Zapdos, Moltres, Articuno.
In the Orange Islands, they were revered as the Three Lengendary Birds, Zapdos as the god of thunder, Moltres as the god of fire, and Articuno as the god of ice.
According to legend, when the Gods of Ice, Thunder, and Fire are angered by humans, the world will face destruction. The treasures of the three gods must be placed in the Temple of Asia on nearby Shamouti Island while the Song of Lugia plays to calm their divine rage.
This was the origin of Lugia's Explosion, the second Pokemon movie.
"The Orb of Thunder is Zapdos's treasure used to calm divine rage in the movie?" John rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "In that case, Moltres and Articuno should also possess divine treasures."
John set his sights on Moltres and Articuno, who displayed their magnificent plumage wantonly in mid-air.
Both legendary birds looked at John simultaneously.
They didn't believe a word of Zapdos's claims, but they definitely sensed the malice and greed emanating from this human.
The human before them genuinely wanted to capture them all!
"KRAAAW! (This is the human who stole my treasure!)" Zapdos flew behind Moltres and Articuno, shouting accusingly.
Moltres and Articuno turned to glare at it, and Zapdos immediately shut up.
Looking back at John, they remained extremely alert, mainly because of the dark Lugia beneath his feet.
They knew regular Lugia as an old acquaintance who mediated their internal conflicts. But they didn't recognize this Lugia possessing strange, terrifying power that made them genuinely fearful.
None of the three divine birds intended to attack first.
However, John wouldn't wait if they refused to make the first move.
If his opponents fielded three Pokemon, he should send three as well.
Taking out three Pokeballs, he threw two initially.
Silver light flashed as Zeraora and Greninja materialized.
"Zeraora, Zapdos is yours, give it a proper beating."
"Greninja, handle Moltres."
"Zeraaa!" Zeraora grinned, sparks dancing across its body as it headed toward Zapdos without hesitation.
The three divine birds noticed Zeraora's attack and counterattacked almost simultaneously.
"Ice Beam!"
"Flamethrower!"
"Thunderbolt!"
Energy beams of three colors and attributes pierced the sky, but Zeraora easily dodged them all.
Once its enhanced senses activated, these attacks appeared in slow motion.
Agility engaged again. In an eyeblink, Zeraora appeared above Zapdos's head as if teleporting, falling through the air with a heavy punch.
"Plasma Fists!"
Zapdos's feathers stood on end, though they were already bristling, it had experienced Zeraora's punching power and definitely didn't want another ten hits.
Gritting its beak, it immediately combined Brave Bird with Drill Peck, drilling downward to avoid Zeraora's attack.
Articuno and Moltres wanted to assist, but in that instant, Moltres's opponent arrived as well.
Greninja had completed it's Bond Evolution, becoming John-Greninja.
Creating a Substitute, it twisted a Spiral Aura Sphere with one hand while grabbing the decoy with the other, flinging it toward the airborne Moltres.
Upon reaching Moltres, Greninja struck decisively with a ready Water Pulse from its right hand.
Moltres reacted swiftly, flames across its body suddenly flaring as Flamethrower burst toward Greninja.
In typing, Water beats Fire, but in reality, water and fire directly oppose each other.
Water can extinguish flame, but flame can also evaporate water.
Moltres intended to vaporize Greninja's water attack!
Violent flames engulfed Greninja instantly, but Moltres immediately felt a chill at the back of its head while a powerful impact suddenly exploded in front of it.
Greninja had activated U-turn the moment flames struck, launching the substitute's SpiralAura Sphere while swapping positions.
The SpiralAura Sphere bombarded and exploded within Moltres's Flamethrower, while Greninja appeared behind Moltres, pressing Water Pulse directly against its head.
Double attacks, explosions in succession, just one exchange, and Moltres plummeted from the sky.
Wild Pokemon that spent years resting in their lairs proved tactically inferior to Pokemon carefully trained by John, like Greninja.
Seeing Greninja gain advantage, John truly didn't worry about their battle.
Instead, he focused on the last divine bird, Articuno, the God of Ice.
Before sending his third Pokemon, John displayed the Gigantamax wristband on his arm.
"Gigantamax energy, activate!"
The Pokeball instantly enlarged.
Raising his hand, he threw.
"Go, Tyranitar!"
Yellow sand suddenly rose!
Gigantamax Tyranitar fell from the sky, crashing into the water!
However, they were near the three god islands, backed by Shamouti Island where the sea wasn't deep.
Its massive presence was already established, plus Gigantamax enhancement.
Now Tyranitar resembled Godzilla walking across the ocean.
It wasn't over yet.
"Mega Evolution!" John revealed his Key Stone.
Gigantamax Tyranitar's body immediately shrouded in colorful light. In an eyeblink, an upgraded Godzilla with more ferocious features and larger size appeared shockingly.
The stormy weather originally caused by the three gods was disturbed by traces of yellow sand.
"Are you ready?" John addressed Articuno.
This was his chosen opponent for Articuno, also giving Tyranitar a chance to display its full strength.
"Here comes our attack!"
"Tyranitar, Rock Slide!"
TYRAAAAAAR!
Meanwhile, on Shamouti Island at the temple entrance, a Slowking stared blankly at the distant three islands, chubby pink fingers moving quickly as if fortune-telling.
"Will the prophecy of destruction come true today?"
"No, the prophecy only mentioned the Three God Birds and Lugia. Where did these other powerful Pokemon fighting the Three God Birds come from?"
Beside Slowking, a girl wearing priestess robes also gazed into the distance.
"So, what do we do now?"