Chapter 287: The "Master of Waves," Empoleon!
Under the watchful eyes of everyone...
Manaphy grabbed Will and leaped into the sea.
Swish!
Before anyone else could react, Latios and Latias were already blocking Manaphy's path.
To put it bluntly:
As long as the Eon Duo didn't allow it, taking Will away in front of them would be very difficult.
If the two jet-dragons Mega Evolved...
Unless it was Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, or Celebi, even other First-Tier Legendaries would struggle to shake them off.
They might not win.
But wherever the opponent went, they would be right behind, constantly attacking.
True, they couldn't learn Extreme Speed. But trying to lose them through sheer speed was almost impossible.
Even without Mega Evolution, guarding against a Pokémon like Manaphy, who wasn't known for speed, was more than enough.
"Lios?"
"Lias."
The siblings stared at Manaphy intently.
Although the crisis in Alto Mare wasn't resolved, Will had genuinely helped them just now.
And even now, he hadn't abandoned Alto Mare. Instead, he was trying to find a way to stand with them against the powerful Kyogre.
How could they abandon Will?
Pokémon couldn't understand the concept of burning bridges.
The others finally reacted, feeling a headache coming on.
Kyogre was already charging an attack nearby. And now Manaphy was pulling something weird.
"Maaa."
Manaphy waved its hands, explaining quickly.
It wasn't trying to run away with Will alone. It wanted to take him to Samiya (Temple of the Sea). Going there would make him stronger.
This was Manaphy's repayment to Will for retrieving its egg and punishing the villains.
When Will returned, maybe he could use his abilities to calm Kyogre down.
Latias believed this explanation.
But the more cautious older brother, Latios, didn't.
"Lios."
Latios frowned, demanding Manaphy put Will down.
"How long will it take?" Will trusted Manaphy. Pokémon minds weren't that complex, and he couldn't sense any malice in Manaphy's heart.
"Maaa."
"Go ahead then. Latios, I trust him. Before we come back, I have to trouble you to hold on a little longer."
Will nodded to Latios, then pointed into the distance. "Lure the battle away. Kyogre isn't like the previous Manaphy; it has no obsession with Alto Mare. It will follow you."
"...Lios."
Seeing Will speak up himself, Latios could only nod and step aside.
"Maaa."
Manaphy didn't waste a second, taking Will and speeding toward the depths of the ocean.
They had to be quick.
Kyogre wasn't Manaphy.
Although this Kyogre was in its base form, not Primal Reversion, its strength wasn't much lower than Ho-Oh or Lugia. Form changes didn't change Kyogre's level.
Judging by Lugia's level back then...
This Kyogre should be similar, probably Lv. 90.
Facing a Master-class First-Tier Legendary...
Without Manaphy's help, the Eon Duo, Metagross, and Lapras shouldn't even think about contending with Kyogre.
In a head-on fight, not getting one-shot would be an achievement.
Fortunately, they just had to stall for time. And when it came to stalling, the Eon Duo were top-tier among Legendaries.
Underwater.
Will let Manaphy carry him rapidly forward. He could guess what Manaphy wanted to do.
It was probably going to give him the Sea Crown.
Legend said that whoever obtained the Sea Crown would become the King of the Sea.
The statement was exaggerated, but there was some truth to it.
Luckily, Samiya was currently very close to Alto Mare.
Less than five minutes after diving, they arrived at the legendary Temple of the Sea, Samiya.
What amazed Will was that Samiya wasn't invisible to him; he could see it clearly.
"Why can I see Samiya?"
"Maaa."
"Only invisible to humans?" Will's eyes widened slightly. He didn't know that.
It was strange. Technology should advance with time. Humans thousands of years ago could build the Ultimate Weapon, invisibility devices effective only on humans... and all sorts of other crazy stuff. But current human technology seemed inferior to that of thousands of years ago.
Guided by Manaphy, Will flew into the palace of Samiya.
The sight was breathtaking, a construction of divine craftsmanship. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe the People of the Water could build such a magnificent, dreamlike sea palace thousands of years ago.
Then, Manaphy carried Will deep into the center of the palace.
Before long, Will saw a special pedestal filled with blue crystals.
"The Sea Crown..." Will muttered.
Although called a "Crown," it didn't look anything like one.
"Maaa."
Manaphy placed Will on top of the pedestal.
Then, it clapped its hands together, channeling ghostly blue energy into the pedestal.
