"Got it."
Deoxys released several faint golden arcs of electricity.
The two sides were close together, so the current landed directly on Rayquaza, instantly paralyzing it.
Rayquaza's dragon body stiffened, and the Dragon Dance it had been about to release came to an abrupt stop.
Putting aside the damage it had taken earlier, it had now been struck by Deoxys's Thunder Wave too.
Rayquaza's dragon eyes seemed ready to blaze with raging flames. Cyan light surged around its claws as it angrily slashed toward Deoxys.
"Teleport."
Grey gave the order.
Psychic energy erupted from Deoxys's body in an instant, directly making it flash beneath Rayquaza's dragon body. Two ice-blue lights burst out again.
Ice-type Ice Beam.
Ice Beam struck Rayquaza's tail directly, then gradually traveled upward along its body, making Rayquaza take the full brunt of the damage.
"Hmm… This feels very different from the Rayquaza I know."
Grey rubbed his chin.
Looking at Rayquaza, who had already been hit so many times by Deoxys, he could not help feeling that this Rayquaza really was a bit of a rookie.
He was not asking it to match the black Rayquaza from the movie, but at the very least, it should have the ability to counterattack, right?
Throughout the entire battle, only one Dragon Pulse had hit Deoxys.
The earlier Dragon Dances had practically become decorations.
If close-range attacks could not land, then strengthening itself was pointless.
Rayquaza: "…"
"You've seen other Rayquaza?"
Rayquaza was puzzled by Grey's words.
It seemed that from the very first time Grey had seen it, Grey's expression when looking at it had been strange.
Combined with today's conversation.
Could it be that Grey knew another Rayquaza?
That was not right.
There did not seem to be many Rayquaza in this world.
Other than itself, there seemed to be only one pitch-black Rayquaza, right?
"No. I just feel that since you've recovered two-thirds of your strength, why are you still struggling this much against Deoxys?"
Grey shook his head. He simply felt that Rayquaza's strength did not quite match his expectations.
When it fought Groudon and Kyogre earlier, it had basically crushed them.
And that had been when its essence had not yet recovered. It could still pin those two unlucky brothers to the ground and beat them up.
Now that it had recovered two-thirds of its essence, why was it struggling so much against Deoxys?
Grey was very confused.
This situation seemed more than a little absurd.
If the combat power ranking was stacked up, wouldn't that mean Deoxys was greater than Rayquaza, which was greater than Groudon and Kyogre?
Sure enough, type matchups really were ridiculously unreasonable.
"Hmph. Isn't that because my essence has not fully recovered? Back when my essence was at its peak, I could forcibly block even the meteorite that even that lord could not stop."
After Grey said that, Rayquaza no longer felt like continuing the fight.
Instead, it returned to the ground and started praising itself endlessly. "Back then, when I was still able to Mega Evolve, you have no idea how majestic I was. At the time, I was known as the mighty Rayquaza. What Pokémon under the heavens did not know my name?"
Grey rolled his eyes and shouted, "Deoxys, Ice Punch!"
Rayquaza: "???"
Damn it, kid, you don't fight fair!
Rayquaza had just been about to counterattack, but Deoxys dropped from the sky and slammed two punches into it, making its head spin.
Grey subconsciously took out a Poké Ball…
Never mind. He still would not catch this Rayquaza.
It was green, and that did not feel very lucky.
…
…
After quite a while, Rayquaza slowly woke up.
Looking at Grey chatting with Deoxys nearby, Rayquaza immediately felt anger rise in its chest.
"Human, you actually dared to launch a sneak attack! You don't fight fair, sneak attacking an old dragon over a thousand years old! Shameless!"
Rayquaza pointed at Grey and scolded him.
"Hey, I never agreed to stop the battle."
One sentence from Grey choked back everything Rayquaza wanted to say next.
"Hahaha, this Rayquaza really is weak."
"Exactly, exactly. It got beaten up by an outsider Pokémon and only managed to fire back one Dragon Pulse the whole time, and it didn't even do much damage."
Groudon and Kyogre also ran out of their Master Balls.
They both found this battle very satisfying.
Rayquaza had lost, and it had even lost to an "alien."
"What? I can't beat Deoxys, but do you think I can't beat you two?"
Rayquaza glanced sideways at Groudon and Kyogre.
The two immediately returned to their Master Balls and stopped arguing with Rayquaza.
A little trash talk only needed to be said once.
