A dense thunderstorm had turned the surrounding area into a sea of lightning. Trees and greenery, faced with such a display of nature's might, were reduced to splinters with no power to resist.
Normally, Luxray would hold back in battle, taking care not to cause too much damage to the environment.
But now, it couldn't afford any restraint at all.
Out of the corner of Luxray's eye, it glanced at a spot not far away.
There, Dragonite—covered in wounds—lay on the ground, along with its mother, the Dragonite leader, and its three Dragonair aunts.
Luxray quickly looked away, its clear eyes locking on the pitch-black dragon weaving freely through the sky above.
Rayquaza darted through the sea of lightning with incredible agility, its movements smooth and seamless.
It dodged through the thunderstorm's web of fire with ease, its dragon head swaying gently as it skillfully used the curves of its neck and body to avoid every spear of lightning.
Riding the currents of the air, Rayquaza glided along an impossible trajectory, evading each attack with perfect timing—every twist and turn flawlessly avoiding the lightning strikes.
It was unbelievably smooth.
Panting heavily, Luxray's eyes dimmed.
It knew very well—Rayquaza was toying with it.
Once Rayquaza got serious, these storms were nothing to it.
Luxray remembered clearly: when it and Dragonite had teamed up to resist the pursuing Rayquaza, Rayquaza seemed annoyed that Dragonite kept using Dragon Pulse, which was super effective against it.
Maybe it was also annoyed that Dragonite kept trying to manipulate the airflow, as if it were challenging Rayquaza's authority.
The next moment—
A straight, sky-blue line flashed before Luxray's eyes. Before it could even react, Dragonite was struck by the move and instantly lost the ability to fight.
To keep that move from appearing again, Luxray had to use all its power to block Rayquaza with electricity. Otherwise, under that speed surpassing even Extreme Speed, it wouldn't be able to protect itself—
Let alone protect the Dragonite family.
Lucas had once said, even at the Champion level, it was extremely difficult for ordinary Pokémon to defeat a legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza.
At best, they could only suppress it for a while.
Just like with Mewtwo the first time they met—Luxray had managed to win by surprise with Terastallization, but the next time, Mewtwo's strength had skyrocketed like a rocket.
Calyrex was also an opponent Luxray couldn't face head-on.
But—this Rayquaza was different!
It was so strong that Luxray felt an abnormal sense of pressure!
Not even fighting Calyrex had brought such a vast, sky-and-earth difference.
Just then, it seemed Rayquaza had grown bored. With a flick of its tail, it shot through the sea of lightning like an arrow, appearing before Luxray in just a few heartbeats!
Dragon energy surged around Rayquaza's claws, emerald green and sharp enough to tear through space itself as it slashed straight at Luxray!
Luxray, of course, wouldn't just sit and wait for death.
As long as it wasn't that move, it could still react!
A dazzling light burst in Luxray's eyes as wild electricity exploded from its body, muscles bulging almost to their limit from the electric stimulation. There was a thunderous roar, and in a flash of lightning, Luxray reappeared farther away—putting even more distance between itself, Rayquaza, and the Dragonite family.
Rayquaza's claw struck only air, casually shattering a boulder. With interest, Rayquaza's dragon eyes watched Luxray, who had escaped its Dragon Claw, and the same thought rose in its mind.
Interesting.
Even though it was weak, an ordinary little cat with such power was far more entertaining to Rayquaza than spending all day in the ozone layer, fending off meteors or cleaning up after its younger kin who crashed into the planet.
Looking at the bristling, on-guard Luxray, Rayquaza felt like a guest at a cat café, curious what this little feline would do next.
This little cat was more interesting than many things Rayquaza had seen before.
Even Rayquaza, who had started slacking off after passing the two always-fighting guys to its juniors, felt a rare sense of excitement.
So, Rayquaza tossed out its own cat toy.
A destructive light began to gather.
Charging forward, muscles stimulated by electricity, Luxray suddenly sensed a wave of powerful energy rising behind it, sending chills down its spine.
Glancing back, it nearly lost its soul in terror.
Rayquaza raised its head, unleashing a brilliant orb of terrifying energy into the sky.
Boom!
The orb exploded in the heavens, and shockwaves rained down meteors wreathed in dragon energy—cluster bombs of destruction, bombarding everything indiscriminately.
Luxray's pupils shrank as it looked at the fallen Dragonite family not far away.
They were in the range of the Draco Meteor!
If it ran, Luxray was confident it could dodge Rayquaza's Draco Meteor—but it couldn't bear to do so.
Dragonite had grown up under its care, and they were its most important partners, along with the Dragonite leader and Dragonairs—members of the farm family.
With Lucas gone, Luxray had to protect them!
Without hesitation, Luxray abandoned the chance to escape, flashing before the Dragonite family. With a furious roar, it unleashed all its electricity to shield them.
The blinding light made even the high-flying Rayquaza squint involuntarily.
However, Rayquaza had already sentenced Luxray to death in its heart.
After burning so much electricity and being covered in wounds, Luxray had no chance of surviving this full-powered Draco Meteor.
The outcome was set.
Rayquaza gave Luxray one last deep look, hoping the next time it visited this planet, Luxray would have changed again.
Before it could fly back to the ozone layer to look for lucky meteorites—
Suddenly, a rush of hoofbeats sounded from afar.
A frigid chill spread out, so cold that even Rayquaza felt it in its bones. The meteors were all frozen by this cold, forming bizarre art alongside the icy pillars rooted to the ground.
In the moment Rayquaza was stunned with surprise—
An angry voice rang out.
"Ice Punch!"
With a hiss of rapidly expelled air, a hulking, muscular figure flashed before Rayquaza.
