Although Aokis identity was discovered, neither the Hoenn Alliance nor the entire Pokémon Alliance announced it publicly.
Only a few high-ranking alliance officials, regional alliance presidents, and Champions (at minimum, Elite Four members) truly knew his identity.
Individuals with authority lower than the Elite Four were not even qualified to know Aoki's identity.
The reason for this was out of sheer helplessness.
As Aoki's teacher, Matsuda, had very high expectations for Aoki and had invested a lot of effort into him.
Otherwise, he would not have left the Kanto region at that time to join the Hoenn Alliance for Aoki, paving the way for him among the alliance's high-ranking officials so that he could smoothly become a Gym Leader in the Hoenn region.
Furthermore, to make way for Aoki later, he resigned from his position as acting Elite Four and returned to the Kanto Alliance, precisely to help Aoki advance further.
From this, one can see Matsuda pay attention to of Aoki.
Therefore, deep down, he was truly unwilling to accept that Aoki was a Team Rocket spy, and he had always hoped that Aoki could "turn over a new leaf." Not announcing his true identity also left Aoki with a path of retreat.
Another part of the reason was indeed due to helplessness.
Aoki's popularity in the entire Pokémon world, especially in the Hoenn region, was simply too high, so high that even the alliance, after investigation, could not believe it.
It could be said that, except for disciples from certain families, ninety-nine percent of people spoke highly of Aoki, and the remaining one percent merely maintained a neutral stance.
Whenever a hater of Aoki appeared online, they would quickly be drowned out by a large number of righteous crusaders.
Given Aokis extremely high reputation among the populace, the alliance was also afraid that announcing this matter would have too great an impact on the areas under its jurisdiction.
It might even cause unnecessary unrest.
Most importantly, the alliance was also concerned that if ordinary residents found out that Aoki was the leader of Team Rocket and Team Sky, they might directly flock to these two organizations.
After all, as commoners, it was already difficult for them to rise in status.
Joining underground forces like Team Rocket was already within their scope of choices.
Now, if they knew that Champion Aoki, whom they had always admired, was the leader of Team Rocket and Team Sky, who knows what they would think or what choices they would make.
Moreover, Team Sky's reputation in the Hoenn region was not bad to begin with.
In all areas and towns managed by Team Sky, the crime rate had plummeted, and these facts were even published online by dedicated individuals with statistical data and conclusions.
When it was initially announced, it even caused quite a stir.
After all, no one expected that an organization that should have been considered an evil force could actually bring such benefits.
It was precisely because of this that people in the Hoenn region were not very resistant to Team Sky.
Therefore, if Aoki's true identity were announced, who knows how many people would join Team Sky or Team Rocket, which is something the alliance absolutely did not want to see.
In fact, these favorable public opinions, and statements beneficial to Team Sky, Team Rocket, and so on, were mainly disseminated by Aoki himself or by the personnel he arranged.
As a modern person, Aoki certainly knew how much influence public opinion could have on society as a whole.
Before the Pokémon Alliance even noticed this point, Aoki had intentionally begun to control the direction of public opinion.
And to control the direction of public opinion, one only needs to control the major TV stations, news agencies, etc., and then find a group of online trolls to fan the flames—it's a relatively simple method.
The method was simple, but the effect was quite remarkable.
The TV stations and newspapers in the Hoenn region had long fallen under Team Sky's control, and even in other regions, Aoki had intentionally acquired significant shares in their TV stations and newspapers.
This allowed him to have a say in these TV stations and newspapers.
After Aoki left the Hoenn headquarters building, he told everyone in the Sky Fortress that his plan could begin.
This included controlling the direction of public opinion.
As long as the power-holders in the Alliance weren't fools, they would know the cost of revealing his identity.
Of course, the Alliance had more or less sensed this, so their plan was to let time dilute some of the effects.
Through the erosion of time, they would slowly counteract the influence brought by Aoki, and after two or three years, when Aokis influence was not so great, they could reveal everything.
At the same time, during this period, the Alliance also needed someone to gradually replace Aoki and his influence.
And the most suitable person for this was, of course, Steven, who was once known as one of the Hoenn Twin Stars alongside Aoki!
