The three Legendary Pokémon of the Kalos region were quite interesting in Aiden's eyes.
Setting aside Zygarde, whose actual presence wasn't all that high for now.
Yveltal, the symbol of destruction and death, actually didn't have overly violent offensive output in the games, and even seemed deliberately underpowered——
Its Dark Aura ability could make Dark-type moves on the field burst with even greater power!
Then Yveltal's exclusive move must be Dark-type, right?
Actually, no. Oblivion Wing was a Flying-type move, and its base power in the game was only 80—
Coupled with the cursed mixed attacker stat distribution, it directly resulted in Yveltal being useful and versatile, but always lacking that little something in god-tier battles, even reduced to a stalling support role at one point.
It really suffered from being in the wrong era; the absolute core of the entire XY generation was Mega Evolution, and Legendary Pokémon weren't as ridiculous as they became later on.
If it had been designed in the Scarlet and Violet era, Oblivion Wing might have been a powerful 90-base-power Dark-type move, and its HP-restoring effect could probably have been buffed too.
Of course, game viability didn't represent real-world combat strength, a point Aiden was very clear about.
From the probing clash between the X and Y gods just now, he had already made his judgment.
Yveltal's waking rage was indeed quite huge; right after awakening, it slightly suppressed Xerneas during their beam struggle.
However, the X Deer's strengths never lay in fair battles anyway.
That was why he had taken the initiative to advise Xerneas to use its exclusive move, "Geomancy."
Once this incredibly broken strengthening move took effect, it would massively boost Special Attack, Special Defense, and Speed.
Dragon Dance would cry out of sheer intimidation seeing it, and the noble Quiver Dance could only be considered a lite version in its presence.
Especially when dealing with Yveltal, it had a decisive, fight-ending effect.
The only problem was that it required a turn to charge.
But for Aiden, this wasn't really an issue. After all, with so many bored human craftsmen around, there were bound to be a few who could invent truly practical and wondrous items.
For example— the Power Herb?
"Xerneas, open your mouth!"
After multiple forces combined to cancel out Yveltal's incoming Oblivion Wing, Aiden immediately took out a large handful of red leaves from his pocket and vigorously rubbed them into a ball.
At the same time, he shouted to Xerneas, who was meditating with closed eyes behind him.
Xerneas opened its eyes, looking very confused.
"No time to explain, chew on this!"
As he spoke, Aiden had already assumed a baseball pitcher's stance, throwing the ball of red leaves straight at Xerneas's face.
"Screech—!"
Out of survival instinct, sensing that something bad was about to happen, Yveltal immediately launched a fierce offensive. Red light flashed consecutively from its wings and sharp beak.
It seemed it wanted to stop Aiden's actions.
Aiden didn't react to this at all, because—
"Vwee!!!"
"We're your opponents!"
"Hoopa Hoopa!"
The moment Yveltal made its move, Sylveon's Blood Moon, Metagross's Meteor Mash, and Hoopa's interdimensional rings also attacked simultaneously right after.
Boom—!
Multiple energies exploded in the air, and the resulting shockwaves made the surrounding forest tremble.
In the time Steven and the others bought, Xerneas had already opened its mouth and caught the red leaves Aiden threw into it.
[This is—]
Xerneas subconsciously wanted to ask Aiden via telepathy, but it quickly felt the changes occurring in its body.
Power!
Endless power was radiating from the leaves in its stomach. After being completely absorbed by its body, the massive energy required for "Geomancy" was no longer a problem in just an instant.
Xerneas immediately seized the opportunity, violently raising its head and pointing the crown of antlers on its head towards the sky.
When it used Geomancy, the overly vigorous life force within its body even materialized, attaching a layer of pink aura to its surface.
Nailed it!
Seeing this, Aiden immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Sure enough, the one who understood best how to use Xerneas's power was still him, the transmigrator—
How can you use Geomancy without a Power Herb?
Power Herb, a very common battle item in the Pokémon world, with a simple and brutal effect.
This special red leaf hid a secret mechanism; after swallowing it and using a move that required charging, it could supply a massive amount of energy in one go.
Not only was it useful for pulling a fast one on opponents, but it was also a perfect match with Geomancy.
