Kyogre's Tactician!

Thud!

The sound of a violent collision echoed across the Ring Sea. A pristine white dolphin poked its head out, looking somewhat reluctant to watch, only for a dark shadow to plunge from the sky and leave it dizzy.

Squeak!

The little dolphin seemed angry, roaring a couple of times at the "dark shadow" lying flat on the sea surface to vent its dissatisfaction.

"Alright, alright, wasn't it just using you as a cushion? It's not the first time~"

The shadow waved a hand and continued soaking in the seawater, spacing out.

Naturally, the one who had fallen into the Ring Sea was Haiming. He had been staying in this inland area for over a month now. Ever since he had broken through and climbed to the fifth step last time, he had tried: even with his meditation and the sacred barrier fully open, he could only push up to the seventh step, and he would be bounced off at the eighth.

Today he tried relying on meditation alone, and he couldn't even persist past the seventh step. It seemed that until he broke through level thirty, he could only cultivate on the sixth step.

Yet cultivating amidst such pressure every single day was a terribly grueling business. Aside from him, the only other living soul on this island was Bo Saixi, the supreme pontiff stationed like a wooden figure at the edge of the Ring Sea.

Initially, Haiming had felt somewhat restrained living in front of such an peerless beauty, but after a month or more, he had completely tuned Bo Saixi out, treating the place as if he were entirely alone, to the point of completely letting go of himself.

As for three square meals a day, someone delivered them from Hailong City, and on occasion, he would go down into the sea himself to catch a couple of fish to barbecue, satisfying his culinary cravings.

Through one thing and another, he had become friends with that little dolphin—the very one that had saved him by pulling him out of the water the first time he had fallen in—and for some reason, every single time Haiming got blasted flying from the Sea God's Light, he would accurately crash into it while it was watching the show. It would furiously scold him every time, only to get smashed again the next time.

Lying in the warm seawater, Haiming narrowed his eyes and began communicating with Kyogre in his mind.

During this period, he had also figured out that his martial soul wasn't Kyogre having time-traveled over, but merely a projection of Kyogre's power within this world. Otherwise, he could have completely become a god at innate rank one hundred, so why would he need to undergo such bitter cultivation?

And precisely because it was only a projection, the martial soul didn't possess sentience every moment like it had on the first day. Most of the time, the martial soul and Kyogre were two separate entities; Haiming could simply contact Kyogre through the martial soul.

"Tell me, why is it that after fighting so many times, you've never found a way to beat the flightless one?"

With a strand of seaweed clamped between his teeth, feeling the salty brashness on his tongue, Haiming's heart was full of questions.

Logically speaking, Kyogre's typing should utterly restrain Groudon, shouldn't it? How was it that, judging from the stories Kyogre told, the two beasts fought to a draw most of the time?

Kyogre was clearly baffled by Haiming's doubts as well. In its mind, it was definitely stronger than that flightless fellow, but every single time it either ended in a draw or got interrupted by Rayquaza. It had genuinely never won against that guy once, which left Kyogre extremely depressed.

Now that it had a trainer, perhaps human insight could help it out.

Kyogre recounted its battles with Groudon to Haiming in complete detail. Listening along, Haiming began to feel something was wrong!

In ancient times, because both deities were in their Primal Reversion states, their moves had practically no effect on each other, leaving them able only to fight to a stalemate or have their battle interrupted.

Yet coming to modern or near-ancient times, both deities had lost their Primal Reversion powers, reverting to their current states, and still they fought evenly, locked in a fierce battle. That was somewhat mind-boggling.

Last time, Kyogre had even suffered a slight disadvantage while fighting! Although human interference played a part in that, it was still unacceptable to it!

"You're saying that last time, Groudon used Hammer Arm to smash you flying, and then you hit Groudon down with Aqua Tail, and it was still a draw?"

[Right. Is there something wrong with that?]

Speechless, Haiming spat out the seaweed in his mouth, reached out to grab the little dolphin nearby, and climbed straight onto its back.

"It's entirely wrong! Groudon excels at physical attacks. It running into the water to attack you makes sense, but why on earth would you stupidly use physical attacks back against Groudon? Are Hydro Pumps not tasty anymore, or is Origin Pulse no longer formidable?" Haiming stared at Kyogre in his mind, looking as if he were gazing at a spellcasting dolt who had maxed out his physical attack effort values!

"It can't use Desolate Land in its current state, and Water-type moves have an extraordinary effect on it—even if the effect is halved by Sunny Day, it's still double damage!

You float in the heavy rain, and using Hydro Pump also boosts your power by fifty percent. With gains and losses factored in, the power of Hydro Pump still increases quite a bit. Isn't it better to wear it down from a distance? Why insist on rushing in for close combat?"

Haiming earnestly made Kyogre understand where its true advantages lay.

First of all, Kyogre was a traditional special-attack Pokémon; its special attack would be immensely strong, far surpassing its physical attack, while most special attacks were ranged, and physical attacks were basically all melee.

So, how could Groudon—which couldn't fly, feared water, and excelled at physical attacks—possibly defeat a Kyogre soaring freely through the air?

Thunder? Stop joking around, this wasn't a game. With Groudon's special-attack base stats, the power of Thunder probably wouldn't even break Kyogre's skin.

Precipice Blades?

Use it if you aren't afraid of a Pidgey using Mirror Move to one-shot you!

A Groudon that had lost its ability to undergo Primal Reversion would never beat Kyogre without the help of a trainer!

[It seems... that's right?]

Kyogre belatedly realized. It seemed that every time it traded blows with that thing, most of the time it held the advantage, but then that blockhead would roar and charge right up. Thinking it couldn't afford to show weakness either, it would have to rush in too, and the result every time was mutual destruction.

"I'll pitch a strategy for you. First off, you definitely start with Rain Dance, and then use Haze to hinder Groudon from absorbing sunlight. Under the Haze, the light it can absorb won't be much, so it's unlikely to instantly cast Solar Beam, a skill that deals heavy damage to you.

Next, you use Hail, letting a blizzard sweep across the ground. Its Sunny Day and body heat will melt the ice and snow into water, and once the water soaks the ground, you freeze it solid with Ice Beam.

That way, either its footing will slip, or it will step on it and be unable to stand steady.

You must know that water seeping into the cracks of the ground and turning into ice will pry open countless fissures in the terrain, making the ground exceptionally fragile.

After that, you just use Hydro Pump or Water Spout for ranged attacks, and when necessary, you can ascend to high altitudes to dodge its skills..."

Haiming played the strategist, offering counsel to Kyogre because he knew that as long as Kyogre executed his plan, it would definitely defeat Groudon the iron-headed blockhead. And once Kyogre was happy, he would undoubtedly reap massive benefits.

As for whether that armchair-strategist plan, full of loopholes, would be countered by Groudon...

If it could counter that, it wouldn't be Groudon!

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