However, no matter how Primal Groudon called for Giovanni, it was useless.
Giovanni wasn't even here in the first place.
Primal Kyogre was really sorry.
If there were some lakes or oceans here, it could've let Primal Groudon enjoy that "baby bump" thing again.
Of course, the most regrettable part was—
Primal Kyogre hadn't even charged in yet.
Primal Groudon already lowered its head, dug into the ground, and started burrowing away with a mouthful of sand.
Yeah.
Primal Groudon was running.
"Boring."
Dragon Kyurem scoffed.
Flames and lightning burst across its body.
Two glowing orbs flew out.
The orbs re-formed into Reshiram and Zekrom.
And Dragon Kyurem also transformed back into Kyurem.
Reshiram returned to Yveltal's rear immediately.
"Thanks a lot for this time, Kyurem."
Damian didn't pay Reshiram any attention.
He smiled at Kyurem, expressing genuine gratitude.
"I'm not helping you.
I'm just bored and I felt like swinging my fists."
Kyurem's golden dragon eyes glanced at Damian.
It answered through its hoarse Telepathy.
"Yeah, yeah.
No matter what, this time you helped me.
I owe you a favor."
Damian's smile lifted even higher.
A little arrogant?
That was kind of interesting.
"Hmph—
meaningless.
Send me back."
Kyurem spoke淡淡的.
It couldn't be bothered to fly all the way back to Giant Chasm.
That would take forever.
"Sure.
But what about our agreement back then?"
Damian nodded.
He was liking Kyurem more and more.
Because it really could fight.
Hoopa was sharp on the situation.
It expanded and flung a Gold ring outward.
"I'll wait for you at Giant Chasm."
Kyurem's tone stayed calm.
After saying that, it drilled into the Spatial rings and returned to Giant Chasm.
Watching that familiar glacier canyon,
Kyurem lay down quietly to rest.
But even so, the pictures from that satisfying battle still kept slipping through its mind.
That was Kyurem's first time fighting for someone else.
For Kyurem, it was also a whole new experience.
Was it… kind of interesting?
Desert side.
"Humans.
Stop only thinking about Kyurem.
When are you planning to finish your agreement with me?"
Shiny Rayquaza lowered its head slightly.
It looked at Damian and spoke.
Mega Rayquaza was beside Shiny Rayquaza.
It was curious, watching Damian.
This humans—
it had already heard about him from Shiny Rayquaza before.
Little Rayquaza was also with him.
"Oh?
Rayquaza, last time you said you wanted me to go think of a way to catch Kyurem first."
Damian's smile was deep.
"Ah—
but I think you can also come find me first."
Shiny Rayquaza answered naturally.
In fact, it had already confirmed it.
This Kyurem guy had cheats.
Eat Reshiram and Zekrom, and you can transform into the Dragon Kyurem form.
And the combat power in that form was insane.
"I'd rather clash with Giratina."
Shiny Rayquaza stated its demand.
Yeah, it didn't want to fight Dragon Kyurem again.
It had already fought once.
"Alright.
When I'm ready, I'll come find you."
Damian said, amused.
Now that Hoopa was around, he really did plan to take some time to catch Shiny Rayquaza and Kyurem.
After all, with Giratina in hand, it wasn't impossible to solo beat both.
Especially Kyurem.
Without absorbing Zekrom—
or even without Zekrom's boosted state,
Giratina beating Kyurem was absolutely no problem.
But once it was in his hands,
Kyurem could become Dragon Kyurem!
"Deal."
Shiny Rayquaza agreed readily.
At this moment, it genuinely liked this humans.
After all, they'd fought side by side twice.
Shiny Rayquaza had to admit—
this humans was really interesting.
"Do you need me to have Hoopa send you back?"
"No.
For us Rayquaza,
the sky is our home."
Shiny Rayquaza rejected it.
It and Mega Rayquaza flew into the sky together.
They gradually disappeared into the far horizon.
And then…
"Why are you staring at me like that, Ho-Oh?"