So the first thing to do was to replace Aoki as the Hoenn Region Champion, directly suppressing Aokis influence from the most fundamental position.
However, Steven could not immediately replace Aoki as Champion, as Steven's strength was still slightly lacking, and Aoki had not committed any fundamental mistakes in the eyes of ordinary people, so he could not be directly dismissed.
But the Alliance had already planned to have Steven undertake several high-profile missions during this period to boost his popularity, and then find a casual reason to take over Aokis Champion position.
Aoki had already learned all of this through the intelligence organizations left behind by Team Sky and the Church of Light.
However, he did not forcefully interfere.
If he hadn't appeared, Steven would have naturally become the Champion of the Hoenn region; now, Aoki considered it as returning the favor.
Besides, given this time, Aoki would rather spend more time on improving his strength.
Furthermore, even if Steven truly became Champion, could his policies and orders be implemented without reservation?
Aoki had not been idle during his year as Champion.
While opening convenient paths for ordinary civilians to advance, he also used such opportunities to place his own people in various positions within the Hoenn Alliance.
It could be said that if Aoki wished, nearly half of the Hoenn Alliance could be transferred into his hands.
This was something that no one in the Hoenn Alliance had expected, and it was Aokis final trump card.
...
The Pokémon Alliance and many underground forces changed hands without anyone noticing.
But all of this did not cause much commotion.
Time passed swiftly in such an unusually calm situation.
Another year had passed.
During this year, the Champion of the Hoenn region quietly changed from the former Champion Aoki to the Steel-type Champion Steven.
As for why it changed from Champion Aoki to Champion Steven, all of this remained an unsolved mystery to many ordinary citizens.
However, during this year, Steven, as Champion, gained considerable fame and accomplished many significant deeds.
This gradually made Aoki, the former Champion, fade from public view.
Although there are still many people online who follow Aokis movements, compared to a year ago, the scale is no longer as large.
This is exactly what the Alliance hopes for: to reduce Aokis presence and influence. They believe that in at most another year or two, there will be good results, and then it might be time for the Alliance to solve this major hidden danger.
During this year, Aoki was largely absent.
He spent most of his time on his breeding island, staying with his Pokémon, improving their strength together, and gradually getting stronger.
For a small part of the time, he would appear at Sky Fortress, controlling the movements of the entire Rainbow Rocket Team and the Alliance.
After this year, Lusamine of the Aether Foundation had accepted her fate, and during this year, Aoki also found an opportunity to accept N of Team Plasma's challenge, successfully bringing him onto his side.
The underground forces of the Pokémon world were unexpectedly united.
However, during this year, these underground forces were very well-behaved under Aoki's command and did not cause trouble everywhere, which led to the entire Pokémon world being exceptionally quiet during this period.
...
Just today, another extremely impactful event occurred.
An event that could potentially destroy the entire Pokémon world.
This morning.
Team Sky's research team at Sky Fortress, led by Jarvis, discovered an extremely large meteorite hurtling directly from space towards the planet where the Pokémon world is located.
This meteorite appeared very suddenly, giving people a sense of being caught off guard.
Furthermore, the meteorite was moving very fast; according to Jarvis's calculations, it would impact the Pokémon planet in less than two days.
In Jarvis's calculations, this meteorite was not only very fast but also very large. Once it impacted the Pokémon planet, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The best-case scenario would be an impact on a large area, causing that area to sink directly into the sea, and all people in that area would disappear along with the continent, buried together.
Because a large area sinks, causing sea levels to rise, swallowing all low-lying cities in other regions, over fifty percent of humans and Pokémon in the Pokémon world will lose their lives due to this disaster.
This is already considered the best-case scenario.
However, the probability of this is very low. A greater possibility is that when the meteorite impacts the Pokémon planet, it will directly cause a massive explosion, shattering the Pokémon planet, with less than one percent, or even one-thousandth, of humans and Pokémon surviving.
This is definitely a huge disaster that could impact the entire Pokémon planet.
Sky Fortress, due to its special geographical location and Aokis special attention, was able to detect it relatively early.
But clearly, the Alliance had not noticed this.
