Chapter 409: Kyogre Crown vs. Black Rayquaza

Rayquaza narrowed its eyes, answering with action.

It twisted and spiraled through the air like a soaring dragon, jaws wide open—a roar of fury echoed across the cosmos.

"Roar—Ang—!"

Since Rayquaza showed such disrespect, Rayquaza had no intention of leaving anymore; it decided to deliver a hammer blow to this arrogant king. From its upturned mouth, destructive energy coalesced, instantly forming a thick black-purple beam that pierced the air without hesitation, striking toward Kyogre Crown!

"Hmph."

Kyogre Crown let out a cold snort; its slowly spinning ice spear shot forth like an arrow released from a bow. The frigid chill clashed violently with the destructive energy, filling the sky with fierce luminescence, the air itself warping and humming under the strain of colliding forces.

Boom—Crash!

Then, uncontrolled energy exploded in its most primal form: blue-white ice mist and black-purple fire consumed and merged with each other, a violent gale sweeping outward in all directions.

Facing the gale, Kyogre Crown remained unmoved, eyes locked on the dark haze, releasing its full psychic energy.

It could barely make out Rayquaza, its formidable physique shielding it from the aftereffects of the destruction beam, now dancing through the sky like a dragon in flight.

"Dragon Dance!" Confirming Rayquaza's position, Kyogre Crown instantly formed another ice spear on each side and hurled them straight toward Rayquaza!

The ice spears pierced through the mist of explosion, freezing everything in their path—even microscopic dust particles crystallized into glittering ice, slowly drifting down.

Their trajectory carved a brilliant blue line through the gray haze of the explosion's aftermath.

On the other side, Rayquaza glanced dismissively at the ice spears hurtling toward it.

Does being quadruply weak hurt?

Of course it hurts—after all, even that Mega Swampert managed to wound me with that advantage.

But if it doesn't hit, it's meaningless.

Facing an equal opponent, Rayquaza would never slacken; it deployed the evasion skills honed through countless "physical mediations" against Gyarados and grounded foes.

With Dragon Dance enhancing its agility, Rayquaza glided effortlessly through the air, weaving graceful arcs to sidestep both ice spears as they shot in at high speed.

As if taunting, Rayquaza tilted its head and spat another destruction beam at Kyogre Crown.

Kyogre Crown's expression turned grim; it gathered wind and snow, forming a solid ice shield before it in an instant, blocking the beam.

Meanwhile, its psychic ally, Weavile, released a torrent of cold from its hooves, creating a frozen platform beneath Kyogre Crown's feet, allowing it to leap through the air and chase after Rayquaza.

Weavile's own agility was never exceptional; its weight far exceeded that of Espeon, and against an opponent like Rayquaza, whose strength lay in mobility, this weakness was amplified infinitely.

Their attacks posed no issues in power or speed—once they landed, the advantage would swing decisively their way.

But Rayquaza kept evading with cunning maneuvers, then counterattacking, leaving Kyogre Crown no chance to close the distance.

Just as Kyogre Crown considered temporarily abandoning its type advantage and switching to Espeon—a Flying-type with far superior mobility—to first lock Rayquaza's movement with Starfall, then strike.

Luo Mu had finished his basic healing of Luxray and Dragonite, mounted Espeon, and hung back at a distance behind the battling Kyogre Crown and Rayquaza, shouting: "Use Trick Space—it can reverse your speeds!"

Trick Space?

Hearing this unfamiliar term, Kyogre Crown frowned slightly, trying to recall if it had ever learned such a move.

Meanwhile, Kyogre Crown's hands moved without pause, reinforcing Weavile's cold breath with psychic energy, unleashing a blizzard that blanketed the sky.

Facing this hard-to-evade area attack, Rayquaza did not back down; it opened its jaws and spat a vast wave of flame, the two forces clashing fiercely, turning half the sky red-hot.

Neither side was foolish.

Rayquaza maintained its mobility and agility advantage, striking whenever an opening appeared.

