Chapter 408: VS Black Rayquaza!

The dense thunderstorm completely transformed the surrounding area into an ocean of lightning, where many trees and green plants could only be smashed into powder without any resistance before such heavenly might.

Under normal circumstances, Luxray would restrain its strength during battle to avoid causing excessive damage to the natural environment.

But under the current situation, it had absolutely no room to hold back.

Luxray's peripheral vision quickly fell upon a spot not far away.

There lay the heavily wounded Dragonite, along with its mother, the Dragonite Leader, and its three godmothers, the Hakuryu.

Luxray swiftly withdrew its gaze, its bright eyes locking tightly onto the pitch-black flying dragon roaming freely in the sky.

Rayquaza shuttled through the sea of thunder, its movements agile and fluid, incredibly smooth.

It flexibly dodged within the dense firewall of thunderstorms, its dragon head swaying gently, cleverly using the curvature of its neck and body to skillfully evade every arrow composed of lightning.

Borrowing the fluctuations of the air currents, Rayquaza glided along an unimaginable trajectory; every turn, every twist, avoided all attacks with perfect precision.

Utterly smooth.

Panting heavily, Luxray's eyes dimmed.

It knew very well that Rayquaza was fighting in a manner that was practically toying with it.

Once Rayquaza got serious, these thunderstorms were as good as nothing to it.

Luxray clearly remembered that when it cooperated with Dragonite to resist the pursuing Rayquaza, the latter seemed to find Dragonite's constant use of Dragon Pulse, which countered it, annoying.

Or perhaps it felt that Dragonite's frequent attempts to manipulate air currents infringed upon its authority.

The next instant.

A straight, sky-blue streak flashed before Luxray; before it even had time to react, Dragonite was struck by this move and completely lost the ability to battle.

To prevent that move from appearing again, it must use its full power of electricity to seal off Rayquaza; otherwise, under that strike surpassing Extreme Speed, it would not even be able to save itself.

Let alone protect Dragonite and the others.

Luo Mu had once said that even upon reaching the Champion realm, it was extremely difficult for an ordinary Pokémon to defeat a Legendary Pokémon of Rayquaza's caliber.

At most, one could only suppress it for a short while.

Just like Mewtwo upon their first meeting; it could still rely on Terastallization and the element of surprise to crush it, but upon their second encounter, the opponent's strength had skyrocketed at a rocket-like speed.

Furthermore, Lei Guan Wang was also an existence it currently could not contend with.

But... this Rayquaza was different! It had already grown so powerful that it made Luxray feel abnormal!

Even when battling Lei Guan Wang, it had never felt such a vast gap... as if the difference between heaven and earth.

At this moment, Rayquaza seemed to have played enough; it swished its tail and shot forward like an arrow leaving the bow, flying at high speed through the dense sea of thunder, appearing before Luxray within a few breaths! Its pair of sharp claws were wreathed in an incredibly dense Dragon-type energy, the emerald-green dragon claws seeming capable of tearing through space itself as they slashed straight down toward Luxray!

Naturally, Luxray would not sit waiting for death.

As long as it wasn't that move, it could react! Bright light burst forth in Luxray's eyes, violent electric currents erupted from its body, and stimulated by the electricity, its muscles bulged to a near-overload degree; only then did a shocking clap of thunder ring out in the air, a lightning bolt slicing through the void, appearing in an instant at a location far away from both Rayquaza and Dragonite's family.

Rayquaza's claw swipe missed, casually smashing the giant rock before it; its dragon pupils, filled with interest, looked at the Luxray that had dodged its dragon claw, and the same thought floated up in its mind once again.

Interesting.

Even though it was weak, for an ordinary little cat to possess such strength was, in Rayquaza's view, far more interesting than staying up in the ozone layer all day, occasionally having to guard against incoming meteors, or cleaning up the mess for that junior of its own kind, dealing with aliens that fell to this planet along with the meteors.

Looking at that Luxray, which stood as if facing a great enemy, its fur bristling all over.

At this moment, Rayquaza's mindset was like that of a guest teasing a kitten in a cat café, curious about what move it would make next.

This little cat was far more interesting than many things it had seen in the past.

Even Rayquaza, who had thrown those two guys who fought as soon as they woke up to its junior and started slacking off, had aroused its interest.

Thus, Rayquaza threw out its cat-teasing ball.

The light bringing destruction began to gather.

Relying on electric current to stimulate its muscles and sprinting with full force, Luxray suddenly sensed a surge of intense energy rising behind it that made it feel as if thorns were pricking its back.

A slight glance backward nearly caused its soul to flee in terror.

Rayquaza raised its dragon head, releasing a brilliant orb of light with terrifying energy fluctuations toward the sky.

