"Yes, we ran into Damian and Caitlin in LaRousse City."
Cynthia and Nemona had just picked up a call from Steven.
"What's he doing in LaRousse City?"
Steven was puzzled. LaRousse City was just a fairly unknown high‑tech city—aside from the Battle Tower, there really wasn't anything special about it.
He couldn't figure it out. With Damian's personality, there was no way he was here for no reason.
When Damian did something, there was always a strong purpose behind it.
"No idea. He said he was just here to look around, but I don't buy that."
"Mm. Champion Cynthia, you two head back to Ever Grande City first. Professor Sycamore in Kalos just sent over a batch of Mega Stones. Come take a look."
"I'll have LaRousse City's Officer Jenny keep a close eye on things."
Steven thought for a bit, then told the two of them his plan.
Even knowing where Damian was now, Steven didn't dare move rashly. Armored Mewtwo's strength in their last clash had left a deep impression.
They needed Mega Evolution. Only once the Champions mastered Mega Evolution would they have the power to stand and fight.
"Alright." Cynthia agreed with a nod.
But beside her, Nemona suddenly froze, her eyes going wide as she stared up at the sky.
"Senior! Look up there!" Nemona cried.
Hearing that, Cynthia lifted her gaze—and, unusually, her expression shifted to one of shock.
High above, a massive green Rayquaza was descending from the heavens, aura rolling, bearing down on them.
"Rayquaza!"
Cynthia immediately recognized this super‑ancient legend.
This was Hoenn's mythical sky dragon, Rayquaza!
But why would Rayquaza appear here? There was no way it was without a reason.
"What?"
On the other end of the line, Steven was baffled.
"Champion Steven, Rayquaza just suddenly appeared. It's right above LaRousse City."
Cynthia's dark brows knit. She really didn't think a Legendary Pokémon suddenly appearing over a human city was a good sign.
Most Legendary Pokémon spent their time in deep slumber, or hidden away far in the wild, living in seclusion.
For Rayquaza to suddenly descend like this, there had to be a cause.
"What?!"
Steven jolted.
...
"Knew it'd show up."
Damian looked up at the gigantic green Rayquaza dropping out of the sky, not surprised in the least.
For Deoxys Individual Two to just blatantly flood the area with its Psychic like that was nothing but a direct provocation to Rayquaza.
In Rayquaza's eyes, Deoxys was an invader from space that had barged into its turf, with zero regard for it whatsoever.
"..."
Deoxys had noticed Rayquaza's arrival as well; its tightly shut eyes opened, and the first thing it saw was that awe‑inspiring flying dragon streaking straight for it.
"Rooooar～!!"
Rayquaza's draconic roar shook the sky as pure Dragon‑type energy condensed in its mouth.
Dragon‑type Dragon Pulse!
Deoxys Individual Two's eyes rolled in a strange, eerie way as a powerful sense of danger crashed over it.
It cut off its Psychic scan at once and shot backward into the air.
Boom!
A savage Dragon Pulse screamed past, its target clearly Deoxys.
Deoxys dodged at once. Its speed was nothing to scoff at, and since it had been braced for this, of course it could avoid the shot.
The Dragon Pulse that missed slammed heavily into a building on the ground.
The powerful Dragon Pulse exploded, the deafening blast and rising column of fire swallowing the two‑story villa whole.
In an instant, shrill alarms blared all across the city. Out on a nearby street, not far from the blast, passersby panicked and fled.
Rayquaza, apparently, couldn't care less. Its movements didn't slow for a second. The dragon's body twisted as it lunged again, going straight for Deoxys.
Dragon Pulses spat from its mouth like it was firing them for free, tearing wildly toward Deoxys, which had no choice but to keep dodging.
Deoxys had no idea why Rayquaza was attacking it this viciously and relentlessly. Personality‑wise, Individual Two was even gentler than Individual One.
Even so, it still didn't retaliate right away.
Instead, it used the crystal in its chest to send a signal of truce toward Rayquaza.
Rayquaza, of course, had zero intention of acknowledging it.
"Seriously vicious, huh～"
Watching Rayquaza's utterly ruthless offensive, Damian couldn't help remarking.
This Rayquaza's temper really was explosive. Or maybe that was just how Rayquaza treated powerful visitors from space—extermination by default.
Damian didn't jump in immediately.
Given Deoxys's strength, unless it got careless, this Rayquaza—with no Mega Evolution—would have a very hard time killing Deoxys Individual Two.
Damian and Armored Mewtwo headed toward Caitlin and Lillie. The two girls had messaged him the moment they'd heard the explosions.
Right now, they were standing on a training ground. Compared to being beside a bunch of high‑rises, an open space like this was a lot safer.
If any of Rayquaza's Dragon Pulses went wide, a skyscraper wouldn't be able to withstand the hit at all—it'd get pulverized and collapse.
"Caitlin, Lillie, you both okay?"
Damian reached them and asked.
"We're fine. But, Mr. Damian, what is that?"