With less than two days left until the meteorite's descent, a solution must be found within these two days to potentially avert this crisis.
So Aoki had Jarvis use Team Sky's channels to immediately spread this news, and also sent it to Alliance leaders, so they would be aware and quickly come up with a solution.
This was a moment that affected the entire Pokémon world, concerning the survival of the entire world. It was not a time to focus on personal grudges; the priority was how to overcome the difficulties together.
However, upon receiving the information from Team Sky, the Alliance did not dare to underestimate it and immediately arranged for researchers to conduct an urgent verification.
The Alliance itself had not paid much attention to space, nor had it anticipated danger coming from space. If it weren't for Team Sky's warning, they would probably only react when the meteorite became visible to the naked eye, but by then, it would be too late.
Even if the meteorite were shattered, a large number of meteorite fragments falling to the ground would also lead to large-scale natural disasters, which would be a loss the Alliance could not bear.
After spending half a day on urgent investigation and confirming the existence of the meteorite, the entire Alliance was somewhat flustered.
This was a disaster they had never encountered before.
If the disaster occurred on land, or even in the sea or sky, they would have ways to deal with it, but this crisis came from outer space, from the universe.
This was a field the entire Pokémon Alliance had never encountered.
If they couldn't even touch the meteorite, how could they solve it?
Finally, after intense discussions among the Alliance's high-ranking officials for half a day, they reached a conclusion.
With only one day left until the meteorite impacts the Pokémon planet, it is almost impossible to come up with a perfect and completely safe solution in such a short time.
So in the end, having no other choice, the presidents and Champions of various regions decided to gather all individuals with Elite Four-level strength or higher.
Although they couldn't touch the meteorite, its exact landing spot could still be calculated.
At that time, all individuals with Champion-level strength and above would work together to shatter this giant meteorite.
The rest of the people spread out, ready. As the meteorite fragments rained down, they did their best to shatter the larger pieces. If that wasn't possible, they would guide the fragments to areas with fewer people.
In short, their goal was to minimize the damage and casualties caused by the meteorite's impact on the entire Pokémon world.
At this critical moment, facing such a world-ending disaster, the Pokémon Alliance couldn't afford to care about anything else. They actively contacted Aoki, hoping he could also arrange some people to deal with the situation.
After all, the Sky Team had discovered and informed the Alliance about this matter, indicating they also didn't want to see the meteorite actually fall.
Furthermore, the Alliance's high-ranking officials stated that during this period, the Alliance was willing to set aside their animosity towards them and unite to resist the disaster. Everything else could be discussed in detail after the event concluded.
Aoki, who received the information in the Sky Fortress, sat on the Iron Throne and couldn't help but laugh.
A year had passed, and only when they truly encountered an insurmountable crisis did the Alliance think of him. It was impossible for Aoki not to harbor some resentment.
However, the reason Aoki had Jarvis specifically monitor cosmic threats was that he vaguely knew the Pokémon world might face such a situation.
Therefore, he already had special countermeasures.
"Jarvis, in this past year, the things I asked you to make should be almost done, right?" Aoki looked at Jarvis, who stood respectfully by his side, his hair a bit messy, looking sleep-deprived but exhilarated.
"Lord Aoki, you can rest assured when I handle things!"
Jarvis patted his chest.
After leaving the Azoth Kingdom, he had been exposed to modern science and had fallen madly in love with it.
Aoki knew Jarvis was a promising talent, so he always provided whatever materials Jarvis needed.
And indeed, Jarvis did not disappoint him. By combining knowledge from both mysterious science and modern science, Jarvis's scientific technology once again experienced explosive growth, making him the undisputed top scientist in the Sky Team.
And he still had opportunities and potential for further advancement.
However, Jarvis wasn't selfish; he compiled his knowledge of mysterious science into books and handed them over to Team Flare, whose modern science was already half a century ahead. This caused Team Flare's scientific technology to skyrocket in a short period, especially concerning life energy.
Thanks to Jarvis's mysterious scientific materials, Team Flare finally discovered abnormal life energy fluctuations in various corners of the Kalos region, almost covering the entire region.
Most uniquely, the energy fluctuation frequencies of these scattered life energies were almost identical, or even completely the same. This meant that the source of these life energies should be from the same place, or rather, from the same Pokémon!