Boom! The orb exploded in the firmament; under the force of the shockwave, fire mixed with meteors composed of Dragon-type energy rained down like bursting cluster bombs, indiscriminately destroying and bombarding the surroundings.

Luxray's pupils constricted, its gaze falling upon Dragonite and the others lying collapsed not far away.

They were also within the strike range of Draco Meteor! If it accelerated and ran away, Luxray was confident it could dodge this Draco Meteor from Rayquaza, but it could not do so.

Dragonite was one it had watched grow up, its most important partner, and there were also the Dragonite Leader and the Hakuryu, who were part of the farm.

Now that Luo Mu was not here, it must protect them well! Without hesitation, Luxray abandoned the chance to dodge the Draco Meteor bombardment, flashing in front of Dragonite and the others; with a fierce roar, all the electricity in its body surged out without reservation.

That dazzling electric light was so intense that even Rayquaza, high above in the sky, subconsciously narrowed its eyes.

However, Rayquaza had already passed a death sentence on Luxray in its heart.

In its current state of having consumed a massive amount of electricity and being covered in wounds, there was absolutely no possibility for Luxray to withstand this Draco Meteor, in which Rayquaza held back nothing.

The battle was decided.

Rayquaza took a deep look at that exceptionally brilliant Luxray, hoping that the next time it rarely visited this planet, the other party would have undergone new changes.

Before Rayquaza could fly back up into the sky to head to the ozone layer in search of a lucky small meteor.

Suddenly, a hurried sound of hooves came from the distance.

Immediately after, a cold air spread out that made even Rayquaza feel a bone-chilling cold; those Draco Meteors were completely frozen by this cold air, standing together with the ice pillars firmly solidified on the ground, resembling some kind of grotesque work of art.

In the instant Rayquaza froze in surprise.

A voice filled with anger rang out.

"Ice Punch!"

The sound of air rapidly jetting from air sacs rang out, followed immediately by a domineering figure with knotted muscles leaping before Rayquaza as if teleporting.

Rayquaza's vision did not focus on the Pokémon bouncing toward its face, but instead landed first on the direction from which the other party had leaped.

Watching the ground crack and burst inch by inch, Rayquaza instantly realized that this fellow did not possess extraordinary speed, but rather—ultimate strength and explosion! Rayquaza did not choose to dodge.

It was not that there was no time, but that it disdained to dodge! An extremely cold aura began to condense; having witnessed the tragic state of Dragonite and its kin, the Mega Swampert's eyes turned blood-red, its right fist clenching tightly as the cold current spiraled and gathered on its fist, while the air sacs on its arms expelled gas without reservation, making the speed and power of this punch far exceed its usual limits.

The next instant.

Only a dull thud of flesh colliding was heard as Mega Swampert's right fist slammed violently into Rayquaza.

Crack—

The cold air coiling around Mega Swampert's right fist burst forth, condensing and freezing the Rayquaza before it at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The layer of ice spread continuously; in the blink of an eye, it nearly covered half the body of the pitch-black giant dragon.

Having exhausted the air in its air sacs and unable to remain airborne, Mega Swampert did not relax its vigilance even as it fell. It realized that under its previous all-out strike, this pitch-black Rayquaza had not lost consciousness—

Sure enough, the moment Mega Swampert touched the ground, Rayquaza, hovering eerily mid-air with half its body frozen, swayed its dragon tail.

Crack—! After a crisp shattering sound, spiderweb-like cracks spread across the ice layer glittering in the sunlight; within a breath, the ice layer turned into sky-filling ice crystals and shattered completely.

After breaking free from the ice, sensing a pain that was not great but abnormally distinct beneath the dragon scales on its face, Rayquaza became somewhat infuriated.

That creature had actually managed to injure it? Even though such injury would rapidly vanish under its monstrous self-healing ability, that pain was indeed branded into Rayquaza's mind.

Especially since it could have dodged this strike, yet chose not to because of its own arrogance.

Compounded together, Rayquaza rarely felt a trace of shame and anger.

Rayquaza, which had originally held some disdain for Mega Swampert, now fixed it with a gaze full of oppressive pressure.

Mega Swampert, standing before Luxray, stared back without fear.

"Meow-ao."

Having survived the disaster, Luxray quietly thanked the Mega Swampert before it.

"La-gu."

Mega Swampert merely nodded, its gaze never shifting for a moment from Rayquaza, which was furiously whipping its dragon tail and glaring at it with angry eyes.

At this moment, the owner of the hoofbeats approaching from afar arrived at the battlefield.

Luo Mu, riding atop Spectrier, and Lei Guan Wang, riding atop Glastrier, rushed to the battlefield.

Perhaps due to Lei Guan Wang's unmistakable aura, Rayquaza shifted its gaze from Mega Swampert to look at Lei Guan Wang, whose expression was dignified and serious.

