Want to read ahead. You know where
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A dot of green light tore through the clouds, streaking across the sky like a meteor.
In an instant, it descended from the sky and stopped directly above Sootopolis City.
"RROOOAAARRR!!!!"
A high, echoing dragon cry rippled across the sky, sharp and clear, shaking the world below.
Rayquaza.
Its serpentine body twisted in midair, energy surging from every scale.
With one powerful sweep, the legendary dragon soared higher, activating Air Lock, its pressure consuming the atmosphere.
The blazing sun vanished in a breath.
The torrential downpour had vanished just as fast.
The skies cleared. Everything stilled.
"RROOOAAARRR!"
Another cry split the silence, louder, commanding.
Rayquaza's body shimmered with radiant emerald light.
The very air around it buzzed with power, ancient, unshakable.
Its dominance blanketed the land.
Below, even the most hardened of trainers felt their hearts tighten.
All Pokémon released by the Hoenn elites, whether strong or weak, lowered their heads instinctively.
The lesser ones collapsed altogether, trembling under the pressure.
Even Wallace's pride, his Milotic, lay flat against the earth, paralyzed by reverence and fear.
It didn't dare lift its head.
As though even looking might be taken as an insult to the god above.
Rayquaza ruled the skies.
And now it ruled the battlefield.
Only two beings dared to meet its gaze, Groudon and Kyogre, fellow titans of legend.
"Roooar!!"
Groudon growled low, its massive frame radiating crimson light.
The Ω symbol on its body glowed, the mark of primal earth.
But the rage in its eyes had dulled and was now replaced with caution.
With fear.
"Woooooo!!!"
Kyogre let out a deep, reverberating call.
From the sky, it dove back into the sea, its form vanishing beneath the waves.
The symbol of the deep shimmered across the surface as its tailfin flicked, slowly circling, gathering power but no longer rushing to attack.
Across the battlefield, silence fell.
The Hoenn elites stared upward, eyes wide.
"Rayquaza..." someone whispered.
"Is that it…?"
Wallace's expression had shifted, awe, disbelief, and hope battling for space on his face.
"It's Rayquaza…" he murmured, barely audible.
And then, another voice rang out.
"Look, there! On Rayquaza's back!"
Winona, her sharp eyes used to tracking Flying-types through the skies, pointed upward, her voice breaking the spell.
"That's Professor Samuel!"
Everyone turned, squinting into the sunlight.
She was right.
Someone was riding Rayquaza.
And not just anyone, Sam.
"...No way!"
Gasps rippled through the crowd.
Seasoned trainers, all of them, knew exactly what it meant when a Pokémon allowed a human to ride it.
Especially a Legendary.
It meant acknowledgment.
It meant trust.
Even if not formally captured, Rayquaza had accepted Sam; that alone spoke volumes.
And this wasn't even the first time.
They remembered clearly that the sea guardian Lugia, when it surfaced days ago, had also borne Sam on its back.
At the time, Lugia's power had been undeniable.
Even so, some had whispered maybe it was a coincidence.
Perhaps it had simply allowed the ride out of necessity.
But this?
Rayquaza?
There was no doubt.
The legendary dragon of the sky was not something to be borrowed.
It chose who rode it.
"Sam…" Cynthia whispered, her voice caught between disbelief and something deeper.
Wallace, finally recovering, exhaled in relief.
"It must've been Professor Samuel who located the Sky Pillar. He must've awakened Rayquaza himself!"
"If not for him…"
He didn't need to finish the thought.
Everyone knew how close they'd come to catastrophe.
Steven nodded beside him.
"He changed everything."
The other elites murmured their agreement, expressions stunned, eyes still locked on the green dragon spiraling above.
The conflict that had threatened to tear Hoenn apart had finally halted because of Sam.
Because he came riding a god.
Cynthia remained quiet, her gaze never leaving the figure atop Rayquaza.
Her heartbeat pounded in her chest.
She had been searching for him, fearing the worst, when he'd suddenly appeared out of the sky.
On the back of a Legendary.
Even among all the amazement, a hint of something stirred inside her.
It wasn't jealousy, not exactly, more like awe.
And, if she was honest with herself, pride.
That was her fiancé up there.
"I asked you to help translate ancient texts..."
"You summoned Rayquaza directly!"
A voice filled with exasperation echoed among the stunned Hoenn elites, but no one had time to respond.
Above them, the legendary sky god coiled through the air, its emerald form cutting a majestic arc.
Its arrival had struck hope into the hearts of many.
