Chapter 545: Mega Wholesale

In the instant he was about to fall.

A pulling force suddenly came from behind All Baimu, suspending him mid-air.

"Pryce!"

The Porygon-II, transformed into a great umbrella, cast a patch of shadow, with small floating electric orbs spinning around its perimeter.

This form helped shield against ultraviolet rays and also conserved its energy.

"Thanks."

All Baimu managed to say, quickly donning the mask he had prepared in advance, relying on the compressed oxygen canister inside to supply air and steady his breathing.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that cold?

Felt like minus five or six degrees Celsius… still within the tolerance range of the regular Lava Suit.

Any higher and he'd probably need the space-suit version — that thing was black tech capable of accompanying a single Rayquaza through the atmosphere, representing the Magma Team's pinnacle of technological achievement.

He figured he must currently be in the stratosphere, probably still near the top of it.

Of course, none of that mattered.

What mattered was.

Where's the dragon?

All Baimu looked left and right, then glanced down at the sea of clouds below, remembering he'd asked Hu Pa to open a portal about a hundred meters from the Shiny Rayquaza — could it be…

He whipped his head around and suddenly spotted, behind the golden ring, a familiar pitch-black dragon head curiously watching him and the ring, its two front claws swaying up and down in a grabbing motion.

"Hey…"

"Sshiiaa—!"

Before All Baimu could even open his mouth to catch up, the Shiny Rayquaza excitedly let out a long roar first.

Visible ripples of sound pulsed through the air,

Fortunately its roar was mainly directed toward the higher sky, otherwise he'd have been left dizzy for a while at the very least.

"L-long time no see, sorry I haven't come to visit in so long…"

He hurriedly shouted, nearly screaming at the top of his lungs for fear the Shiny Rayquaza couldn't hear him clearly.

However.

The Shiny Rayquaza was far more eager than he was.

The big fellow was seen spiraling around the golden ring, its massive head charging straight over; unable to dodge, All Baimu was slammed against it with a slap, forced into close contact.

"Urgh!"

His stomach churning, he felt like he was about to throw up his breakfast.

Getting along with an enormous Pokémon like Rayquaza was already extremely difficult to begin with, and this one had a rough personality to boot.

Lucky he was sturdy, otherwise that one bump alone would've been enough to crack a few ribs.

This guy!

All Baimu gritted his teeth, and with great effort and Porygon-II's help, finally managed to flip himself over; the latter shifted into a seat-like shape so he could grip Rayquaza's broad dragon horns with both hands.

But before he could even catch his breath, Rayquaza, seemingly noticing he'd settled in, twisted its body and, like a long dragon, roared as it dove toward the ground.

"Aaoo—"

"……"

All Baimu felt his face being forcibly stretched beneath the mask, thinking this was far more thrilling than any roller coaster.

A roller coaster only drops a few dozen meters at most — Rayquaza was plummeting straight down from ten thousand meters!

Just because you're not human doesn't mean I'm not one either!

Full of grief and fury with nowhere to vent, he could only force himself to act as if nothing had happened; after Rayquaza left, Hu Pa poked its head out from the golden ring, looked around, and only saw the Shiny Rayquaza reduced to a tiny black dot.

"Little White left so fast!"

Hu Pa muttered, retreating back into the golden ring and closing the portal.

It really wanted to go with All Baimu to play with Rayquaza, but Balza and Mei Mei Yali had both earnestly asked for its help, so it had no choice but to suppress its playful urges.

Playing was important, but Balza and Mei Ya Li's request was even more important!

Hu Pa drifted toward a crowded area, hoping to see if anyone needed its help.

Suddenly.

Someone it didn't quite recognize, but who was very familiar with 【Little White】, stopped it.

"Hu Pa-chan, where's All Baimu?"

"Little White went to play with Rayquaza!"

"……Huh?"

Master Liu Ge froze for a moment, thinking he'd misheard. "You said who went to play with who?"

"Little White! Went to play with Rayquaza!"

Hu Pa, also thinking he hadn't heard clearly, loudly repeated it.

Naturally, Master Liu Ge, completely unable to make sense of this sentence, was practically covered in question marks.

Who was Little White?

All Baimu's nickname?

He went to play with Rayquaza? Someone nicknamed Rayquaza?

Champion Dawu, who was about to leave, happened to overhear; seeing Master Liu Ge's expression of utter disbelief, he gave a slightly helpless smile and told him the whole story of how All Baimu had formed a bond of friendship with the Shiny Rayquaza.

Master Liu Ge: "……"

He covered his forehead, bowed his head, and let out a long exhale. "Hiss—haa—"

A thought flashed through his mind:

How about we just officially appoint the champion of the Orange League right now.

How are you even supposed to fight that!

That's the legendary Pokémon Rayquaza!

A special existence that humanity still cannot comprehend to this very day!

Didn't we agree you were going out to find Lugia of the Orange Islands? How did you end up finding Rayquaza? Do these two Pokémon even have anything in common?

