Chapter 486: Riding the Black Dragon Dib

The shiny Rayquaza closed its big mouth and savored it for a moment—

"Pffft!"

It suddenly opened its eyes wide and blasted a powerful snort right at All Baimu, who was right in front of it!

The latter, caught off guard, was sent flying outright; Hu Pa was also blown back into the ring with a wail, nearly crashing into Mei Mei Yali on the other side.

The sudden commotion woke the drowsy Hydreigon, who charged over while drooling.

But Dragapult was faster than it, and since it hadn't dozed off, it caught the flung trainer with its sturdy tail right away.

"…Ruluo." It gently swayed its tail to let the trainer steady himself.

"Woof! Th—Dragapult, thank you."

All Baimu instinctively assumed it was Hydreigon—after all, in his impression, only it, with their tacit teamwork, could react that swiftly.

Who would have thought it was actually Dragapult, whose relationship had only recently turned friendly.

This surprised him, yet also brought a touch of comfort. He gazed at it with shining eyes. Raising Pokémon was just like this—as long as you put in the effort and endure the test of time, even the hardest-hearted Pokémon will have a day when they soften.

Not to mention Dragapult had already begun actively safeguarding his safety.

Given its withdrawn personality, in the past it would surely have chosen to stand by coldly, thinking Hydreigon could rush over to save him anyway—no need to waste its own energy.

How different things were now from the past!

"Ruluo."

Dragapult felt a bit embarrassed under the gaze and slipped away invisibly.

All Baimu's face was full of smiles. He patted the Hydreigon that flew over, then turned his gaze to the Rayquaza, which was shaking its head with a look of "this stuff is pretty intense" and seemed to want to sneeze again.

The Advanced Rainbow Pokéblock was a compound flavor, encompassing sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and astringent—but the interesting part was that once ingested, it would amplify whichever flavor you liked.

For instance, a Mawile that delighted in sweetness would eat an Advanced Rainbow Pokéblock, and the sweetness inside would amplify infinitely, reaching what its body considered the optimal taste, bringing supreme, wonderful flavor.

He believed Pokéblocks could rival Poké Balls as one of the greatest human inventions in history.

And judging by Rayquaza's reaction…

Hmm, this guy really loves spicy food—he's getting a bit buzzed.

"What a strong breath!"

Hu Pa flew back out of the ring in amazement, circling Rayquaza's head, "Why doesn't Hu Pa sneeze when eating Pokéblocks?"

Because you love sweet stuff—at most you'd just find it cloyingly sweet.

All Baimu muttered inwardly, opened his backpack and rummaged inside. Too bad there were no trees in the Embedded Tower, so making a fire was probably out of the question.

Then tonight he'd just keep it simple.

"Hu Pa! I'm going to make something to eat in a bit, want some?" He gripped a handful of Poké Balls and opened them, asking Hu Pa amid the flashing Bai Guang.

"Are there donuts?"

Hu Pa curiously sucked on its fingers—probably, like Teddiursa, savoring the aroma the donuts left behind before tasting them.

All Baimu shook his head. "No."

"Then Hu Pa won't eat, Hu Pa is going to sleep." It left very decisively—upon hearing there were no donuts, it immediately said goodbye.

The ring closed.

Aggron and the other Pokémon looked around. Upon seeing the shiny Rayquaza, they were all startled, but once they realized it had no hostile intent, they gradually relaxed.

As All Baimu switched on an incandescent lamp, illuminating the platform that was still somewhat dim beneath the green glow of the ground, Chansey hurried over to help.

Aggron walked to the edge of the platform and gazed out through the massive window at the vast, deep sea beyond.

If only the Embedded Tower faced the continent where the Johto region lay, it might even have been able to glimpse the colorful lights brought by human cities—actually, just light pollution.

Human cities had too many lights; even the night sky could be lit up purplish-red.

Where was this place?

As Aggron pondered, a Milotic cry sounded beside its ear, "Milo~"

The two of them usually shared no other hobbies—just liked to gaze at the sea together, as if they could see something in it. Even All Baimu couldn't understand their pleasure.

Mawile was still simple and easy to understand.

This one opened its phone and took a look. Finding there was signal, it located its cushion, lay down, and played on its phone while waiting for dinner.

Corsola snuck over beside Mawile to slack off, because it had found that only this spot wouldn't be disturbed by any Pokémon.

Of course, except the trainer.

Porygon2 poked out of All Baimu's phone and carefully began scanning the shiny Rayquaza's body. Just like Ash's Rotom Dex, it liked to record legendary Pokémon's data and save it in its database.

Hydreigon really couldn't fight the drowsiness any longer and crawled into the pitched tent to sleep. Its teammates, the Dreepy siblings, joined it.

The night-cultivating Dragapult still didn't show itself—probably still shy for quite a while.