Damian looked at Ho-Oh, which glared at him.
He spread his hands innocently.
"Humans—
the three things I promised you have been done!"
Ho-Oh gritted its teeth and said.
"That's right.
As expected, it was you, Ho-Oh.
On this journey, your helped turned the tide and your contribution was huge."
Damian sighed with real feeling.
But Ho-Oh just stared at Damian expressionlessly.
"What now?"
"Give it back to me.
My feathers! Give me my feathers back!"
Ho-Oh was furious.
Especially when it saw Jirachi and Victini—both of them had just gone around picking feathers up—
then returned to Damian's back.
These two were so familiar with the routine.
They slipped behind Damian like it was natural.
"Hey, Ho-Oh.
You're being a little petty, right?
Those feathers are scraps.
Why do you want them back?"
Damian clicked his tongue.
"What good would I get from those feathers?
The special feathers I gave you back then—
you give them back to me!"
Ho-Oh's voice got even louder.
That feather was one of the most precious on its wings.
It could use it to contact it anytime, anywhere.
Ho-Oh obviously didn't care much about ordinary feathers.
Still, it was mad that Jirachi and the other one gathered feathers dropped during battle right in front of it.
But Ho-Oh couldn't exactly ask for all that back.
The special Rainbow Wing was different.
"You mean that one?
That one— I already gave it away."
Damian raised a brow.
He pretended like he had suddenly realized.
"You…!!"
If it didn't have fists, Ho-Oh would've squeezed its hands into fists right now.
It carefully sensed it.
It confirmed that there was no aura of that Rainbow Wing on Damian.
This shameless humans!!
Ho-Oh didn't say anything.
It turned and prepared to fly away.
Damn it!
You gave my feathers to someone without asking me?!
Ho-Oh was unhappy.
But at the same time, in its heart, it finally felt a sigh of relief.
It was finally free!
"Wait."
"We're even now, humans!"
Ho-Oh turned back warily.
"Of course, that's how it is, Ho-Oh.
After all, we've been comrades who fought side by side three times.
Now we're going our separate ways.
Don't you think we should have a little remembrance?"
"No.
I don't want any memories with you."
Ho-Oh smiled back.
"Don't be so cold.
Back then, the scenes where you fought Shiny Rayquaza and Dragon Kyurem by my side are still fresh in my mind, Ho-Oh."
"…"
So it wanted memories?
And was it going to talk about how you got beaten by them?
Ho-Oh kept its face cold.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Ho-Oh was getting impatient.
"Leave me one as a souvenir.
After all, we're comrades.
Just one feather will do.
I'll put it in a display case and collect it."
"???"
Ho-Oh finally snapped into laughter while furious.
"Humans.
Look behind you.
Those two are holding how many of my feathers?"
"Those are all scraps.
You know I still have to use them to make medicine.
You give me a complete, pretty one.
I'll put it on display and keep it."
Damian said very seriously.
No choice—
he had already given that special feather Ho-Oh gave him to Akari.
"You're dreaming, you—damn it!"
Ho-Oh finally broke.
It exploded on him, cursing nonstop.
The more it thought about it, the angrier it got.
Every time it helped, it was just beaten up with poison.
Every time it got beaten, it would drop a pile of feathers.
After three times—
Ho-Oh really felt like it had basically had its feathers swapped out completely.
And this humans still kept thinking about its feathers.
Like this was a person thing?!
After cursing Ho-Oh, it was ready to run.
This humans really was thinking way too happily.
"I know, Ho-Oh.
This is the whole 'refusing but actually wanting it' thing, right?"
Damian sighed.
Ho-Oh: "??"
Suddenly, its wings itched.
It turned its head.
It saw a small hand reach out from the Spatial rings.
It grabbed a bright, beautiful rainbow-colored feather.
"Hoopa!!!"
Ho-Oh roared in anger.
"Hehe~
I turned back into Confined form again at some point, and then—
thanks for the feathers, Ho-Oh.
I knew it.