Wait a moment.

Lugia—he'd already found it.

One wasn't enough, so you went and got another one…

Playing legendary beast stacking game!

Master Liu Ge took a deep breath, a proper smile resurfacing on his face, and said to Champion Dawu: "My apologies, you've been shown a poor spectacle."

"Not at all, not at all…"

On another note.

As Rayquaza pierced through the thick cloud layer, a stretch of land somewhat unfamiliar to All Baimu came into his view.

"Kalos…"

All Baimu immediately understood that Rayquaza had, in accordance with his request, been staying in the airspace above Flare Laboratory, watching over the legendary giant stone below.

Did it see when Z2 was captured?

If it did, what kind of thoughts does it now hold toward humanity?

Regardless.

"You've worked hard."

He gently patted Rayquaza's head beneath him with soft eyes.

"Raaa—"

Rayquaza let out a low cry, spiraling down toward an uninhabited island off the coast of Kalos.

It could certainly live in the upper atmosphere for extended periods without descending, but to communicate normally with humans, it still had to return to the ground—

Past experience had taught it as much.

"Hm? What's this island?"

All Baimu gazed down at the island below, feeling the unusual pulse from his chest and the slight shaking of a few Poké Balls in his pocket, and said in surprise: "Super Island?"

Super Island.

A mysterious island that first appeared during his journey, home to a large number of Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution, and also harboring quite a few Mega Stones.

It directly turned what was originally a rather rare Mega Evolution into something that could be bought in bulk.

But strictly speaking.

Although this island was uninhabited, it was managed by Korrina, the former Gym Leader of the Shalour Gym.

"This might cause a misunderstanding…"

All Baimu twitched the corner of his mouth, hoping only to finish his spiritual communion with Rayquaza before Korrina arrived.

Without a doubt.

He was well aware why Rayquaza had brought him down to the ground.

A moment later.

Rayquaza landed on the highest cliff of Super Island. All Baimu removed his mask and looked down, immediately seeing Pokémon of all sorts scurrying away in every direction.

Among them were no shortage of late-bloomer Pokémon like Salamence and Garchomp.

"Looks like we've accidentally wandered onto someone else's territory."

He said this to Rayquaza, but the latter did not answer, merely fixing him with those brilliant golden eyes without blinking, brimming with anticipation.

All Baimu helplessly reached out a hand and pressed his palm against its snout.

Hear your voice, speak my voice

With highly condensed spiritual power and practiced technique, despite a full month having passed, he still very easily brought Rayquaza into the mindscape.

The long-awaited scene made Rayquaza quite excited, nearly unable to hold back a roar.

All Baimu hurriedly raised a hand to soothe it.

Afterwards.

The spiritual exchange began.

The various events that had occurred since their parting were transmitted to Rayquaza one by one by All Baimu, and after digesting them, Rayquaza also transmitted back some scenes it had witnessed after arriving in Kalos.

Along with a bundle of emotions given concrete form.

Yet it was not resentment toward All Baimu for leaving it in Kalos for so long—one month was, for the long-lived Rayquaza, but a single instant.

But the many things that happened during this "instant" made it absolutely overjoyed.

Whether it was the strange pulses that occasionally emanated from the legendary giant stone, or the bizarre experiments Flare Team was conducting on certain unknown islands, including the pursuit and capture of Z1 and Z2, all of it gave it an extra thrill.

That's right.

Thrill.

The shiny Rayquaza was a mischievous sort who would actively poke at the Hoenn Rayquaza's bad side just for fun—of course seeing these scenes it had rarely witnessed before was thrilling.

Even it felt that Flare Team's actions had a "something big is coming" vibe to them.

As for whether it was angry when Z2 was captured…

Sorry.

It really didn't feel all that much.

All Baimu moved his hand away from Rayquaza's snout, his expression as he looked at the latter extraordinarily complicated.

There was once a saying circulating online—

【Humans aspire to understand the legendary Pokémon, but the legendary Pokémon have never cared about humans.】

This saying is definitely not right.

But from another angle, it seems to say that legendary Pokémon have never wanted to understand human thoughts — not out of arrogance.

But a gap in consciousness.

Legendary Pokémon think in ways vastly different from humans; they often care about things humans don't, and don't care about things humans do.

Even between legendary Pokémon and legendary Pokémon, there exist deep chasms.

"Um… I still have something I want to ask of you…"

Baimu watched Rayquaza, whose eyes were now sparkling as it gradually finished digesting the images he had transmitted, and pulled out Pokéblocks, pre-prepared food, and the like from his backpack.

"Pshh!"

Two streams of white smoke shot from Rayquaza's snout as it began to enjoy the feast the person before it had prepared, and listened to the other's request.

——

Not long after.

Baimu gazed at the Shiny Rayquaza flying away and sighed.

Although he really wanted to get closer to this fellow, there were still many urgent matters to attend to, so he could only wait until everything was settled first.

What a pity.

The Shiny Rayquaza, on the other hand, looked quite satisfied.

