Groudon couldn't help but worry as he watched the tiny island of Alto-Mare grow closer in view. It was easy saying what he was going to do, but physically performing those actions was another story. He hadn't even stepped foot into the humble town, yet and he already was having second thoughts.
The human disguised Groudon leaned on the railing of the steamboat. At least he didn't have to worry about being caught in his legendary form. Taking a boat beat rising out of the ocean, stepping into the town and scaring the hell out of everybody in the process. He could only imagine how Latias and Latios would greet him then.
Groudon gritted his teeth.
Just go up to them and ask them how to pass Arceus's test. Only ask about Kyogre if you think the time is right.
He recited the mantra to himself in his head; the rules he were to follow once he found the eon dragons. But that didn't even come close to covering all of the possibilities that could happen when he met them. And what if they don't believe me when I say I love Kyogre.
"Ugh let's get this over with" Groudon mumbled to himself. He knew the burning desire to tell Kyogre he loved her wouldn't go away until he did so. A part of him wondered why he was going to Alto-mare in the first place, and not straight to Kyogre to ask that question. But he simply ignored the thought. He needed to be sure he was right about his feelings.
"Uh sir, are you feeling ill?" A young woman spoke behind him.
Groudon spun around quickly, nervously looking side to side.
"No no no, it's fine. I... I guess I do get a little seasick." Wow smooth Groudon.
"Oh, well we'll be arriving shortly so just hang on a little bit longer."
The boat attendee walked off and Groudon caught his breath again. Luckily she didn't butt in any further.
The nerve of humans. Couldn't even say excuse me first.
But he knew that this whole situation was getting the best of him. He just needed to relax. He breathed in and out deeply trying to calm his conscience, but it was a temporary heal. It was all going to come rushing back when he spoke to those two, face to face.
He turned back towards the water and watched as the island continued to grow nearer.
Once the boat reached land, Groudon was one of the last to exit. His eyes trained around the unfamiliar town in-front of him. Talk about busy. There were people everywhere. He felt a welt build up in his stomach. He hated crowded places. The idea of having no room to stretch his arms out made him uncomfortable and he looked for an open way to pass through the traffic. Unfortunately for him, none was to be found. Just more people.
"Well it's either claustrophobia, or scaring everyone in town. Take your pick" He told himself. His answer was fairly obvious as he blended in with the crowd. He walked for a little bit noticing the sights and smells. It sure was a lively town. Draperies hung from the walls and colorful shop carts lined the streets. He looked to the center of the street, which wasn't a street at all but a crystal blue canal. Beautiful gondolas floated down the channel with rowers pushing their oars off the back. The scenery sure was a spectacle, but to him it didn't beat the more solitary feeling he got back at Mt. Chimney.
The crowd had subsided a little bit after leaving the harbor but it still was far too crowded for him.
Too bad they didn't leave more room for the sidewalks, he thought as he looked to the other side of the river. The canals took up over half of the street.
It was all Groudon could take and he forced himself through a crowd of people and into a back alleyway. It was off the main street and definitely darker than he would've liked, but it beat the cluster of travelers.
However, the further he went, they didn't seem to hold up as well. For one, he had never been good with dark places. No matter how hard he tried, an anxious feeling would always build up inside him, not unlike the feeling of being cramped. The continent pokemon preferred to have the sun beating down on him rather than the cold embrace of the dark. However in addition, it turned out that the alley ways were a maze for first timers. Groudon just kept walking forward knowing if he wanted to turn back, he was going to have little luck. To add insult to injury, the cramped feeling didn't go away either. Some paths tended to be narrow, giving him a severe lack of space. It was a whole different type of claustrophobia, but he didn't mind much of either of them.
He also found the lack of people disturbing. Why didn't anyone use these back paths? Was everyone out and about just for the shopping stands and boat rides? He couldn't comprehend why no regular residents at least didn't roam around back here. If he lived in Alto-mare, he would memorize a way through these alley ways from his house to wherever he needed to go.
Perhaps everyone just wasn't like him, and enjoyed being in a crowd.
Groudon had become so lost in thought that his body was set on autopilot, and almost collided ironically with a young girl in the alley.
