As the trio descended further down the dilapidated remains of the temple's abandoned remains, the number of still lit torches seemed become increasingly less frequent. The air became unbearably cold and damp, sending both Trevor and Aiden into uncontrollable shivering fits as Team Spirit painstakingly continued searching for any sign of Uxie.

"There are barely any other Pokémon here, not even crawlers," Trevor noted, "Do you think we made it farther in than anyone else?"

Both Aiden and Rin could only offer a silent nod as the oppressive atmosphere of the Passage only thickened with each passing second, halls of dull, grey stone seeming to tightly constrict Trevor as he ventured onwards, crushing him with an unbearable ambience which crushed his chest and filled his lungs until, right as he was on the verge of being unable to stand it any longer...

"Look! What's that?!"

Aiden eagerly pointed towards a speck of light in the distance, the first light the pair had managed to encounter for an hour.

'It's an exit!' Aiden screamed excitedly, "I think this is it, guys! I think we've finally found the end of this dungeon!"

With a collective sigh of relief, the trio made a mad dash towards the widening wall of brightness and leapt through to find themselves inside a massive underground cave. Giant columns of unpolished stone were littered in an array of multicolored crystals, their gentle, pale glow starkly contrasting the harsh glare of the many torches lining the corridors from before. Trevor gasped in star-struck awe, mesmerized by the cave's sheer beauty.

"Hey! Now isn't the time to relax," Rin said sharply, "We've likely made it farther than anyone else so far, so we have to be ready for anything. Let's just find that Mythical, ask whatever you want to ask, then leave ASAP."

As the trio began their fruitless search for any sign of the rumored Mythical, they gradually caught the sound of a distant thumping sound- barely noticeable at first, but soon exploding into loud, echoing booms.

Where is that noise coming from?!

Brace yourselves! We're probably gonna have to take on whatever's making iiiiit...," Aiden trailed off upon seeing a giant shadow creep along the ground, rapidly growing in size. From behind a massive stone column emerged a colossal mass armored by a set of brilliant, red scales. Its gaze burned a glaring shade of yellow as it bored holes into the mortified trio, each of whom had to crane their necks upwards to meet its gaze. With claws and teeth which appeared sharp enough to split mountains in half and massive arms larger than the entire trio combined, the gargantuan beast let out aprimordial roar which dragged Trevor's heart careening downwards. Aiden seemed even more terrified, violently shaking as she struggled to mutter the creature's name:

"G-G-Groudon!"

'You...know what this is, Aiden?!' Trevor asked fearfully.

'Of course I do! Groudon's rumored to be one of the strongest Mythicals there is- legends say that thing can split continents through sheer force alone!' Aiden turned towards Trevor to meet his eyes. "Do you really think we can take this thing?! It's supposed to be invincible!"

Trevor began pondering for a few seconds before clasping his paws together, trembling as he stared into Groudon's piercing gaze. "Groudon, sir! We didn't mean to offend you in any way by coming here! If you could just point us towards someone named Uxie who asked for us, then we'll-"

Groudon let out another terrible roar, then sent a crushing paw hurtling towards the intruders with an earth-shattering strike. The trio each had to lunge in different directions in order to avoid being ground into a fine paste.

'I reasoning with this thing isn't an option here!' Rin shouted, "We either flight or flee!"

As Trevor was managed to catch his footing, he caught sight of a massive crack on the beast's back scales, revealing a mass of rough, soot-colored hide from underneath. On this exposed skin lay a viscous-looking cut surrounded in dried blood. Trevor's eyes began glinting furiously.

'Look!' he shouted while pointing at the gaping wound, "This thing isn't invincible! If we can target that wound, then we'll be able to do enough damage to at least render it immobile!

"But," Aiden protested, "...This is completely out of our league!"

Rin scoffed. "Hasn't stopped you before, has it? Except now, you have one of the best bounty hunters in the entire Lush Continent at your side." Rin began eagerly sharpening his blades. "I'm down to take on a Mythical. This ought to be real interesting."

Aiden took a deep breath, then let out a wide grin while cracking her knuckles. "Alright! As long as you two are confident, so am I! Let's kick Groudon's ass!"

With yet another earth-rumbling scream, Groudon began dragging one of its hulking arms along the ground, creating a trail of crumbled stone in its wake as it rapidly hurtled towards the trio.

"Aim for that wound!" Trevor screamed while dodging the attack, then hurling three Iron Thorns straight towards the crack in Groudon's red-plated armor. A quick movement to the side rendered the attack completely ineffective, the spikes bouncing off its hardened scales without so much as a dent made. An attempt from Rin to propel himself towards the wound was abruptly quashed by one of the Groudon's arms swatting him away akin to a newspaper knocking a fly out of the air. Aiden could only watch with unbridled rage as Rin was sent careening straight into a stone column with a violent boom, a brilliant Pyro Ball lodged firmly under her foot.

"Hey! Eyes over here!" Aiden sent the billowing ball of fire hurtling towards the wound with a resounding shout, yet another reflexive sidestep would send it towards an adjacent wall instead. Eyes now honed towards the Scorbunny, Groudon unleashed an earth-quaking stomp which sent a trail of jagged boulders erupting from the ground. She was barely able to dodge by lunging sideways, scraping the entirety of her chest in doing so.