After those two living disasters disappeared, Rayquaza sighed to itself.
"Sigh. If my strength could return to its peak, I would be able to stand above the world with pride. But now that my essence is incomplete, even a Pokémon from outer space can bully me. Forget it. This is only a little frost on the road of life…"
Listening to Rayquaza sigh, Grey scratched his head and exchanged a look with Deoxys beside him, both of their eyes filled with confusion.
"What… is wrong… with this one?"
"Maybe it's just getting old."
Grey gave that answer.
Deoxys nodded as if it half understood.
At that moment.
Grey's phone suddenly vibrated.
Without looking, he already knew it was a message from Steven.
Steven Stone: A new meteorite was discovered here in Mossdeep City. It seems identical to the ones we found before. Should we bring Rayquaza over to take a look?
Dojo Annihilape: No problem. I'll head over now.
Seeing that Rayquaza had a chance to restore its essence, Grey hurriedly called for it to move with him.
When Rayquaza heard this, it naturally let Grey stand on its back and headed straight toward Mossdeep City.
…
…
Hoenn region, Mossdeep City.
Mossdeep Space Center.
This was the largest astronomical observation center in the Hoenn region and possessed the corresponding technology.
He had heard that they could already detect things in space, though he did not know how far they could detect.
When Rayquaza arrived in Mossdeep City, Grey noticed that there were not many people down below.
Hmm…
That made sense.
After all, Mossdeep City was on an island. It was an island city.
Steven saw Rayquaza circling overhead and called out loudly, "Grey, over here!"
"Coming."
Grey signaled Rayquaza to land.
The group of researchers beside Steven were seeing Rayquaza for the first time, and they all subconsciously held their breath.
Good heavens.
That was Rayquaza!
A Legendary Pokémon, the sky dragon of the Hoenn region, a Pokémon capable of pinning Groudon and Kyogre down with one claw and beating them up.
Being able to see Rayquaza made them all feel that working at Mossdeep Space Center was truly fortunate.
Otherwise, Rayquaza might have descended and they would not even have known.
However.
Who was the young man sitting on Rayquaza's back?
The researchers cast their gazes over.
After clearly seeing Grey's face, they only felt that the Trainer before them looked somewhat familiar.
They just did not know who he was.
After all, Grey was a Trainer from the Kanto region.
They all worked at Mossdeep Space Center and rarely paid attention to outside matters.
If this young man looked familiar, they had probably seen him in some major news story.
What had it been?
Everyone thought for a long while.
When they saw the Premier Ball hanging from Grey's waist, they all remembered something.
"Isn't this the Trainer of Reshiram?! I didn't expect him to have caught Rayquaza too!"
One of the researchers finally remembered the news he had seen before from a clickbait account.
The other researchers were all shocked.
Holy crap, Reshiram!
A first-tier Legendary from the Unova region!
Just how strong was this young man? He had actually caught two powerful first-tier Legendaries, Reshiram and Rayquaza!
"Ahem, well, I haven't caught Rayquaza yet."
Grey coughed lightly and explained.
Rayquaza: "…"
Why did it feel like Grey was looking down on it?
Was catching it something so embarrassing?
Why did he have to single that out and say it?
No!
This kid actually dared to look down on me like that. I must make him put me in a Ball!
"???"
Grey was even more confused.
Standing beside Rayquaza, he could feel the intense emotional fluctuations coming from it.
Why did it suddenly have so many thoughts about being caught?
Absurd, bro.
On the surface, the human and dragon looked calm and peaceful.
But inside, they were already fighting.
One side wanted to be caught, while the other did not want to catch it.
Of course, the others did not know what the human and dragon were thinking.
At this moment, Steven walked over and handed a well-preserved meteorite to Grey. "This meteorite should be the final one Rayquaza needs."
Grey took the meteorite and looked at it.
Sure enough, it was exactly the same as the previous two meteorites.
He lifted the meteorite and handed it to Rayquaza. "Here. After you eat this meteorite, you should be able to return to peak strength, right?"
"Mm. Naturally."
Rayquaza nodded.
It did not hesitate and directly swallowed the meteorite in one bite.
Crunch, crunch…
Gulp.
Refreshing!
Rayquaza only felt the essence inside its body recover.
That feeling of nearing its peak again was truly wonderful.
Unfortunately, it still needed two or three days to digest it properly.
Thankfully, they had found the meteorite within half a month.
If they had been a little later, then even after recovering its essence and reentering Mega Evolution, it would have needed some time to get familiar with it.