This seemingly unassuming little combo directly propelled Xerneas's status in Legendary battles by a thousand miles, and it remains the strongest Legendary Pokémon in many people's hearts to this day.
After all, the Fairy-type Xerneas had excellent coverage; once it found an opening to set up, it could sweep the heavens and the earth—
However, when coming up with this trick, Aiden was actually a bit nervous.
What if the Power Herb's effect on a Legendary Pokémon was negligible?
So, fearing the dosage wasn't enough, he simply cleared out the entire stock of Power Herbs from the local battle shop.
Facts proved that as long as the quantity was large enough, even Legendary Pokémon could use it!
When a powerful aura suddenly erupted from behind, Steven, who was commanding Metagross to dodge a petrifying ray, subconsciously turned his head.
What entered his vision was Xerneas, radiating a pink aura all over, standing tall and full of confidence.
Yveltal:—
Yveltal, circling in the sky, was actually starting to panic a little.
As old rivals who had skirmished with each other since birth, it knew all too well how ridiculous the boost from Xerneas's Geomancy was.
Not only would its own attacks become like tickling, but the amount of stamina Oblivion Wing could drain would also decrease significantly.
Even more crucially—
This guy's speed must already be absolutely absurd by now, and it had to constantly guard against it suddenly striking, directly sending it into another millennium of slumber.
If it, having just awakened, had to go back to sleep for another thousand years on an empty stomach, it might as well just wreak havoc to the very end!
"Screech—!"
Thinking of this, Yveltal's eyes became even more crimson.
You won't let me eat my fill, and you want to send me back to sleep?
Not a chance!
Seeing Yveltal simply start charging power in the air, Aiden immediately judged its next move.
"It's Brave Bird!"
Xerneas nodded, seemingly unsurprised by its thoughts.
They had been fighting for far too long—so long that they barely needed to react; just seeing each other's movements was enough to know what would happen next.
Yveltal thought it could safely charge in the air, accumulating enough power before fighting it to the death?
[Leave the rest to me, Envoy of Arceus.]
Just as Aiden was about to speak, Xerneas's telepathy suddenly came through.
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the X Deer, as massive as a towering tree, suddenly stepped forward, and its two front hooves actually stepped directly onto the air.
It was as if some invisible stairs were supporting its weight.
"Wha— what kind of flight method is this?"
Steven blinked, his eyes widening as he watched Xerneas step-by-step break free from the ground and leap into the air, before turning to look at Aiden.
I thought Metagross floating via magnetism was already ridiculous enough, but there's actually a method of levitation that science can't even explain?
But it doesn't matter; things science can't explain, Teacher Azure surely can!
"Umm— can I say I don't know the principle either?"
Aiden frowned, pondered for three seconds with his head down, and then directly gave up thinking.
"It's a Legendary Pokémon; it's perfectly reasonable for it to have a way to temporarily escape gravity, right?"
"Hoopa doesn't have wings on its back either, but it can still take off from the spot—"
"That actually makes sense?"
Steven nodded.
This answer was unexpectedly reasonable.
Since the rules of the world were set by the Creator Arceus, it was normal for Legendary Pokémon, who had received a fraction of Its authority, to be able to ignore them.
Come to think of it, wasn't Kyogre the same? A whale of such massive size could actually take off on the spot just by flapping its fins twice.
He had seen quite a few Legendary Pokémon following Aiden, and it seemed like only Groudon, which chased him and Wallace yesterday, couldn't fly—
Was it truly incapable of flight, or did it hold back on purpose?
"I always feel like you're thinking about something that'll get you beaten up—"
As Steven was thinking, Aiden suddenly nudged him with his elbow, forcefully interrupting his train of thought.
"Anyway, let's just enjoy the battle between those two Legendary Pokémon next!"
"Okay!"
Ansha nodded heavily, her eyes full of longing when she looked up.
She actually always had a wish, and that was to catch a strong enough Legendary Pokémon as a gift for her favorite mom!
During the ZA period, Uncle Aiden's black Rayquaza left a deep impression on her.
But it was already Uncle Aiden's partner—
Then, what about these two Legendary Pokémon of Kalos?
Ansha looked up at the sky; the figure of the deer entangling its antlers with Yveltal's wings was extremely eye-catching.
