44 Wrath of Thunder
Rayquaza's words reverberated in my mind, each syllable laden with solemnity and warning. As it spoke of the enigmatic blessing bestowed upon me by Arceus, I couldn't help but feel the weight of responsibility pressing down upon my shoulders. The notion that every action I took could shape the course of humanity's future was both daunting and humbling.
The mythical Pokémon's gaze bore into mine, a silent reminder of the watchful eyes that observed my every move. Rayquaza's cautionary tale of the dangers lurking within the Pokémon world sent a shiver down my spine. I had always known that not all Pokémon harbored benevolent intentions toward humans, but to hear it spoken so starkly by one of such immense power was a sobering revelation.
With a final admonition, Rayquaza promised to keep a vigilant eye on me, its parting words carrying a hint of both expectation and uncertainty. As it prepared to take flight, leaving me standing beneath the vast expanse of the sky, a surge of determination coursed through me.
"Wait! You're leaving just like that?" I shouted, now that I understood Rayquaza's purpose. I felt compelled to seek something from the mythical Pokémon after all the trouble it had caused me. Hoping for a blessing from Rayquaza for one of my Pokémon seemed like a lofty aspiration, but I had to try.
"Greedy kid!" But Rayquaza, ever perceptive, seemed to understand my unspoken plea. With a chuckle that echoed across the clearing, it gestured with a swift swipe of its claw, tearing through the fabric of space itself. From the void emerged a shimmering object, which tumbled gracefully to the ground before me.
I watched in awe as Rayquaza ascended into the heavens, disappearing from view in a majestic display of power and grace. As I approached the enigmatic gift left in its wake, a sense of anticipation mingled with trepidation. What secrets did this mysterious object hold? And what role would it play in the tumultuous journey that lay ahead?
As I gingerly picked up the object, I scrutinized it carefully. Despite my vast knowledge, its purpose eluded me entirely. Yet, if Rayquaza had deemed it worthy enough to part with, then it must hold significant importance to me. With a sense of reverence, I tucked the mysterious item inside my pocket for safekeeping.
However, my attention swiftly turned to the Blaziken matriarch, who appeared to be eyeing the object I got from Rayquaza with keen interest. Sensing its curiosity, I discreetly slipped the item into my PSP, retrieving it from my pocket out of sight. Froslass, still recuperating from her encounter with Rayquaza, remained by my side, her presence acting as a deterrent to any untoward actions from the Blaziken.
As I observed Froslass, I couldn't help but feel a surge of gratitude towards Rayquaza for showing restraint during their confrontation. Despite the intensity of the battle, Froslass seemed to have escaped with only minor injuries. With the aid of special medicines, I was confident she would soon be back to her former self.
As the chaos settled and I approached the Blaziken colony, I couldn't help but admire their resilience. Despite the destruction wrought upon their nest, the Pokémon had acted swiftly to minimize the damage, a testament to their unity and resourcefulness. Only the Blaziken matriarch, along with my Torchic, approached us, while the others remained wary of Froslass, who hovered ominously at the edge of my shadow.
With a gesture, I indicated to Froslass to stand down, warning the Blaziken against any attempts at deception before she retreated back into my shadow. Recalling all my Pokémon except for Lucario, who stood faithfully by my side, I focused on the matriarch before me.
"I know you can understand me well," I began, addressing the Blaziken. "I am here for the Torchic. Even she wants to come with me, so why not let her go?" My resolve was unwavering; I was determined not to leave without her. The Blaziken deliberated, torn between her instinctual reluctance to part with one of her descendants and the recognition that the child before her was no ordinary human.
Sensing her hesitation, I reached into my PSP and retrieved a treasure—a peak Epic level artifact for fire Pokémon. As the Blaziken's eyes widened at the sight of the item, I could feel the intensity of her desire to claim it. Her fire aura pulsed with anticipation, resonating with the power emanating from the treasure. However, the presence of Froslass, ever vigilant in my shadow, kept her from making any rash moves.
"What do you think?" I propositioned, dangling the treasure before her. "I can give this to you if you're willing to part with the Torchic. Your chances of ascending to Epic rank will increase multiple times with this treasure. You must already know how rare such a resource is."
The Blaziken deliberated, her internal struggle evident in the furrow of her brow. Breaking through to a higher level was ingrained in every Pokémon's instincts, and the allure of such a rare treasure was undeniable. After a tense moment of consideration, the matriarch nodded, nudging the Torchic forward. With a joyful chirp, the Torchic bounded towards me, her freedom now assured.
With a casual toss, I relinquished the Epic level treasure to the wild Blaziken—a gesture that would be incomprehensible to many. But in that moment, it felt like the right decision, a small price to pay for securing the trust of a powerful ally in the wilderness.
With my old Pokémon once again by my side, a weight lifted from my shoulders, replaced by a renewed sense of purpose. With my objective achieved, I wasted no time. Turning to the wild Blaziken, I offered a detailed explanation of how to utilize the treasure and accompanying materials to maximize its potential in ascending to Epic rank. Every intricate detail, every nuance of strategy, I imparted to the Blaziken, ensuring that it understood the value of what it held and how to wield it to its advantage.
