Chapter 52: War for Hoenn

Author's Note: So this chapter exists for more of a dramatic and emotional appeal and does not serve the shipping or the ORAS plot all that much its not filler, but t helps to clarify the stakes of the situation and the scope of the conflict as well as the powers of the various characters and Pokémon involved in the conflict to gain control of Hoenn. This chapter will sort of accentuate and elevate the quality of chapters to come and it even has some strong value on its own in my opinion.

Chapter 52: War for Hoenn

"I'll be back May, and I promise to never leave you again, never to scare you as I am now, and never let your beautiful smile ever leave your face," and with that, Brendan and Latios dove into the infernal blaze and hurricane below. A single tear flowed past his cheek and into the air.


Latios flew in concentric circles, each one with a smaller radius and lower altitude than the last, until the Pokémon and its rider began barreling down on the terrorizing creatures like a spiraling missile. Kyogre and Groudon momentarily halted their battle as each looked up at the object hurtling towards them at jet speeds. "Latios, MEGA EVOLVE!" Brendan screamed as Latios and Brendan became enveloped in a pink sphere, shattering out of it and racing at faster speeds towards the target. "Latios, use Dragon Pulse on Kyogre before using dive and going into the water. We need to give May a fighting chance by diverting these two from Sootopolis." The Eon Pokémon gave a definite nod and raced at high speeds towards Kyogre, which began to throw ice beams at the incoming Pokémon and its rider. "Latios, use agility to dodge the attacks!" Latios quickly maneuvered around the super effective attacks. Brendan tightened his grip as Latios barrel-rolled over one of the beams before flying just inches above the water to avoid the next. "NOW!" Latios began charging up radiant purple energy before releasing it just yards from the abyssal Pokémon. Like a fighter jet strafing its prey, Latios swooped right by Kyogre, firing a ranged surge of energy and raw dragon power to hit the Abyssal dead on. Kyogre was flung back due to the intense power of the attack and was struck, but barely weakened as the Pokémon began to create a water spout on the surface. But before any real damage could be done, Latios rolled over and dove right into the watery depths. Groudon fired up a Precipice Blades and superheated spikes of rock and magma began to rise from the sea floor. Brendan said something, but only bubbles came out. Brendan began to panic, fearing that he wouldn't be able to tell Latios what to do in time. But Latios propelled and evaded the barbeque skewers of death. It built momentum under the seas until Latios shot out of the water like Lugia in the movie between Groudon and Kyogre, as the weather Pokémon's gazes followed the Dragon that had erupted out of the water before them. Brendan, soaking wet and chilled, gasped for air and looked below at the raging beasts. Groudon began to boil the water around him while Kyogre created powerful tidal currents. Latios kept climbing fast, avoiding the attacks from the beasts below. Brendan was confused: "How did you know what to do underwater? I-I couldn't say a word?"

"I'm telepathic; you do not have to speak for your command to be known, master," Latios calmly replied