"Kid, I'll head back to Sky Pillar then. Once I truly return to my peak, when that time comes, I will definitely make my move."
Rayquaza laughed and left in grand fashion.
Everyone watched Rayquaza's departing figure and could not help becoming entranced.
"Thank you for your hard work, everyone. You may head back for now."
Steven smiled and spoke to everyone.
Only then did the researchers reluctantly leave, savoring the sight of Rayquaza in their minds.
Their only regret was that Rayquaza had stayed for too short a time. They had not even had the chance to take a photo.
It would be great if they could see Rayquaza again later.
Mm!
If there was a first time, there would be a second. Their next meeting should be soon, right?
With that thought in mind, everyone left.
Steven stayed behind and also relaxed quite a bit. "Now, the crisis in the Hoenn region should be resolved smoothly, right?"
"Mm…"
Grey nodded, then shook his head. "Hard to say."
At the moment, Rayquaza had indeed recovered to its peak.
But still.
There was Deoxys among the incoming meteorite swarm.
For now, this could only be considered half resolved.
As for the remaining half, it was hard to say.
"Then are you confident?" Steven trusted Grey quite a bit.
He could not say why he trusted him, but he simply did.
"I am, but not much."
Grey did not hide his situation. He raised one finger, then bent it into a "nine" gesture. "Only ninety percent."
"Isn't that quite a lot?"
Steven scratched his head, feeling a little strange.
"Meta." Metagross walked over. "Actually, there's another meaning. That is, there's no remaining ten percent."
Steven's Shiny Metagross came over and used telepathy to explain to Steven.
Steven: "…"
"Grey, you really do know how to joke."
"Ahem."
Grey coughed and smiled awkwardly. "It's actually not too bad. The main concern is that Deoxys may take action while Rayquaza is shattering the meteorites. At that point, Rayquaza will definitely get tangled up in a battle with Deoxys and won't be able to handle more meteorites."
"When that time comes, we'll need the other Legendary Pokémon to help."
"And our Legendary combat power consists of Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Groudon, Kyogre, Lugia, Mewtwo, and Mew."
Seven first-tier Legendaries and one Mythical Pokémon.
A full eight of them.
As the saying went, when eight masters cross the sea, each displays their own power.
Once those eight took action, dealing with the remaining meteorites should not be a problem, right?
Rayquaza would handle most of them, then face Deoxys.
The majority of the smaller remaining portion would then be handled by the eight Legendary and Mythical Pokémon.
As for the final little bit, naturally, that would be left to human Trainers.
What they needed to see now was the overall level of the Trainers in the Hoenn region.
If the Trainers in the major cities and in the wild could work together to cleanly handle the meteorites, then this meteorite crisis could be safely overcome.
If they could not, then they would have to begin post-disaster reconstruction.
Steven also understood what Grey meant and nodded. "I understand. If this meteorite crisis can be safely overcome, I'd like to invite you, Grey, to serve as our Hoenn region's Honorary Elite Four. Would that be all right?"
"What?"
Grey's eyes widened.
Why was it Honorary Elite Four again?
He already had the identity of Honorary Elite Four in the Kanto region.
"This position is purely meant to let you retire early if you want. Also, if any accident truly happens in the future, we in the Hoenn region will not sit by and do nothing."
Steven walked forward and hugged Grey tightly. "This kindness is something our Hoenn region will never forget."
"Okay, okay, Steven. Let go first."
Grey smiled awkwardly.
If Sabrina or Caitlin saw this, they would probably get jealous, right?
Mm…
Sabrina would probably be fine.
If Caitlin saw it, she would only feel sour inside and wonder why it was not her.
Not a big problem.
Next, they only needed to wait quietly.
"Grey, I'll keep handling things then."
Steven still had proper work to do.
Grey gently nodded. "No problem. Steven, you take care of your work first. I'll walk around Mossdeep City for a bit."
That walk lasted until night.
Grey felt there was not much to see.
It was just looking at the sea view and things like that.
Caitlin and Sabrina were not here, so he could not properly feast his eyes.
However, this also made Grey think that when he went to the Alola region later, he absolutely had to have those two show him their swimsuits at night.
Ahem. He would think about that when the time came.
Thinking of this, Grey sat on a white stone and looked up at the sky.
"Mew." Riolu suddenly spoke. "Grey, why are you sitting on my little buddy?"
Grey: "?"
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