"Ouch! Oh sorry miss, I wasn't watching where I was going." Groudon said apologetically.
The girl who wore a green shirt and white cap smiled back.
"Oh it's no trouble at all mister."
Wait a second.
Groudon couldn't break his gaze with the girl. She waited for a response but got none as he stared befuddled at her. She looked back perplexed by his motionless state and slowly skirted around him. Just as she was clear, her walk turned into a skip as she continued on down the path, looking behind her to see if Groudon was following.
There was something definitely not right about that... girl. She was strange, like her appearance was misleading to who she actually was... that was the issue. She wasn't who she seemed to be; a stranger girl in the alleys. In fact, he felt like he knew this 'girl' very well.
It's her isn't it.
"Latias..." Groudon spoke softly almost in a whisper, but it was enough to make the girl stop in her tracks. She had almost made her way around the bend but quirked her head back to listen to his voice.
"You're Latias aren't you?"
She turned around fully and looked closely at him.
"How do you know who I am..." Her voice quivered with interest. She looked up and down at the disguised legendary before Groudon swore he saw her eyes light up.
"Hey wait... you're not a normal human either are you?"
The girl circled around examining Groudon, looking attentively at his appearance. She was trying but couldn't quite make out who he was. He just rolled his eyes.
"It's me, Groudon."
"Groudon? You seem like you could be Groudon, but I don't believe you."
"Don't believe me?" He answered gruffly. It honestly didn't surprise him, but he didn't appreciate her lack of confidence.
"Well yeah I don't. I can't think of a reason for Groudon to show up the day after the council meeting, unless you'd like to explain."
"Look if you can show me where your hideout is, I can prove I really am Groudon."
"You don't need to." Latias responded, and touched her hand to his skull. Groudon could only wonder what she was doing until he felt something in his head tingle. Is she reading my mind?
"Her eyes opened and she looked at him with sincerity. "Wow it really is you. He-heh sorry. I sensed it was you but I was almost dead sure you were someone else. Why have you come to Alto-mare?"
Well she can read my mind... great. Seeing as how she didn't blurt out "you love Kyogre?", she must've only 'lightly' invaded my privacy. I'd better watch what I say and think around here.
Groudon shook his head. Perhaps this wasn't the best plan of action.
"Hideout... please. I really don't want to be in these alleys anymore." Groudon asked impatiently. He really wasn't liking being in this cramped alleyway standing so close to the disguised fellow legendary.
"You make it sound like I'm on the run." She giggled charmingly. "But yeah of course. Follow me."
With a wave of her arm, she darted down the path in which she came. Groudon quickly picked up his pace to keep up with her. Despite her happy skip, she still managed to keep a good speed, and it was tiring Groudon out.
Are you seriously going to let yourself quit because you're tired from a run? Maybe it's time you worked out at the gym a little more.
He just grimaced through the aches that started to get more present in his weak human form. He was only joking with himself. He rarely used his human disguise. Despite how much of a privilege it was to be allowed by Arceus the ability to cloak, he insisted on remaining in legendary form. Because of this, his human strength was severely limited compared to the muscle he owned as his normal self.
He looked back up ahead to Latias who was having way too much fun on this adventurous little jog. Her arms flared out to each side resembling a jet, or maybe like her own wings on her legendary form. Either way, he could tell she spent a lot of time as a human.
Not surprising. I did collide with her like this anyway.
The run was a quick one as they turned off the path into an even darker alley way. Groudon admired how well hidden it actually was. There was no way an outsider with no experience in travelling through the city could discover this place (unless it was by complete accident). But something did nag at his head.
"Well we're here. The secret 'hideout' as you called it." Latias announced joyfully.
"You picked a pretty good place for it." Groudon admitted. "I would never have found you here... but I'm just curious. I remember hearing you lived in a garden?"
Latias laughed at the question and spun around towards the wall directly behind her.
"So you do know a little about me. You're right. This isn't it, but you may see where me and Latios really live if you follow me."
Where they really live? But there was nowhere else to go.
Groudon looked along the walls lining the alley. Nothing. Just corroded concrete walls and trash that collected during a rainstorm. Maybe it was above.
He looked up to the clouds but saw absolutely nothing. Just the tips of the rooves hanging slightly off the walls.