Lillie's small face was tight with worry as she looked up at the Rayquaza and Deoxys battling in the sky.
Deoxys had already started fighting back; it couldn't just keep getting pummeled forever.
Rayquaza really wasn't holding back in the slightest.
"Rayquaza and Deoxys. They're both Legendary Pokémon."
Damian gave them a quick rundown of the grudge between Rayquaza and Deoxys—or rather, Rayquaza's one‑sided hatred of Deoxys.
"Rayquaza's a bit too overbearing." Caitlin said, cutting right to the point.
It could at least check whether Deoxys had any actual invasion intentions first. Just pinning the other side down and trying to kill it outright really showed her how domineering Dragon‑types could be.
Lillie also didn't know what to say. She had no idea how to describe her impression of Rayquaza right now.
Up above, Rayquaza's Dragon Pulse was dodged again.
Deoxys, now in Speed Forme, slammed a savage Zen Headbutt right into Rayquaza's chest.
Rayquaza howled in fury as its body was knocked out of the sky, crashing heavily into a building.
The structure couldn't handle the impact; it tilted, then collapsed, a huge cloud of dust shooting up.
Deoxys Individual Two hovered in the air, looking down. Its body slowly shifted back into Normal Forme.
"Roooar～!"
The next second, before the dust had even dispersed, Rayquaza's enraged roar tore through the sky again.
It blasted out of the haze at high speed, another Dragon Pulse erupting from its mouth.
The pure Dragon Pulse streaked toward Deoxys. Deoxys dodged at once—but it was just a hair too slow.
Its left shoulder was blown apart by the Dragon Pulse.
Grunting quietly, Deoxys immediately retreated at high speed.
With a quick Recover, its missing left shoulder rapidly grew back, good as new.
Rayquaza, meanwhile, was already roaring and charging in again.
This time, Deoxys Individual Two stopped backing off. It flew straight to meet Rayquaza head‑on.
Even a gentle personality had its limits.
Two high‑tier legends clashed in a fierce, brutal brawl.
Down below, the city being "innocently" caught in the crossfire was taking the hit, though thankfully LaRousse City's population wasn't very large to begin with.
"Due to an unknown Pokémon battle, all civilians are requested to evacuate the city quickly and in an orderly fashion! Please remain calm, do not panic!"
"Repeating, due to an unknown Pokémon battle…"
Officer Jenny's composed voice echoed over the entire city via loudspeaker.
Cynthia and Nemona were also helping guide civilians to safety.
"How did something like this even happen? Why is Rayquaza fighting that Pokémon?"
Nemona stared at the battle in the sky from a distance, completely baffled.
What really blew her mind was that Rayquaza still couldn't beat that unknown Pokémon.
"And they're… way too strong."
Nemona couldn't keep the awe out of her voice.
She'd always heard stories and myths about Legendary Pokémon from other regions, but they'd been more like fairy tales to her.
Now, witnessing Rayquaza and that other Pokémon's destructive power first‑hand—even just from the aftermath—she felt like the city couldn't take much more of it.
Did Paldea even have Legendary Pokémon this strong?
She'd never heard of any.
Maybe there was something like that in that big crater in Paldea?
Nemona's thoughts drifted.
Even though she wasn't born in Paldea, she still felt some loyalty to it—after all, she'd moved there when she was eight.
But as far as she knew, Paldea didn't have any legends on Rayquaza's level…
Actually, Galar didn't seem to have many either, now that she thought about it.
(Author's note: Nemona's dad owns the Rotom Phone company, and Rotom Phones first appeared in Galar, so that's her birthplace here. As for why there aren't many Legendary Pokémon stories in Galar… those who know, know. Zacian/Zamazenta even had their species messed with by "story.")
"Could this be your doing, Damian?"
Cynthia, on the other hand, was in a heavier mood.
Looking at the city thrown into chaos by the battle, she instinctively thought of Damian.
The whole thing was just too suspicious: Rayquaza dropping in out of nowhere, then immediately getting into it with some mysterious Pokémon.
And Damian just happened to be in this city.
You couldn't really blame Cynthia for connecting the dots.
"Nemona."
"I'm here. What is it, Senior?"
"We're going to find Damian."
"Huh?"
Nemona froze—but when she saw how serious Cynthia looked, she nodded.
Go find Damian?
Senior Cynthia didn't really think this was Damian's fault… right?
Nemona mulled it over.
She didn't think so. Did Damian really have that kind of power?
"Even if this wasn't started by Damian, we still need to ask him to step in. Otherwise, this city really is done for."
Cynthia's expression was determined. Steven and the others were already on their way to LaRousse City, but even if they made it in time…
Even if they did, could they actually stop Rayquaza and that mysterious Pokémon?
Cynthia thought it'd be very difficult.
But maybe—just maybe—Damian would have a way.
Sure, asking an evil‑organization guy for help was a bit absurd.
But in the face of an entire city's survival, that really didn't matter.
~~~
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