When Rayquaza came back to its senses from the intense spiciness, what it saw was this bustling scene.

Naturally it had seen trainers and Pokémon living together before, but being this close was absolutely a first, so it felt quite novel.

Besides the novelty.

It savored the aftertaste again.

The Pokéblock was clearly only so big, not even needing to be chewed—a single sip was enough to turn it to powder—yet why was the flavor so rich!

"Wooo…"

Rayquaza wanted a few more. The golden dragon-child looked toward All Baimu, who was preparing dinner.

As if sensing its gaze, the latter turned his head, paused in surprise, then smiled: "Want more? Sure, but I don't have much left on hand."

Advanced Rainbow Pokéblocks were already quite precious. After restocking in Cianwood City, he'd run into quite a few situations, and they'd been consumed pretty heavily.

So Rayquaza could have a taste, but eating its fill was basically a dream.

He thought for a moment, simply mixed the spicy single-flavor Pokéblocks with the rainbow ones, walked up to the expectant Rayquaza, and poured them into its slightly open mouth.

After pouring, seeing its closed long snout, All Baimu felt as if he were feeding a crocodile.

"Don't just sneeze at me, okay? The pot and tent will get blown away." He offered a word of caution.

When dealing with a Pokémon as massive as Rayquaza, one had to be careful, careful, and more careful — hadn't a sneeze just sent someone flying not long ago?

If you got close enough to hear its cry, you'd probably go deaf for a while, just like listening to Exploud's voice.

Rayquaza, hearing this, didn't seem embarrassed at all. Quite cooperatively, it twisted its head toward the other side, and after savoring it carefully, felt the spiciness rush to its head, its whole body shivering involuntarily.

So soothing~

It almost couldn't help letting out a little hum, but it really was comfortable.

Baimu watched its faintly trembling body, smiled, and went off to help Blissey make dinner.

And as the various ingredients and numerous seasonings slowly melded together over the flame of the gas stove, an aroma that made humans and Pokémon alike dream of it drifted outward.

Rayquaza, having just recovered from the extreme spiciness, was quickly drawn in by it.

It curiously looked at the big pot in front of Baimu, not quite understanding why the flame would glow — that was one thing — but why did the stuff inside the pot glow too?

And it was very enticing.

It had a dragon that ate dust in the ozone layer every day feeling hungry.

"I'll share a bowl with you in a bit!"

Baimu was quite confident in his glowing cooking; Rayquaza looking over was completely expected. He was normally used to making extra-large portions, so when Steelix wasn't around, he just gave Rayquaza Steelix's share and that was that.

Not long after.

A basin of glowing mixed fried rice appeared before Rayquaza. Besides the fried rice, quite a few tree fruits that Dragon-type Pokémon especially loved to eat had also been added to the basin.

Rayquaza stared fixedly at the fried rice, dragon drool unconsciously dripping from the corner of its mouth, its body lifting as it revealed a pair of three-clawed talons.

It looked at the other Pokémon who had started digging in heartily, and could no longer hold back, trying to bury its head and eat.

A little unaccustomed.

But it didn't matter at all.

Because this stuff was simply too delicious, too satisfying for it.

It even wanted to fly up and sing a song at the top of its lungs to show its joy — no, it couldn't hold it in!

Rayquaza, like a swimming dragon, flew toward the ceiling that stretched beyond sight, letting out thunderous dragon roars as it flew, making its howls echo throughout the entire Buried Tower, the platform trembling along with it.

"Goodness!"

Baimu quickly steadied the folding table to keep the cookware on it from falling, and Blissey also went to hold the gas stove steady.

The other Pokémon blankly looked up, wondering whether this meant the food was too delicious, or too terrible?

The Dragapult elder sister lowered her head and forcibly pulled her little brother out of the food basin — how could it still be sleeping with Rayquaza being that loud!

Sleeping was one thing, but eating in its sleep too!

It turned its head to look at the other dragon eating in its sleep, thinking that this big fellow was beyond its control, so it would leave it for the trainer to handle.

Half a minute later.

Having finished its fit, Rayquaza flew back and ate the remaining food, an extremely human-like expression of satisfaction on its face.

"These are the only two tricks I have to treat you with."

Baimu said to it.

Actually, there was a third skill — Pokémon massage. Although it wasn't a particularly masterful technique, at least the Pokémon in his household had tried it and said it was good… he didn't have the nerve to mention it.

Mainly afraid that the expression during the massage would scare Rayquaza.

Besides, he was quite tired too. After being busy for most of the day, giving a massage to a dragon as huge as Rayquaza really was more than he could handle.

Let's talk about it when there's time.

The bright moon hung in the sky.

Rayquaza was hoping Baimu could bring it more things that pleased it, but unfortunately, after greeting it, the latter crawled into the tent and prepared to sleep.