"Follow you where?" Groudon finally asked curiously as he looked back at Latias. However to his surprise, she had vanished.
"What? Latias, hey wait! Where did you go?" He did a double take, looking back across the walls, floor, and roof tops, but didn't spot any human figure that resembled the one he was just talking to. Did she switch back to her normal form and fly off as a joke?
"Groudon you coming?" A voice called to him from out of seemingly nowhere.
"Latias? Where did you go?" He was starting to get ticked off, feeling like Latias was only tricking him. She probably snuck around him somehow when he wasn't looking.
He was about to call out her name one more time before the familiar human face popped back into existence through the cold hard concrete wall.
"Groudon? Why are you still waiting out here? Let's go!"
Groudon could only stare, as he watched her head disappear once again through the solid wall. His mouth hung agape speechless. So many things were wrong with what he just witnessed, but his eyes weren't deceiving him. Latias had just walked through a solid wall. And this wasn't Darkrai or either of the time and space legendaries. This was Latias that melted through a solid object.
"Um Latias, when did you learn to phase through solid matter?"
"Oh don't think so much into it! Just try it yourself!" The voice called back to him.
What does she think she's talking about? There's no way I can pass through a concrete wall. Is she crazy?
But then he looked at the wall again... a little closer this time. It almost seemed to move, swirl even, as if it wasn't concrete at all, but instead a gray barrier of an unknown substance. He reached out and touched it expecting to lay his palm flat across its surface but instead the wall wrapped itself around his invading hand.
He fell back startled by the fact that his hand actually breached the wall, but also by the cool feeling the substance gave off.
Well I'll be damned.
He approached the misleading wall once again and this time stuck his entire arm into it. Just like his last attempt, his arm easily broke into the substance and wrapped around it like water. He didn't stop as he carried the rest of his head, torso, and finally legs through the substance and fell to the ground on the other side. Other than being a little chilly, the process was smooth like butter.
He refocused as Latias giggled at him once again, enjoying his disbelief at the magic wall.
"See that wasn't so bad."
"No it wasn't" Groudon grumbled. "What is it though?"
"It's part of the security for the secret garden." Her tone hushed slightly. "It was set up by Latios' father to keep us safe from intruders."
Well it sure worked against him. I wonder if he set up the maze like alleyways too, Groudon thought to himself, but then he did a double take. He really didn't know what to think. Nor did he remember why he had come in the first place. Already his thoughts were a mess.
You idiot! The exam!
Groudon shot up alert once again as he watched Latias walk out into the sunlight at the end of the tunnel. He got to his feet and ran after her.
"Wait Latias, I have to tell you..." His thought process derailed as quickly as it came as he stared out into the expansiveness of the garden. This had to be it. Lush green trees lined a small river that trickled past wildflowers on the bank. The air was crisp and cool, and there wasn't the faintest of voices, only the sound of other pokemon and the wind whistling through the treetops. All of the problems he had with Alto-mare had been erased in an instant. It was warm, expansive, and certainly private. Only wild pokemon ran to and fro, frolicking in the sea of grass. When they caught sight of Latias some jumped up and ran towards her greeting her arrival. She returned the greetings as she looked back at the bewildered Groudon.
"I have a guest this time everyone, I'd like you to meet Groudon, another legendary like me."
He scoffed at her actually introducing himself to the insignificant wild pokemon. Like they don't know me already.
Latias was expecting a greeting of his own, but Groudon was still too caught up in the refreshing change of setting the garden provided. The sunlight warmed his body, making him de-stress with relief. He had been in the dark for a little too long.
"I guess the garden is a little overwhelming on first sight." Latias laughed again. Her charismatic charm she carried with her never failed. Groudon wanted to scold himself for admiring Latias' home to the point where he wished he lived here, but he couldn't help it. It truly was a beautiful paradise. Almost the perfect scenery for romantic getaways. He wondered how Kyogre would like this place…
He mentally slapped himself. He had finally come back to his senses at least, but why did he need to remember that all over again?
"Yeah, it's beautiful. I didn't expect this kind of setting from a city mostly made out of stone and concrete."
"Not many do. For the ones that do see the garden, they usually have the same reaction as you."