You can't forget our comradeship.
I'll collect it properly for a lifetime."
Damian held the Rainbow Wing that Mischief Hoopa had yanked back.
His words were sincere.
"???"
Ho-Oh broke down into laughter again in fury.
That was my feather?
No—
that damn thing was stolen by you!
"Humans, it's over.
See you never!!"
Ho-Oh no longer wanted to talk to this shameless humans.
It left without looking back.
"Wait, Ho-Oh.
There's one more thing…"
But Ho-Oh didn't even listen.
It just sped up even more, ignoring everything.
Seeing that, Damian looked a bit helpless.
"Ho-Oh really seems to hate you, Mae."
Mischief Hoopa tilted its head.
"I just wanted to remind it.
If it runs into danger, you can call me.
But this overgrown roast bird has too much of a grudge against me."
Damian shrugged.
At the very least, since he took one fresh, pretty feather from it, Damian planned to repay it.
But this colorful overgrown roast bird didn't care about him at all.
"A grudge in the heart is a mountain.
Didn't expect Ho-Oh to misunderstand you this much too.
It's just… kind of sad."
Damian put the Rainbow Wing into his bag and sighed like that.
"I think it doesn't really look like there's anything wrong with that grudge toward you."
Mischief Hoopa blinked.
Just now, Damian told it to sneak over and pluck Ho-Oh's pretty feathers.
And he said if it didn't get caught, then pull even more.
"Hoopa, if you say it like that, I won't be happy."
Damian shot Mischief Hoopa a side-eye.
Mischief Hoopa covered its mouth and snickered.
"Then… Terapagos, do you have anything to say?"
Damian looked forward at Terapagos.
A friendly smile appeared on his face.
"You're pretty interesting.
Can I temporarily stay with you, humans?"
Terapagos' body flashed with light.
It transformed into a smaller Normal Form.
It flew in front of Damian.
With crisp, childish Telepathy, it spoke.
Yeah—
after coming out, Terapagos didn't really want to go back.
"Oh Yo~
Terapagos, you've got good taste.
Way better than that overgrown roast bird."
Damian's eyes lit up.
He smiled and gently rubbed the top of Terapagos' head.
"Because you're genuinely interesting."
Terapagos blinked.
It was incredibly adorable.
It really found Damian interesting.
And the aura on him made pure Terapagos feel comfortable.
Right.
In fact, Terapagos was very pure.
Because it had never even left Area Zero.
It basically always slept in the deepest part of Area Zero.
This time, since Hoopa Unbound dragged it out into the outside world…
Terapagos decided to follow this humans first.
It would go see the outside world properly.
Damian was totally happy about that.
He wasn't stingy at all.
He took out some Pokémon snacks from his bag.
Terapagos had never seen these before.
After trying one out of curiosity, it was impossible to stop.
"Not bad, not bad.
You don't even need me to ask.
Terapagos already took them all."
Damian was satisfied.
Terapagos—
this is the third god of the Paldea Region!
And just now, during battle—
Stellar Form Terapagos' combat power was also extremely strong.
It could both act cute and fight hard.
Most important of all…
with Terapagos,
as long as its Time-space travel ability could be activated normally,
it could return to the Hisui era anytime.
In the end, showing Dawn photos and videos wasn't as real as showing her the person.
"Dawn.
I'll take you to see our daughter."
Damian felt that saying this would make Dawn freeze for a very, very long time.
But if it were him…
he guessed he would freeze too.
Like—
what the hell?
My sixteen-year-old self has a sixteen-year-old daughter?
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Giovanni, you're way too far away."
Groudon had already exited its Primal Reversion form.
It stood by the seaside and looked sadly at the endless horizon.
Groudon could faintly feel Giovanni's location…
but the distance was just too far.
If it wanted to get back to Giovanni, how long would it have to walk?
Damn Hoopa!
Damn you, big-headed fish!
It hurt.
Too much it hurt.
Groudon—one that couldn't fly—took one step after another on its way home.
~~
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