No other programs whatsoever.

It was a little disappointed, but it also understood that creatures like humans had to rely on sleep to restore their spirits.

Fine then.

It slept too.

Rayquaza slowly coiled itself up, pressing its head against its body, and sank into deep slumber like a snake.

——

Light, pleasant bird calls woke Baimu.

He rubbed his eyes and looked outside the tent, discovering that sunlight was shining in through the hollow in the middle of the Buried Tower, giving the interior some brightness.

And on the steps of the hollow, several Altaria with their wings folded stood.

They curiously looked inside, very bold.

Baimu glanced at the dozing Rayquaza, once again confirming that these Altaria were quite bold. Pokémon's perception of dangerous auras was far stronger than humans', yet seeing such a fierce Rayquaza, they didn't run.

"If you dare come over later, I'll dare to feed you!"

He thought to himself. Inside the tent, Blissey also woke up at the same time, and the noise of getting up disturbed Mawile, who irritably turned over, facing toward Corsola.

Then…

Hydreigon woke up.

With its awakening, all the Pokémon were forced awake.

"Kyudon!"

Mawile gnashed its teeth as it flipped over and sat up, its bangs a little messy and fluffy, looking just like a Miss who had just woken up.

Rayquaza was also among those woken up.

But it wasn't angry, only feeling a little surprised.

It had dreamed.

Dreams — Rayquaza hadn't experienced those in who knows how many years. A being like it that never needed to touch the ground could go a hundred years without sleeping, soaring freely across the sky.

It never expected that the very night it met All Baimu and experienced something new, it would actually dream.

Honestly, it didn't feel bad at all.

Although many scenes in the dream struck it as very strange, this kind of hazy, illusory yet seemingly real imagery hit it just right.

And when it smelled the aroma of food, Rayquaza grew excited once more.

Can it eat again?

That glowing food!

"Mmph, good morning, Rayquaza!" All Baimu turned his head at the sound and greeted it. "After we finish breakfast in a bit, could you take me back to the Sky Pillar?"

He had made plans with Miss Xijiana to return in the morning, and he didn't want to break his word.

Rayquaza neither agreed nor refused, simply staring in a daze at the pot.

This dragon…

Is a bit of a glutton, to say the least.

All Baimu could understand the power of glowing cuisine, but he hadn't expected Rayquaza to be captured so quickly — by all rights, the latter should have been a bit more reserved…

Well then.

If it were the Hoenn Rayquaza, it might really have been more reserved.

A shiny Rayquaza was free-spirited by nature, doing whatever it wanted, never hiding its thoughts.

All Baimu gave the ladle a little toss and began thinking about how to convince this fellow to take him back to Hoenn's Sky Pillar — it would be fine even without getting close.

He was actually also worried that the Hoenn Rayquaza would be there, and the two Rayquaza would end up in a big fight over "contested" territory.

That wouldn't be very interesting.

Eating.

Those Swablu ultimately didn't dare approach — an awakened Rayquaza's intimidation was ten thousand times stronger than when it was asleep; these future Dragon-types had no guts.

While All Baimu felt regret, he kept glancing over at the thoroughly pleased Rayquaza.

He actually couldn't be sure the latter truly wanted to let him go. The brief mind-exchange had shown him that a shiny Rayquaza's personality, by human standards, also fell into the somewhat domineering type.

Especially when it encountered something interesting.

It would be like a little boy clutching his beloved robot toy, unwilling to let go.

So All Baimu was a little worried.

But he hadn't expected that what he thought would take a great deal of effort to convince Rayquaza to take him back was, after he merely repeated it once, very crisply agreed to by the latter.

And it was even willing to let him ride on its back for the return trip.

"Huh? Really?"

All Baimu looked at Rayquaza in utter astonishment. The other lightly nodded its head and shifted into a posture that would let him climb up smoothly.

What's happening? His dream came true this fast?

After just one night, he's become a Rayquaza rider?

He felt it was somewhat dreamlike, and also felt that while he seemed to understand Rayquaza a little, he actually didn't understand it much at all — perhaps he could do more mind-exchanges.

"Thank you."

After All Baimu gratefully thanked it, he sat down on Rayquaza's neck with unusual excitement.

The latter felt the weight on its neck and quickly propped up its upper body, forcing All Baimu to hastily grab its horn to keep from being thrown off.

"Ah! Sorry! I didn't mean to—"

He had just been about to let go when Rayquaza suddenly whipped its tail and shot outward, roaring a sound that shook the heavens as it charged.

"Rooooaaar—!

In an instant.

The bird Pokémon originally perched on the outer walls of the Embedded Tower startled and scattered in all directions. Only after fleeing to safety did they look back at the departing shiny Rayquaza.