Latias suddenly burst into a white glow of light and levitated a few feet off the ground. Groudon shielded his eyes from the glare but couldn't help but watch. Her human features vanished, replaced by long outstretched wings, a lengthy curved neck, and two tail fins in place of her legs. The eon dragon came into fruition as the glow died down and her red and white coat shimmered in the natural light. It reminded Groudon how much he needed to escape his wretched human form.
"I guess we're safe to be in our regular forms here?"
Latias nodded. "Yep. No one knows we're here but us and the pokemon." She responded cheerfully, exercising her pokemon muscles with a few flips in the air.
He somehow didn't believe that, but he wasn't going to miss the opportunity to escape his frail form. His body emitted the same glow, growing almost three times his size. He heavily outweighed Latias' transformation as his glow stood just below a tree. Some of the wild pokemon darted and dashed to cover, surprised that this man turned out to actually be the legendary Latias had referred to. Groudon's transformation finished as his maroon scales hardened and took the place of his skin. His fierce yellow eyes narrowed when he saw the pokemon around him cower in fear. Latias however held her ground and just flew up to greet him.
"You know, it took until just now for me to finally accept it's you."
"Why? I thought you read my mind?" Groudon asked confused... and maybe a little annoyed.
"I know, and I did… sorry by the way. I just never thought I'd see you here with me in the garden..."
The eon dragon giggled again, as the continent pokemon silently stared back. She sure was getting a kick out of all this.
"...soooo, why exactly are you here again?"
Groudon opened his mouth to speak, but for some reason, words didn't come out. What, was he afraid now to talk to Latias? You talked to her fine a second ago, just tell her what you need.
"Um, yeah... I have something I need to ask of you. Something, well... maybe not as important as it could be, but important for me." He put it in the most generic way possible, hoping to draw a little curiosity but not too much.
"Hmm? Really. What did you need" He seemed to peak her interest, which wasn't exactly his goal, but it gave him a little more confidence.
"You, uh, you know the test that..."
Groudon was unable to finish the sentence before a familiar blue face emerged from behind the trees. He easily identified him as Latios and stalled in his thought process. The dragon recoiled a little bit at his massive size, but regained his composure as he flew up towards the familiar legendary council member, like a father ready to scold a child.
"Groudon? What in Arceus's name are you doing here! You better be here for a good reason..."
"Latios calm down!" Latias called over her counterpart's rising voice. "He came here voluntarily looking for me. He says he has something to ask of me."
"Huh? Why would you need to ask anything of Latias?" Latios redirected his attention to Groudon who nervously twitched. He was so close to getting the hardest part out of the way. Why did he have to interrupt... although now that he thought about it, he really was going to ask both of them for help, not just Latias.
"Well, actually I was planning on asking Latios the same thing." Groudon quickly spoke out. Latios was curious but didn't lift the stern look off his face.
"Oh really? You haven't talked to us ever since we joined the council in the first place. Why is today such a special day?"
Latias had had enough of her counterpart's brash nature towards their guest.
"Latios will you stop talking to him like he's our mortal enemy? He's just here to ask a question, and I think we should at least hear him out before interrogating him without a thought."
Latios opened his mouth ready for a rebuttal but thought better of it and just turned his head. Groudon looked at the two warring lovers. From the little knowledge he had about them, they sure did pick on each other a lot for being such compassionate lovers. It didn't make much sense to him.
"So before my rude counterpart interrupted, what were you saying about a test? Are you talking about Arceus's exam that we did yesterday?" Latias finished with a rather worried expression.
Groudon knew she was expecting him to say he failed it; he wished it was that simple, but in reality he was going to have to tell her the whole story. His body had become numb with stage-fright as he received looks from both dragons. He knew Latias was caring at least, but he didn't know if Latios was going to be an easy pokemon to convince to help him. Either way, he hadn't come this far to just give up, and it's not like he could anyway with what he had already spoken.
"Y-yeah, it's about that."
Latias nodded solemnly. Groudon could see her eyes scan the ground, trying to think of how to follow up to his answer. Latios just stayed put.
"So? You fail all the time? Why is it so important for you to come see us about it?" Latios responded, irritated that the garden's company had come because of a simple exam.