"That's convenient. I wonder why Gallade doesn't do that…? Alright Latios, keep climbing until I tell you to stop. Then we're gonna pull out of the climb and loop down onto Groudon for another strafing run. I have a few tricks up my sleeve." Latios gave an affirmative nod. As they were climbing, an Origin Pulse from Kyogre and a Fire Blast form Groudon chased them, gaining altitude and threatening to mutilate Latios and Brendan. Brendan could feel the heat of the Fire Blast getting closer and gaining strength due to the Drought. "Latios, NOW!" Brendan commanded, and Latios pulled out of the climb and began to once again to target the Pokémon below, bulleting and focusing on the creature. Latios pulled out of the dive right above the water, creating a massive wake as it propelled at incredible speeds. But Groudon saw it coming, and it summoned a Precipice Blades which began rising directly in the path of Latios as it closed in. "Latios, barrel roll to the left and use luster purge!" Brendan yelled, hoping to pull the crazy and improvised move off. The Eon Pokémon slid over to a new course through a roll and narrowly avoided the lethal ground type attack. Latios then began charging up a blinding ball of light, so bright that it began to shine directly into the minds of the people and Pokémon around it, creating confusion and pain the could not be dodged. "Fire!" Latios released the charged ball and both Kyogre and Groudon were off balance and jarred as the ball of light began to eat their senses inside out, ravaging them and sending pain all over their bodies. "Alright! We got a good shot through!" But as the smoke cleared, Groudon and Kyogre seemed to show no signs of slowing or ceasing their efforts to get to Sootopolis, as they fought through the pain and were simply ever more determined to separate Brendan's head from his body. But Latios' attack had held them off for a second, and that was all Brendan needed. "Gallade! Sceptile! Crobat! Let's finish this together!" Brendan called as he released the three Pokémon over the water. Sceptile slid across the water until its superior speed and footing allowed it to run along the currents and massive waves sent by the enormous Weather beasts. Gallade, an agile fighting-psychic type, used its psychic powers and speed to levitate above the frothy waters. Crobat immediately began flying alongside Latios as it was released from the Pokeball; Brendan had the strength in numbers against Groudon and Kyogre. Sceptile was super effective against both enemy Pokémon and resisted their attacks as well. Gallade had no type advantage or weakness, while Crobat was immune to Groudon so long as it kept flying. Brendan formulated a plan that would allay Groudon and Kyogre's onslaught long enough to give May the chance to strike the fainting blow (Author's note: this is Pokémon; we do not kill creatures. Actually, I may change that later on. Leave a review depending on what you want). "Crobat, go for cross poison on Groudon, then use fly to get outta there quick! Sceptile, use leaf blade buddy! Get in and out quickly because Kyogre's Ice Beam will destroy you if you stay there too long. Gallade, do your best to torment them with Psycho Cut, and use Close Combat if Groudon or Kyogre looks like it might damage one of our buddies, got it?" Brendan knew that commanding four Pokémon all at once would be near impossible, but he knew what had to be done. All three Pokémon wasted no time getting to work. Sceptile gained momentum as its swift feet chopped the waters and reduced the distance between it and the target. Its arms glowed bright green as they absorbed the solar energy from the powerful drought around it. Shifting its footing and drifting across the water, Sceptile oriented itself to pass Kyogre on the parallel to inflict a Leaf Blade cut along the entire length of the Abyssal Pokémon. GYAAAAAAHHH! Kyogre fired repeated ice beams at Sceptile, landing just inches away and freezing the sea into an icy chunk of debris. Brendan keenly watched as Sceptile reached Kyogre with bright green leaf blades on its arms, ready to puncture Kyogre with a super effective attack. And so it did; the Forest Pokémon drifted along the sides of Kyogre, digging both its blades into the side of the Pokémon and dragging them along until it reached the end of its length. Kyogre screamed in pain and dove underneath the waters for cover, lifting its enormous tail as it tilted forward. Brendan saw what was coming, but it was too late. Kyogre's tail rose right underneath Sceptile, lifting the Forest Pokémon tens meters into the air where all it could do was fall. The Abyssal Pokémon emerged from the depths once again and charged a powerful Origin Pulse, enhanced by its proximity to Sootopolis City and the Cave of Origin. "Sceptile GET OUT OF THERE!" Brendan yelled as he watched his first partner fall into the legendary Pokémon's attack. The Origin Pulse hit Sceptile with such force that it pushed the creature onto the Sootopolis crater, heavily damaging it and nearly ending it. The dust cleared, and Sceptile stood determined to fight for its home and its friend, shaken and heaving, but still standing.

Kyogre began picking up speed, charging Sceptile for one last attack that would finish it off. It swam through the waves with a velocity that created tremendous waves that splashed all across the battlefield. The waters around it began to freeze up as Kyogre called on its storms and rain to charge up an immense powerful ice beam to once and for all remove Sceptile from the battlefield. "Sceptile, use agility and try to avoid all attacks. Play defensive!" Brendan commanded and Sceptile immediately understood the game-plan. Sceptile, as weak as it was, began to outmaneuvered Kyogre on the seas by running rapidly along the surface, but the sea was Kyogre's dominion, a fact that Brendan had completely ignored. Kyogre screamed at Sceptile as massive pillars of water shot up all around the Forest Pokemon, leaving it trapped in a deadly cage of powerful water bursts. It quickly changed direction to escape its certain end, but Kyogre easily intercepted its path and fired an ice beam sure to hit its target.