With all my objectives complete, I turned on my heels and set my sights back on Evergrande City. The impending clash between my family and the league loomed ominously on the horizon, casting a shadow over the region. With each step onward, I felt the weight of impending chaos pressing down on me, urging me to hasten my pace. Time was of the essence, and I couldn't afford to delay. The fate of not just my family but the entire region hung in the balance, and I was determined to direct the results exactly as I had envisioned them.
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Pokemon League Headquarters, Viridian City
Within the most majestic building in all of Viridian City, which towered above all others, lay the headquarters of the League. Currently, the entire organization was on high alert, and though the majority didn't know the exact reason for the tension, they could sense that something major was about to happen.
The chairman was personally escorting an old man towards the penthouse where his office lay. If the other people passing by knew the true identity of the old man, they would have laid prone on the ground. Even the chairman was sweating profusely, trying to contain his anxiety as if he were carrying a ticking time bomb.
Just as the lift doors closed, the old man's demeanor changed completely. "When is the attack scheduled for?" he questioned, his poisonous aura fully suffocating the lift; even the two master-class trainers who followed them were not spared from the pressure.
The chairman quickly collected himself. "In three days' time, sir. We have all the preparations set; we are just double-checking everything," he explained of the situation.
"How naive of you. Why don't you just go ahead and openly announce to the Blackthorn family that we will be attacking them in three days' time? With all the commotion you guys are causing here, do you think that the Blackthorns will not suspect that you guys are up to something? Go ahead and pass the orders; initiate the plan now. Have your men initiate the Pokémon tide and provoke the two legendaries. We can't have the Blackthorns preparing, and there is a high possibility that your organization is already breached," the old man remarked, his command leaving no room for negotiation.
"That, my Lord, we are still yet to complete the deployment for the legendaries. Triggering a tide now will put the League's trainers in harm's way," the chairman tried to reason, as every one of the trainers he had assigned to the task were elites.
"Snort. You are worried about cannon fodder? How are you planning to win against the Blackthorns with such an attitude? And I wasn't asking for your opinion regarding the matter. If I ask you to do something, you do that. Don't make me repeat myself," the old man snorted, and the lift opened. He stepped out casually, walking into the main office as if he owned the place.
Sierra, who was organizing the table, felt a creeping chill crawl through her spine as the old man casually strode forward and sat on the main chair. He immediately let out a Seviper that neatly curled to the side, hungrily eyeing Sierra, who was now frozen in fear and shock, unable to move an inch.
"That's not your snack," the old man smacked the snake on the head, which hissed back but lay down without protest.
Right then, the chairman rushed in while frantically passing down orders. It took Sierra a minute to collect herself and understand what was happening. The League had initiated its strike ahead of schedule. She needed to inform her leader about it because many of their plans needed to be carried out using the League's actions as cover.
Sierra had no idea who the old man was, but even the residual aura he emanated was enough to freeze her in place. As an executive of Team Rocket, she could estimate roughly that the Seviper was a peak Aurora or maybe even an Epic-class Pokémon. She involuntarily started sweating, contemplating what kind of stupid deal the Chairman had made to invite such a monster to help them.
"Sierra, Sierra... are you listening to me? What are you daydreaming about?" The Chairman's voice rang out, bringing Sierra back from her dazed state.
"Quick, go ahead and let all the teams proceed," the Chairman commanded. The first part of the plan was the tide, and it would take a day or two for the entire border guarded by the Blackthorns to descend into chaos. When that happened, the League would strike at the heart of the Blackthorns' territory—Blackthorn City—and wipe out everyone, especially those old relics who might still be hiding in the shadows. The Chairman was still hoping that the rumors of the old ancestor being dead were true; if not, then this would escalate and reignite the war that had stopped half a century ago.
A few thousand miles north of the Johto borders, a group of highly skilled trainers who specialized in ground-type Pokémon were eagerly waiting as their leader communicated over the device. As each second passed, his expression grew uglier, and finally, as the call disconnected, the man threw the device away in frustration.
"Move out, guys! We have new orders; we will be attacking the Zapdos nest immediately!" The captain barked down the new orders, even if he didn't like them. Even now, he was not aware of the true reason why they were provoking a natural legendary so far away from human civilization.
His superiors had simply told him that it was a precaution to chase away the Zapdos, and they had been provided with large projectile weapons called missiles to be launched at the Zapdos nest.
The team had been reassured that the more than two dozen missiles provided would help chase away the legendary Pokémon. However, what the poor League team did not know was that each of these missiles was filled with a stimulant to make the Zapdos go berserk. Any wild Pokémon that inhaled a bit of this stimulant would go crazy, killing everything in its path.
It would be like an avalanche—a massive tide would be initiated with Zapdos as the center. Similar stimulants and actions were being deployed simultaneously across the wilderness to trigger a single massive tide. But the League trainers, who were really risking their lives to carry out these missions, were not aware of the true intentions of the League higher-ups.
All these League trainers had no idea that they were digging their own graves by blindly following the League's orders.
