kyogre—more precisely, on the two enormous Pokémon.

Steven was no stranger to Giant Venomoth; after all, earlier last year, Kanto had held numerous meetings over the Giant Venomoth incident.

In the end, Chairman Marill had overruled the majority and rejected the proposal that Giant Venomoth’s power was too dangerous to leave roaming Kanto’s waters, suggesting instead that it be captured and studied for how it had grown so large.

The Kanto League eventually sent Koga, skilled in both Ice- and Water-type moves, to negotiate with Giant Venomoth, and they reached an agreement.

When Giant Venomoth appeared, Steven was baffled: where had Luo Mu met Giant Venomoth, and how had he convinced this creature, who according to Koga held deep resentment toward humans, to come help?

But now, Steven’s attention was entirely consumed by the massive orange-yellow figure.

A Giant Dragonite? There’s a Giant Dragonite in this world!?

Not some Guardian Dragonite from the Dragon Sanctuary—after all, compared to Giant Dragonite, regular Dragonite was only slightly larger.

Giant Dragonite was at least a hundred meters tall by sight!

And now, Giant Dragonite was locked in fierce combat with Kyogre.

Unlike energy attacks, Giant Dragonite’s greatest strength was its enormous body.

Even though it inevitably had the weakness of being an easy target, under the condition of sufficient energy (from Victini), its body could unleash power that made Kyogre flinch.

Moreover, Kyogre, like Groudon, had been kidnapped while asleep and awakened in a strange place, still starving.

The natural energy in Hoenn had not yet grown dense enough to trigger their “Primal Reversion,” and the “Orbs” that could bypass natural energy to trigger “Primal Reversion” were currently bound to their external brains.

The situation was now awkward.

Giant Venomoth knew well that although its size looked immense, it lacked the true strength to directly clash with Kyogre.

So it played the role of a sneak, taking advantage of Kyogre’s distraction by Giant Dragonite, using the cover of clashing moves to unleash all its tentacles, weaving them into a net that trapped Kyogre for a time.

Even though several tentacles, hard to regenerate, had been torn off by Kyogre, leaving Giant Venomoth slightly disheartened,

seeing Kyogre’s entire body covered in purple bubbles—even its pure white underbelly glowing purple—made Giant Venomoth feel it was all worth it.

Even if the poison would eventually be purged from Kyogre’s body and heal naturally, this achievement was enough for Giant Venomoth to brag about for life.

I! Poisoned the Creator of the Seas!

Already weakened by hunger, Kyogre’s condition worsened drastically under the poison’s erosion.

Its proud authority as the ruler of the oceans was crumbling under Giant Dragonite’s power.

“Roar—!!” Empowered by Victini’s infinite energy, Giant Dragonite, having lived for countless ages, stood like a war god.

Its body glowed with Dragon-type energy streaked with golden aura; a Dragon Pulse clashed head-on with Kyogre’s Origin Pulse, exploding into towering waves across the sea.

Immediately after, Giant Dragonite seized the moment of energy collision, diving sharply downward.

Its massive claws, capable of tearing apart mountains, plunged into the churning sea and gripped Kyogre just as it tried to dive.

“Ugh—!” Kyogre let out a pained moan as its enormous fish body was forcibly lifted from the water, scales grinding painfully under the crushing pressure of the dragon’s claws.

It never imagined it would be so humiliated by sheer size difference.

Kyogre writhed its fish body, trying to break free with brute force, while drawing all falling raindrops into its control.

—As the pale blue-white glow flared again, an unprecedented Origin Pulse, like a concentrated rocket barrage, slammed repeatedly into Giant Dragonite.

Simultaneously, a chilling frost seeped from Kyogre’s tooth-filled maw, freezing Giant Dragonite’s body rapidly.

Giant Dragonite gritted its teeth, forcing itself to stay conscious under Kyogre’s relentless assault.

“Bii!”

Victini, well-protected, was also straining to provide more support to Giant Dragonite.

Even though this pushed its energy and mental strength to the brink.

The next instant.

Giant Dragonite’s two golden antennae and single horn stood upright like antennas; brilliant lightning gathered at their tips, drawing all the clouds above the sea into a terrifying thunderstorm vortex.

“Thunderbolt! Don’t take it head-on!” The voice of the external brain, Wutong, nearly cracked with panic.

Kyogre struggled harder, but before it could break free, Giant Dragonite’s long-prepared move struck first.

BOOM—!!

As a deep rumble echoed across the sky,

a colossal lightning pillar, wide enough to fully engulf Giant Dragonite’s body, crashed down like a divine punishment, radiating a terrifying aura.

Guided by Giant Dragonite’s antennae, the lightning pillar didn’t just strike Giant Dragonite—it fully engulfed Kyogre, still tightly held in its grasp.

Blinding lightning illuminated the entire sea as day, and Kyogre convulsed violently within the storm, screaming in agony.

Soon after, when the lightning faded,

Kyogre, released by Giant Dragonite, floated belly-up on the sea, tiny electric sparks dancing over its charred, blackened body.

Giant Dragonite stood proudly atop the waves, roaring to the heavens, declaring itself the victor of this battle.

The next moment,

Giant Dragonite swayed, about to collapse.

But at that instant, Giant Venomoth’s tentacles caught its falling body.

“Boo.”

Giant Dragonite looked gratefully at Giant Venomoth, who blushed slightly and turned away, still carefully controlling its tentacles to avoid secreting poison.

On the sea, Kyogre stared blankly at the sky as the clouds slowly dispersed, lost in thought.

I… lost?