'Everybody look away!' Trevor screamed as he fastened his goggles over his eyes, grabbed his final Luminous Orb from his satchel, and filled the entire cave with a blanket of harsh light. Despite both Rin and Aiden turning their heads, Groudon instead maintained his piercing, unblinking gaze even as daggers of light shot in all directions. Trevor immediately sprinted away to avoid being crushed by Groudon's ensuing attack, leaving the orb to be crushed into tiny, useless bits.

Several subsequent attempts at even approaching Groudon's weak-point would end in complete failure- the Mythical easily managing to avoid Trevor's barrage of projectiles while using its massive arms to counter Aiden and Rin's speed. After a half hour of fighting, the trio were left bruised and gasping for breath. They were seemingly no closer to landing a single blow than when they had started, all while dodging attacks which seemed to become harder to avoid with the passage of time.

'Nothing's working!' Rin gasped as the trio briefly regrouped, "It's seeing our attacks coming every time- it's too fast even for me!"

Trevor creased his brow in thought. "It's reflexes are uncanny- we won't be able to land a hit while it sees us coming. We have to somehow catch it by surprise..." Trevor's eyes began flickering once again, much to Aiden's surprise.

"You got an idea, Treph!?"

Trevor gave a quick nod, then began desperately relaying his plan after barely managing to dodge a plethora of falling boulders. Rin grimaced as he finished speaking.

"You sure this'll work?! I'm not sure how fast I can go with... and if this thing hits us all at once with those arms..."

Another trail of jagged, mountainlike boulders burst from the ground, forcing Rin into the air while Trevor and Aiden were left to roll towards different directions. The Meowth took a sharp intake of breath, his limbs quivering uncontrollably.

"Not really, but we're all out of options here! This may be our only shot!" Trevor stared down Groudon's spotlight stare with wild, determined eyes which betrayed his posture. "Alright, give us cover!"

Aiden nodded, having already built up a decently-sized Pyro Ball a few seconds prior. Briefly glancing towards Rin, she shot the ball straight above and watched in anticipation as it made its downwards descent. The Dewott swiftly cast his blades aside, then shot a powerful blast of water straight at the roaring ball of fire. The cave became filled with the sound of hissing followed by a blinding smokescreen of steam.

The entire cave seemed to be sucked of all sound as Groudon searched for any sign of the trio's position, cautiously focusing its attention towards the wound on its back all the while. This selective attention towards its only weak-spot would only result in bewildered surprise when Rin jettisoned from the blinding wall of steam straight towards its face, blades at the ready and wearing a strained expression.

'Hang on tight!' Rin shouted right as Groudon's clawed hand was seconds away from colliding into him. With a pain-wracked groan, Rin leapt in midair with an Aqua Jet and sailed through an arc above the Mythical's head, Trevor and Aiden both hanging on for dear life on his back. Blades glowing, foot igniting, and claws glistening, the trio each braced themselves as Rin made one, final midair leap towards Groudon's now exposed cut.

Blaze Kick!

X-Scissor.

Fury Swipes!

The three Pokémon each relentlessly unleashed their most powerful close-range attacks, all of which converged onto Groudon's wound, bits of crimson scales clattering onto the floor as the trio relentlessly drilled into its vulnerable hide. With each devastating blow came a series of horrible roars as the giant roared in agony, trying in vain to shake its attackers off. Trevor ceased digging his claws into its growing wound upon feeling an unexpected sense of vertigo, the giant Mythical beginning to violently stumble backwards.

'EVERYBODY OFF!' Trevor screamed as Groudon finally lost its footing, slowly beginning to hurtle backwards towards the ground. Pulling their swords, feet, and claws from its skin, all three members of Team Spirit leapt from the Mythical's back and tumbled downwards as it crashed to the floor, shards of stone flying in all directions as the earth around it instantly shattered through sheer force. Once the screen of dust and steam had fully dissipated, Aiden could only rub her eyes in disbelief as she stared at the unconscious remains of this legendary, supposedly unconquerable beast.

'YEAAAAAAH!' she let out a hearty, celebratory shout which bounced across the cave's spacious corners, much to the ire of Rin's sensitive ears. "We actually did it! We took down a Mythical!"

Trevor, meanwhile, looked significantly more concerned. "It went down from just that? Something's probably off here..."

"C'mon, don't be like that! We just took down one of the strongest Mythicals... strongest Pokemon there is! Screw Alpha, we're awesome!"

"I agree- you three performed most admirably."

Trevor instantly swiveled his head upon hearing an all too familiar voice ring throughout the cave's spacious corners. Following a flash of light which sent the trio recoiling backwards, a small, humanoid creature apparated in front of the pair which Trevor instantly recognized as the silhouette from his dreams. In the middle of his closed eyes sat a giant, circular gemstone whichmatched the smaller ones embedded on his two wispy tails. From his pale, yellow face emerged a relieved smile.

"Hello, Trevor," Uxie greeted, "It's good to finally speak with you face to face."