The next moment, Morgan found herself deep underground, and probably underwater from the looks of things. Before her lay a great glowing leviathan of a beast beginning to stir, and between her and it was Archie.

He spun, nearly jumping out of his skin. "How in the-!?" But he quickly recovered. "Doesn't matter, I guess. You're too late lass."

"We'll see about that," declared Morgan. "It doesn't look to be awake just yet." She pulled a PokeBall from her belt, and Archie responded in kind.


Meanwhile, Sera found herself over Mt. Chimney, staring down at several Magma members and the glowing Groudon visible through the hole blown out of the side of the mountain. Maxie, it seemed, was already locked in- no, just winning- a battle… with Tabitha?

"Boss, I'm begging you, stop this!" Too little far too late, but Sera's heart softened all the same to see him still trying.

"You traitorous dog! Do you think I can't see through you!" Maxie marched toward Tabitha, but Sera swooped in and lept from Sapphron's back to land between them.

"That's enough!"

"You!"

"Sera!?" She flashed a forced, uneasy attempt at a grin back at Tabitha.

"Tch. As if being betrayed by my number two wasn't bad enough. Now I have to deal with this child thorn in my side on the cusp of my victory."

Tabitha's nerves were practically palpable, but all the same he managed to quietly retort, "She's no child.."

Sera's smile became a bit more genuine, then more confident. "Right! It's not too late. Fight me if you still can!"

"Foolish brat."


The trainers fought valiantly, with no casualties on either Morgan's or Sera's team, but in the time it took to battle the team leaders, the unthinkable would happen. The titans finished awakening.

"Revert to your Primal Form!"

With the powers of the red and blue orbs, the true beasts burst forth, and with them, the weather over Hoenn began cataclysmically oscillating.

"What the hell…?" Maxie stood aghast.

"Merciful Arceus… Archie must have awakened Primal Kyogre as well." A blast of unbearable heat hit, making even the Magma members in their thermal uniforms sweat instantly. "..Fuck! Are you happy now! Is this what you wanted!?"

"Tabitha…"

"Guys shut up! Where is it going!?" Sera watched in horror as Groudon began to trek across the land, dragging magma in its wake. Thank Arceus the area was recently evacuated, but that wouldn't hold true for everywhere.


"Splendid fucking job," Morgan berated. She and Archie stood on a sandbar above the cave, barely able to see in the downpour.

"Archie!" What? Oh now Shelly arrived. Good job. "What have you done?!"

"What I set out to do," he said calmly.

"You… you idiot!" The sound of her slapping his wet face was barely audible over the rain. "Look around you! You think this is good for the Pokemon!?"

The seas churned violently, no doubt many Pokemon caught in the waves, and Archie began to pale slightly. He opened his mouth, but in the next moment, a harsh gale blew the rain away, replacing it with a searing heat that nearly dried their skin right away. "Oh… Oh no."


"Groudon is no doubt headed for Sootopolis," Maxie explained. "There, in the Cave of Origin, it can reclaim the true height of its power. And if this is only a fraction now then…"

"What are we gonna do!?" Sera demanded. "There has to be a way to fix this!"

"M..maybe if we take Pele we could-" Maxie stopped cold, hand in his coat. "She's gone!"

"What!?"

Gray eyes shot to Tabitha accusingly, but he hadn't any more idea than anyone else. Upon accepting this, Maxie sighed. Begrudgingly, he turned to Sera. "It seems you're our only hope."

"Wh-what?"

"Your Latios is the only thing we have with both the speed and power to tail it. Anything else risks being shot out of the sky."

This couldn't be real, could it? She kept expecting to wake up, but the moment never came. "What should I do…?" Sera squeaked.

"First, come with me," said Tabitha. When both Sera and Maxie turned to him, he explained, "You'll need the Magma Armor if you want to get really close."

"Ah! Good plan," admitted Maxie. And they hurried to get her suited up.


"Steven, please come in!" Morgan begged her Nav. The signals being so easy to interfere with had been a blessing for some time, but now Morgan really wished they were more reliable. "Ring buddy! Whoever you are! I need help!" No answer came this time. She let out an exasperated sigh.

I'm flying as fast as I can, cried Andraste.

"I know, I know…" Morgan needed to heal her Pokemon before confronting Kyogre if she wanted to stand a chance. And she needed…

"Morgan?" The signal was weak, fuzzy, but it seemed Morgan had found a spot along the edge of a stormcloud where she could get through.

"Steven! I need as many potions as you can send me, stat, and I need Cerebus." Surely they understood stopping Kyogre was more important than containing Boreas.

"I-" There was static, then silence, and Morgan feared she'd lost the signal. "I'll make it happen," came the words at last. Within a few minutes, everything was sent. "But Morgan… There's som-ing y- sh-..."

"You're cutting out! It'll have to wait." Her hands clutched Andraste's feathers tightly. "Take us back to Kyogre!"


