As he spoke, Damian also used the power of Viridian, green motes drifting toward Shiny Rayquaza and healing its injuries.
The power of Viridian's healing effect was excellent. In just that short time, Shiny Rayquaza could already feel a lot of its strength returning.
"You human…"
Shiny Rayquaza rose into the air, dragon eyes narrowing slightly as it stared at this unusual human.
Deoxys, honestly, it no longer cared that much about. A Deoxys like that—if it wanted to take it out, it could do so anytime. It wasn't difficult.
But this human…
"You're the one leading them, aren't you?"
Shiny Rayquaza's gaze swept across Primal Kyogre and the others. If it fought any of them one‑on‑one, it wasn't an exaggeration to say it could easily beat any single one.
Including Primal Kyogre.
Even if it fought them all at once, Shiny Rayquaza's confidence in itself was absolute—its power really was that overwhelming.
And yet in the end, it had lost.
Even if it tried to explain it away by saying it hadn't taken these opponents seriously at the start, it was still a loss.
That was a fact it could not run from.
"That's right." Damian smiled back.
"For a human, you're quite capable. But if we fought again, I wouldn't lose to you all."
Shiny Rayquaza's low Telepathy made it very clear it was not satisfied with this battle.
Looking back on the fight now, it felt certain it could have won.
That human had just used Burn, buffs, and other tricks. If it had gone all‑out right from the start and taken Primal Kyogre out before it could max its buffs, that would've solved it, wouldn't it?
Or if Kyogre and the others could buff—couldn't it buff too?
Damian only smiled wordlessly. It was obvious Shiny Rayquaza's pride was sky‑high.
Primal Kyogre was a little annoyed. This black‑coal Shiny Rayquaza really had a hard mouth.
"Forget it. A loss is a loss. Since you won this time, I'll leave that space bug to you."
Shiny Rayquaza flicked its dragon eyes toward Deoxys.
Since this human had said as much, it didn't mind giving him that courtesy.
Regardless of means, this human had defeated it.
Shiny Rayquaza might be proud—but it wasn't completely unreasonable.
"Interesting human. Next time we meet, I won't underestimate you again."
Shiny Rayquaza shot Primal Kyogre a cold glare, then turned its gaze back to Damian.
"I like you a lot too. I hope we get to meet again."
Damian didn't hide at all how much he liked Shiny Rayquaza.
Shiny Rayquaza could feel the heat in Damian's tone toward it, and its mood ticked up a bit.
Of course.
It was Rayquaza, the invincible Rayquaza—
And on top of that, a Shiny Rayquaza with such a unique hide.
Humans loving and worshipping it was only natural.
"I wonder if I might have the honor of inviting you to travel with me, Rayquaza—to go see this beautiful world together as my partner?"
Damian took the chance and invited Shiny Rayquaza directly, eyes blazing.
At the sound of that, Deoxys and Shadow Mewtwo stayed expressionless, but Ho-Oh tilted its head and stared at this human in surprise.
He really dared to think big, huh?
Primal Kyogre, though, was staring at Damian in shock.
He'd actually invited Rayquaza first???
It was clearly here first!!
Sure, it had gone into his ball, sure, it had followed his lead—
But that didn't mean it was already his Pokémon!
He hadn't even formally invited it yet!! Outrageous!
The fat‑headed fish was not happy about this.
What was so great about this Shiny Rayquaza anyway? Was it prettier than it—
Ahem. Well, unlike that stupid lizard, Rayquaza's looks were at least on par with its own.
But still, it was here first!
As for little Rayquaza, it was staring at this human in shock too.
Good grief. Where did this guy get the guts to invite its dad to be his partner??
Respect.
"Oh?"
Shiny Rayquaza froze for a moment, then glanced at the very displeased Primal Kyogre glaring at it—and glared right back.
This stupid fish had really grown some nerve, daring to glare at it.
Seeing that, Primal Kyogre quietly retreated a little. Shiny Rayquaza's eyes were still very intimidating.
"Human, are you serious?"
Shiny Rayquaza asked Damian via Telepathy, very interested.
How long had it lived now? Too long to keep track—hundreds of millions of years, probably.
This was the first time a human had ever invited it to be teammates.
It did feel pretty fresh.
"Of course." Damian answered without the slightest hesitation.
"Rayquaza, I don't know what the 'world' looks like in your eyes—but I want to share my world with you. The journey, the adventure, dreams, reality, and the 'connections' between us humans— all those different 'scenes'."
Damian lifted his head and met Shiny Rayquaza's eyes.
"I want to ask you to come witness them with me."
The boy's words weren't heavy—
But every one of them landed clearly in Shiny Rayquaza's heart.
Shiny Rayquaza narrowed its dragon eyes, studying this strange human.
To be honest, most of what Damian said didn't interest it at all.
It was Rayquaza.
It had already witnessed too much of this world's history.
It had seen countless nations and civilizations rise and fall, rot and crumble with time, vanishing beneath the wheels of history.
Even those so‑called "legendary kings" of some region—
Their kingdoms might've flourished in their day, but in the end, hadn't they all disappeared?
As for what Damian was talking about, it honestly didn't care much.
But he himself… that, it was interested in.
Because—he had led Primal Kyogre and the others to beat it.