Mom seemed to be very good at using Fairy Pokémon, she wondered if she would like Xerneas—
But, how could she convince it to become her partner?
And it seemed like it only woke up once every thousand years—
Mmm, that probably wouldn't work either!
Ansha fell into deep thought, while Aiden and Steven watched the fight with clicks of admiration.
"This is the first time I've seen a deer fighting a bird in the sky; if it weren't for you, Teacher Azure, I might really have thought I ate some funny mushrooms—"
"Who cares, isn't a Legendary Pokémon fight awesome?"
"Hey, Xerneas is actually quite agile; in the opening when it turned to dodge Hurricane, it even threw a backward kick, almost kicking Yveltal so hard it got internal injuries!"
"— I always feel like their battle is a bit too unadorned."
After watching for a while, Steven suddenly let out a sigh.
He originally thought a Legendary Pokémon battle would be very impactful.
For example, Groudon and Kyogre's battles often altered the surrounding terrain, and even the weather would be affected for a long time.
But Xerneas and Yveltal—
Other than the very beginning when the two sides tried to trade Moonblast and Oblivion Wing like a magical artillery duel, it completely turned into a close-quarters, fist-to-flesh brawl.
However, even in a brawl, Yveltal was clearly at a disadvantage.
As for the impact on the surrounding environment?
Did Xerneas's aura completely overwhelming the Dark Aura, making Allearth Forest's life energy exceptionally abundant, count?
Why does it feel like only the Hoenn god wars are so ridiculous—
"Screech—!"
After the battle had lasted for who knows how long, Yveltal, who was previously full of life, became increasingly exhausted. After taking another headbutt from Xerneas, it couldn't even maintain flight and plummeted straight towards the ground.
Looks like the victor is about to be decided.
Aiden nodded, thinking that Xerneas was indeed reliable.
As long as it was given some setup time—or rather, it didn't even need setup time—it could just pin down the other local Legendary Pokémon and beat it up.
No wonder the Kalos region hardly ever heard of any disasters.
The only two major crises were the super weapon created by AZ three thousand years ago after losing his beloved, and the other was the people of Desert City being bored and insisting on teaching Hoopa how to battle, which resulted in Hoopa Unbound.
Thinking about it this way, the Kalos people's ability to court death was quite strong—
If left unchecked, Lysandre would also stir up trouble and forcibly create a third crisis.
Aiden twitched his lips, looking in the direction Yveltal fell.
The commotion they made this time was quite big, but the actual impact was basically zero; it might even be good for the ecosystem.
The next thing to do was to make Yveltal go to sleep obediently, and to ask Xerneas to grant Princess Diancie the power of Mega Evolution.
Xerneas was easy to talk to, so that shouldn't be a problem. Thus, the only problem now was how to make Yveltal behave.
This might be troublesome for others, but for him, it was quite simple.
Once he revealed his "Arceus Alt Account" identity, which Legendary Pokémon wouldn't give him some face? (Lol)
Aiden stepped forward with a smile, about to step into the Dark Aura around Yveltal.
However, right at this moment—
Boom!
An explosive blast of air currents came from the sky.
Looking up, a pitch-black steel giant was speeding through the air, with green and white honeycomb-like armor plates fitted over its body, and the two straps on its back leaving two slender trails whipped by the strong wind.
Zygarde!
Although it was moving so fast that Aiden could only see a blurry figure at first, its iconic color distribution couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
Even Zygarde, who was in charge of restoring the ecosystem, had appeared. Did they go too far this time?
Doubts arose in Aiden's mind.
And Zygarde was equally confused—when it noticed the scene below, Zygarde, which had temporarily gathered its cells scattered across Kalos to transform into its Complete Forme, immediately stopped.
Its instincts were right; those two guys were fighting again!
Normally, it was here to clean up the aftermath; unless Yveltal caused too much of a ruckus, it wouldn't participate in the battle.
As long as the ecosystem was fine, them fighting to the death was a trivial matter.
However—
When it looked down and happened to see Yveltal lying on the ground panting, its feathers in disarray...
It was dumbfounded.
Did Xerneas get stronger over this millennium?
And was it... unnecessary?
Zygarde fell into deep thought.
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