Chapter 647: The Curtain Falls, Reactions from All Sides

Standing beside Raichu, Luo Mu looked down at the shiny Rayquaza for the first time.

In his arms he held Tailebages, weakened from the crystalline defense.

Hoothoot also left its Poké Ball at Luo Mu’s call.

It clutched the flower named “Eternal Bloom,” shaking its floral garlands as it rained down pink energy and fragrance to heal Raichu, whose injuries were severe but still standing.

Raichu’s injuries were slightly lighter than those of the shiny Rayquaza, for it was the victor.

But treatment must continue, since the shiny Rayquaza’s recovery speed would outpace that of the Hoenn Rayquaza.

Luo Mu also knew the status of the Mega Swampert and Mimikyu through the real-time alerts of the system.

He had already warned Mimikyu: just delay Deoxys, prevent it from interfering with his plan.

The Mega Swampert and he had struck unexpectedly, weakening the Hoenn Rayquaza.

Even if the Hoenn Rayquaza recovered quickly, once Deoxys #1 noticed the disturbance from Deoxys #2’s “resurrection,” it would rush over immediately.

With two Deoxys and a healthy Mimikyu there, the Hoenn Rayquaza—already weakened by the Mega Swampert—wouldn’t last long under siege.

It knew that due to the power gap, it could not temporarily overpower them.

Then the Hoenn Rayquaza would naturally retreat.

These were all Luo Mu’s initial estimates—but reality left him stunned.

The Hoenn Rayquaza just ran away?

Noticing the text appearing in his vision, Luo Mu’s expression turned peculiar.

Did the Hoenn Rayquaza suddenly change its nature? It hadn’t even been hit yet—why run off on its own?

It was hard to understand.

“And you’ve had enough.”

“How many special effects have you cycled through since just now? You’re giving me a headache.”

As if reaching his limit, Luo Mu mentally grumbled.

Ever since he and Raichu brought down the shiny Rayquaza, the alert system had gone berserk—flashing fireworks and sparkles in his vision, truly blinding him.

【Hehehe, I’m happy, I want to!】

The alert system was ecstatic—it usually just gave directions or chatted occasionally.

Then its capable trainer just went and grew stronger on his own—who could resist the joy of winning without lifting a finger?

Luo Mu could guess why the alert system acted like a hyperactive Husky.

After all, when it first appeared and bonded with him, it had pushed him to travel and grow stronger.

Now that he and Raichu had successfully downed the shiny Rayquaza, its excitement was understandable.

But Luo Mu wasn’t as optimistic as the alert system.

He knew very well that he was still far from the so-called “strongest.”

Even today’s victory over the shiny Rayquaza relied not just on raw power, but on strategy, calculation, assistance from other forces, and understanding of the shiny Rayquaza’s psychology.

Raichu’s own strength—its six months of hard work—was the main factor.

But all the stored electricity from the green-block garrison robots, Terastallization, Z-Moves, and the shiny Rayquaza’s arrogance—remove any one of these, and the outcome might have been different.

Luo Mu would be glad, but he wouldn’t grow arrogant.

Especially since, like last time, the shiny Rayquaza never Mega Evolved at all.

If it Mega Evolved, its power would leap into another tier entirely.

One minute had passed since the shiny Rayquaza was downed.

Luo Mu finally shifted most of his attention to the shiny Rayquaza.

He noticed that, like the Hoenn Rayquaza that had fled, the shiny Rayquaza appeared severely injured—but if left undisturbed and uninhibited, it would soon regain mobility and partial combat capability.

This was the nature of a Legendary Pokémon—even though Raichu had downed it, Raichu was utterly incapable of matching it in this regard.

“How does it feel to fall from the sky?” Luo Mu asked, entirely without malice.

Well, perhaps a little malice—after all, the shiny Rayquaza’s sudden intrusion had cost him a massive number of brain cells today.

“.”

The shiny Rayquaza said nothing, only stared at Luo Mu, as if imprinting his image into its memory.

The shiny Rayquaza had met Luo Mu three times.

