Chapter 20: Nature's Fury
As Ash and May's battle was under way Fane was still over seeing Groudon as it expanded the land.
Everything was going well, the police network was in disarray and the only possible intrusion would come from Ash Ketchum but Fane was confident his men could handle him. One thing did bother him however, the storm that was coming in from the ocean had come closer and larger at a surprising rate. At this distance Groudon's drought ability should have evaporated it but the storm clouds continued to advance casting a dark shadow over the ocean.
"Lund how is it that those storm clouds are still approaching us? Shouldn't Groudon's drought ability have evaporated them?" Fane asked the scientist.
"Well sir it's possible that by forcing Groudon to bring up more land its power has been converted to that action and therefore lessoned its power over the weather." Lund hypothesised.
"Maybe so but still that is a very large storm and for it to approach us that quickly is quite unusual." Fane uttered as he eyed the dark clouds.
"Professor, Groudon's acting strangely." One of Lund's assistant's spoke up.
"He's not disobeying the commands we give him, it's almost like he's subconsciously reacting to something." The assistant stated as he looked over the monitors.
Fane looked over to where Groudon stood amongst the rising earth and falling water, his attention suddenly focused out to sea as if he was in a trance. The huge Pokémon's gaze was fixed at a point under the approaching clouds and as a result the rate that the new ground around it rose out of the sea slowed down. Fane noticed this and not wanting his time to be wasted ordered Lund to snap Groudon out of it. Lund put in the commands and blasted Groudon with another beam making the creature lurch forward. Its resistance against the forces controlling it were still strong even after all this time but Groudon still wasn't in control of its body. In one last act of defiance Groudon let out its loudest roar yet. The force of it blew back the water in front of it creating wide arches as the waves were pushed back on themselves. When the sound ceased all the New Magma members removed their hands from their ears.
"Wow getting a bit rowdy there." Lund joked as he rubbed his ear.
"Sir about those clouds." Captain Gregson spoke to his commander.
"Yes what about them?" Fane enquired.
"Well sir they seem to still be moving however they, are no longer getting any closer." Gregson stated.
Fane was more than a little confused as to what Gregson meant, however upon closer inspection it appeared that what he said was correct. The clouds were no longer moving towards them however they were still in motion, rotating and billowing over each other but no longer able to move forward. As if there was an invisible barrier stopping them from advancing. Looking at the scene from a distance showed an almost unnatural sight, over the land was the bright searing hot sunlight and over the ocean were the dark ominous storm clouds. Suddenly rain started pouring out of the clouds and lightning shot down as if someone had flicked a switch and a storm started.
In the distance tornadoes were beginning to form from the sudden harsh winds that blew out of nowhere sucking up the water from the now raging ocean. Groudon once again lifted its head looking at the chaotic scene unfolding his instincts knowing exactly what was going on. Roaring at the incoming storm Groudon braced himself for what was the come. Fane could tell Groudon knew something was about to happen and followed its line of sight waiting to see what would happen but deep down he knew what was coming.
A shadow moved under the water slowly moving closer to the mainland, as its caster crept forward it slowly rose to the surface. A giant Pokémon burst out of the ocean, its entire body remained suspended in the air as it announced its presence. The creature had a large body supported by two wide pectoral fins, it's yellow eyes widened as it locked onto Groudon it's ancient nemesis. As it opened its mouth revealing a row of sharp teeth it roared angrily sending a blast of air forward strong enough to reach the New Magma team watching this whole event unfold.
"Kyogre! How can this be?" Gregson exclaimed as the huge water type dived back under the waves.
Fane couldn't believe it he had gotten reports that Kyogre had been spotted far away from Hoenn so there was no possibility of it showing up, obviously these reports were wrong.
"Lund hit Kyogre with the beam and bring it under control!" Fane ordered.
"Sir I can't the machine has to be calibrated to a water type it will take some time." Lund responded as he did Kyogre lifted its head out of the ocean. I bright light could be seen building up in the back on its mouth and the red markings on its body glowed with energy.
"Well then get Groudon to fight back!" Fane ordered.