Upon discovering this, Team Flare threw themselves into it wholeheartedly, almost ignoring external matters unless it was Aoki's direct command.
Aoki knew what they had found, but even now, he didn't quite know how to deal with that particular Pokémon yet, so he just let Team Flare tinker with it.
Under Jarvis's confident assurance, a somewhat strange-looking suit of armor appeared before Aoki, controlled by Magearna within the Sky Fortress.
"My Lord, according to your requirements, I used very special materials for this armor. Ordinary attacks cannot leave any marks on it, and the armor's sealing is exceptionally high. I've conducted the relevant tests.
Most importantly, as per your request, an oxygen circulation system has been added to this armor. As long as there is a living being active inside and the energy source in the armor is not depleted, this armor can continuously produce oxygen from carbon dioxide.
Furthermore, upon learning that you yourself would be wearing this armor, I made further improvements. This armor, which originally could only be powered by energy crystals, can now absorb psychic energy and use it as an energy source.
This means that as long as you wear this armor, even in a complete vacuum environment, and with sufficient personal nutrition, surviving for over a month is absolutely no problem."
Jarvis excitedly explained the special armor he had created to Aoki.
In Aoki's view, it was essentially a spacesuit with enhanced mobility and increased safety.
A spacesuit!
That's right!
Aoki wanted to completely block, or even shatter, this meteorite before it reached the Pokémon planet.
As for informing the Alliance, Aoki simply felt they were living too comfortably and wanted to make them a little nervous.
Moreover, with the attention of the entire Alliance drawn to this massive meteorite, his series of plans could then be executed.
"Very good!" Aoki nodded with satisfaction.
He looked up at the higher sky. As he looked up, Magearna intelligently opened a skylight above the Sky Fortress, allowing Aoki to clearly see the night sky of the Pokémon world.
From afar, he could barely make out a tiny shadow of the giant meteorite.
"Jarvis, have you conveyed my demands to the Alliance?" Aoki watched the sky for a while, briefly mesmerized by the clear, star-filled sky with few clouds.
Hearing this, Jarvis nodded repeatedly, "My Lord, it has been conveyed. The Alliance has already prepared everything you need."
Aoki nodded with satisfaction and rose from the Iron Throne.
As he moved, the once magnificent Iron Throne slowly disappeared, merging into the Sky Fortress.
"In that case, send out the message to our people. Everything will be signaled by what I've said!" Aoki slowly walked to the edge of the Sky Fortress, gazing down at the vast world below.
"The transformation of the entire Pokémon world begins today!
After today, I will make this world undergo a massive change!"
With that, Aoki, facing the cold high-altitude wind, leaped down from the Sky Fortress.
The moment he jumped, a dark shadow flew out from the Sky Fortress. In the night, its appearance wasn't clearly visible, but a hint of blood-red on its wings could vaguely be seen!
Mega Salamence!
Aoki rode Mega Salamence, rapidly descending towards Mt. Chimney below.
At this moment, all the powerful individuals from the Alliance across the world had gathered here, around Mt. Chimney in the Hoenn region, spanning hundreds of miles.
Because according to calculations, by a strange coincidence, the extraterrestrial meteorite was set to strike Mt. Chimney in the Hoenn region.
At this critical juncture, with the fate of the entire world at stake, the Alliance no longer concealed much of its strength. Everyone was deployed, hoping to minimize losses.
Aoki, riding Mega Salamence, descended from the sky without any attempt to hide, attracting the attention of the people there.
Most of the people present here were aware of Aoki's affairs, so upon seeing him appear, they harbored various expressions.
Joy, pity, suspicion, disgust, and so on...
However, Aoki ignored these gazes. He flew directly to the very top of Mt. Chimney.
At this moment, there were the fewest people here, but those who could appear here without exception represented the highest combat power or highest status of their respective regions.
Among them were those Aoki was familiar with: Hoenn Alliance President Adams, current Unova Champion Alder, current Sinnoh Champion Cynthia, current Kalos Champion Diantha, current Johto Champion Lance, current Kanto Champion Lorelei, and current Hoenn Champion Steven Stone!
