At the Seafloor Cavern, Ruby and Sapphire watch in horror as Maxie and Archie let out maniacal shrieks while the Red and Blue Orbs start dissolving into their palms. The symbols of Groudon and Kyogre continue to glow on the backs of the two men’s hands, and Ruby hollers that they must retrieve the jewels before they disappear completely. He quickly order Coco forward to deliver a covet, but the sea titan symbol on Archie’s hand sends out a blast of energy and knocks it back.

In a flash of light, the assimilation processes are complete, and the silhouettes of Groudon and Kyogre instantly appear in the shadows of Maxie and Archie. Sapphire wonders if she is seeing illusions, but Ruby says the titans have indeed become one with their foes, and from what he sees, have transferred their powers to them as well. Just then, Maxie and Archie send two balls of energy charging towards the young trainers, and Ruby quickly has Coco use assist on Ronono to unleash an iron defense. Ruby explains that Sapphire’s Lairon is apparently worn out from the battle, and his Delcatty’s special skill is capable of borrowing a companion’s attack when needed.

However, the iron defense soon fails to stand against the powerful energy blasts, and Ruby comments that the situation seems to have been reveresed. While Maxie and Archie gained possession of the orbs to control over Groudon and Kyogre earlier, they are now clearly under the control of the ancient creatures.

As the land and sea titan symbols slowly travel up the arms of Maxie and Archie towards their head, the two men get more savage by the minute, and the Team Aqua leader all of a sudden leaps forward and charges towards Sapphire. Ruby immediately orders Zuzu to fend the man off with mud sport while he himself grabs Sapphire by the waist and yanks her out of the way. In that split second, a distant memory flashes into Sapphire’s mind, and the girl recalls with a distinct feeling that she has been saved the exact same way before.

However, she has no time to ponder on it any further as Archie has managed to knock down Zuzu while Maxie has sent Ronono crashing onto the ground. Without warning, the two team leaders each grab Ruby and Sapphire by the neck, and start creating energy spheres around themselves. Struggling against their contraints, the two young trainers gasp in shock as they feel themselves ascending, and notice that all the fallen Team Magma and Team Aqua members are being pulled along by the powerful energy spheres as well.

Maxie and Archie start blasting through the ceiling of the cave to rise up, and Ruby hollers that Groudon and Kyogre must be summoning the Red and Blue Orbs to them. With Maxie, himself, and the Team Magma members in one sphere, and Archie, Sapphire, and the Team Aqua members in the other, the powerful energy fields cause the Seafloor Cavern to crumble as they ascend above ground, and in no time, the whole underwater cavern is demolished and reduced to rubbles.

What Ruby guessed was correct. Following the failure of the gymleaders to stop Groudon and Kyogre, and the two titans resume their rampaging across Hoenn, and are indeed summoning the Red and Blue Orbs to them while they are both heading for that one legendary destination which would serve as their final battle ground. In the north-eastern region, Groudon has crossed Lilycove and is moving towards the ocean. Raging fire flames up under its every step, and with its drought ability which conjures powerful sunlight from the sky, the land titan instantly dries up the sea in front of it, and stomps its way through the burning inferno it created. In the south-weatern region, Kyogre continues to evoke rainstorms and huge tidal waves with its drizzle ability wherever it goes. Travelling east, the sea titan flaps its giant fins and moves swiftly across the stormy seas.

Meanwhile, the Pokémon Association’s giant airship, Ba.Goon, has arrived in Slateport City. Gabby raises her arm to draw its attention, and Captain Stern remarks that they can finally exchange details with the association’s Chairman. Turning around to Dock and the President of the Pokémon Fan Club, he tells them that by putting together everyone’s knowledge and every piece of information they have gathered, they mighty figure out a way to save Hoenn from its destruction.

Ba.Goon lets down several ropes for them to climb up, but Ty suddenly cuts in and says he and Gabby have other business to tend to, and shall stay behind. Gabby starts to protest, but Ty yanks her away, and says she must have felt its presence as well. Gabby wonders what he is talking about, and a shadow suddenly leaps onto the ceiling of a nearby house. Gabby realizes that it is the disaster Pokémon Absol, and Ty remarks that it has not shown itself since the Rusturf Tunnel incident.

The cameraman then tries to grab Absol, but the creature jumps away and Ty manages to touch its fur only. He notices the ashes on his hand, which has clearly landed on Absol’s body not long ago, and states that as he expected, the Pokémon was also in watch when Mt. Chimney’s volcanic activity was ceased. He then hollers that Absol tags along like a shadow everytime Team Aqua or Team Magma commits an evil deed, and demands to know if like its name implies, it is responsible for all the disasters they’ve encountered.

Absol seems ticked off by his words, and advances forward, but Gabby interrupts to say she has a feeling that humans have always had a wrong impression of the disaster Pokémon. While it is true that Absol appears everytime a disaster strikes, the cause is almost always due to something else, and the creature simply possesses the ability to predict it, and is trying to warn humans of the pending danger.

Finally having someone that understands its role, Absol puts on a content smile, and crouches down in front of Gabby. The reporter lady knows that it is offering her a ride to somewhere, and asks Ty what disaster will be greater than the ones they are suffering from now. After a moment of thought, Ty realizes with a start that if Groudon and Kyogre shall meet up and engage in a battle, their fury will certainly destroy the entire Hoenn.

Gabby agrees with her cameraman, and wastes no time to climbs onto Absol’s back. She seeks its confirmation that the two titans will indeed have a showdown, and urges it to take her to that battling ground. With its agile movements, the disaster Pokémon leaps to its feet and heads off while Ty chases after them and tells them to bring him along as well.

Rising towards the sea surface from the Seafloor Cavern, Sapphire struggles to free herself from Archie’s grip while Ruby yells under Maxie’s constraints that Groudon and Kyogre appear to be summoning them to a designated destination. As the land and sea titan symbols glow from the foreheads of the two team leaders, they suddenly move their energy spheres apart, and the two young trainers call out in shock to each other.

On sea route 133, Gabby and Ty hold on tight to Absol as the disaster Pokémon hops between the rocky hills along the flooded towns with an impressive speed. Gabby asks Ty if they are able to find out where they’re going, and Ty quickly takes out his laptop to check on the digital map. Just then, two giant energy spheres filled with people charge out from the stormy seas ahead, and Gabby and Ty gasp in surprise when they spot Ruby and Sapphire each in one of them. The spheres without warning change directions, and begin shooting off towards a north-eastern direction.

Gabby hollers that they are all heading for the same place, and Ty finally manages to locate a travelling route on his laptop. Examining closely the possible destinations that lie along it, Ty exclaims that they are heading for Sootopolis, the mysterious city sitting at the crater of a volcano where legends rest...

Countdown to our heroes' rival showdown: 25 days!

Thanks To Coronis For Writing this for us