"Well I didn't just fail it..." Groudon said aloud quickly, trying to not let his efforts seem like an everyday problem. "...I didn't finish it. And I'm being punished."
Latios was ready to offer a rejoinder to his comment before the last part of it captivated him.
"Punished? What kind of punishment? For you to come and spend the night with us?"
Groudon could only imagine a punishment that basic.
He sighed. "No, Arceus threatened me... threatened if I don't take the time to worry about the exams, he'd..." he stopped.
Both Latios and Latias had physically leaned in to hear what Arceus 'threatened' Groudon with, but got nothing. Groudon just couldn't bring himself to say it. Not to these two. After all, he was supposed to be the more valued member on the council. He had been a member ever since Arceus created the council of legendary pokemon and he never had a problem up until this point... okay maybe a few problems, but Latios and Latias had only been members for a little over a century. Despite their short stint on the council, they had out shined anything he was capable of... including Arceus's exams. The thought pained him even more.
Both of the eon dragons noticed the distress in his winced eyes, and looked at each other. Latios finally came to terms that Groudon was here for a pretty serious reason. After all, it wasn't every day that you see the beast of the land almost cry. It made them want to know what Arceus could have said to him even more.
"Groudon, can you tell us what he threatened you with, or do you want us to help you with whatever you need first?" Latias tilted her head, trying to read his emotions.
Groudon opened his eyes and forced on a fake relaxed demeanor.
"No, I'm fine, I'm fine... I can tell you."
Okay, no one says that if they are really fine. But they've probably noticed by now that I'm not in the most jolly of moods.
Groudon let out another painful sigh, ready to admit the trouble he was in.
"He said he was going to kick me off the legendary council."
Both Latios and Latias' stable position in the air faltered as he spoke the words. Latias, who had been worried from the start, tried to cope with what she just heard. Latios too sat astonished at what Arceus planned to do with him.
"Groudon, I'm so sorry." Latias quietly commented, growing a little teary eyed.
"I didn't realize that that test was so important." Latios added in, still in disbelief. "No way, that can't be right. Arceus isn't one to just kick you off the council for no reason Groudon. He's probably just saying that to make you try harder on your next exam, that's all."
Groudon remembered back a few hundred years ago at the last legendary (or legendaries) that were kicked off of the council. The three birds Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno had a major quarrel at their home in the Orange Islands and disrupted the peace around them. It wasn't the first time they had warred between each other, and Arceus had to deal with their trouble for a very long time. It didn't help either that none of them knew the pokemon language the council spoke on a regular basis that was very much needed in order to communicate effectively. After some other legendaries, including himself, broke up the fight, Arceus banished them off of the council for good. They've remained in the Orange Islands ever since.
The reminder helped Groudon out a lot as he thought to himself how small and insignificant his problem was compared to theirs.
"Yeah, you're probably right Latios. That actually makes me feel a lot better."
"That's the reason you came though right? To get help on the exam?" Latias chimed in.
"Heh, yeah I guess so."
Latias and Latios looked at each other for a second, to make sure they were on the same page, before turning back towards the continent legendary.
"Well, I never thought I'd be helping you on something so personal... but me and Latias will help you out to prepare for the exam." Latios added a smile on afterwards for reassurance.
Groudon looked up. Nothing was left of his overbearing form as he grinned back at their acceptance, but it was something he just had to live with for a day or two. However long it took for him to make sure his seat on the council was not in danger. And by Arceus, if the big man himself wanted him to pass, he was going to pass."
"Yeah! Groudon." Latias assured him. "I'm sure you'll get your first passing score this time!"
First? Oh yeah I've never passed.
Suddenly the whole situation made him sick to his stomach again.
Maybe if you actually tried in the first place, you wouldn't be in this mess. Funny, that seems to be a recurring problem, a specific example happens to be with you and Ky... Dammit!
Groudon couldn't keep the sea legend from entering his mind. What did it take to focus on just one thing at a time!
"Uh Groudon, it's fine that you don't have a passing score. I mean we'll get you one... are you okay?"