Rayquaza narrowed its eyes.

This fellow... is strange.

Its eyes told it that those were undoubtedly two Pokémon.

But its aura perception told it that the fellows who had inserted themselves into the battlefield had auras almost merged with the horses below them, as if they were a single entity.

Dismounting from Spectrier, Luo Mu first looked at Luxray.

"Are you okay?"

"Meow-ao."

Luxray nodded gently and let out a low cry.

Aside from superficial injuries sustained during the fierce battle with Rayquaza and a massive consumption of energy, it was not seriously harmed.

Luxray then nudged Luo Mu with its head and cried several times toward Dragonite and the others behind, urging him.

"Meow-ao." ("Check on Dragonite and the others before me.") Luo Mu nodded gently and looked at Dragonite and its kin lying on the ground, covered in scars.

"With injuries like these... we can only perform basic treatment with healing medicine first, then recall them into their Poké Balls to stabilize the wounds before returning to the farm for proper treatment."

Saying this, Luo Mu took out several bottles of healing medicine from the small bag he carried and began treating Dragonite and the others.

Luo Mu did not pay attention to the direction of the shiny Rayquaza, because he knew Lei Guan Wang would handle this matter.

Luxray and Mega Swampert silently acted as Luo Mu's guards, while Spectrier, though its eyesight was poor, relied on its excellent perception to "watch in all directions and listen on all sides," ensuring that once the King called it, it would rush to support.

On the other side.

The dark green cape behind Lei Guan Wang fluttered without wind; it looked solemnly at Rayquaza as harmless mental waves rippled outward.

Rayquaza, too, received this message.

"Why?"

This was Lei Guan Wang's question.

It questioned Rayquaza on why it did not guard the safety of the ozone layer but instead came to the planet's surface to recklessly attack ordinary Pokémon.

Rushing all the way here, Lei Guan Wang, through the spreading mental energy, had clearly seen many Flying-type Pokémon Suffers Heavily and plummeting to the ground.

Looking at that affectionate Dragonite lying on the ground covered in scars, Lei Guan Wang admitted that even it felt a surge of anger rise suddenly in its heart.

To Lei Guan Wang's question, Rayquaza only felt it was strange.

These little ones had invaded its territory, so it acted to expel them; was this not simple logic? Compared to the younger members of its own kind, it not only viewed the ozone layer as its territory but the skies of this entire planet... all were its domain.

Usually, when it did not see them, it did not matter how much trouble the little ones caused, but if they danced before it—

Of course, if it was in a good mood, perhaps it would even interact with them a bit.

It seemed not long ago, Rayquaza remembered being curious and observing up close something filled with little humans that was flying in the sky.

Only because Lei Guan Wang was clearly an existence on the same level as itself did Rayquaza rarely bother to patiently answer its question.

Otherwise, if anyone dared to question its arrogance, it would make them understand what the wrath of a dragon was.

Upon receiving Rayquaza's answer, Lei Guan Wang lowered its eyes.

"Is that so..."

Seeing Lei Guan Wang lower its head, Rayquaza swayed its tail in satisfaction.

The meteor it was waiting for had not yet appeared; before reactivating the organs within its body, it did not wish to fight a fellow of equal rank that also possessed a type advantage over it.

Although it was not afraid to fight in earnest, unlike its rash junior who fought whoever it saw, Rayquaza, having experienced more, generally tried to avoid too many battles with equals unless it was in a playful mood.

This was premised on the other side not provoking it first.

Just as Rayquaza, having played enough, planned to happily flee home to sleep, Lei Guan Wang suddenly raised its head.

It tightened the bond reins, pouring mental energy continuously into Glastrier beneath it.

Glastrier smoothly reared its front hooves and struck the ground heavily; extreme cold air formed a solid layer of ice on the ground, and as the cold air continued to surge forth, the ice layer began lifting Lei Guan Wang and Glastrier upward.

A biting cold wind swept over Rayquaza's body, and its dragon eyes, which had been twinkling with a carefree, playful expression, instantly turned serious.

Gazing at Rayquaza, Lei Guan Wang raised a hand slightly, causing the wind and snow to rage wildly.

Under the amplification of mental energy, frost gathered rapidly, condensing into a sharp spear of snow in the blink of an eye.

Controlled by Lei Guan Wang, the snow spear rotated slowly; its tip seemed to harbor an extremely cold spiraling chill, emitting a bone-piercing, biting cold air.

Due to the faint anger simmering in his heart, Lei Guan Wang had even reverted to his old form of address from when he was still a king.

A cold question rippled through the air.

"Then, if I were to step into your domain, what would you do?"

Lei Guan Wang gripped the snow spear, its tip pointing directly at Rayquaza! (End of Chapter)