All regional champions gathered!
Excluding the Alola region, which had not yet been incorporated into the Alliance's territory, there were a total of six regions and six champions!
Of course, Aoki's teacher, Alliance Grandmaster Matsuda, and Alliance Grand General Taishan, as well as the white-robed bodyguard, Dragon, whose identity was still unclear, were also present.
"Yo—it seems all the old friends are here. It's truly been a long time." Aoki smiled as he jumped off Mega Salamence's back and landed in front of the group.
Only a year had passed since they last met, yet there was a feeling that things had changed beyond recognition.
Everyone, including Steven, looked at Aoki with complex expressions. They looked at this guy who, just like before, had a confident smile on his face, at this person they had been striving to catch up to.
They never would have imagined that the person they had spent so much time with, whom they thought they knew inside and out, had been a member of Team Rocket from the very beginning.
When they first heard the news, not a single person believed it.
Seeing Aoki again, he seemed to be unchanged, but now, their identities were on opposing sides.
"You've all become regional champions, impressive! As expected of the members of our small team back then; each of you has developed your potential." Aoki spoke to the people here as if nothing had happened, but no one responded.
They didn't know how to respond.
Only a sense of regret filled their minds.
Of course, there was an exception, and that was Steven!
It was as if on the day he learned of Aoki's identity, he had already unleashed all his emotions. Now, he merely looked at Aoki coldly, his eyes devoid of any emotional fluctuation or feeling, as if he were looking at an irrelevant inanimate object.
Everyone knew why Steven had become this way.
Among their group, Steven had the best relationship with Aoki, trusted him the most, and naturally, was the one who found Aoki's true identity most unbearable.
So, in the past year, Steven had frantically taken on missions and improved his strength.
He dedicated all his free time to enhancing his power, and in just one year, his strength underwent a drastic transformation.
Now, Steven's strength was among the top-ranked even within their group of champions!
Lance stepped forward, looking at Aoki with a complex expression.
Frankly speaking, Aoki was someone he had watched grow little by little. Seeing him like this, he felt a bit reluctant. "Aoki... is there truly no other way?"
Aoki waved his hand, stopping Lance from speaking further. He scanned the entire group, taking in everyone's expressions, pausing briefly on Steven's face.
For some reason, he, who always believed in prioritizing interests and considered himself sufficiently cold, felt a slight pang in his heart.
However, he didn't show it on his face, grinning widely. "Don't say too much. This is a very urgent moment; not a second can be wasted. Let's catch up later.
Are the things I asked for ready?"
Whoosh—
A jade-green orb shot out from Steven's hand.
Thud—
Aoki caught the green orb just right, looking once more at the expressionless Steven.
"This is what you wanted," Steven said coldly.
Aoki seemed to not notice Steven's coldness, nodding slightly. He opened his palm to reveal the very orb he desired.
It was the orb that Rayquaza, who had appeared during the Groudon and Kyogre chaos in the Hoenn region, had created from Aoki's Rayquaza statue when it left. It granted one chance to summon Rayquaza.
However, Aoki had given this orb to Adams for safekeeping at the time, but now it was back in his hands.
He said nothing more.
Turning his back to the group, he looked at the boundless night sky.
"After today, everything will end, and I will give you all an answer."
Aoki's voice wasn't loud, but it reached the ears of everyone present.
Before everyone could react, they saw the green orb in Aoki's hand emit a dazzling green light, illuminating the entire area of Mt. Chimney in green.
Roar—
Accompanied by a dragon's roar that echoed through the sky, a huge, slender, and agile dragon-type Pokémon appeared in the night sky, guided by the green aura, and charged straight towards Mt. Chimney.
Twisting its body.
The Dragon of the Sky, Rayquaza!!
Everyone already knew the purpose of the orb in Aoki's hand, so they weren't very surprised by Rayquaza's appearance.
Although they didn't know why Aoki would summon Rayquaza at this moment, having spent a long time with him and understanding him to some extent, they knew that if he did so, he must have his reasons.
Even though they were currently in an adversarial state with Aoki, it didn't prevent them from trusting him.
