The atmosphere before a great battle began was always so tense and nerve-racking.
Under the leadership of the three regional Champions.
Everyone directed their Pokémon into orderly formations.
Tetsuya had never imagined that one day, he would see dozens of Pokémon starting at Quasi-Champion Level standing at the ready like an army.
And that was only because the Elite Four of Sinnoh and Unova had yet to arrive.
Otherwise, there would have been considerably more.
Groudon slowly stopped moving.
Ants were still ants.
But when piled up high enough—or rather, when they possessed enough momentum—they were enough to make it take them seriously.
"Roar—"
Its low growl carried unmistakable fury.
A flash of red seemed to pass through Groudon's eyes.
The next moment.
An enormous, character-shaped flame connected the sea level to the heavens, appearing before everyone's eyes.
"Gulp."
No one knew who swallowed, but it completely ignited the flame of battle within the Trainers.
"Metagross, Flash Cannon!"
"Milotic, Sighing Water Spout!"
"Dragonite, Dragon Pulse!"
"Volcarona, Overheat!"
"Garchomp, Draco Meteor!"
Commands of varying volume rang out one after another.
The deep bond between Pokémon and Trainer allowed the former to react to the latter's commands even amid such chaos.
The violent Energy Fluctuation left the freshly raised land riddled with holes.
It also made storms rise in the surrounding waters one moment and Electric Arcs flicker the next, creating an utterly bizarre scene.
However.
The immense gap in strength stood plainly before them.
Even though the Trainers gave it everything they had, the number of Pokémon losing their combat capability was increasing at nearly one every thirty seconds.
Half an hour passed.
Groudon remained completely unscathed. Compared to when it appeared, the only difference was that the temperature of its surface had risen considerably.
Yet, on the human side, only