But not everyone welcomed it.
In a shadowed alleyway near the edge of Sootopolis City, away from the chaos and celebration, two figures stood side by side: Maxie and Archie.
Rivals by blood and ideology, but now united by circumstance.
They watched Rayquaza spiral in the sky, their faces dark with resentment.
Around them stood the top brass of Team Magma and Team Aqua, tense and silent.
But there was a third presence now.
A woman in the sleek, dark uniform of Team Rocket.
Calm and composed, her sharp eyes reflecting the green glow from above.
It was Sird, the same enigmatic Rocket scientist once seen in the Sinnoh Region.
Her voice was low and confident.
"I told you both, didn't I?"
"Even if you managed to awaken Groudon and Kyogre... it wouldn't matter."
"Because Rayquaza will suppress them."
Maxie clenched his jaw.
Archie's expression remained unreadable, but his fists were tight at his sides.
They had spent years hiding in the shadows, preparing, studying, waiting for the perfect moment.
All to awaken the ancient titans and let the forces of sea and land clash, to determine supremacy once and for all.
They had succeeded.
And yet... someone else had arrived with the sky god itself, undoing everything in a matter of moments.
A quiet fury simmered in both of them.
Sird, however, remained unfazed. She seemed almost amused.
"If you truly want to accomplish your goals," she said smoothly, "there's only one way."
Maxie's eyes flicked toward her.
"And that is?"
"To suppress Rayquaza."
Archie still didn't speak, but a glimmer of interest stirred behind his hardened expression.
"How?" Maxie asked in a low voice.
Sird gave a soft chuckle. She had them now.
"Recently, Team Rocket uncovered ruins deep within the Sinnoh Region. Very old. Buried knowledge, forgotten to most."
Her gaze flicked between the two men.
"Inside those ruins, we discovered records, secrets about Groudon and Kyogre. About their true forms."
Maxie stepped forward.
"Their true forms?"
Sird nodded.
"The Groudon and Kyogre you awakened... impressive, yes. But incomplete."
"They still possess Primal forms, states of immense power, beyond imagination. In those forms, even Rayquaza wouldn't be able to stop them."
Her words hit like thunder.
Maxie and Archie both straightened, the fire returning to their eyes.
"In their Primal Reversion, Groudon becomes the embodiment of land. Kyogre, the incarnation of the sea itself. When that power is unleashed…"
She let the silence hang.
"Rayquaza's intervention would be meaningless."
Maxie's voice was tight with anticipation.
"And how do we awaken their Primal forms?"
Sird's smile widened.
"That's the best part. The items required, the Red and Blue Orbs, are already in Team Rocket's possession. Our researchers at HQ are working on adapting the energy as we speak."
She looked at them meaningfully, her tone shifting.
"All that's missing... is your cooperation."
For the first time, Archie spoke.
"What does Team Rocket want?"
Sird's expression softened into admiration.
"Our leader, Giovanni, has vision. He doesn't just think in terms of Kanto or Johto."
Her voice dropped with reverence.
"He seeks the entire world."
She paused, letting the weight of the words settle.
Then she extended her hand toward them.
"Join us. Work under Lord Giovanni. And your dreams, ruling land and sea, will be realized. You'll have the power to reshape the world."
Maxie and Archie exchanged a glance.
They were leaders of their organizations, proud, independent.
Joining Team Rocket meant giving up that autonomy and bending the knee to someone else.
But the obsessions that had driven them for so long whispered louder.
Power.
Completion.
Victory.
And Rayquaza… was the one thing standing in their way.
After a long silence, Maxie spoke first.
"…Fine. I'll join."
Archie let out a breath.
"If that's what it takes… I'll join too."
Sird's smile turned sharp, knowing.
"Just as Master Giovanni predicted," she murmured.
"Your obsessions would lead you right to us."
She turned on her heel.
"Come. We've much to prepare."
Maxie glanced one last time toward the distant shape of Groudon, still standing but subdued.
With a sweep of his arm, he signaled his grunts to follow and walked after Sird without hesitation.
Archie lingered a moment longer, eyes cast out to the ocean where Kyogre swam beneath the surface.
A sigh escaped him, regret, maybe, or just reflection.
Then he followed.
The leaders of Team Magma and Team Aqua had joined forces, not with each other, but under Team Rocket's banner.
The next chapter had begun.
And Groudon and Kyogre, though calmed for now, would not stay idle for long.
Their eyes, like their masters, were now fixed on Rayquaza.