The crystals in the Sea Crown began to shine with a brilliant, translucent light. Strands of light poured into Will's body.
What surprised Will was...
He felt his body heating up.
"Evolution..."
Will knew this sign well. It was the precursor to evolution.
Ho-Oh guessed wrong, but also right. Manaphy itself couldn't help Will evolve, but it could do so using the Sea Crown.
Although Will didn't know the principle behind the Sea Crown evolving him, he figured it had nothing to do with "genetic completion."
White light illuminated every corner of Samiya.
A light brighter than the sun bloomed in the dark depths of the sea.
Outside Samiya, Water-type Pokémon approached one by one, circling and dancing around the temple. They danced in the deep sea, as if welcoming the birth of a King of the Sea.
On the pedestal of the Sea Crown...
Stood not a cute little penguin...
But an ice-blue Shiny Empoleon!
Will had skipped the Prinplup stage and jumped straight to the final evolution.
The Emperor Pokémon, admired by countless humans since ancient times, known as the "Master of Waves"—Empoleon!
"Finally... evolved."
Will looked down at his flippers.
He wasn't quite used to the feeling yet, but his heart was soaring.
After being a little penguin for over twenty years...
He had finally evolved into the iron fortress of the sea.
The only Water/Steel type Pokémon (before Gen 9/certain forms).
Counting Will's Dread Plate (Dark-type)...
That meant: 2x resistance to 8 types, 4x resistance to 2 types, and immunity to 2 types (Poison, Psychic - if Dark plate provides immunity).
Out of 18 types, 11 would be ineffective against Will.
The few types that could hit him super effectively were: Fighting, Ground, Electric. And only 2x effective.
This was... Empoleon the Great!
"Panel."
The benefits of evolution were unparalleled.
Just his long-stagnant move pool instantly gained 10 new moves.
Except for Aqua Jet and Metal Claw, which he learned naturally upon evolution... the other 8 moves were ones Will had mastered in the past. For him, it was just remembering them.
Moreover...
Whether because his energy had been suppressed for too long, or because of some other effect of the Sea Crown...
Will had unexpectedly gained 2 levels.
That was 2 levels in the Champion tier!
If the old Will had trained on his own, it would have taken at least 3 years to achieve that.
And this was just what was visible on the panel.
The true power of the Sea Crown wouldn't show up there.
"Maaa!"
"Mm, let's go. I'm in great shape."
A cold light flashed in Will's eyes.
Freshly evolved, he was feeling cocky.
Forget an 8-level gap. Even with an 18-level gap, he'd dare to clash with Kyogre right now.
Meanwhile, on the sea surface, two hundred meters from Alto Mare.
Lorelei had moved from Lapras's back to the arms of the floating Froslass.
Of the four Pokémon stalling Kyogre, two were already down.
Metagross and Lapras were both heavily injured and recalled into their Poké Balls.
Lorelei could only send out Cloyster and Dewgong to replace Lapras.
Steven sent out Claydol.
True, Claydol was weak to Water (2x), seemingly unsuitable for this battle. But Steven only had three Pokémon usable here. With Metagross down and Skarmory carrying him, only Claydol was left. The rest couldn't fight at sea. At least Claydol could fly.
ROAAAR~
With a deep, resonant roar...
Kyogre whipped its body, its massive tail instantly raising a hundred-meter-tall wave.
"What?!"
"Fly up!"
Lorelei and Steven were shocked, shouting for Froslass and Skarmory to ascend.
They hadn't expected that while Manaphy needed to charge up a wave like that, Kyogre could create one with a casual tail flick.
Unfortunately...
Neither Froslass nor Skarmory were particularly fast.
Skarmory was slightly better; being a Flying-type, it barely scraped by.
But Lorelei and Froslass were unlucky. They couldn't escape the range of the wave.
SMACK!
At the critical moment, Froslass shielded Lorelei, taking the hit from the Master-class Legendary.
The next moment, Froslass was critically injured and fainted, falling toward the turbulent ocean with Lorelei.
Moreover...
A Legendary's attack isn't easily blocked. Even though Froslass took the brunt of the damage, some of the spray still hit Lorelei.
Although Lorelei was just a human, she was tough. The water sent her tumbling through the air, but it didn't kill or knock her out.
"Froslass..."
Lorelei frowned deeply.
Ignoring everything else, she reached for the Poké Ball at her waist, intending to recall Froslass to prevent secondary injury.
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