Lund put in the commands and Groudon began charging his own attack in his mouth, the black stripes on its back also glowing as it built up power. The two giant beasts continued to charge their attacks, the meter on Lund's machine measuring Groudon's power level began to skyrocket with two legendary Pokémon building up such incredible.
At the same time Groudon and Kyogre straightened their bodies and released the super charged Hyper Beams. Twin beams of orange light burst from the user's mouths and raced towards each other splitting the water and air in its wake. The attacks collided pushed against each other for a few seconds till the pressure and power became too much causing an enormous explosion between the two giants stretching out three times their body width and evaporating the water beneath it. Kyogre dived under the water and Groudon shielded himself with his arms as the heat and blast wave of the explosion blew past it into New Magma knocking some of its members off their feet. The sea water flooded back into the crater that was created by the explosion pulling Kyogre closer to Groudon, the water type used this and raced towards his opponent who stood on the each of the ocean.
Kyogre launched out of the ocean at Groudon attempting to ram him with its body, despite its great size Kyogre was incredibly fast. Groudon raised both arms and grabbed Kyogre's fins stopping it before the water type could slam into him. The force of the collision shock the ground like an earthquake, it was only Groudon's incredible weight that stopped it from sliding back. Being held in mid-air at point blank range Kyogre charged up an Ice Beam attack in his jaws, Groudon threw Kyogre to the side just before it launched the Ice Beam. It missed Groudon but hit the ocean and the cliff Ash and May first arrived on. A massive two story high sheet of ice now covered were Kyogre had let off the attack.
Groudon didn't wait for Kyogre to resurface, sunlight pooled into its body creating a green ball of energy above Groudon's head ready for a Solar Beam attack. Kyogre saw the attack being charged up and retreated back into the sea, when the Solar Beam was at full power Groudon lifted his head up and swallowed the ball of energy. The ground type aimed at the sea and let out a blindly white light that cut through the ocean ripping apart the seabed for half a kilometre before detonating and sending water and rocks hurdling into the sky.
Kyogre raised its head out of the water locking eyes with Groudon. The two Pokémon had one of the oldest rivalries in history. As they both roared into the air the violent storm and harsh heat above them only grew stronger, those last displays of strength were just a warmup.
New Magma had been lucky to have not taken any damage, if it weren't for the area of land the Groudon had raised in front of them they would have been caught up in the fighting. But they were far from safe with two legendries battling it out right before their eyes.
"Lund what's taking so long!" Fane asked in frustration.
"Almost there, got it." Lund exclaimed. "Alright targeting Kyogre now."
A red beam fired out of the machine and connected with Kyogre, the beast roared in confusion as the effects of the machine took over its body. Groudon charged into the water most ground types couldn't stand getting wet but Groudon was a legendary, the ocean meant nothing to it. Kyogre pushed through its pain in frustration and swam rapidly at Groudon. As the two met each other each one dove forward head first and slammed their skulls together creating a reverberating thud.
"Lund why are they still fighting!" Fane barked.
"Sir the combined power it takes to control two Pokémon with that much strength and power is all the system can take. If I try to control one of them I'll lose my grip on the other, all I'm able to do is hold them within the machine's grasp." Lund explained as Groudon threw Kyogre back out to sea.
"Darn it all, Captain get the reserve power sources on the double." Fane ordered.
As Gregson and his men ran to get the power sources Kyogre's upper body rose out of the ocean. Bright spheres of light appeared all around Kyogre's body, they didn't look very menacing but this was Kyogre's signature move 'Origin Pulse'. Each light was like a small meteorite and had a similar effect when it hit a target. Kyogre thrust its fins forward sending the bright lights shouting forward leaving trails of white energy behind them.
Groudon saw the approaching attacks and thrust both hands into the ground, the entire area shock violently when the cause was revealed. Huge sharp and fearsome looking spikes burst through the ground into the air, each one twice the size of Groudon. This was Groudon's own signature move, 'Precipice Blades' The spikes curved across each other forming a barrier in front of Groudon like a thick rocky shield. As the individual beams of Origin Pulse collided with the giant spikes they detonated severing them of them one by one breaking down Groudon's shield. The final volley of Origin Pulse collided with Groudon's last spiky pillar severing it and sending it crashing into the waves like the others.