During the same time…

Crobat broke off from Brendan and his Latios, banking left and lining Groudon in its sights. From its peripheral vision, Groudon could see Crobat closing in, and prepared for a counteroffensive. Finding that the drought was amplifying fire-type attacks, Groudon let go of a Fire Blast. As the attack grew and became a 5-branch attack of fire (you know that symbol fire blast forms as it nears the target? That one. Google it I guess), Crobat expertly managed to fly through the gap between one of the branches of the attack. Its wings were singed and it had minor burns, but it was still airborne. Its arms glowed an intense and royal purple as prepared to sink itself into Groudon with Cross Poison. Crobat landed a hit on the brow of the Continent Pokémon and formed an acidic X that sizzled with toxicity, but the rock-solid hide and reinforced magma and ground that formed its body did not allow Crobat's attack to inflict much real damage. The attack burned through Groudon's defenses slowly by acidifying and dissolving its hide, but it failed to poison the Pokémon. Groudon's eyes became reddened as it reeled from the pain, but it began summoning rocks from the ocean floor and threatened to peg Crobat with a super effective attack from close range. Crobat dodged and weaved the boulders flung at it from all sides until it finally grew tired and its drop in agility reflected in its performance. A rock hit it from the side, flinging the lightweight Pokémon onto Kyogre where it slid off the Pokémon and into the water, its eyes shut. "Return Crobat! You did well. Thank you" Brendan called holding out his Pokeball to retrieve his fallen friend.


Present

Kyogre's ice beam was no primed for launch, and Sceptile was in no condition to evade it. The scene flashed a brilliant white as the ice beam began spiraling towards Sceptile, creating a path of ice underneath itself as it traveled across the seas to the Forest Pokémon just beyond. The blow could have been lethal. Sceptile closed its eyes.

"Gallade, Protect!" Brendan ordered as a flurry of white and green emerged in front of Sceptile and created a violent and powerful barrier that took the brunt of the ice beam. But the ice beam was no ordinary attack. Gallade struggled to hold the protect up as it began to shake and buckle with the force of the ice beam pressing against it. Sceptile mustered what strength it had to move out of the way as the protect gave way to the ice beam. The sound of shattering could be heard as smoke and a glowing purple shards enveloped the area around Gallade. Although the attack broke through the barrier, Gallade was resistant to Ice-type attacks, and it had plenty of energy left for a counterattack. "Gallade, Close Combat on Kyogre, now!" Gallade's blades glowed a slightly opaque red as they began to store the kinetic fighting power that would rain down on Kyogre in seconds. Gallade rammed into Kyogre with both its hands, pushing the massive Pokémon through the water and shattering its abilities to defend against the rapid punches and kicks to come. Gallade flipped backward and let its pointed feet stab twice into Kyogre as it used the rotational momentum to bring its blades back into a slicing stance. What hit Kyogre next was a series of blows so furious and violent that Giratina would cower before the Blade Pokémon. Gallade began moving its hands at speeds that blurred its motions and create a reddish green haze of motion and energy around Kyogre's side. An orange bubble of concentrated energy began to build around Gallade as it unleashed an unprecedented and ferocious attack on Kyogre; whatever it took, it would not let this terror hurt another person or Pokemon again. After a deafening kick across Kyogre's chin, Gallade finally ended the attack. Close Combat had drastically reduced its stamina and the recoil from the attack had reduced its capacity to survive another hit from Kyogre.

While Brendan and his Pokémon focused on intently on the battle with Kyogre, Groudon seized the opportunity to remove the biggest threat to its rise to power: Brendan. With its power increased by its proximity to the Cave of Origin, Groudon quickly fired a Mud Shot away at the trainer atop the Latios. Latios would not be affected by the attack due to its Levitate ability, but the same could not be said about Brendan. Brendan felt an attack racing towards him, but the time he noticed the Mud Shot, he could feel his end near and turned to look at May. Any hit from this height would knock him down several thousand feet. Latios began to move, sensing Brendan's concern, but the Mud Shot was but a second away, not enough to dodge, not enough time to survive.

"Metagross! Use Flash Cannon!": a familiar voice from the clouds above Kyogre roared as a cyber-sounding "MEEETTAAAAA!" could be heard. Yellow tracers of hot metal fired like machine-gun bullets through the cloud cover and beat back the Mud Shot, creating a fiery explosion that pushed Brendan and Latios out of harm's way and into a concealing smoke. The flash from the collision of the two attacks revealed the silhouette of a tall figure riding a mega-evolved Metagross in the clouds. Stephen emerged from the grey in his signature blue hair and gray suit and was riding his Psychic-Steel Pokémon. "Metagross, Flash Cannon! Again!"

