Chapter 373: Groudon Sets Off on the Long Road Home! Terapagos Makes the First Move
No matter how hard Primal Groudon called for Giovanni, it did no good. Giovanni wasn't anywhere near here.
Primal Kyogre was deeply disappointed. There was no lake or sea around. Otherwise it would absolutely have given Primal Groudon the "baby bump" treatment again.
What disappointed it most of all, though, was that before it could even dive down, Primal Groudon had put its head down, clawed at the sand, and burrowed underground.
Yep. Primal Groudon had run for it.
"How dull."
Dragon God Kyurem let out a scornful snort. Fire and lightning flared across its body, and two orbs of light flew out of it.
The orbs took shape again as Reshiram and Zekrom, and Dragon God Kyurem returned to its ordinary Kyurem form.
The moment Reshiram was out, it flew straight back behind Yveltal.
"Thanks for this, Kyurem. Really."
Mammon ignored Reshiram and smiled at Kyurem gratefully.
"I wasn't helping you. I was bored, and my claws itched. That's all."
Kyurem cast a sidelong glance at Mammon with its golden eyes, its telepathic voice low and gravelly.
"Sure, sure. Either way, you helped me out this time. I owe you one."
Mammon's smile widened. A tsundere? Now that's interesting.
"Hmph~ Meaningless. Send me back," Kyurem said flatly.
It couldn't be bothered to fly all the way back to the Giant Chasm itself. How long would that take?
"Sure. But what about that deal we made back then?"
Mammon nodded. He liked Kyurem more and more. It could really fight!
Hoopa Unbound knew how to read a room. A single golden ring flew out and expanded.
"I'll be waiting for you at the Giant Chasm."
Kyurem's tone stayed as cool as ever. With that, it slipped through the spatial ring and back to the Giant Chasm.
Looking out over the familiar glacial canyon, Kyurem quietly lay down to rest. Still, images of the exhilarating battle kept surfacing in its mind.
It was the first time it had ever fought for someone else. For Kyurem, that was an entirely new experience.
Actually, that was kind of fun?
Back in the desert.
"Human, don't focus only on Kyurem. When do you plan to make good on your deal with me?"
Black Rayquaza lowered its head slightly and looked down at Mammon.
Mega Rayquaza hovered next to Black Rayquaza, studying Mammon with curiosity.
It had actually heard Black Rayquaza talk about this human before. Little Green was still with him, too.
"Oh? Rayquaza, last time you told me to figure out how to catch Kyurem first." Mammon's grin was a deep one.
"Ah~ Well, I've been thinking. You could come find me first, too."
Black Rayquaza replied, completely unbothered.
The truth was, it had now confirmed one thing: that Kyurem was running hacks!
Eating Reshiram and Zekrom let it turn into Dragon God Kyurem, and its power in that form was simply too insane.
"I'd rather fight Giratina."
Black Rayquaza named its terms. It did not want a rematch with Dragon God Kyurem. Once was enough.
"Sure. I'll come find you once I'm ready."
Mammon found this hilarious.
With Hoopa around now, he really was planning to find time to catch Black Rayquaza and Kyurem first.
With Giratina in hand, beating either of them solo wasn't out of the question, especially Kyurem.
As long as Kyurem hadn't absorbed the white dragon or the black dragon, Giratina would beat it without any trouble at all.
But once Kyurem was his, it could become Dragon God Kyurem!
"It's a deal."
Black Rayquaza agreed readily. By now, it genuinely liked this human.
They had fought side by side twice. Black Rayquaza had to admit this human was interesting.
"Want Hoopa to send you home?"
"No need. For us Rayquaza, the sky is our home."
Black Rayquaza declined and flew up into the sky together with Mega Rayquaza, gradually disappearing over the horizon.
And then...
"Why are you staring at me like that, Ho-Oh?"
Mammon turned to Ho-Oh, who was glaring at him, and spread his hands innocently.
"Human, I have fulfilled the three favors I promised you!"
Ho-Oh said it through gritted teeth.
"You sure have. That's Ho-Oh for you. Everything I've been through, your help has been absolutely invaluable."
Mammon sighed with heartfelt sincerity.
Ho-Oh just stared at him, expressionless.
"What's wrong?"
"Give it back!"
"Give what back?" Mammon looked puzzled.
Seeing this naturally villainous human actually playing dumb, Ho-Oh roared:
"The feather! Give me back my feather!"
Ho-Oh was livid, especially at the sight of Jirachi and Victini returning to Mammon's side after collecting feathers.
The two of them ducked behind Mammon with the ease of long practice.
"Come on, Ho-Oh, that's a bit petty, don't you think? Those feathers are all rejects. You still want them back?"
Mammon clicked his tongue.
"What would I want those for? The special feather I gave you back then. Give it back!"
Ho-Oh's voice rose even louder. That had been one of the finest feathers on its wings. Whoever held it could contact Ho-Oh anytime, anywhere.
Ho-Oh didn't much care about the ordinary feathers. It was furious that Jirachi and Victini had gathered up the ones scattered during the fight right in front of it, but it wasn't going to demand them back.
The special Rainbow Wing was a different story.
"Oh, that one. I gave it to someone."
Mammon raised an eyebrow, feigning sudden recollection.
"You...!"
If Ho-Oh had fists, they would have been clenched right now.
It carefully sensed around him and found that the Rainbow Wing's presence really was gone from Mammon.
This shameless human!!
Ho-Oh said nothing. It simply turned to fly away. Damn it! He gave my feather to someone else! Did he ask this bird's permission?
It was deeply annoyed, but at the same time, it finally breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm finally free!
"Wait."
"We're square now, human!"
Ho-Oh looked back warily.
"Of course. It's just that, Ho-Oh, we've fought side by side three times now. We're comrades. Now that we're going our separate ways, don't you think we should have a little keepsake?"