Aoki glanced back at the people behind him and saw that they weren't very surprised, which brought a slight warmth to his heart.
Then, he looked at Rayquaza, who was charging down from the sky with an imposing aura.
This was not an easy opponent to deal with, especially since he had offended it.
However, the problem wasn't too big. Even facing Rayquaza now, Aoki wasn't very afraid of it, nor was he the Hoenn Sandstorm King who had no way to deal with Rayquaza back then.
Boom—
Rayquaza's appearance brought with it an incredibly strong spiral current.
Aoki saw it, and it, of course, saw Aoki, as the impression of him snatching its Dragon Plate Fragment was still quite vivid.
And it remembered leaving this Dragon Calling Orb, which could summon it, only to deal with Groudon and Kyogre.
However, when it arrived here at the fastest speed, it did not detect the presence of those two Pokémon.
Rayquaza is actually a rather responsible Pokémon. Since ancient times, Groudon and Kyogre have been fighting daily, and it was the one who pacified them.
Gradually, it developed a habit: as long as they dared to fight, it would dare to appear.
And it enjoyed it immensely.
With old and new grudges combined, when Rayquaza saw Aoki, it showed no restraint and directly transformed into a sharp sword.
Dragon Ascent!
Aoki narrowed his eyes, not surprised, as he had indeed taken something valuable from it.
However, this past year had not been wasted.
Opening his Poké Ball, a powerful psychic force surged out.
A pale-white Pokémon soared into the sky.
Mewtwo!
During this past year, under Aoki's patient guidance, Mewtwo willingly entered Aoki's Poké Ball, becoming his Pokémon.
This truly had to be Mewtwo's willingness.
Otherwise, even with a Master Ball, if Mewtwo didn't want to, it could break free from the Poké Ball's restraint at any time and regain its freedom.
However, a year of companionship led Mewtwo to recognize Aoki, and also allowed it and Aoki's Pokémon to become good friends, so it willingly became Aoki's Pokémon.
Seeing Rayquaza again, the Pokémon it wasn't confident in defeating back then.
After a year of Aoki's training, not to mention significant improvements in strength, its combat skills and mastery over its body and energy had advanced further.
Boom!!!
The impact generated by the collision of two Champion-level Pokémon almost created a vacuum in that area of the sky.
Cynthia and the others stared blankly at the two Pokémon, who stood on opposite sides, confronting each other after their collision with Rayquaza.
The shockwave from their recent collision instantly cleared the hazy sky above Mt. Chimney, which had been obscured by volcanic ash.
They couldn't handle either of these two Pokémon!
Rayquaza looked grimly at the proud Mewtwo opposite it; it remembered this Pokémon.
But back then, it hadn't given off such a threatening aura, yet now it felt like an even match.
Although it was still slightly weaker overall, that was because the divine beast aura on its body, while very strong, had not yet accepted its divine duty, which was a significant flaw. However, this would eventually be compensated for, and then a direct battle with it would not be impossible.
Just as the two Pokémon were in a standoff, Aoki, riding on Mega Salamence, flew up with a smile.
This human!
Rayquaza was somewhat exasperated, but at such close proximity, it didn't launch another attack.
Because it once again felt a very strong threatening aura from this human, an aura that could truly contend with it!
Coupled with Mewtwo, who had just withstood its Dragon Ascent move.
Either of these two auras alone, while threatening, wouldn't make its proud self retreat or abandon its prejudice.
But when these two auras, these two threats, appeared together, Rayquaza had to take them seriously.
It had a feeling that if a battle broke out here today, the outcome might not be very favorable for itself.
Forcibly suppressing the restlessness in its heart, Rayquaza roared at Aoki, venting its current anger and frustration.
Roar—
Aoki faced Rayquaza's foul breath attack head-on, his expression unchanged.
He smiled and waved at Rayquaza, "Don't be so angry. Since you're here, why don't we have a good chat? I know you'll need my help with a small favor soon."
A hint of confusion flashed in Rayquaza's eyes, unsure what favor it would need from this kid in front of it.
Aoki smiled without speaking, waved at Rayquaza, and then flew towards the high sky on Mega Salamence.