More yellow bullet-like projectiles flew from Metagross as Groudon was pelted with a hail of destruction, causing it to waver and rock on its platform. But the giant red Pokémon remained unhurt for the most part, and spit a tremendous burst of fire and magma into the air, hoping it would rain down on both Brendan and Stephen. As lethal and heavy magma began bombarding avian and surface creature, Metagross and Latios began to move rapidly while turning sharply in certain places, hoping to avoid the certain death that would ensure had one of those deadly eruption particles hit them. As the hot hail dissipated and the threat of being struck by fire right out of the sky decreased, Brendan told Steven to take care of Groudon with his Metagross while he would challenge Kyogre. "There's no need Brendan, I called for backup."

"Backup, what backup?" Brendan implored.

"That backup," Stephen said, pointing to a sea captain atop a Salamance that began glowing and radiating powerful energy. The dragon-flying Pokémon was not alone; three other trainers and their respective Pokémon were on their way to the battle. "I read the legends in the caves, remember? I know what there Pokémon are capable of so I asked the league to help stop them. We have an entire team of Pokémon, Brendan. Just watch us win." And so saying, Steven joined the Elite Four and began a powerful charge against the legendary Pokémon. The Elite Four members were within range of ranged attacks and began firing dragon pulses, shadow balls, aura spheres, and ice beams at the Pokémon, hoping to destroy their abilities to progress into the Cave of Origin. With the support of the league behind him, Brendan and Latios chose to push a daring charge. Brendan knew Groudon to be the more versatile and ferocious of the two, with its multifaceted attacks and its boost by its ability. He noticed many of the league's attacks would either miss or be blocked by Precipice Blades as Groudon had plenty of time to prepare for the incoming shots. Brendan knew exactly how to change that. He and Latios quickly maneuvered behind Groudon's gaze and cunningly decided to bring the Pokémon to its knees. "LATIOS, PSYCHIC!" he yelled as the purple Eon Pokémon began to narrow its eyes and concentrate heavily into the mind of Groudon, threatening to shred its consciousness and neural circuits with its telepathic power. Shadow Balls and Dragon Pulses began to rain down on Groudon as it wailed, barely able to sustain the power and speed of the flurry of destruction that peppered it. Brendan was satisfied with the results, with Groudon out of the way would not be difficult to deal with. But he was tragically wrong. While he and Latios were doing their best to destroy Groudon and erase its threat, they had been forced to stay still in order to maintain enough proximity to Groudon for the Psychic attack to work. Brendan's underestimation of the Abyss Pokémon came to be his fall. Kyogre had used their focus on Groudon as a distraction for it to slip beneath the waves and reappear in a position that gave it a direct shot at Brendan. Its hulking presence emerged from the surface quietly as it stealthily waited to sink the fatal blow into its prey.


Elsewhere

May was more than ready; she knew that Brendan was about to put Groudon out of action, which would open the window for her to swoop in and deliver the finishing strike as they had planned. She leaned lower on Latias and kept her hand on Gardevoir's Pokeball to initiate the attack; that's when she noticed a blue mass emerged out of the sea unbeknownst to Brendan. As a pale, icy blast began to accumulate around it, she knew what was coming: an ice beam. It would be super effective against Latios and would kill Brendan instantly if not throw him off into the sea hundreds of meters below. Her eyes widened as she opened her mouth to scream; she was going to lose him… forever.


Present

"Latios, let's finish thi—" CRRRRCHHHHSSSS. A bolt of brilliant blue blasted Brendan and Latios, knocking the trainer off his mount and sending him free falling alongside his weak and fainting Pokémon. Brendan, his back facing the sea, could see May on her Latias, far away but coming closer. A shrill scream could be heard over the commotion and fury of battle.

Author's Note: A cliffhanger! OK, so that was a very experimental chapter. I'm not sure how much shipping you guys want so I kept the shipping to a minimum here and I decided to have action and commotion control the scene instead. I never wrote such lively pieces before, so pardon my lack of skill in this chapter. If you have any suggestions for characters, plot arcs, or overall suggestions for the development of the story or literary layout (heck, if you feel like this story lacks anything at all) feel free to PM me, I have a solid response rate! Thank you for your time everyone and see you next Saturday!