Groudon and Kyogre

A long long time ago, back before humans were in this world, the region of Hoenn was a much different place. It was all land, with little water to be found save for the salty sea surrounding it. Fresh water was scarce, but enough to keep life going. Every day, it was bright, sunny, and hot; never a cloud in the sky, never a chill on the wind.

Most of the Pokémon there liked it, but when migrating Pokémon came around, they often complained. "It's too bright," some would say, or "It's too hot." Others would ask, "Where's the water to drink? We'll dry up if this keeps on." Or they would say, "It's so hard to reach this place! There's so much sea all around."

The guardian of the land was Groudon, a giant with thick red scales and powerful claws. With every step he took, the land would shake. But the land was also his domain. When the world had been very young, it had been Groudon who formed the great masses of earth called continents. His presence caused the sun to brighten, drying the air and exposing the land. But this made him not popular as a neighbor, and thus he had retreated to this island to live out the rest of his eternal life.

When Groudon heard the complaints, he mostly thought they were whining. "The bright sun and the heat are ideal conditions," he would say. "The plants here never lack for sun and so they are healthy and green. I do allow enough water to maintain your lives, but any more would be a nuisance." He thought this because the conditions were ideal to him.

But when migratory Pokémon complained about the distance, he listened. That sea is an obstacle, he thought to himself. For the fliers, there would be no place to land and rest their wings, nowhere to get food. And for those unfortunates who must swim, there would be no place to stop either. They would have to struggle on against the water.

Thus he decided that he would do something about it.

One day, he set out for the northeast coast of Hoenn, as he recalled the nearest lot of land to be that way. He used his powers to intensify the sun and empower the land, raising a sandbar bottom of the sea. Groudon then walked out across that sandbar, moving the sands to continually make a path he could cross the water with. After making sure of where the mainland continent was, he walked back halfway to Hoenn. There he stopped, calling on the power of the sun even more.

And the earth at the bottom of the sea began to grow. It rose out of the water, emerging into the sun. Then Groudon let some water remain, so long as it was filtered through the sands to be salt-free. This allowed him to take seeds he had brought from Hoenn and grow them rapidly to full maturity. When the plants were established, it made the new island solid, a permanent feature of the area.

Looking over the island, Groudon felt satisfied with his work. This gave the migratory Pokémon a place to rest, or even settle if it suited their interests. With his work done, Groudon raised the sandbar again and walked back to Hoenn.

In the seas surrounding Hoenn, there lived another powerful Pokémon. This one was Kyogre, a large blue whale that had fins like wings. She had created the oceans and seas when the Earth was very young, causing torrential downpours to cover the raw hot surface of the planet. In fact, she loved the rain so much that she caused it to rain wherever she went, pouring down on the surface of the seas she swam in.

Although she birthed storms in this manner when the rains left her control, she thought it was necessary. "The Earth needs a constant supply of fresh water from the sky," she would tell other Pokémon who asked. "This waters the plants and allows us all to live. And if the storms destroy something, then it was weak and needed to be destroyed. This will leave room for newer and stronger life to take hold." She thought this because she liked those ideals.

Kyogre rarely stayed in one place, swimming through the seas and oceans to make sure they were doing well. One day, she passed by Hoenn, thinking to herself. She knew the maker of lands was right here, so she never stayed herefor long. But she had to make sure that his tyrannical sun wasn't disturbing the sea creatures. While she was in thought, she bumped face first into a column of land.

Startled from her thoughts, Kyogre backed up and observed the area. "I don't remember an island being here," she said. She double-checked where she was and realized that yes, this should be open waters. So what was an island doing here? She ascended to the surface to see what was going on.

It was raining on the island, as she was there. In spite of that, she still recognized the signs of his power: the sun-touched rocks, the rapidly-grown plants, and the island where the sea floor should be deep. This angered her. The time of creation was over! He shouldn't be forcing his power on another Pokémon's domain! Kyogre knew she had to do something.

And so she did. She intensified her power over the rain and the seas, causing a torrential downpour and a massive tsunami to pound against the new island. She was able to submerge the island back to the ocean floor once again. There, that should show him. Kyogre then moved on, satisfied with her work.

Some time later, Groudon met with a group of migrating Wingulls. "It's almost not worth it to fly all the way out here," one said. "It's so tough to find drinkable water and you have to fly all the way from the mainland and that takes nearly two days."

"Two days?" Groudon asked. "I recently made an island between here and the mainland. That should at least give you a break."

"That's what I was saying!" another Wingull said. "I've seen that island before! Landed on it and found it to be a really nice place. But when we passed over the spot, there was nothing but water there. We're really pooped out because we were expecting that break."

"I'd better go check on that place," Groudon said. "Rest here, and hopefully the trip back won't be so bad."