Though lacking the aura of a true sky monarch, its effectiveness was undeniable.

Kyogre Crown, while suppressing Rayquaza with its moves, kept recalling distant memories—trying to reconstruct a technique it might have once instinctively understood but never used, how the energy should flow.

Finally.

In the instant Kyogre Crown, spear in hand, passed by Rayquaza as it charged with Dragon Tail, it remembered how to activate Trick Space.

But Kyogre Crown did not activate Trick Space immediately.

It knew the formation speed of Trick Space was too slow; before it could fully close, Rayquaza would sense something wrong and dodge with Dragon Tail or Extreme Speed.

So it had to create an opportunity.

When Rayquaza's circling form suddenly straightened, Kyogre Crown knew the moment had come.

Kyogre Crown erected a solid ice shield—but deliberately left a sliver of what could be called a "fatal flaw."

Simultaneously, it subtly condensed water molecules around its body, forming countless ice crystals.

Upon close inspection, each crystal mirrored the tightly packed scales of Rayquaza, hidden perfectly behind the ice shield—even Rayquaza's exceptional vision failed to detect them.

If its mount were Espeon, Kyogre Crown would never risk such a move.

But with Weavile's exceptional durability and the "little trick" enhanced, it had confidence it could withstand Rayquaza's Dragon Tail.

This was undeniably risky—but Kyogre Crown had the resolve to deliver a crushing blow.

With keen perception, Rayquaza naturally spotted the fatal imbalance in Kyogre Crown's ice shield.

Perhaps overconfident, Rayquaza gave no further thought; it let out a thunderous roar, transforming into a straight line of sky-blue energy, generating a terrifying shockwave as it slammed into Kyogre Crown like a blade.

Kyogre Crown pulled the reins tight, its psychic energy surging more powerfully than ever; the world before its eyes slowed.

Perhaps on impulse, Kyogre Crown instinctively formed several terrifying psychic orbs and sent them into the void, then adjusted their angles as if foreseeing the future.

By the time it finished, less than two seconds had passed in reality.

Rayquaza saw only a strange flicker from Kyogre Crown's side—then its body slipped through the shield's weak point, shattering it, and the full force of Dragon Tail's energy poured onto Kyogre Crown and Weavile.

Boom! The violent explosion swallowed Kyogre Crown and Weavile; in the distance, Espeon halted, its expression filled with concern.

Luo Mu, however, sensed a faint psychic pulse entering his mind and frowned thoughtfully, stopping Espeon from rushing forward to rescue, murmuring: "Kyogre Crown has its reasons."

Aside from that half-baked divine battle with the Legendary Birds, this was his first time witnessing a true god-tier battle.

With insufficient experience, Luo Mu felt he should only offer timely advice—not overstep and risk disrupting the situation.

Espeon could only form a shield of psychic energy around itself and Luo Mu, watching helplessly as a massive mushroom cloud rose.

The violent explosion even affected the ground below, tearing up vast patches of earth, shattering the platforms Kyogre Crown and Weavile had created to stand on, and uprooting countless trees with its shockwave.

Fortunately, the wild Pokémon in the area had already fled due to the earlier battle between Luxray and Rayquaza; aside from environmental damage, no innocent casualties occurred.

Moments later.

As the explosion faded, Rayquaza saw Kyogre Crown's aura weaken noticeably, its face filled with triumph.

Type advantage? Still got crushed by my strength.

But in the next instant, Rayquaza suddenly sensed danger.

It snapped its head upward—confirming the threat came from above—and instantly gathered energy, unleashing a colossal dragon-shaped roar that filled the sky.

At that moment, several vortex portals opened in the void; delayed psychic orbs, formed of immense psychic energy, slammed into Rayquaza's Dragon Pulse in a violent collision.

"Precognition!" This made Rayquaza's mood grow increasingly irritated.

That big-headed thing's flashy tricks never end.

After dispelling the psychic orbs from Precognition, Rayquaza turned to finish off Kyogre Crown—but the psychic energy of Kyogre Crown, as if waiting, erupted at blinding speed from the dark haze.