Groudon snapped back to his senses and looked back towards the eon dragons. Their faces varied with serious concern from Latias, to an almost forced concern from Latios. despite all he said, he looked like he really wanted to be anywhere but here. Groudon really couldn't blame him. If someone came to his cave asking to be a more powerful legendary, he'd probably tell them to get lost. The thought of him coming to these two, begging for help made him feel like more of a wimp than he wanted to.
"Yeah, my bad, it's just been rough knowing I could be off the council in a matter of days." Groudon lied, scratching his head. But Latias flew up and took a hold of his hand, dragging his form down towards a nearby fallen log.
"You're not failing the next exam. It's really simple and I'm surprised you haven't managed to luck your way into a passing grade yet. I mean it is all about possible real-life scenarios."
"Yeah but each situation is convoluted. There are always multiple ways to look at each problem and I never know which one is right."
Latias raised her claws to her chin. "Is that where you're having trouble? I guess we could start there."
She swooped down to the ground and caught a rock, placing it on her nose, pretty impressively. It balanced before wiggling and tumbling off her face and hitting the ground below.
"Imagine that was a pokemon Groudon, about to fall off a high cliff. What would you have done?"
Groudon looked down at the pebble bemused. Was this really how she is going to help him pass the test? How about giving me some of the answers to any questions you remember.
Arceus would be all over your tricks if that's the 'studying' you did.
He sighed with defeat. He did need to do some actual practice to get ready or it would be a repeat of what he went through yesterday. How did I not realize that was the same test as before? I need to listen to Latias and actually work on this.
Before Groudon could speak, Latios contested Latias' idea.
"A demonstration? Why don't we just ask him some of the questions that are on the actual test instead, and give him the answers? Wouldn't that help him pass?"
Latias looked back at her counterpart with a look of disgust. "Latios, that's cheating! Plus Groudon came asking for help and we're going to make sure he can do it on his own."
Glad I didn't ask that myself.
"Well I guess, but is Groudon really going to learn something from this?"
"Uh yes he is! If he wasn't I wouldn't be doing this. Now come over here."
"YEOUCH" Latias aggressively pulled Latios over to a nearby tree. Groudon simply watched the squabbling legendaries, realizing an answer to Latias' question wasn't needed anymore.
"Latias what are you doing now?" Latios inquired with annoyance.
"So Groudon, Latios is having a nice day sitting under this tree, when suddenly..." She broke off a branch on the tree and slowly floated it down to Latios' head.
"This branch breaks and it falls towards him. What is your reaction?"
Groudon starred back in thought. A branch falling at Latios... what is the right thing to do... hmm... or is this a trick question? Groudon recalled from previous tests that Arceus put some questions that didn't have clear answers on it and you're supposed to (quote unquote) think outside the box. Perhaps this was one of those trick questions.
"Well, the way I see it, Latios is a legendary, so a falling branch should be no problem for him."
Both eon dragons looked back befuddled.
"What?" Latios asked, bewildered by the continent legend's mystifying answer.
Latias' worry came back as she contemplated his answer, and Groudon knew, he probably wasn't getting a 'good job you got it right' response.
"Well that's one way of thinking, but I wouldn't consider it a right answer. You can't know for sure how heavy the branch is and how badly injured Latios could get. In any case, you shouldn't take a chance."
"Well there are so many things you can do in that situation! How do you know what's the right one?" Groudon asked tempered. "I can think of a hundred ways to react. Any one of them could work in different situations!"
"Ok ok ok" Latias hushed. "I may have put the question in a bit of a... hard to understand way. I'll try to make it more clear."
Once again she lowered the branch to Latios, this time emphasizing that it's making contact with his head. "Latios is only subbing for a pokemon. It's not actually Latios getting hit, but a poor old... rattata. If the branch makes it to him, he'll die."
"But it's just a Rattata. There's a million of them out there."
Okay maybe I shouldn't have said that.
Latias glared, unamused at Groudon's comment. "That attitude itself will get you kicked off the council for sure you know. What would you say on test day?"
She was right. And Groudon knew it. But what would he say on test day? Would he care enough to even read the entire question? Could he be bothered to?
"He'll die if you don't do something." Latias reiterated; Latios rolling his eyes as Latias kept motioning the branch towards his head.