He set out across the sea on his sandbar path and found what the Wingulls had said to be true. The island was gone. Angered but not knowing right off why it had happened, Groudon used his powers again to raise the island back to the surface and get its plants living again. But a month after he returned, Kyogre found the island again and sank it. Groudon went back out and raised it once again.

This time, Kyogre was waiting under the surface of the water. She knew how stubborn he could be and wasn't going to let this turn into a back-and-forth game. As she came to the surface, the extremely bright sun and the relentless torrential downpour clashed violently, spawning storms of ferocious intensity. While thunder boomed in the background, she sent one of her tidal waves right at Groudon.

He looked over the sea and saw her smirking at his drenched state. Groudon clenched his fists; he always hated coming into conflict with her, because she nearly always won. "What do you want, you jerk?" he asked angrily.

"You're overstepping your boundaries," she said, certain that she was in the right. "I want you to quit putting this roadblock in my way."

"What do you care about this one little island? Your waters own over two-thirds of the world and beside, you can always stop being a daydreaming idiot and swim around it."

"It's in my territory and it has no reason to be here. So stop raising it, you power monger."

"Says you," he snarled. "You just want to lord it over everyone and everything, don't you? Well I'm not going to let you bully your way around me anymore!"

Back in the time of creation when the two of them had fought with regularity, Kyogre had a massive power advantage over Groudon. Thus, water covered most of the planet. It would cover all of it if other Pokémon at the time hadn't backed him up to be allowed some land to live on. But he was prepared this time, knowing the perfect move to counter her tidal waves. Groudon drew on the power of the sun and on the power of the earth to blast her with Solarbeam.

Being hit with such a powerful move only angered Kyogre further. They began to fight in earnest, a battle that lasted for weeks. The sun and the rain constantly pounded down on the areas around Hoenn, spawning hundreds of storms that wrecked the mainland and other islands around. But even with his powerful Grass move, Groudon kept getting pushed back. Kyogre even managed to sink most of the eastern half of Hoenn while he tried vainly to raise small islands to keep her trapped in shallow waters. It seemed like his refuge was going to end up on the bottom of the sea floor as well.

And then there came a roar from the sky that seemed to make everything stop. The torrential rains ceased, as did the intense sunlight. From the sky, a large dragon descended. Rayquaza rarely descended to the surface, so even Groudon and Kyogre stopped in their battle.

"Will you cease this senseless fighting?" Rayquaza growled in a slow angered tone. "You're disturbing the flow of the air; you're disturbing everyone around you."

"It's her fault," Groudon said.

"It's his fault," Kyogre said at about the same time.

"Don't bicker," the sky dragon reprimanded. "Explain what is going on, one at a time."

They both did so. Groudon felt that Kyogre was being petty; raising one island to help other Pokémon wasn't overstepping his bounds. It was barely leaving a mark when compared to the scale of the world. On the other side, Kyogre thought that Groudon was being selfish in that he was only choosing the address complaints that bothered him. If he really wanted to help, then he'd stop with his overbearing sun.

"You wrecked what was established as his haven, Kyogre," Rayquaza said at the end of it. "And you should have found out why he put the island there. It doesn't sound like something to get riled up about. But you Groudon, you shouldn't have dealt with this yourself as you have a natural disadvantage to her. You should have told someone why you were putting that island there so that its appearance could have been discussed sensibly instead of with violence. Now both of you, swear that you won't disturb the other Pokémon around with your own squabbles again! If you don't, then I will force you both to sleep so that your powers won't be a burden to anyone else."

Neither Groudon nor Kyogre liked the sound of that, so they tried to fight him. However, they were both nearly exhausted from their long battle and Rayquaza defeated them soundly. He then made good on his threat and sent them both into hibernation. The sun faded in intensity and the rains stopped being constant.

But with the weather in a normal state, Hoenn began to truly thrive. Now it is a place rich in life for both the water and the land. However, it is said that the rage of the two great Pokémon still smolders, deep in the hidden chambers where they sleep. Should they be awakened, their rage will overtake their reason and their powers could ruin everything..

That is why we say, honor the blessing of Rayquaza, and keep the peace of sleep over Groudon and Kyogre.

…

Sapphire entry: Kyogre is named in mythology as the Pokémon that expanded the sea by covering the land in torrential rains and towering tidal waves. It took to sleep after a cataclysmic battle with Groudon.

Ruby entry: Groudon has long been described in mythology as the Pokémon that raised lands and expanded continents. This Pokemon took to sleep after a cataclysmic battle with Kyogre.

Groudon can stand on somewhat equal ground as Kyogre, given that he has access to Electric moves and learns Solarbeam through level up. But then Kyogre will always have STAB advantage over him. Guess that's why most of the Earth is covered in water! Hah hah.