In an instant, blue waves radiated outward, forming a Trick Space of blue gridlines across the sky.

Its range extended for kilometers around—even Luo Mu had never seen such an absurdly vast Trick Space, and a question arose in his mind.

Is Kyogre Crown really using this move for the first time?

Trapped within Trick Space, Rayquaza's expression darkened as it saw Kyogre Crown and Weavile, now covered in unavoidable wounds, emerging from the dissipating smoke.

Was I tricked?

What the hell did this thing do!?

Rayquaza immediately straightened its body, sky-blue energy surging once more.

Whatever Kyogre Crown did, one more Dragon Tail would shut it up! But this time, Rayquaza suddenly realized something was wrong.

Within the square-shaped space, order seemed inverted; under the influence of some strange force, its Dragon Tail's charging speed dropped by more than several times.

In contrast, on the opposite side, two rapidly spinning, razor-sharp ice spears had already formed beside Kyogre Crown.

The ice spears shot out at a speed Rayquaza could not comprehend, appearing before it in the blink of an eye.

Feeling the freezing wind rush toward it, Rayquaza's pupils shrank—completely baffled as to what had gone wrong.

Was it because of Kyogre Crown's strange move just now? But Rayquaza had no time to find out.

Two ice spears, piercing the air with freezing cold, exploded against Rayquaza's body—instantly, a blizzard of extreme cold swept outward from Rayquaza's center.

Sensing its body rapidly encased in ice, its consciousness fading, Rayquaza was filled with bitter resentment.

If only I hadn't lost my Celestial Organ yet… the outcome wouldn't be like this!

Moments later.

A dragon-shaped ice sculpture, shaped like Rayquaza, plummeted from the sky and crashed heavily onto the devastated earth.

A battle where both sides held absolute type advantage and superiority in their respective domains ended here.

Kyogre Crown closed its eyes, feeling the pain coursing through its body alongside Weavile, switching to Healing Wave and Life Dew to heal itself and its mount.

Soon, its whispered words faded into the air.

"You, a sky monarch surviving since the ancient era, differ from me—I draw my strength from bonds."

"Even if you regain your former power, next time, I and Luo Mu and Luxray, grown stronger, will still defeat you."

"But before then, we have no reason to meet again."

Kyogre Crown gathered all its psychic energy, shattering the ice encasing Rayquaza, and as Rayquaza's consciousness returned, it activated Instant Move—the space twisted.

When Rayquaza regained awareness, it was above the ozone layer.

Below, the familiar blue planet had changed; for Rayquaza, slightly poor at navigation, who relied on luck or drastic environmental cues to find its way, searching for revenge now was like finding a needle in a haystack.

Realizing this, Rayquaza was furious enough to curse aloud.

Fuming, Rayquaza climbed higher, lashing its tail to shatter a small meteor, and began eating in a huff.

Wait till I'm done, you horseback-brain, and you, human, and that little cat.

When I, Great Rayquaza, recover my strength, I'll come for you all! Outside Pingdi Town.

Luo Mu anxiously asked the Crowned King again: "Are you really all right now?"

That was Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent!

Even though Rayquaza was in Mega Evolution when it instantly defeated Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon, its Dragon Ascent in its normal form is still an attack that cannot be ignored.

The Crowned King, busy restoring the landscape and replanting vegetation, merely smiled gently at Luo Mu and nodded: "I've taken protective measures—it's only superficial damage. With my power, it's already healed."

Rayquaza's Dragon Ascent is indeed terrifying in power.

But beneath its well-prepared Turtle Shell defense, it only caused slightly more serious superficial damage—the heat from the explosion was entirely blocked.

With alternating uses of Life Droplets and Healing Wave, those frightening-looking superficial wounds had long since healed.

Don't you see that Snowy Horse is already hopping around, boasting proudly to Spirit Horse?

Snowy Horse: I teamed up with the King to cut down the Flying Green Caterpillar!

Spirit Horse: As long as you're happy.

(End of Chapter)