Kyogre, pondering its fishy existence, couldn’t yet accept this reality.

Wutong, whose expression had completely shattered as if he’d lost an entire family registry, had no time to react before Steven and Dragonite launched a surprise attack, sending him tumbling onto the aircraft.

The crimson Orb fused with him slowly expelled from his body as he passed out.

The sky’s gloom had vanished without notice; rain ceased, and the temperature began to soar.

Carefully picking up the crimson Orb, Steven faced the increasingly scorching sun, his gaze fixed on the direction of Mossdeep Island.

Now, it all depends on Luo Mu and Lugia.

That massive thunderclap had an overwhelming presence.

Even while fully focused on commanding Lugia against Groudon, Luo Mu still glanced back several times.

Let’s be honest, Giant Dragonite really had something.

Many Dragon-type Pokémon grow stronger with age; this creature, whose lifespan was unknown, was no exception.

Combined with its enormous body, Victini’s assistance, and a perfectly executed final strike,

defeating Kyogre in its “kidney-deficient” state, unable to undergo Primal Reversion, wasn’t surprising.

But because the battle on that side ended early, pressure here suddenly spiked.

—The root cause lies in the “balance” between these two Legendary Pokémon of Hoenn.

“Expansion of Land” and “Expansion of Sea” are Groudon and Kyogre’s instincts; their respective weather phenomena are absolute extremes.

They’re like the two ends of a scale: when one weakens, the other gains more power and grows stronger.

When Kyogre was critically wounded and fell, the balance shattered.

Unchecked, Groudon began wildly expanding its weather; scorching sunlight engulfed the entire sea, warping even the air with heat.

The lava patterns on Groudon’s shell glowed brighter, its power surging at an alarming rate!

“Damn it…” The onlookers tightened their hearts, their expressions turning grim.

Shizuka nearly screamed like a gamer watching a trash game: “What the hell is this?!”

The boss is a stat monster, and now there’s a mechanic forcing you to defeat both at once? What kind of nightmare is this?!

Any other Trainer and Pokémon here would be utterly helpless against this situation.

But another “Sea God” happened to be present—though not as skilled as Kyogre, Lugia’s power was still sufficient to temporarily resist Groudon’s influence.

Pure white wings suddenly tore through the scorching air; Luo Mu’s command exploded like thunder, “Lugia, Rain Dance!”

Lugia lifted its head and let out a long cry, its slender neck glowing with mysterious blue light.

Monsoons blew in from afar, carrying the sea’s distinctive saltiness.

Deep-sea currents shifted unseen, their paths altered by invisible force.

Seawater evaporated by the blazing sun condensed into countless glittering droplets, reassembling at Lugia’s call.

“Woo—!!”

With Lugia’s melodic whale song, the crimson sky was suddenly stained black; Groudon’s solar domain was violently torn open, clouds surging like a million troops, converging within moments into a superstorm cloud spanning dozens of kilometers in diameter.

The first raindrop struck Groudon’s scorching carapace, emitting a hiss as it vaporized.

Then, torrential rain poured down!

“How is this possible?!” Redwood’s incredulous cry was drowned in the rain.

But the downpour would not be swayed by any single will.

Between sea and sky, the silver-white divine bird spread its wings, hovering at the storm’s center.

At its core, rain clashed again with the blazing sun, suppressing Groudon’s rapidly growing power.

Groudon’s golden vertical pupils shrank to needle points; the volcanoes of Mo Si Island roared with earth-shattering fury.

Scorching magma spewed a kilometer into the sky, illuminating the entire sea like a hellish forge.

Against this apocalyptic backdrop, both sides unleashed their long-stored ultimate attacks—

“Roar—!!!” The Earth God let out its most furious roar since the battle began; countless crimson rock blades burst from the ground.

These “Cliff Blades” were no longer scattered thrusts—they formed a single massive rock blade, flowing with molten rock, piercing toward Lugia with the intent to obliterate all.

Luo Mu’s robe flapped violently in the heatwave; though in mortal peril, he smiled with certainty of victory.

His left hand gently stroked the smooth carapace of Tai Le Ba Ge Si, which had quietly emerged; his right hand’s Terastal Pearl suddenly blazed with brilliance rivaling a supernova!

“Lugia, Terastallize!”

“Liiii—!!!”

Lugia’s pure white feathers instantly crystallized; countless hexagonal crystal shields surfaced across its body.

Most astonishing was the colossal Terastal Crown forming atop its head—not an ordinary Psychic- or Flying-type, but a mysterious starlit crown bearing all eighteen types.

—That is, Star Crystallization!

“And now—”

“Air Slash!!”

Luo Mu’s voice echoed across heaven and earth; Terastal energy and Flying-type energy fused perfectly as Lugia stretched its wings to their full span.

In an instant, all air over the sea was sucked away, forming a super-cyclone over a hundred meters wide, crashing into the Cliff Blade.

“Boom—!!!”

When the Air Slash struck the Cliff Blade, time itself seemed to freeze.

Then, a sight stunned everyone into silence.

—The Cliff Blade, which had always pierced through others, was now cleanly pierced through the center by the Air Slash.

The cyclone, undiminished, slammed into Groudon’s chest; Terastal energy exploded across its body in countless dazzling crystal sparks!

“No, this isn’t possible!!” Redwood’s body trembled violently, his face filled with disbelief.

Groudon staggered backward; beneath its feet, the earth crumbled and sank under the cyclone’s impact.

Soon, as the Air Slash finally knocked Groudon to the ground, its form was entirely swallowed by the raging vortex.

(End of Chapter)