Rayquaza's gaze was not on the Pokémon in front of it, but instead traced the direction the opponent had leapt from.
Seeing the ground split and crack in its wake, Rayquaza instantly realized—this wasn't a matter of speed, but of overwhelming power and explosive force!
Rayquaza didn't dodge.
Not because it couldn't, but because it was too proud to do so!
Bitter cold gathered. Having witnessed the Dragonite family's misery, the Mega Swampert's eyes burned red. Its right fist clenched, a spiral of frigid air coiling around it, air sacs on its arms blasting out gas with no restraint—boosting both power and speed far beyond normal limits.
The next instant—
A dull, meaty thud resounded as Mega Swampert's right fist smashed into Rayquaza.
Crack—crack—
The frost around Swampert's fist exploded, rapidly spreading and freezing Rayquaza before its eyes.
The ice spread quickly, almost covering half the enormous black dragon's body in a blink.
Having exhausted the air in its sacs and unable to hover, Mega Swampert fell but remained on guard.
It realized that even after that full-powered blow, Rayquaza hadn't lost consciousness.
Sure enough, the moment Mega Swampert landed, Rayquaza, still hovering eerily in midair with half its body frozen, flicked its tail.
Crack!
A crisp shatter echoed as spiderweb cracks flashed across the glittering ice in the sunlight. In a breath, the ice burst into countless crystals.
Breaking free, Rayquaza felt a sharp pain beneath its facial scales—a minor, but very distinct, ache.
That one actually hurt it?
Even if the wound would rapidly heal, that pain was imprinted in Rayquaza's mind.
Especially since it could have dodged, but its pride wouldn't allow it.
Stacking all this up, Rayquaza felt a rare pang of embarrassment and anger.
Having previously looked down on Mega Swampert, Rayquaza now fixed it with a gaze full of pressure.
Mega Swampert, standing before Luxray, glared back fearlessly.
"Meow-ow."
Luxray, having survived, murmured its thanks to Mega Swampert.
"Swampert."
Mega Swampert just nodded, its eyes never leaving the furious, tail-lashing Rayquaza.
Just then, the rider of those distant hoofbeats arrived.
Lucas, riding Spectrier, and Calyrex, riding Glastrier, reached the battlefield.
Perhaps sensing Calyrex's imposing aura, Rayquaza finally shifted its gaze from Mega Swampert to the solemn, regal Calyrex.
Rayquaza narrowed its eyes.
This guy... is suspicious.
Its eyes told it there were clearly two Pokémon—but its senses said the new arrival's aura was almost perfectly merged with the horse, as if they were one being.
Dismounting from Spectrier, Lucas first looked at Luxray.
"You okay?"
"Meow."
Luxray nodded quietly.
Aside from some superficial wounds and heavy energy loss from its battle with Rayquaza, it was fine.
Luxray nudged Lucas, calling toward the Dragonite family behind them.
"Meow." (Check on Dragonite and them first, not me.)
Lucas nodded and went to the battered Dragonite family.
"These injuries... I can only use some medicine for basic treatment, then return them to their Poké Balls to stabilize before we get back to the farm for full care."
Lucas pulled out several bottles of medicine from his bag and began treating their injuries.
He didn't pay attention to the black Rayquaza, trusting Calyrex to handle things.
Luxray and Mega Swampert silently took up guard beside him, while Spectrier, though not the best sighted, kept its senses sharp and stood ready to support its king at any sign.
On the other side—
Calyrex's deep green cloak billowed without wind as it stared sternly at Rayquaza, unleashing harmless psychic waves.
Rayquaza received the message.
"Why?"
That was Calyrex's question.
It demanded to know why Rayquaza, instead of guarding the ozone layer, had descended and attacked ordinary Pokémon.
Flying here, Calyrex's psychic senses had shown it many wounded, fallen Flying Pokémon.
Seeing the wounded, hug-loving Dragonite lying on the ground, even Calyrex felt a burst of anger.
Rayquaza found Calyrex's question odd.
These little ones had trespassed in its territory—so, of course, it drove them out. Wasn't that simple?
To Rayquaza, its territory was not just the ozone layer, but the skies above the entire planet.
Usually, if it didn't see them, the little ones could play around however they liked. But if they danced before its eyes—
Well, if it was in a good mood, it might even interact with them.
Not long ago, Rayquaza remembered, it had inspected a flying machine full of tiny humans up close, out of curiosity.
Because Calyrex seemed to be a peer, Rayquaza condescended to answer its question.
Otherwise, anyone who dared question its pride would taste the wrath of a dragon.
After getting Rayquaza's answer, Calyrex lowered its gaze.
"I see..."
Seeing Calyrex bow its head, Rayquaza flicked its tail in satisfaction.
The meteor it had been waiting for still hadn't appeared. Without its internal organs fully reactivated, Rayquaza didn't want to face an equal—especially one with a type advantage.
Not that it was afraid, but after so many years, unlike its brash juniors, Rayquaza would avoid such battles unless provoked.
Just as Rayquaza was about to head home for a nap, Calyrex suddenly raised its head.
It tightened its reins, pouring psychic energy into Glastrier.
Glastrier raised its hooves and stomped the ground, forming a solid ice platform that lifted Calyrex and Glastrier higher.
A biting wind swept over Rayquaza, and the playful look in its eyes turned serious.
Staring at Rayquaza, Calyrex raised its hand, summoning a blizzard.
Frost gathered rapidly, forming a sharp snow spear in the blink of an eye.
The spear spun, its tip radiating bone-chilling cold.
Still burning with anger, Calyrex even reverted to its old, kingly way of speaking.
A cold question rang out through the air.
"Then if I were to trespass in your domain, what would you do?"
Calyrex gripped the snow spear, pointing it straight at Rayquaza!
…
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