Groudon's eyes followed the branch's movements. What would he say on test day? What would he say on test day?
"Well the branch is falling towards La-the rattata very quickly so I don't think calling out to it would work... Running towards the branch would be in vain because I wouldn't be able to get there in time... Any attacks I do could hurt the rattata... uh, hope that the wind catches it?"
The eon dragons looked back at him again. Latias' branch broke in half, one piece bonking Latios on the nose. Latias sighed.
"Maybe Latios would like to take a shot now."
Latios looked back.
"Me? You just said my idea was cheating, and I'd probably get in trouble with Arceus for helping Groudon out."
"No, not just tell him the answers. Figure out a way to help him understand how to take the test... because I sure am getting nowhere."
Latias said the last part in a subtle voice so Groudon couldn't hear, but it didn't work.
Latios looked back at her with an expression that said 'I thought you had this under control', but Latias ignored it.
"Oh well uh..." Latios sputtered out, caught off guard by the sudden change of the spotlight. He looked back to Groudon and smirked.
"Actually, I do think I have a plan."
Let's see how I can screw this one up. Groudon chastised himself.
The trio of legendaries moved to another location by the trickling river that winded through the garden. Groudon once again took the opportunity to marvel in the sights around the area.
Meanwhile Latios softly spoke to some of the wild pokemon in the garden, which attracted Latias' attention. The two eon dragons debated a plan for a few moments, while having a small bit of difficulty, most likely on the details. Once they had compromised, they turned back to the continent pokemon.
"Okay Groudon, we're going to do a more pressing demonstration. Perhaps telling us what you would do with words isn't the best way to go about this. So instead you'll answer by going through the actions yourself. " Latios explained confidently. His tone gave off an image that he was not going to be defeated by Groudon's ignorance.
"So, you're suggesting I act how I see fit? Well alright then, I'll try it."
Latios nodded, taking the answer as any sort of hope. He pointed a claw towards a wild oddish nearby.
"That oddish there is enjoying the nice warm summer day." Latios narrated. Then he motioned for Latias to jump into action. To Groudon's amusement, she jumped out from behind a bush with a rock in her hand. She was floating upright, acting like a pokemon trainer. Latias saw his toothy grin and scrunched her eyes in humiliation.
"But the simple day turns devastating when it encounters a pokemon trainer." Latios narrated. "She's about to catch the poor defenseless oddish and you're the only one around to stop this atrocity from happening. What do you do?"
"Why isn't Latias in her human form for this?" Groudon asked perplexed which made the dragons face-fault again.
"FORGET THE DETAILS AND FOCUS ON THE QUESTION!" Latios demanded. His outburst made Groudon hastily answer spurting out the first thing that came to his mind.
He aimed and breathed a fire blast at Latias, causing her to wide-eye in terror. Luckily she avoided the oncoming attack by a hair, but the dodge didn't save the river behind her. Steaming hot droplets shot up from the water and sprinkled over the legendaries causing the dragons to flinch in pain. Latios and Latias took cover under a think canopy tree while Groudon stared at what he had done. Once most of the vapor had cleared, the dragons flew back to him. One in particular was furious with his decision.
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Latios roared.
"Uhhh attack the trainer!" Groudon replied sheepishly. He knew he probably did the wrong thing again. He swore to himself that his life couldn't be this much of a bumbling screw up all the time, so why was this training session only emphasizing that point?
His instructors looked back at him.
"...any means necessary?" Groudon added on.
Latios was about to launch a fiery inferno of his own but Latias spoke up in defense.
"Well I mean in a way that's right." Latias spoke.
Both Latios and Groudon looked back in bemusement.
"I mean what I would've done was a non-damaging attack, but disabling the trainer was my first idea..."
Latios looked as if he was about to strangle his counterpart for siding with someone who almost fried her. "Latias, that's not what he meant to do at all! He almost cooked you like a thanksgiving pidgey!" Latios protested.
Latias sighed with dismay. "I know, but it's on the right track. Another method could've been to prevent contact from the pokemon, but due to Groudon's abilities, his best bet was to act fast in the way he did... I'm just saying, his effort was at least understandable."