"No. I do not want any memories with you." Ho-Oh smiled as it said it.
"Don't be so cold. I can still picture it clear as day, you fighting at my side against Black Rayquaza and Dragon God Kyurem, Ho-Oh."
"..."
Are you reminiscing about how they beat me up?
Ho-Oh's face went cold.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Ho-Oh was out of patience.
"Leave me a keepsake. We're comrades, after all. Just one feather is fine."
"???"
Ho-Oh was finally so angry it laughed.
"Human, turn around and look at those two things behind you. How many of my feathers are they holding?"
"Those are all rejects. You know I need them for making medicine. Give me a whole, pretty one. I'll keep it in a display case."
Mammon said it with complete seriousness.
He had no choice. He'd given the special feather Ho-Oh gave him before to Akari.
"In your DREAMS! Get lost!"
Ho-Oh finally lost it and unloaded on him, cursing nonstop.
"I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to have ever run into you! I've helped you three times, and I've practically molted every feather on my body doing it, and now you want more feathers? Don't even think about it. Farewell!"
The more it thought about it, the angrier it got. Every single time it helped, it got beaten half to death, and every beating cost it a pile of feathers. After three rounds of that...
Ho-Oh honestly felt like it had replaced basically its entire plumage. And this human was still after its feathers? Was he even human?
Having said its piece, Ho-Oh made to leave. This human could keep dreaming.
"I know, Ho-Oh. You're just playing hard to get."
Mammon sighed.
Ho-Oh: "??"
Suddenly, Ho-Oh's wing itched. It turned its head and saw a small hand reaching out of a spatial ring, clutching a brilliant, beautiful rainbow-colored feather.
"HOOPA!!!"
Ho-Oh shrieked.
"Heh heh~" Confined Hoopa, who had somehow changed back into its Confined Form at some point, stuck out its tongue, quickly pulled its arm back, and floated over to Mammon.
"Thank you for the feather, Ho-Oh. I knew you couldn't forget our bond as comrades either. I'll treasure it for the rest of my life."
Mammon held up the Rainbow Wing that Confined Hoopa had plucked for him, speaking with total sincerity.
"???"
Ho-Oh was so angry it laughed again. I gave that to you? You damn well stole it!
"Human, I never want to see you again!!"
Ho-Oh had no desire to say one more word to this shameless human. It left without looking back.
"Wait, Ho-Oh, there's one more thing..."
But Ho-Oh ignored him completely and just flew faster.
Seeing this, Mammon was a bit exasperated.
"Ho-Oh really doesn't seem to like you, Mammo." Confined Hoopa tilted its head.
"I wanted to tell it that if it ever runs into trouble, it can just hit me up. But that big turkey's prejudice against me runs way too deep."
Mammon shrugged. He'd taken a brand-new, beautiful feather from it, after all, so he'd been planning to return the favor.
But the big rainbow turkey wouldn't give him the time of day.
"Prejudice is a mountain in people's hearts. I never thought Ho-Oh would misunderstand me like this too. How sad."
Mammon tucked the Rainbow Wing into his bag with a sigh.
"I think its prejudice against you is kind of fair, though." Confined Hoopa blinked.
Just now, Mammon was the one who'd told it to sneak over and pluck Ho-Oh's pretty feather. He'd even said to pluck a few more if it didn't get caught.
"Hoopa, when you say things like that, it makes me sad." Mammon shot Confined Hoopa a sidelong look.
Confined Hoopa covered its mouth and giggled.
"And... little turtle, is there something you need?"
Mammon turned to the beautiful turtle in front of him, Terapagos, and gave it a friendly smile.
"You're really fun! Can I come with you for a while, human?"
Terapagos's body flashed with light and shrank into its small Normal Form. It flew up in front of Mammon and spoke telepathically in a clear, childlike voice.
Now that it was out, Terapagos didn't really feel like going back.
"Oho~ Little turtle, you've got great taste. Much better than that big turkey."
Mammon's eyes lit up, and he grinned as he gently patted the little turtle's head.
"Because you really are fun." Terapagos blinked its eyes, utterly adorable.
It really did think Mammon was fun. And something about his aura felt very comfortable to the innocent Terapagos.
Terapagos truly was innocent. It had never once left Area Zero. It had spent basically its entire existence asleep in Area Zero's deepest depths.
Now that Evil Hoopa had dragged it out into the outside world, Terapagos had decided to tag along with this human for a while and get a good look at it.
Mammon was delighted. He didn't hold back in the least and pulled some Pokémon snacks out of his bag.
Terapagos had never seen anything like them. It tried one tentative bite, and that was the end of that.
"Nice, nice. I didn't even have to ask, and Terapagos is in the bag."
Mammon was very pleased. Terapagos, the Source of Terastallization: Paldea's third god!
And in the fight just now, Stellar Terapagos had shown just how powerful it was. Adorable and strong!
Most importantly, with Terapagos, as long as its space-time travel ability worked normally, he could go back to the Hisui era anytime he wanted.
When it came down to it, showing Platinum photos and videos couldn't compare to the real thing.
"Dawn, I'm taking you to see our daughter."
Mammon suspected that line would crash Platinum's brain for a very, very long time.
Then again, if it were him, he'd probably crash too.
What the actual hell? Sixteen-year-old me has a sixteen-year-old daughter?
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Giovanni, you're way too far away."
Groudon had already left its Primal Reversion. It stood on the shore, gazing sadly at the endless horizon.
It could faintly sense where Giovanni was. The problem was that it was so far away!
How long was it going to have to walk to get back to Giovanni??
Damn that Hoopa! Damn that fat fish!
The pain. The pain is too much!
And so Can't-Fly set out, one step at a time, on its long journey home.
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