Similarly, in the vicinity of Articuno's nest in the south, the League team had received similar orders. The south of Blackthorn territory was mostly covered by vast seas, making this domain much more dangerous. A Pokémon tide from the sea was much more perilous than a land-based one, as the number of Pokémon that inhabited the waters was multifold compared to the land.
"Boom, boom... boom!" A continuous rain of missiles reverberated throughout the surroundings of the Zapdos nest, resounding for miles. Zapdos was the apex predator, so its surrounding region was devoid of high-level Pokémon—it was only inhabited by Pokémon that Zapdos did not consider food.
"Did we get that bastard?" A young man, who had just fired the fourth missile from the back of a large customized truck, asked his colleague, who was keeping track of the Zapdos nest using a scanner device. Even though they were dozens of miles away, the image projected was clear enough to discern what was happening far away.
However, his friend did not answer but kept monitoring the nest, while from their sides, a few more trucks started launching missiles from their respective pods. Just as the missiles rained down, a transparent dust-like particle started spreading around the Zapdos nest, carried by the wind, and began to spread. Then, the last parked truck revealed its pod, and unlike the rest of the trucks, which carried four missiles, this one only carried a single missile.
The young man curiously eyed the symbol on the side of the missile. His memory jogged as he remembered seeing this symbol somewhere before. Just as the missile ignited to fire away from the pod, it struck him. "Stop!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, jumping down from the truck and rushing towards the last truck with all haste, screaming, "You bastards! That's a fucking nuke!"
But he was too late, as the missile had already left the pod. Nukes were absolute deterrents created by humans to be used only when their extinction was imminent. Even then, nukes were only strong enough to deter peak Epic-level Pokémon. For natural legendaries, it would harm them severely, but the damage might not be fatal, and they should worry about the retaliation.
The entire League squad, even the captain, froze in shock as they heard the young man scream "nuke." They were completely unaware that the final truck was carrying such a payload. Although they were a few dozen miles out of the blast radius, they weren't worried about the nuke's impact but about what followed.
Just as everyone panicked, the final missile hit its mark smack right in the center of the Zapdos nest, creating a massive blast evident from hundreds of miles around. The deafening blast stirred up every Pokémon within hundreds of miles. The shockwave generated ripped through everything, even extending as far as where the League team was; however, only a few veterans were quick enough to release their pokemon in time to survive the shockwave of the blast.
The core of the impact was completely obliterated; even the high mountains where the Zapdos nest lay crumbled due to the impact. After the resounding blast, a deathly silence followed. The captain of the League team, a champion-class trainer, stood up as he was shielded by his Pokémon from the shockwave. Most of his team was knocked out.
Then it happened—a deafening cry, as if resonating from the deepest hell, sounded. The captain scrambled for the scanner device. Through the massive dust cloud, he observed that as the entire sky stirred with massive lightning bolts tearing through it, miles of sky completely darkened as if the wrath of heaven itself was descending from above.
In the distance, the thunderous cries of enraged Pokémon echoed through the desolate landscape, a haunting symphony of anguish and fury. The captain clenched his fists, his jaw set in a determined line. Despite the devastation wrought by their actions, there is no turning back now.
As the captain surveyed the devastation around him, a surge of panic and despair threatened to overwhelm him. "Fuck! What have we done?" he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos. But amidst the wreckage and carnage, there was no time for self-pity or remorse. With grim determination, he rallied his remaining men, issuing urgent orders to aid the wounded and evacuate the survivors.
Just as he released his Hypno to initiate a long-distance teleportation to safety, a blinding pillar of lightning descended from the sky, striking the Pokémon with lethal precision. In an instant, the Hypno was reduced to charred remnants, crumbling to dust before their eyes.
Meanwhile, the enraged Zapdos, its colossal form crackling with unrestrained power, closed in on the beleaguered League team. The sheer force of its presence paralyzed them with fear, rendering them helpless against its wrath. With a deafening screech, the Zapdos unleashed a devastating Thunder Wave, engulfing the entire team in a lethal cascade of energy. In the blink of an eye, they were reduced to nothing more than dust, their forms obliterated by the overwhelming power of the legendary Pokémon.
But the Zapdos was not content with its vengeance. Despite its injuries from the nuclear blast, its fury burned hotter than ever. With one broken wing hanging limply at its side, it soared above the chaos, its cries of rage echoing across the battlefield. It was a call to arms, a summons to all Pokémon under its command to rise up and join the fray.
As the Zapdos's commanding roar reverberated through the air, Pokémon of all shapes and sizes responded, their minds clouded by the same stimulant that had driven their master to madness. From the smallest Pidgey to the mightiest Garchomp, they converged on the northern border, their primal instincts unleashed in a frenzy of violence and destruction.
The bloodline suppression inherent in the Zapdos's aura was unmistakable, its power exerting a sinister influence over all who heard its call. As the chaos unfolded, it became clear that this was no ordinary battle—it was a struggle for survival against an enemy unlike any they had faced before. And as the Zapdos's reign of terror spread, the fate of the entire region hung in the balance, its future uncertain in the wake of such unfathomable devastation.