In Sootopolis City, all were hiding in their houses. All but two.

Wallace stood guard outside the Chamber of Origin, a final line of defense. But what he expected was the approach of a titan, not a girl in Magma attire riding an Entei.

"Stop! Who are you!"

Red eyes shone bright as she grinned. A bolt of lightning crashed down and incapacitated the Gym Leader, who fell to the ground with a thud. "I'm the one about to save everyone!" The source of the lightning appeared, and the girl smiled. "Thank you, friend."

Raikou approached, nodding at Entei respectfully. Zinnia reached out to pet the lightning beast. The Draconid emblem hung from both their necks. "Now come on. Lord Rayquaza is sure to respond to this." Together, they headed inside the cave to break the final Seal.


Sera didn't know when Tabitha had noticed her gift for talking to Pokemon. She didn't know how they were lucky enough that the Magma Armor fit her. She didn't know what she was supposed to say.

All she knew was she was suddenly catching up to Groudon, and their best plan was "talk it down".

Suddenly, a new beam of light shot up in the distance, and branched out in two directions. One came straight for Groudon, and the other no doubt headed for Kyogre. As the energy wrapped around the titan, it grew even larger, and the weather patterns more harsh than before.

Sera didn't know what else to do, and in an act of desperation jumped from Sapphron while Groudon had stopped for a moment, landing on its back.

Oh God. Oh God she was riding on Groudon. "...Hello!" she yelled futilely. "Hello! Groudon! Please hear me!"


Morgan meanwhile had no fancy armor, but was able to pool her and Andraste's power to make temporary shields whenever an attack would lob towards them. The leviathan seemed to be going even more berserk since that power hit it.

Mithril floated through the air, his power telekinetically holding Cerebus aloft, too. Cerebus was awfully quiet, but there was a lot more to worry about right now. Attacks from all three Pokemon slowly whittled away at the titan, whose focus was drawing more and more toward staying on them.

Good. As long as it was distracted by the battle, it was causing less destruction, right? Right?

"Cerebus, Giga Drain! Mithril, Zen Headbutt!" One after another the attacks kept coming, and Morgan's supply of Hyper Potions kept the team strong.


"Please… Please talk to me!" Sera begged.

WHO… ARE YOU…? came a feminine voice at last.

Sera's heart caught. "I am… Serafeyna!" Groudon began to move again, and Sera called out more desperately. "I-I'm a Pokemon trainer! I'm the daughter of a professor. I'm a lover more than a fighter, but I can be a fighter too. And I could be a friend if you'd let me!"

Groudon let out a mighty roar that pushed back any nearby clouds by several miles, but then settled again out of curiosity. WHAT COULD SUCH A TINY CREATURE OFFER ME?

Thank Arceus it- she?- was talking. "W-well, that depends! On… who YOU are!"

Groudon seemed taken aback a moment, stretching to look over her shoulder and onto her back. Her glowing eye felt bigger than Sera in that moment. I AM… GAIA… I AM THE EARTH HERSELF.

"Then…" Sera nearly bit her tongue, but pushed through it. "Then why are you destroying the earth!?"

Groudon blinked long and slow. MY POWER… IS TO CREATE, NOT TO DESTROY.

"Then you need to stop this! Maybe it created land in the beginning, but now there's life here! Everywhere! On land and in the sea. And the sun and your lava are threats to that life! The life of the earth!"

Gaia pondered these words, looking around her. EXPLAIN… TELL ME OF THIS LIFE.


Kyogre cried out in pain, and its attacks ceased for a time, but the weather remained a mess. It occurred to Morgan perhaps the safest way to ensure it didn't cause any more damage without killing it would be to capture it, and she began to throw a slew of Ultra Balls, Net Balls, and Dive Balls. These seemed to anger it, and a few more desperate attacks were launched.

But finally, at long last, Kyogre disappeared in a ball, which Morgan caught telekinetically and floated back to her. It shook, it thrashed, but when that final red light dinged, the storms began to noticeably subside.

By that time, they were almost to Sootopolis, and Morgan decided she may as well head there for healing.


VERY WELL, HUMAN… YOUR WORDS MOVE ME. I SHALL GIVE UP MY QUEST FOR THE TIME BEING TO OBSERVE THE EARTH IN THIS TIME, AND SHALL BE YOUR… FRIEND.

Sera couldn't believe it. She also wasn't sure what to do now. "All right! Um… Sapphron!" she called. "Do you have my bag still?"

He nodded. Yes, I do.

"I need a PokeBall please! Um…" She looked over the red and white titan. "..A Premier Ball please!" She showed Gaia how the colors sort of complimented her, and when Gaia entered the ball- Sapphron swooping in to catch Sera as she fell from where her back had been- it took only the single ball.


The sunlight and rain were both fading fast. The threat was over. And Zinnia was furious.