The continent legend sighed in defeat. He realized this entire idea was a waste of time. Nothing had been accomplished from him arriving here until now. He hadn't figured out his lack of motivation, how he was going to pass Arceus' exam, or even what to do about he and Kyogre. The friendly dragons generously had tried to help him, but he himself, didn't try hard enough. He wasn't learning anything. He was just wasting the eon dragons' time.
"Look, it's fine. I shouldn't have bothered you at all." Groudon quietly spoke. The defeat that emanated in his voice reached Latias' caring soul and crushed her to the core. For a pokemon who could sense the emotions of others so well, she certainly didn't have a hard time figuring out Groudon's pain. Even Latios was regretting going off on the continent legend.
"I think I'm going to head home."
He turned towards where he first entered the garden and walked past the scorched earth his fire blast left behind. What a fool he was. Why didn't he use a disabling move like roar, or scary face. Any normal pokemon trainer would huddle in fear if they saw him normally. With that said, even the bravest would be lulled into at least forgetting, for the time being, the pokemon about to be caught.
He closed his eyes and channeled his human disguise once again. His body morphed into a powerful light before receding back into the now human look a-like's chest. Behind him, he could hear his name, but he didn't want to look back. He was better off going home.
His hand felt the cool mystifying feeling of the psychic barrier, hiding the garden from the outside town, and stepped out into the darkened alleyway. He had almost forgot how ugly the actual town was compared to the stunning floral garden. He continued to think about the tests; the practice the eon dragons offered, and how he screwed them up all three times. Now that he was walking away, how could he consider himself ready for the re-take? He certainly wasn't right now.
Maybe the council isn't the right place for someone like me.
The truthful words shot off in his head, and wouldn't stop ricocheting in his mind. He wanted to deny them, suggesting he did in fact play an important role in the council meetings, but he couldn't think of an example. His rational mind knew whether he wanted to believe himself or not, he provided little to the meetings. Just another body to fill a seat. He's helped on big missions before, but never to the point where he was absolutely needed. Maybe Arceus didn't want him on the council anyways. Maybe he used the test as an excuse to get him off quicker. Maybe he was just going to be forgotten like the amount of worth he gave to the council…
"Hey Groudon!"
"Huh?" Groudon's eyes finally made their way up from the ground where he had held them down, ever since looking away from the eon dragons. But once again they were standing in front of him. Rather, it wasn't Latios and Latias, but two humans the legendaries had disguised as. He remembered Latias' teenage girl disguise, but Latios was new to him. He wore a blue coat with combed back hair. His eyes shone a maroon red, just like in his dragon form. Remembering clearly what the two look like in legend form, they did in fact resemble their alternate forms well.
Latias giggled. "Groudon, where are you going?"
"Home. I don't need to be wasting any more of your day."
Latias rolled her eyes. "You can't just leave now. There's still so much left of Alto-mare to see."
"...And we haven't finished practicing yet." Latios chimed in.
Groudon was more than confused. Even Latios was in on being friendly to him... to the point that they were offering to keep him around longer to practice for the test. At this point, he didn't know if they were pitying him, or actually genuine about still wanting to help.
"Look Groudon, I know you must be disappointed we didn't make any progress, but that's called practicing. Have you ever heard the phrase try and try again? It's for situations like this where someone doesn't do something right the first time."
Latias' soothing voice lulled him into an unconsciously calm state. He had forgotten all about failing Arceus' exam and getting kicked out of the council, but now was thinking about hope, and learning enough to pass.
"It's late in the day, and there's plenty of time tomorrow to get it right. How about we go out somewhere to eat? There are plenty of good restaurants in Alto-mare. I'll let you pick."
Latios quickly whispered something back, but was psychically shushed by Latias.
Groudon was shocked to put it lightly, but grinned back.
"Okay, as long as Latios somewhat likes it too. I didn't think you wanted me around this much."
Latios looked up at the mention of his name, surprised Groudon had guessed his thoughts correctly. Latias beamed at the sudden increase in morale out of Groudon.
"I guess you can say we do want you around. The council will be missing a valuable asset to it's team if you get kicked off."
Groudon shut up and let the warmth take over.
"I think i'll let you two choose where we eat."
This marks the halfway point, new chapter coming soon!