Time quickly came to October 16th.
After thoroughly resolving the Hoenn Duo of Idiots' dispute and sending them back to their respective territories to rest, only the final major crisis remained in Hoenn—the giant meteorite falling from the sky, an event that occurred once every thousand years!
Mossdeep City, Space Center.
In the second-floor control room, a group of researchers in white coats were busy at their workstations.
The giant display screen showed a composite image gathered from various observatory telescopes, with all the footage focused on the seemingly unremarkable meteorite in space.
"Hurry up, we don't have much time!"
Hoenn Champion Steven, having changed into a black suit, anxiously waited for the researchers to calculate the meteorite's precise trajectory and landing coordinates.
Using the universe as a reference, even the largest meteorite might only be considered a speck of dust.
——
But if the reference was the Earth—
According to the researchers' calculations, given the volume of that meteorite, it would probably pierce straight through the entire Hoenn region upon impact, and even affect the whole planet.
After all, it was said that a similar meteorite fall had occurred during the super-ancient era, directly causing major shifts in the tectonic plates at the time, driving countless super-ancient creatures to extinction and forming fossils.
Which were the Fossil Pokémon restored by machines today.
And because of Rayquaza's existence, humanity's attempts to break through the sky and reach space had always ended in failure.
From very early on, the people of Hoenn knew that meteorites would fall from the sky from time to time, and they discovered that beyond this planet lay a vast universe.
However, they couldn't leave—
Rayquaza would join hands with humans to resolve meteorite crises from space, but it also prevented humans from exploring the universe beyond the planet.
This was both a restriction and a form of protection left by Arceus.
If they couldn't even leave the Earth, the outside world was clearly too dangerous for them.
Beyond the universe, there might be other, more powerful and dangerous Pokémon waiting for humans who ventured into space.
This was the conclusion reached by the Devon Corporation after years of researching Infinity Energy.
But human thirst for knowledge was endless. Knowing there was a broader world out there naturally sparked an uncontrollable curiosity.
Thus, this Space Center was built.
Steven's gaze turned to the big screen. Observing from multiple dimensions that the meteorite had been captured by Earth's gravity and was rapidly approaching, he couldn't help but sigh.
He didn't expect that before witnessing the beauty of the universe, they would first have to endure an impact from beyond Earth—
However, at least it proved that humanity's technology for venturing into space was meaningful.
Beep beep beep—
"The black Rayquaza and Mr. Aiden have been confirmed to appear together in the stratosphere, currently attempting to pass through the atmosphere and head into space!"
The computers in front of the researchers sounded alarms simultaneously, and Steven immediately turned his head.
"Project the image!"
At the order of the president's son, the researchers sprang into action.
Soon, the footage captured by the instruments appeared on the big screen, occupying the entire display.
The black Rayquaza was currently ascending at full power, continuously bursting out powerful air currents in the sky. A bullet-shaped air barrier formed around its streamlined body, pushing away all the atmosphere it rubbed against.
And atop its imposing dragon head, an awkward figure wearing a white spacesuit with his face completely covered by a visor was sitting on it. The intense friction with the air almost made his body spark, only for the sparks to quickly extinguish.
Seeing this, Steven immediately clasped his hands together, his expression incomparably solemn.
Even if he couldn't see the face, there was only one person who could sit on the black Rayquaza's head.
Aiden really had nerves of steel—
To break through gravity with his physical body wearing only a spacesuit—his current speed had probably already surpassed the second cosmic velocity.
If the quality of the spacesuit wasn't up to par and even a slight problem occurred, the consequences would be unimaginable—
No, he couldn't think about that right now!
Steven shook his head.
He had to have complete faith in the Devon Corporation's technology.
Moreover, with Aiden's abilities, he must have already thought of a foolproof plan!
"The black Rayquaza has broken through the atmosphere and officially left the Earth!"
A few seconds later, the closely monitoring researchers let out another exclamation.
"And our Hoenn Rayquaza too, it's closely following behind them!"
"They've successfully entered space!"
"This is the first step in human history! The first time a human has set foot in that completely unknown starry sky!"
Steven completely understood the researchers' excitement.
But—
Now was not the time to celebrate.
The title of "first" also meant a responsibility so heavy it was suffocating.