The first time, it was flying aimlessly through the sky, hunting small meteorites to feed on.

Curious, it drifted near a flying aircraft, and locked eyes with Luo Mu, who happened to be looking out the window.

Back then, it surely couldn’t have imagined that this human, whom it had merely glanced at, would one day team up with Raichu—the very Pokémon it had crushed during their second meeting—to knock it from the sky.

Fate truly was unfathomable.

Even as it sighed, the shiny Rayquaza showed no sign of yielding.

Even if Luo Mu pulled out his single Master Ball, shouted “Perfect chance!” and threw it at the weakened creature,

the shiny Rayquaza would still give him not a single favorable look.

Disobedience, turning and flying away—those were basic responses; even escalating to a fight to the death wasn’t impossible.

The shiny Rayquaza didn’t believe it had truly lost.

It admitted it had been manipulated by Luo Mu’s cunning, exploited through its own arrogance.

But Raichu’s victory in that final clash relied heavily on external forces—it could never be accepted as legitimate.

Besides, with enough meteorite consumption, the shiny Rayquaza could reactivate its “Emperor Organ” and achieve Mega Evolution.

Then it could crush Raichu and Regieleki.

That was the shiny Rayquaza’s thought—it would never bow.

So from the start, throwing a Poké Ball at it was never a good option.

Luo Mu understood this perfectly, so he did absolutely nothing extra.

The only ways to earn the respect of a proud Dragon God like the shiny Rayquaza were either to defeat it after its Mega Evolution, or to forge a deep bond with it.

Seeing the shiny Rayquaza still staring at him, Luo Mu instructed Hoothoot to continue healing Raichu, then stepped over the rubble and crouched before the shiny Rayquaza.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“You’ve already noticed—the other one of your kind has left this city.”

“I won’t beat around the bush—I want you to leave this city too. In return, if you ever wish revenge, you may come for me anytime.”

Before the shiny Rayquaza could respond, Luo Mu paused, then continued speaking to himself.

“Of course, if you still refuse to leave, I’m happy to keep fighting with you.”

“I know your stamina is recovering—but Raichu has Hoothoot healing it. Even if it can’t unleash attacks as powerful as before, it can still hold you off until Regieleki arrives.”

“Then you might lose even more face.”

The shiny Rayquaza hated being threatened—before, it would have fought to the death, biting off a piece of flesh no matter what.

But this time, it unexpectedly felt a new desire.

It wanted to crush Raichu with overwhelming power, wiping away the stain of defeat.

It wanted to stand tall and tell Luo Mu: I, Rayquaza, am forever the “sky” you can never reach.

Once born, this thought took root and grew wildly in the shiny Rayquaza’s heart.

After a moment of silence, the shiny Rayquaza, having regained some strength, lifted half its body from the rubble.

“Roar—”

It would remember this humiliation—and repay it tenfold next time.

The shiny Rayquaza despised telepathic communication with humans.

Yet even so, Luo Mu could roughly understand its meaning.

It was making a threat.

Still, the fact that the shiny Rayquaza chose this path eased Luo Mu slightly.

He could call Virizion, then summon Regieleki.

If necessary, he could even use the Silver Feather to call Lugia, likely near the Hoenn waters.

But then the entire Laurus City might be destroyed.

The shiny Rayquaza came for him—yet Luo Mu still hoped this city wouldn’t vanish because of him. That was why he stepped forward this time.

This outcome was likely the best he could have secured.

Moments later, the shiny Rayquaza, having regained flight, did not roar triumphantly—it rose silently.

Before leaving, it cast one final, deep look at Luo Mu and Raichu.

Next time—the fourth meeting.

It would show Luo Mu and Raichu, in its strongest form, that your clever tricks mean nothing against absolute power!

Quickly withdrawing its gaze, the shiny Rayquaza departed without pause, flying toward the far horizon.

It had memorized Luo Mu and Raichu’s auras—no matter where they were on the planet, it could find them.

“. Phew, finally gone.”

Having sent away the uninvited shiny Rayquaza in a relatively peaceful manner, Luo Mu finally relaxed his tense mind.

