1. Ash's Story (Part 7: Kalos)

Chapter 53: Primal Clash

In the Hoenn Region, Rustboro City looked almost peaceful from the outside. The familiar stone buildings, clean streets, and steady shape of Devon Corporation should have made the city feel safe, but I could not let myself believe in that kind of calm. The message from Lysandre had already told me enough. Something powerful was moving toward Hoenn, and when powerful things moved, people who hesitated were usually the first ones crushed beneath them.

Mairin stopped in front of the Devon Corporation building and tilted her head back. Her eyes widened as she took in the size of the place. "This is the Devon Corp."

"I am going on," I said.

"Hey, wait!" Mairin yelled as she hurried after me. "Alain, do you not have any sense of wonder at all?"

"I have been here before," I said without slowing down. "There is no time to waste."

Mairin puffed her cheeks while Chespie clung to her side. "I told you this guy needs to chill out."

I stopped just long enough to look back at her. "I do not mind you being here, but do not get in the way."

The words came out colder than I wanted. I heard that coldness clearly, but I still kept walking. Alain was the name I wore for this mission, and Alain could not afford to soften every time Mairin looked worried. I had already let too many people stand too close to danger because they trusted me.

Inside Devon Corporation, the air smelled faintly of polished floors, metal parts, and the ocean wind that slipped in every time the entrance opened behind us. Scientists moved quickly through the lobby with tablets in their hands, and none of them looked like they had the space to admire their own workplace either. Whatever had begun off the coast had already turned Devon's calm research world into an emergency center.

Steven Stone waited near a communication screen, dressed with the same composed elegance I remembered, but his eyes were too focused for this to be a friendly reunion. He greeted me with a small nod, then looked at Mairin and Chespie long enough to understand they were not prepared for what they were walking into. Lysandre's image appeared on the largest screen, calm and controlled, while footage of Groudon moved across another display. The Legendary Pokémon was massive even through a screen, and the heat shimmer around it made the picture distort as if the camera itself could barely endure watching.

"Groudon is approximately one hundred miles off the coast of Rustboro City and moving fast," Lysandre said. "Kyogre has also been detected south of Sootopolis City, traveling through deep ocean routes."

Steven's expression tightened. "Could it be the Primal Reversion of Groudon again?"

"What do you mean by that?" Mairin asked.

"Three years ago, Team Magma and Team Aqua tried to summon Groudon and Kyogre for their own beliefs," Steven said. "Their actions placed the whole Hoenn Region in danger. I witnessed the power of Groudon and Kyogre during Primal Reversion. It was horrifying."

I looked at Steven, letting the edge in my voice hide how many memories those words stirred. "Let me guess. Three years ago, this incident was stopped by Ash Ketchum as well, am I right, Steven?"

Mairin stared at me. "Wait, really? You mean Ash Ketchum stopped the two from fighting three years ago?"

"Yes," Steven said. "After that crisis, Team Magma and Team Aqua disbanded. Many former members began traveling and studying the environment in ways that could help Hoenn instead of endangering it."

Steven turned toward the display and explained the ancient clash between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. Groudon had expanded the land. Kyogre had expanded the seas. Their battle had once centered on an incredible source of power known as the Giant Rock, and legends said that their greed for that power could throw the world itself out of balance.