Groudon stepped back looking over the carnage when it saw Kyorge charging up a Hyper Beam. The ground type ducked just in time, the attack was a clean miss but continued forward hitting a hill further along from New Magma's position. The detonation tore half the hill apart leaving a scorched slab of earth in its place.
"This is getting out of control." Fane muttered to himself but as much as he tried to play it down there was no denying that things had gotten far worst then out of control.
When May saw the formally beautiful coastline and didn't even recognise it. Huge spikes were scattered along the landscape, ripping through much of the cliff face and shoreline. Large sections of the forest around her had been blasted away leaving dark scars on the land. Random blocks of ice covered the ocean and coast and a raging storm of lightning and tornado's boomed over the ocean. And in the middle of it all Groudon was battling Kyogre, the other power Ash had obviously been referring to.
May watched as the two giant Pokémon clashed together tearing up the landscape around them. A mix of terror, awe and realization took over her body. What was happening in front of her eyes was the exact scenario that happened years ago on Monsu Island when the original Team Aqua and Magma awakened the two legendries. Only this time she herself was responsible for all of this, the destruction may have been caused by Groudon and Kyogre but it was New Magma that brought it upon this place. The coordinator couldn't bare it any longer, she closed her eyes and lowered her head in shame. In that moment she knew she was no better than the original Team Magma.
Ash looked down on May as she turned away from the scene, he could tell that it was sinking into her that whatever good she hoped would come of this was now far out of reach. For now he would leave her to take in what she had done.
"I'm leaving now May, first I'm going to turn off that machine they're using. Then I'm going to break up the fight between Groudon and Kyogre and after that, I'll be coming back for you." Ash told the brunette as the ground continued to shake beneath their feet.
"How are you going to do that? Your just one man." May uttered.
"Your forgetting I have my Pokémon and hopefully there will be more then myself going up against them soon enough." Ash informed her.
"They're the Hoenn Pokémon of legend Ash, how are you going to stop them?" May asked.
"Is that concern I hear in your voice?" Ash replied a smile barely visible on the face. He then bend down to May's level and looked her in the eyes.
"I'll ask you one last thing." Ash spoke as if his next question was life or death.
"Last night, what did it mean to you?" Ash seemed to look right through her.
May sat there paralysed, why in the midst of the land getting torn apart all around them was he asking her this? Was it even worth lying to him now, she had failed and now Ash was about to try and stop everything that was happening. Should she simply tell him the truth and set things straight? Before she could answer Ash lifted her chin up and pulled his face closer to hers kissing her on the lips.
'Why, why are you doing this?' May though as her internal conflicts made her head spin.
Ash pulled away from the kiss and looked her in the eyes again. "Hmm I thought so." He sighed.
The trainer let go of May and stood up, she watched him as he picked up his bag and began walking away without even looking at her.
"Goodbye May." He uttered before disappearing into what remained of the forest.
May stared at the space Ash disappeared into, her mind was a mess. Her loyalty to New Magma was conflicting with her feelings to Ash on a level that was almost maddening. They had wanted to create a new land for Pokémon but instead revived the ancient battle between Groudon and Kyogre putting everyone and everything as risk. Ash had been able to defeat her after everything she did to him and yet she swore he still cared for.
May turned her head and saw Groudon grabbing Kyogre's back and slamming it into the water till Kyogre's tail whipped up and smacked Groudon in the back of the head. She could easily tell New Magma had no control over the situation, she had not only failed her team but she had failed the world by bringing about this calamity.
Now tied to a tree and powerless to do anything for either side, May hung her head and cried. Though she did not weep for herself she wept for a pain and suffering she had inflicted, and for the future which would only hold more.
Just so we're clear the explosion caused by the two hyper beams was the same explosion that May and Ash saw in the last chapter before May was knocked out. She was also unconscious for most of the fight. Hope everyone liked how I represented the power that Groudon and Kyogre are capable of as I had a fun time imagining it and then writing it all down. As always please leave a review, it all goes a long way.