Being the "first" in a small region on Earth was already like this; the "first" beyond the universe that Aiden bore was probably even more suffocating.
Thinking of this, Steven held his breath, focusing his attention entirely on the big screen, watching as the two Rayquazas gradually approached that super-giant meteorite.
We're counting on you, Aiden!
Sitting on top of Rayquaza, Aiden's head was initially filled with the violent vibrations transmitted from his body rubbing against the atmosphere, making his brain buzz.
But at a certain moment, that sound almost instantly disappeared, leaving only silence in his ears.
It was as if the entire world had suddenly been put on mute.
Aiden looked up. His vision, no longer disturbed by speed, had indeed become much clearer, and he could already clearly see a vast expanse of the universe.
In the distance, countless glowing stars converged into a sea of stars, and the magnified light of the moon was dazzling.
So this is what it feels like in the universe—
Aiden turned his head and looked down at the familiar blue planet.
From this perspective, it was indeed spectacular, though Earth was almost insignificant in the universe.
Although, according to the Pokémon world's cosmology, this entire world was created by Arceus, and Earth was the center of the universe—
But Aiden always felt that with such a vast world beyond the universe, Arceus couldn't possibly ignore it completely, right?
For example, the meteorite that happened to fall on Hoenn every thousand years to deliver Infinity Energy to Earth couldn't possibly be a coincidence of natural movement.
The Legendary Pokémon of the Sun and Moon series also came from space; those Ultra Beasts might also be connected to the universe.
Aiden sighed.
After all, there was no official confirmation, and Arceus certainly wouldn't tell him these things, so everything was just his own speculation.
There were still too many unknowns in the Pokémon world. Even on Earth, many regions had yet to join the Pokémon League, let alone the world beyond Earth.
If he hadn't transmigrated, waiting for the Pokémon series to explore the universe would probably be a "within my lifetime" series—
But right now, the most important thing was that meteorite!
Led by the black Rayquaza, Aiden quickly passed through countless meteorites, gradually approaching that giant, seven-colored meteorite.
At first, it didn't look that exaggerated, but as he got closer, he realized this thing was truly terrifying.
Up close, it almost blocked his entire field of vision. It was currently emitting an ambiguous light, and a fierce, wild Infinity Energy dissipated from within it.
This was his ultimate goal in coming to space!
"Prepare to Mega Evolve, and then use Draco Meteor to blast it to pieces, Rayquaza."
Aiden immediately spoke up.
Although the black Rayquaza had never actively communicated with him, it could still understand telepathy, and the same went for the Hoenn Rayquaza.
Theoretically, Rayquaza should use Dragon Ascent, which better suited the fighting style of a Mega Rayquaza.
But looking at the incredibly massive meteorite that seemed to have no end in sight, Aiden felt that smashing it with its body would probably hurt a lot, so it wasn't necessary.
"Roar——!"
The black Rayquaza took the lead, letting out a majestic roar, and its entire body immediately shone with countless golden lights.
Even in a vacuum, Aiden, sitting right on its forehead, could still hear its voice.
In the blink of an eye, it had completed its Mega Evolution. The black-and-gold patterns originally wrapped around its body immediately came alive, drifting freely in the universe.
Right behind it, the Hoenn Rayquaza followed suit, also letting out a furious roar.
The meteorite shard clenched in Aiden's hand suddenly trembled a couple of times. After heating up slightly, it stood upright.
Even after the black Rayquaza's "guidance" for so long, the Hoenn Rayquaza still seemed unable to complete Mega Evolution entirely on its own.
However, it didn't matter!
"Two of the same Rayquaza, here we go!"
As his voice fell, the two Rayquazas charged their power at the same time. The Mikado Organs inside their bodies shone with golden light, and violent Dragon-type energy surged wildly in the universe!
However, right at this moment—
The surface of the seven-colored meteorite suddenly erupted with a powerful force. A blinding white light rushed straight out from the front, heading directly towards Aiden and the black Rayquaza.
"Rayquaza, dodge it!"
After Aiden spoke, the two Rayquazas quickly reacted, using their bodily flexibility to easily dodge the light rays attacking them.
Then, two terrifyingly powerful Draco Meteors had already formed, flying together towards the direction the light came from!
