"Tap, tap, tap..."
A series of footsteps approached. Crobat quickly flew past, immediately followed by Ace, clad in a diving suit.
"I feel like I'm very close now," Ace murmured.
He raised his forearm. On the exposed skin, distinct, strange markings were visible.
These were the seals Groudon had left on Ace's body after he touched the Red Orb previously.
Now that Ace had reached Groudon's resting place, he could faintly sense Groudon's summons.
"Summoning me?"
Ace sneered, "It probably wants to manipulate me into helping it wake up."
However, Ace's goal was precisely these two Legendary Pokémon, so he didn't mind Groudon's summons for now.
Following Groudon's call, Ace didn't have to take any detours. He smoothly arrived at a fork in the path and, guided by the summons, chose the left tunnel.
With Crobat scouting ahead, Ace had nothing to worry about. After walking for about ten minutes, Ace finally arrived in a massive cavern.
Here, Groudon was embedded halfway into a mass of rock, which were the solidified products of magma.
As if sensing Ace's approach, the markings on Ace's arm emitted a faint light, and a surge of agitated emotions welled up in Ace's mind.
Groudon's consciousness wanted Ace to free it as much as possible; it wanted to awaken from its slumber!
"Heh heh, too bad I'm not an ordinary person, or I'd be tempted by you."
Ace laughed. He had two experiences with Rayquaza possessing his body, which had passively honed his mental fortitude. Therefore, even though Groudon was influencing him, Ace didn't do anything he would regret.
Ace pulled a Great Ball from his pouch and threw it at Groudon.
The Great Ball struck Groudon's body, only to bounce off as if it had hit a solid rock. It made no impact whatsoever.
"As expected, it won't work."
Ace clicked his tongue. He had initially intended to try and capture it first, but now it seemed he had been too naive.
"Roar!"
However, Ace's action clearly enraged Groudon. A roar echoed in Ace's mind, making his head ring.
"You have a really bad temper, but besides that, you don't seem to have any other tricks."
Ace said scornfully, surveying the surroundings. Ace began to examine the space.
In doing so, Ace suddenly noticed something unusual.
Ignoring the fury raging in his mind from Groudon, Ace quickly skirted around the Legendary Pokémon and came to a narrow area behind it.
There, Ace turned on the light on his electronic watch and shone it over the area.
Under the light, Ace saw a dazzling expanse of colorful crystals.
"Quartz?"
Ace approached, feeling uncertain. He then took out a pickaxe from his pouch. Using the pickaxe, he pried with force, and a transparent crystal the size of a human head broke loose from the rock wall.
Ace tapped it with the pickaxe, and his expression turned strange.
Because this crystal was not quartz—it was a giant diamond!
Although a diamond is just a crystal formed from carbon under high temperature and pressure, and ordinary diamond fragments hold little value.
A diamond the size of a head, however, was extremely valuable. If he sold it, a jewelry lover would likely offer an astronomical price!
"Not bad. This trip wasn't wasted."
Ace laughed, picking up the diamond and stuffing it into his pouch.
With the unexpected income, Ace decided to ignore Groudon for a while and keep digging to see if there were any other treasures.
As he continued to dig, Ace realized this place was truly abundant with good things.
Groudon naturally loved to dig its way forward, and since magma was nothing more than bathwater to it, its movements brought many rare, buried resources to the surface.
After Ace unearthed several Evolution Stones and around twenty pounds of gold nuggets, his focus was entirely consumed by the excavation work.
It's said that when a person is completely absorbed in a task, they easily forget everything else and achieve a state of selflessness.
Ace was in much the same state now.
Fully immersed in his digging, Groudon's roars were completely blocked out by Ace's consciousness. No matter how Groudon raged, Ace's immunity to its influence only grew stronger.
"Kid, let's talk!"
Suddenly, a consciousness far more massive than before descended into Ace's mind, forcefully snapping him out of his excavation work.
Only then did Ace realize that he had inadvertently been digging into the mass of rock directly covering Groudon's body.
The sharp pickaxe had already breached the rock, leaving several deep marks on Groudon's outer shell.
Groudon sensed a hint of danger, and a part of its true self-awareness finally awakened, forcibly alerting Ace.
"Oh, you're awake."
Ace stopped digging, swung the pickaxe, and rested it on his shoulder. Speaking to Groudon through his consciousness, he asked, "Did you enjoy screaming inside my head just now?"
"...That was my subconscious earlier. It has nothing to do with me."
Groudon placated him, "I only just fully woke up. I apologize for what you experienced before. But you can wake me up. And it seems you like these objects. Let's work together. I can bring you many more of these things. What do you say?"
"I don't say much."
Ace raised the pickaxe, tapped Groudon's solid outer skin, and said playfully, "Right now, you interest me. Tell me, what do you think your meat would taste like?"
"..."
Through its consciousness, Groudon clearly perceived the malice in Ace's intent.
He wasn't joking!
"Hold on, let's talk this out! Fighting is too violent. Come on, let's have a proper discussion."
"I'll give you two choices."
Ace chose not to negotiate with Groudon. Instead, he took the initiative and began to assert dominance over the Legendary Pokémon.
"First, I chop you up and eat you."
Ace sneered, "Second, you submit to me and obey my commands. If I tell you to go east, you absolutely cannot go west. Choose: life or death!"
"...You're asking for death!"
Groudon instantly erupted in fury. It had survived since the ancient era; how could it be easily controlled by such a mere ant!
And the ant actually wanted to eat it? That was utterly delusional!
Now, the enraged Groudon was intent on killing Ace. Although its body was stuck in slumber, its rapidly waking consciousness was more than enough to deal with this insect!
Suddenly, a powerful, crushing will descended into Ace's mind, attempting to use this method to shatter Ace's consciousness!
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