Mewtwo followed closely by Aoki's side, its eyes filled with a desire to battle as it looked at Rayquaza.
Due to its genes, Mewtwo is a Pokémon that loves to battle from the bottom of its heart, especially against opponents of similar strength, and there was one right in front of it now.
If Aoki hadn't held it back, it would have already rushed up and fought Rayquaza for three hundred rounds.
The people standing on top of Mt. Chimney below watched Aoki and Rayquaza fly towards the sky.
"Aoki, that guy, he's not planning to solve this meteorite crisis alone with Rayquaza's help, is he?" Wallace broke their silence.
Hearing Wallace's words, everyone was momentarily at a loss for words.
Although, theoretically, Aoki's current status shouldn't allow him to do such a thing, in their hearts, they all believed this possibility was very high.
"That brat, still wanting to be a hero on his own." Finally, it was Aoki's teacher, Drake, who set the tone for the matter.
"But speaking of which, his current strength is truly formidable, being able to force Rayquaza to communicate with him as an equal." Cynthia also spoke, her words filled with emotion.
Everyone still greatly admired Aoki's strength.
But soon, everyone felt that someone's state seemed a little off.
They looked towards Steven.
His usually cool expression was gone, replaced by a deep frown, and his fists were tightly clenched.
No need to ask, it was because of someone.
"Steven..." Diantha couldn't help but speak, wanting to comfort him.
But then she saw a big smile appear on Steven's previously furrowed face, a very happy smile, his eyes narrowed.
"That brat, his strength is improving so fast. It seems that in order to bring him back as soon as possible, I need to work even harder!
Just being the Hoenn Champion is far from enough..."
Everyone heard Steven's words.
But they were still a little worried about Steven.
At this moment, it might actually be better for Steven to vent his emotions. Although he had a big smile on his face, his fists were still tightly clenched.
Drake also looked at Steven, saying nothing, just shaking his head, a hint of struggle flashing in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it.
Lance, who was standing beside Drake, gently patted Drake's arm and shook his head slightly, signaling him not to worry.
Drake also understood what Lance wanted to express, nodded at him, indicating that he knew his limits, and then looked up at the sky.
At this moment, Aoki and Rayquaza were almost out of sight.
When no one was paying attention, his eyes were filled with deep concern.
...
Aoki and Rayquaza flew to a very high altitude, where there were almost no Pokémon that could live, so they didn't have to worry about being disturbed.
"Roar—"
Rayquaza roared impatiently at Aoki.
Because of his psychic abilities, Aoki could understand its meaning.
"Don't worry, I told you that you'll have a favor that only I can help with. Don't rush." Aoki's smile remained unchanged.
At such a high altitude, he didn't even use psychic powers, which showed that Aoki's physical fitness was not weak now.
This was the result of his intentional training in Sky Fortress.
"Do you see that huge meteorite from space?" He pointed to the night sky.
At this altitude, the meteorite rushing towards the Pokémon planet from space became increasingly obvious, and it was even visibly moving very fast, its size changing perceptibly in their line of sight.
Hearing Aoki's words, a hint of disdain flashed in Rayquaza's eyes.
"You called me just to say this?" Rayquaza's voice echoed in Aoki's mind.
"Yes, you can surely imagine the destruction this meteorite will bring to this planet, right?"
"What if I can foresee such a scene? It's a disaster for you humans anyway, and it has no impact on me." Rayquaza's eyes grew more disdainful; it had already somewhat guessed what Aoki wanted it to do.
Rayquaza can survive in space.
"No, no, no, it really won't have any impact on you, after all, even in space, you can survive.
But what I want to talk about is the Pokémon inside this meteorite!" Aoki waved his hands repeatedly.
"Pokémon?"
Hearing this, Rayquaza was startled.
Aoki's smile deepened.
Finally, it took the bait.
"That's right, within this meteorite, there exists a Pokémon, a Pokémon that does not belong to the Pokémon planet, a powerful Pokémon born in space!
Or rather, a Legendary Pokémon!!
And you should know what it means for a Legendary Pokémon born in space once it accepts its divine duty, right?" Aoki's tone was like that of a patiently guiding "teacher."
Suddenly, Rayquaza's aura surged dramatically!!