Rumble——
Theoretically, sound shouldn't be able to travel in space.
But looking at the giant meteorite that was suddenly blown to pieces by the Draco Meteor, Aiden hallucinated a series of rumbles in his ears.
Success!
Aiden nodded excitedly.
As long as the meteorite's volume wasn't too large, it would be violently consumed by friction as it passed through the atmosphere, leaving only a negligible weight when it finally landed.
It should no longer pose a threat to Earth.
However, just to be safe, he should probably blast the larger fragments into pieces as well.
Aiden was about to speak when he suddenly noticed a bizarre figure within one of the large meteorite fragments.
It was a black, triangular crystal, which seemed to have a different structure from the meteorite, looking more like it had been forcefully embedded into it for some reason.
And what made it feel even more bizarre was—
That crystal was actually shaking, and its surface color was rapidly changing, quickly shifting from black toward a deep crimson.
It looked alive.
At first glance, Aiden recognized it—the Cosmic Virus, Deoxys!
As the crystal radiated white light, the gradually activating Deoxys finally stretched its body, revealing its true form.
Its entire body was orange-red and full of a sci-fi feel, its arms crossed like a DNA double helix, a light purple core faintly glowing on its chest, and when it looked up, its eyes were incomparably fierce.
Information about it surfaced in Aiden's mind.
Deoxys was a mutated virus DNA exposed to cosmic radiation. It possessed multiple Formes and extremely high intelligence, and would also use meteorites as a protective layer to smuggle itself onto Earth.
Rayquaza's authority over the sky included the duty of stopping dangerous Cosmic Pokémon like this from entering Earth.
The sudden burst of energy earlier that tried to stop Rayquaza must have also been its doing.
"Roar——!"
Therefore, the moment it saw it, the Hoenn Rayquaza instinctively let out a furious roar at it, trying to directly intimidate the opponent into retreating.
However, its actions were actually a bit unnecessary.
Because upon looking up and finding one black and one green Mega Rayquaza flying in front of it, Deoxys seemed to have been scared silly.
Awakened forcefully by an external force, it was already in a dazed state, and unfortunately it ran into its most dreaded nemesis.
And there were two of them!
How was it supposed to play this—
Deoxys was very smart, so it instinctively shrank back, not wanting to directly clash with the two Rayquazas.
It then looked around and found that its protective shell meteorite had been completely destroyed, leaving nowhere to hide.
Deoxys was clearly panicking.
Hehe, can we talk this out?
So, before Aiden and the black Rayquaza could react, its figure suddenly transformed, immediately shifting into the "Speed Forme" Aiden was familiar with. It shot off in the opposite direction of Earth and vanished in a flash.
"..."
If it weren't for the spacesuit blocking him, Aiden would have wanted to scratch his head.
This guy, was it really that cowardly?
He thought he would finally get to command the black Rayquaza up close and defeat a formidable enemy together.
What a pity; it seemed opportunities like this were running out.
Aiden shook his head, preparing to command the black Rayquaza to do the final cleanup and smash all the remaining large meteorite fragments.
But at that moment, he suddenly realized—wait!
Was the sunlight a bit too glaring?
Feeling the universe suddenly being baptized by light pollution, which was even intensifying, Aiden squinted, looking in the direction of the sun out of the corner of his eye.
The sun was still floating in the distant sea of stars, without any changes.
But Aiden's perception wasn't wrong.
Because a golden lion, radiating light and running towards his direction, appeared before his eyes.
And on the other side, in the direction of the moon, a bat-like Pokémon also appeared, its form almost completely concealed in the darkness of the universe.
Aiden blinked.
This universe was much livelier than he had imagined—
Even Solgaleo and Lunala showed up?
During his brief stay in Alola, Aiden had seen these two deities representing the sun and the moon in a dream.
But this was the first time meeting them in reality.
However—
Looking at their movements, why did it seem less like they were coming to greet him and more like they were running away?
Aiden subconsciously thought so, and then violently reacted, alarm bells ringing wildly in his heart.
Holy crap, the only guy in the entire universe that could make these two panic like this could only be one, right—
That supremely majestic deity, also from space.
Necrozma!
------------------------------------------------------
30+ Chapters Ahead: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)