All around Hoenn, reports of abnormal weather patterns dominated the airwaves. Harsh sunlight scorched the northwest, sparking fires that consumed patches of forest and some outlying towns. In the southeast, torrential rainfall battered the land, flooding streets, and washing out roads. Earthquakes cracked the ground beneath the cities, damaging roads and collapsing some buildings, while tidal waves struck the coastlines, overwhelming ports and lowlands. Inhabitants scrambled for safety as the land itself seemed to rebel.
Despite the chaos, it remained a minor issue compared to what had already unfolded. Just before the cataclysm, battles had raged through every city. Streets and squares became battlefields as Trainers clashed with gunmen, and Pokémon unleashed powerful attacks that tore through buildings and vehicles alike. Explosions shook structures, smoke thickened the air, and the cries of humans and Pokémon alike cut through the turmoil. Shops, homes, and landmarks were shattered under the relentless fighting, leaving scars across the cities.
Out at sea, destruction continued. Team Dominion's hidden bases were flooded one after another under the assault of Elite ranked Pokémon. Each clash sent swells rolling toward the shore, damaging vessels and lapping against coastal cities. Ships capsized, coastal defenses faltered, and towns along the beaches absorbed the remnants of the battles.
In nearly every engagement, the defenders fell, overwhelmed by the attackers' power. Forced to honor their initial threat of harming civilians, they abandoned organized defense and embraced chaos, aiming to inflict as much collateral damage as possible. Streets became battlefields, fires spread, and the air thickened with smoke and dust, punctuated by the roar of countless Pokémon. Their efforts slowed the onslaught, but they could not turn the tide.
When the fighting finally ceased, the remnants revealed widespread devastation. Cities lay damaged, coastlines battered, and terrain scarred. Yet the calamity did not end there. The cataclysm began, with earthquakes splitting the land, tidal waves crashing against the shores, harsh sunlight scorching patches of land, and heavy rain flooding settlements. Hoenn itself seemed to writhe under the combined fury of human and Pokémon warfare, the storm of destruction was far from over.
Alex tuned in to the reports online regarding the situation and was slightly worried about Sable and Elara. They were both in Rustboro City, so they may have been caught up in the chaos. It took him a few teleports, but when he finally arrived, he was shocked to find the city relatively peaceful.
It turned out his previous hunting was quite thorough, as there were hardly any human-supremacist cells left in the city. This, in turn, allowed the city to avoid the initial devastation that came as a result of the battles.
The sunlight was still shining harshly, but it wasn't something a city ever needed to worry about. Low-cost towns and villages, perhaps, but certainly not cities. Earthquakes, on the other hand, were quite the problem, but this only applied to the general populace, which Alex wasn't worried about. Elara and Sable had Pokémon to protect them, so a bit of earth shaking shouldn't threaten them.
Once he was assured that nothing was wrong and that the people he knew were safe, he decided to head north to Route 114, where he knew Groudon lay sleeping. The fact that harsh sunlight was prominent in the northwest further reinforced his guess. Groudon was awake and causing havoc in Hoenn, and it was likely that Kyogre was as well.
He teleported north right away, just in time to gather along with other trainers who had Pokémon that could teleport and bore witness to an amazing sight.
There, along a devastated mountainside, was Groudon battling it out with hundreds of Champion and Elite ranked dragons. At the center of the conflict was Zinnia, taking the lead in bombarding Groudon, who was undoubtedly struggling. Groudon stood against overwhelming odds as it fended off an unending line of Dragon Pulses that bombarded it from high above.
It retaliated with Rock Slides capable of burying a mountain, Rock Blasts no different from heavy artillery, and Precipice Blades creating spires that towered like skyscrapers. The dragons circled while continuing to fire Dragon Pulses, maintaining altitude and dodging raining boulders that occasionally came from above and below. On top of that, they also had to evade the occasional skyscraper that would suddenly emerge from the ground.
It was a battle of such magnitude that made it laughable how small these creatures were in comparison to the devastation they could cause. It was almost like watching a Godzilla movie while replacing the 100-meter-tall monstrosity with a 3.5-meter one instead, all while keeping the level of destruction unchanged.
One anomaly was quite clear, though, and stuck out like a sore thumb despite their small sizes in comparison.