Fatigue surged into his brain like a tide; gazing at the ruins left by Raichu and the shiny Rayquaza’s attacks, he sighed deeply.

“What a mess.”

He came for a vacation, invited to tour Laurus City—a high-tech metropolis—and ended up forced into battle with two Rayquaza.

To prevent further devastation, he even made a “three-year pact” (struck out)—a rematch agreement.

Judging by the shiny Rayquaza’s resentful expression as it left.

By then, the one I’ll have to fight with Lurantis is probably Mega Rayquaza, right?

Huh?

I fight Mega Rayquaza?

Is that real?

Hoenn Region, Green Ridge City.

On the screen hanging in the center of the Green Ridge Universe Center’s main hall.

The female anchor, with a refined but understated makeup and her hair pinned up, said calmly: “That concludes the full report on the recent Lardus City incident.”

“Finally, allow me, on behalf of all staff at Hoenn Television, to extend our highest respect to Mr. Luo Mu, who single-handedly saved the entire city of Lardus.”

The female anchor bowed her head slightly, and the news footage on television froze at that moment.

Nimo, Shinsuke, and Jingxiang, who had just toured the Green Ridge Universe Center, stared intently at the TV screen, unable to snap out of their daze.

At this moment, their hearts were completely filled with shock.

“So incredibly powerful!”

Jingxiang’s face flushed red; she had lost all ability to form coherent thoughts and could only repeat those words over and over.

When she was studying at Joy Academy, she had shared a dorm with a Joy from the Hoenn Region.

That person had told her countless times about Hoenn’s mythological legends.

Because of this, Jingxiang understood better than most just what kind of being Rayquaza truly was.

In ancient times, Rayquaza had single-handedly quelled the conflict between the Creator of the Land and the Creator of the Sea.

Yet this very being had been stopped by Master Luo Mu—alone—and not just one, but two!

“.”

Shinsuke remained silent, but the flicker in his eyes revealed how turbulent his inner state was.

Nimo, who should have been ecstatic and wild with excitement, was now unusually quiet.

She was completely lost in the thrilling realization that “when my teacher fought me, he didn’t even use one-tenth of his true power.”

The gap is truly immense—but she also wants to become as strong as her teacher!

Only now did Nimo realize that the gap she thought existed between herself and Luo Mu was merely what she had imagined!

Meanwhile,

The three had not noticed that a man wearing sunglasses, with short light-blue hair, had also been standing there for a long time.

The man was Noboru, the nobleman who had recently stepped down as Hoenn League Champion and intended to take a break from the title for the next few months.

Because Getten Corporation had some cooperation with the Green Ridge Universe Center, as the company’s heir, he had been dragged out of his cave by his father, Zifu Muhuan, and forced to come here to discuss collaboration.

Noboru was reluctant, but his father warned that since Noboru’s home was right here, he absolutely had to make this trip today.

Otherwise, he would go to the Hoenn League President and Milotic and force Noboru to resume his role as Champion instead of letting him go dig for rocks.

The effectiveness of this threat was clear from Noboru standing there.

Although he had stepped down, Noboru’s actual authority had not changed much.

He understood the details better than most people.

And precisely because of this, he was far more shocked than most.

The Lardus City incident was not simply about two Rayquaza.

The silhouette of Deoxys, a Pokémon from outer space, had also appeared.

Dr. Rendo had already reported the situation and requested the Hoenn League to conceal Deoxys’s existence to prevent anyone from trying to exploit it.

Thus, only a very few knew that Luo Mu hadn’t just stopped two Rayquaza—he had also stopped Deoxys, the one that had drawn the two Rayquaza here and triggered the chaos in Lardus City.

He alone had stopped three Legendary Pokémon.

Even Noboru himself admitted he could never accomplish such a feat.

Before stepping onto the elevator to the top floor of the Green Ridge Universe Center,

Noboru, who had paused to wait, unconsciously uttered the same exclamation his friend Milotic had made to him over the phone last night.

“You’re so strong, I can’t help but want to challenge you.”

(End of Chapter)