"BOOM!!"
With a thunderous explosion, a massive golden beam completely engulfed Deoxys's upper body. The blazing pillar of light shot into the sky with a deafening roar, vanishing beyond the horizon.
Then—
"EUUS!!"
Liam's eyes widened as he stared upward at the falling figure in the sky.
At this moment, over half of Deoxys's body had already disappeared. Rayquaza's Hyper Beam had directly vaporized its upper body and limbs. Now only the lower half of its body remained attached to the yellow core crystal. The core flickered weakly with dim yellow light, giving off the impression that it was on the verge of collapse.
"ROOOAR!!"
Just as Liam shouted, another furious roar erupted from within the smoke cloud. Rayquaza's voice completely drowned out Liam's cry as the giant dragon burst out of the smoke and charged toward the falling Deoxys with savage intent.
Rayquaza itself was also heavily injured. Its armored scales were shattered in multiple places, and the worst wound was on top of its head—its crown was practically mangled and covered in blood.
But the injuries only intensified Rayquaza's rage.
Its massive jaws opened wide as golden energy rapidly gathered inside its mouth. Clearly, it intended to press the attack and completely annihilate Deoxys once and for all.
"ROOOAR!!"
Rayquaza moved with terrifying speed. In only a few breaths, it had already caught up to the falling Deoxys. Looking down from above, it unleashed another Hyper Beam.
The golden blast instantly swallowed what remained of Deoxys's body.
"Huff... huff... ROOOAR!!!"
After firing the attack, Rayquaza breathed heavily. But when the light finally faded and not even a trace of Deoxys remained in the sky, satisfaction appeared in its golden eyes.
Then it lifted its head proudly and released a triumphant roar toward the heavens.
"ROOOAR!! ...ROAR?!"
But then—
Rayquaza suddenly realized something was wrong.
The brilliant aurora in the sky still remained, radiating dazzling colors like flowing silk draped across the heavens.
"ROAR?!"
Its eyes instantly sharpened as it scanned the surrounding skies with suspicion.
And then—
"ROOOAR?!!!"
Rayquaza's vision suddenly darkened for an instant before immediately returning. In that brief moment of visual distortion, something had changed.
When its sight cleared again, Rayquaza saw—
Far ahead in the distance, a massive Aerodactyl was flying away at full speed. And on Aerodactyl's back was not only the human it had dealt with before, but also the supposedly destroyed lower half of Deoxys's body!
"ROOOAR!!"
Although it had no idea what had happened, Rayquaza's fury reignited instantly. Without hesitation, it roared and gave chase, its black body streaking across the sky like a dark meteor as it rapidly closed in on Aerodactyl.
"Huff... huff... eheh... I'm so tired, Master... we're too far away now. My illusion can't keep working anymore..."
On Aerodactyl's back, the exhausted Zorua sprawled out flat with all four limbs spread wide, half her tongue hanging out as she spoke weakly.
"Mhm, you worked hard, Zorua. This distance is enough now. Come back and rest."
Seeing her exhausted state, Liam quickly picked her up and comforted her softly before recalling her into her PokeBall. He then clipped the ball back onto his belt, which now held only two remaining PokeBalls.
After that—
Liam turned his head toward the rapidly approaching Rayquaza, and a smile slowly curled across his lips.
"ROOOAR!!"
The enraged Rayquaza twisted its massive body as it closed in at terrifying speed. Its golden eyes were already tinged with blood-red fury, clearly driven to the edge of madness.
"Heh... this big guy is really angry. Honestly, it's way too petty. All we did was trick it a little with Zorua's illusion and rescue Deoxys. Did it really need to get this furious...?"
"But... this works perfectly. I'd have been worried if you didn't chase after us. Aerodactyl!"
"ROOOAR!!"
"Proceed according to plan! Mega Evolve!!"
"ROOOAR!!"
Seeing Rayquaza nearly catch up, Liam's smile widened.
At his command, several golden chains burst from Liam's chest and linked together with the golden chains emerging from Aerodactyl's body!
A brilliant multicolored light exploded outward as Aerodactyl completed its Mega Evolution!
Mega Aerodactyl's speed erupted once more. As its wings beat through the air, sonic booms exploded around it.
Then.. at the exact instant Rayquaza reached its rear… Mega Aerodactyl suddenly spun vertically in a full 180-degree turn!
"ROOOAR?!"
Rayquaza had never expected such a maneuver and failed to react immediately.
In an instant, Mega Aerodactyl had already flown past it at full speed, reversing direction completely and charging back along the very route Rayquaza had used to pursue them.
"ROOOOOAR!!!"
Only after Mega Aerodactyl had already flown far away did Rayquaza finally react.
And when it did.. an overwhelming sense of humiliation exploded inside it.
Already furious beyond reason, Rayquaza now felt as though it were about to explode from rage itself. Being toyed with repeatedly had pushed its sanity to the very edge.
"ROOOAR!!"
Finally regaining its bearings, Rayquaza stopped hesitating. Red light instantly erupted across its body, and in the next moment, it transformed into a red-and-black blur that shot forward in pursuit once again.
"It's coming! So fast! But... this is exactly what we were waiting for!! Empoleon! Electabuzz!!"
Facing the violent winds, Liam glanced back at the rapidly approaching Rayquaza. Though slightly surprised by its speed, there wasn't much worry on his face.
The moment Rayquaza nearly caught up, Liam suddenly shouted downward below them.
"Attack!!"
"Empoleon!!"
"Buzz!!"
The instant Liam shouted, a massive Ice Beam suddenly erupted upward from behind the rocks below, perfectly intercepting Rayquaza's path!
"ROOOAR!!"
Caught completely off guard, Rayquaza twisted violently through the air in an attempt to evade the attack.
Its reactions were incredibly fast and its movements agile, but in the end, the Ice Beam still struck its tail.
Instantly, thick ice spread across Rayquaza's tail. Though the damage itself was limited, its speed dropped dramatically.
And at the exact moment Rayquaza slowed.. a gigantic bolt of lightning, as thick as a water barrel, descended from the heavens and slammed directly into Rayquaza's body!
In that instant—
The black Rayquaza was illuminated by the lightning, transforming into a radiant golden dragon!