"How is that possible!"
"Could we be mistaken?"
"How could the three legendary birds be with Groudon?"
"They're not legendary Pokémon from the same region. They shouldn't have any relationship!"
——
The Elite Four were incredulous. Even as the figures of the three legendary birds beside Groudon gradually became clearer, they still insisted on their assumptions.
But soon, the Psychic-type Pokémon beside Lorelei—who had previously fought the three legendary birds—made a clear judgment.
The ones beside the Lord of the Land, Groudon, were indeed the three legendary birds.
Dragon-type Elite Four member Lance frowned deeply.
"Why is this happening? I remember ancient texts saying that the three legendary birds followed the Sea God Lugia. Legendary Pokémon shouldn't switch their allegiance like humans, right?"
Although Lance voiced his doubts, he was already preparing nervously. No one dared to be careless when facing the combination of the Lord of the Land Groudon and the three legendary birds.
Before embarking on this mission, they had already received news that Groudon and Kyogre had a great battle in the Orange Archipelago. Otherwise, suddenly encountering the Lord of the Land—whether you were an Elite Four member or a Champion—you would definitely panic and quickly check if you'd accidentally stepped in dog poop on the way out.
Lance took a deep breath.
"Dragonite, Kingdra, Charizard, Aerodactyl, Gyarados—come out!"
At this moment, Lance already had one Dragonite beside him. Bruno, seeing Lance summon another Dragonite, immediately laughed.
"Lance, it seems you're very concerned about the Orange Archipelago this time! Luckily, I'm not losing to you either!"
"Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Hitmontop, Steelix, Machamp, Lucario—all of you, come out!"
Seeing the two strongest members of the Elite Four already summoning their most powerful Champion-level Pokémon, Lorelei and Ghost-type Elite Four member Agatha exchanged a glance and also summoned the Pokémon they had brought.
Under these circumstances, even Lorelei's previously injured Pokémon were summoned.
Although she was very distressed, facing the sudden appearance of the Lord of the Land Groudon and the three legendary birds, who dared to be careless? Who dared not to go all out?
Lorelei's Pokémon, bonded with her through many years, naturally didn't want anything to happen to her. Even though they had just been beaten up by the three legendary birds earlier that day, they still mustered their spirits and stood in front of her.
"Let's not make a move yet!"
Lance, as the leader of the Indigo Plateau Elite Four, showed his responsibility at this crucial moment.
"Let me go over and negotiate with the Lord of the Land, Groudon, first. Tier 1 legendary Pokémon haven't appeared before the public for many, many years—let alone attacked humans. So I believe this can still be resolved peacefully."
"There's something I need to say first. If we want to retreat unscathed, we might have to agree to Groudon and the three legendary birds' demand to immediately withdraw from the Orange Archipelago."
"The consequences of breaking a promise to a legendary Pokémon are very serious. I hope everyone will cooperate with me. After all, no matter how big the secret, you need to be alive to dig it out."
The other three Elite Four members exchanged glances and nodded.
"Alright. You go negotiate. No one wants to fight four legendary Pokémon."
Lance nodded, then casually leapt onto his Dragonite, flying toward Groudon.
Sigh—
Watching Groudon and the three legendary birds draw nearer, Lorelei suddenly sighed.
Judging by the situation, their so-called Elite Four would undoubtedly be expelled from the Orange Archipelago.
For some reason, she suddenly thought of the young man who had caught Lapras.
Originally, after investigating the affairs of the Orange Archipelago, she had planned to inquire about that young man's identity. Not to cause him trouble—just out of curiosity.
In Lorelei's opinion, a young man who could so directly reject her was quite interesting.
Unfortunately, it seemed there would be no chance to meet again.
——
"Red Shrimp, that Dragon-type Trainer is here."
Zapdos's eyes were the sharpest. Noticing the movement, it reminded Groudon.
"It's fine, let him come," Groudon said nonchalantly.
"To become a Champion-level Pokémon Trainer, none of them are stupid. I don't believe he would dare come alone and mess with the four of us legendary Pokémon."
Groudon's calm analysis made the three legendary birds nod in agreement—and they were somewhat impressed by Groudon's clarity.
It seemed Groudon only acted foolish in front of Master. Once away from that little island, it was actually quite clever.
"Lord of the Land Groudon, three legendary birds of the Orange Archipelago—please stop and hear me out!"
Riding on his Dragonite, flying about a hundred meters in front of Groudon, Lance took a deep breath and mustered his courage to shout, afraid Groudon and the birds wouldn't hear him.
"Human, what do you want?" Groudon lowered its voice, adopting a majestic tone.
"Nothing much—just want to explain, to avoid any misunderstanding about our motives," Lance replied with a forced smile.
"We were entrusted by the league to come to the Orange Archipelago—"
"Don't give me all that bullshit!" Groudon suddenly interrupted.
Just that one sentence startled the already nervous Dragonite so much, it nearly lost its footing and dropped Lance from the sky.
"I'm asking you now—did you injure the three legendary birds?"
"This... our Pokémon didn't hurt the three legendary birds much at all. On the contrary, the three legendary birds—"
"Alright! You admitted it!" Groudon suddenly raised its claw.
"Since you dared to hurt my brothers, you must pay the price!"
"All of you—stay here!"
"Don't!" Lance exclaimed in shock. He hadn't expected Groudon to be so unreasonable.
Groudon's huge claw slammed down. Dragonite, knowing Lance wouldn't have time to give instructions, instinctively dodged with all its might.
Whoosh—
Zaogao! (Oops!)
Seeing Dragonite dodge swiftly, Lance had just sighed in relief when he witnessed a scene that made his eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.
Groudon's massive claw, having missed Lance and Dragonite, didn't slow down at all—it continued to slam downward.
Over there.
That was where the other three Elite Four members and their Pokémon were standing.
No one had expected Groudon to be so decisive—so ruthless.
Everyone, at this moment, had been completely misled by Groudon!
---Support with power stones