'How is it possible for a Legendary Pokémon to stave off hundreds of dragons?' Alex thought.
Groudon was not countering the attacks heading his way with Rock Blasts as would be expected from a professional Pokémon battle. Instead, it seemed to create walls of earth that did the same.These walls were sturdy, requiring several Dragon Pulses to break. In the brief gaps before Groudon raised another, a handful of attacks slipped through and struck it. Hence, the battle was quite drawn out.
On the dragons' side, they could easily operate under a rotation to heal and regain stamina, but Groudon was a source of infinite energy as it simply continued its battle.
'It isn't using Pokémon moves but manipulating its element in a free manner instead,' Alex observed.
Groudon wasn't using Pokémon moves other than the obvious ones. Instead, it was manipulating the earth beneath it to create walls that protected it. It wasn't Protect or a clever use of Precipice Blades either. It was literally just creating walls of earth.
'Maybe this is the difference between Master rank and those below?'
Pokémon from Champion rank all the way down to Novice couldn't freely manipulate their elements to a degree that would let them contend with actual moves. It was easy to assume otherwise, since Ground types could dig through dirt, Rock types could harden earth into stone, Psychic types often floated, and Poison types could always secrete toxins. But in practice, they couldn't reliably wield these elements with the same force or consistency as a move.
There were clever applications, of course. A Poison type might cause opponents to slip by spreading sludge from a Sludge Wave, for example. But more often than not, it still required a proper move to stand against another move.
This Groudon, however, defied that norm. It repeatedly created walls of earth strong enough to block Dragon Pulses, over and over again. If trained further, perhaps it could even form a palace with a single step, something that would normally demand a painstaking process of gathering rock and binding it together, the way most Pokémon were limited to doing.
'The extra energy would empower their moves, while the added mastery would allow them to manipulate that energy freely. Reaching Master rank meant achieving a free transformation of energy, making it indistinguishable from magic,' Alex concluded.
Pokémon at the Master rank have mastered their element, allowing them to break away from the crutches that are Pokémon moves. This allows them to exert their power with more flexibility, limited only by their understanding and imagination. Something a human would be more than capable of expanding.
It wasn't that Pokémon moves had become obsolete; it was simply that free manipulation had become more powerful. Whereas before the effects were negligible, now they were strong enough to be relevant in combat. Training Pokémon would evolve beyond simply strategizing moves. It would also involve creativity in transformation.
'Is this the purpose of Pokémon Contests? To show the creativity of humans through Pokémon moves and to train their ability for free manipulation? It seems I may have just been behind the curve, rather than suddenly discovering a hidden aspect of the Master rank.'
Alex had always focused on strategic-level battles since he was hunting criminals, not participating in official battles where combatants had to follow strict rules. He didn't know much about Pokémon Contests either, other than having seen the Kimono Girls and their fun little show. That had been the extent of his insight at the time; it was simply an entertaining performance with no application in combat.
Now, perhaps there should be more room for thought in how he trained his Pokémon to be more flexible with their abilities. Then again, he had stopped training them so closely ever since their numbers had ballooned. He merely oversaw their training and ensured their move proficiencies were up to date, rather than working with them as closely as he used to with Raticate.
'I'll put more effort into their training and see if there are any aspects that might be useful in battles,' Alex ultimately decided.
It wasn't his area of expertise to be especially creative with energy manipulation and transformation, but he could certainly identify which aspects were useful in combat. That was his specialty, after all.
The battle between Groudon and the Dragonid tribe continued without much suspense. Zinnia was cautious and efficient, trapping Groudon and preventing its escape. It was therefore no surprise when the Legendary Pokémon inevitably fainted.
Not before it caused damage to civilization and the environment. Forests burned, land was torn asunder, cities were devastated by earthquakes, and people were sent scrambling for safety. The economic damage was immense, which only reinforced the notion that Legendaries should be left alone whenever possible.
Alex eventually returned to Rustboro City once the Draconid Tribe had secured Groudon. He tuned in to the news for any relevant updates and was simply amazed by the devastation a battle against Team Dominion had caused. It helped him understand why the League was so lax when it came to criminals and the Underworld.
Ultimately, there was a balance that had been broken, and the ones who paid for it were the people of the region.
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