If this human had invited its child instead, Shiny Rayquaza actually would've been very willing to entrust little Rayquaza to him for a good, hard training.
But as things stood…
Shiny Rayquaza's gaze slid sideways to Rayquaza.
Yeah, looked like that human didn't think much of its kid…
Well, fair enough. His taste was on point.
Little Rayquaza felt its dad's stare was very rude.
Why did it feel like it was getting looked down on again?
It hadn't even done anything this time!
The atmosphere suddenly went quiet.
Seconds ticked by.
Damian wasn't in any rush. He could wait.
At last, Shiny Rayquaza's low Telepathy gave its reply.
"If the next time we meet, you can still beat me, I'll go walk this world with you."
Shiny Rayquaza's dragon eyes were sharp and imperious.
This defeat was something it would remember for a long time.
But next time—
It would not lose.
"It's a promise."
Damian grinned.
Getting an answer like that, not a flat rejection—he was already very satisfied.
"I'll be looking forward to our next meeting."
"Roar～!!"
Giving Damian one last look, Shiny Rayquaza soared high, its long, gorgeous pitch‑black serpentine body rippling as it vanished into the far sky, little Rayquaza following close behind.
"Finally over." Damian let out a breath, then turned to look at Primal Kyogre and the other legends.
"Good work, everyone. We made a great team this time—and we won."
Damian smiled.
The process had been a bit bumpy, sure, but everything had gone according to plan.
Shadow Mewtwo was quietly lost in thought. Deoxys stared off into the distance, who knew what it was thinking.
A blue glow flashed across Primal Kyogre's body as it dropped out of Primal Reversion—
But for some reason, Damian felt like the fat‑headed fish's gaze on him was a bit… resentful.
"So? I didn't lie to you, did I, Ho-Oh?" Damian turned to Ho-Oh.
Ho-Oh burned off the dust on its feathers with rainbow‑colored flames, its plumage once again clean and gorgeous.
Hearing Damian's voice, Ho-Oh gave this human a sideways glare and didn't answer—
But there was definitely a smug light in its eyes.
As expected of this bird.
It had helped take down Shiny Rayquaza.
But… that really hurt.
Ho-Oh slowly spread its wings and took off.
It had already fulfilled the favor it owed Damian; now it just wanted to go back and soak in magma "hot springs" for a good long time and ease this bone‑deep exhaustion.
"Human, next time you're fighting Rayquaza, please pretend I don't exist. Thanks."
Ho-Oh circled once high in the sky, its Telepathy deadly serious.
It was happy they'd managed to beat Shiny Rayquaza together.
But getting its entire body beaten black and blue? It was not happy about that.
It really did not see any need at all to suffer like this again.
Next time they fought Shiny Rayquaza, it absolutely wasn't coming.
"Relax. If I'm fighting Rayquaza, I definitely won't be calling you."
Damian agreed cheerfully.
For other stuff, though… that was another story.
Ho-Oh nodded in satisfaction.
As long as it wasn't fighting Shiny Rayquaza, that was fine.
Two more things, and it'd be square with Damian.
"Chiu～!"
Ho-Oh's clear cry echoed across the sky as its silhouette dwindled and vanished over the horizon.
Damian couldn't help sighing at how reliable Ho-Oh was.
He had to admit, demanding three requests from Ho-Oh back then had been so worth it.
Though in hindsight, maybe he should've been greedier—like asked for ten conditions.
Looking at things now, three was starting to feel a little light.
He wondered if he could trade one of the three requests for three new ones.
Would Ho-Oh agree to that?
Emmm… better not.
Even a mellow roasted rainbow bird would lose its feathers over something like that.
Damian felt a bit regretful.
"And you, Deoxys?"
Once Ho-Oh was gone, Damian turned his gaze on Deoxys.
"I want to find my teammates."
Deoxys's Telepathy was still mechanical, but its sentences were much more fluent now.
"Then, can I come find you afterward, Damian?"
There was a hint of expectation in that flat, mechanical voice.
"Of course you can. I'll be waiting for you."
Damian's smile deepened.
Looked like he'd gotten a lot out of this trip.
All that fighting with Shiny Rayquaza hadn't been for nothing.
"Thank you, Damian."
Deoxys offered its thanks, then rose high again, releasing its Psychic to search for Individual One's location.
Damian watched Deoxys for a moment, then turned his eyes on the last remaining fat‑headed fish.
Kyogre pretended to look elsewhere.
But in reality, its attention had been locked on Damian the whole time.
It's my turn, it's my turn—finally my turn!
This human had to invite it next, right?
After all, in this battle, it had been the main carry.
Without Kyogre, even this human couldn't have beaten Shiny Rayquaza.
And he'd gone to the trouble of hauling it all the way out of Seafloor Cavern—that had to mean something, right?
It meant this human definitely liked it a lot.
Seriously, he could've just woken it up earlier to say that.
Like it would've turned him down?
Still, it was Kyogre.
Maybe it ought to play a little hard to get…
When this human invited it, should it pretend to think it over first?
Kyogre thought about it with great seriousness.
And then—
"Kyogre, be my partner. Come with me to go stomp Groudon, I pro—"
"I accept!"
The fat‑headed fish dropped every last bit of "restraint" in an instant.
It didn't even wait for Damian to finish his sentence.
~~~
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