Presumably its recent experiences had made it feel quite exciting, and combined with the high-quality Pokéblocks and glowing dishes being delicious enough.

"…Let's get going."

He muttered softly, took out his phone, and prepared to contact Barza.

At this moment.

"Who's there!"

A sudden loud shout came from beside his ear.

Baimu's mouth corner twitched; he raised both hands and turned to face the newcomer—

An old man in purple clothing, with grizzled long hair, a broom-like tied-up beard, a Key Stone embedded in the middle, and extraordinarily long eyebrows.

Kokolint — Mega Evolution Sage form.

Behind the old man floated an Alakazam, its glowing purple outline indicating its Psychic was primed and ready.

"A good citizen… pfft, an ordinary Trainer who wandered in by accident."

He replied in a clear, logical manner.

"An ordinary Trainer?"

The long-haired old man was clearly not very satisfied with his answer, and asked again: "Was that Shiny Rayquaza that just flew away your Pokémon?"

"How could it be? It's just the target I'm chasing — it's precisely because of it that I accidentally wandered onto this island."

Baimu was certain Kokolint had not seen the scene of him communicating with the Shiny Rayquaza, so he casually made something up.

Although it was made up, every word was true.

"Chasing a Shiny Rayquaza?"

Kokolint repeated it like a parrot, but it was obvious he already believed seventy or eighty percent of it — after all, chasing legendary Pokémon was something most Trainers in the world were doing.

He lowered his walking stick.

Kokolint was about to say something else when his gaze suddenly fell on Baimu's chest, and said as if he could see through it: "A Key Stone!?"

The latter produced his Mega Pendant and said frankly:

"Sharp eyes, old sir."

"…You're actually here looking for Mega Stones, aren't you?"

Kokolint said out of nowhere, his expression once again turning serious.

"Really not."

Baimu explained in a calm tone.

After all, he was the one who had inexplicably appeared in someone else's jurisdiction first, so being suspected was only natural — but being unable to explain clearly was a bit of a headache.

"All my Pokémon already have Mega Stones. Would you like me to show you?"

He took out two Luxury Balls, looked at Kokolint, and said: "May I open the Poké Balls?"

Kokolint was silent, looking at the righteous and composed Baimu, then glancing at the two well-maintained pitch-black Luxury Balls in his hand.

"…Please."

"Alright."

Pop pop.

White light flashed.

Aggron and Mawile landed, first looking at Kokolint and Alakazam in confusion, then upon noticing the other's combative expressions, both stepped back to shield Baimu.

"Guoh!"

"Cheedoo!"

The two Pokémon glared at Kokolint and Alakazam with unfriendly looks.

Kokolint's gaze, meanwhile, fell on the floral ornament atop Mawile's head and the Kong Dong on Aggron's side, and his expression rapidly shifted from serious to awkward.

"Ahahahaha, I see, sorry about that, youngster — I misunderstood you."

He scratched his head, then simply took off his wig and fake beard, revealing his true face.

Mawile and Aggron both stared wide-eyed, both shocked by the scene before them.

So the hair and beard can actually be taken off?

"I am Coco, the former Gym Leader of the Shala Gym. This island is under my jurisdiction. Because the Mega Stones here are all very important, I got a little worked up for a moment."

Coco's face showed a look of shame, and he apologized repeatedly, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"It's fine. As long as the misunderstanding is cleared up, that's enough."

All Baimu nodded and said, "I'm the one who came uninvited in the first place — if anyone should apologize, it's me. You've come at just the right time; please point me a clear path so I can leave here safely."

Summoning Hu Pa openly was out of the question, so he decided to borrow Coco's boat and head to Shala City to rest for a bit.

The ten-thousand-meter-high roller coaster still had him a little dizzy.

"Of course. Please come with me."

Coco agreed without the slightest hesitation, led All Baimu onto his speedboat docked outside the island, and they rode all the way to a building that looked like a castle.

When they disembarked.

Coco proactively invited him, "Since you've come to Shala City, and you're a Mega Evolution bearer as well, why not take a look around the Refining Tower?"

The Refining Tower, huh…

All Baimu gazed at the enormous castle before him and nodded, "Then I'd trouble you for that."

"Hey, it's nothing."

Coco smiled slightly and pushed open the great doors of the Refining Tower.

The Shala Gym happened to be located inside the Refining Tower, and as the two walked in, they could hear especially fierce booming explosions coming from within.

"Today a very powerful challenger has come, who also possesses Mega Evolution. The one battling him is my granddaughter, the current Gym Leader. Would you be interested in taking a look?"

Coco asked with his mouth, but in reality had already brought All Baimu to the spectator seats on the side.

He looked down below, and was immediately startled.

"Alain? Charizard?"

On the earthen-yellow field, the Pokémon fighting desperately against Mega Lucario, and the Trainer commanding it, were unmistakably Charizard and the tool-man Alain.

And this scene also signaled that the movie version *Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel* had already begun.