In Chen Shi's impression, Rayquaza was supposed to be cold, aloof, and bad-tempered.
Just like the big Rayquaza standing beside him.
That felt normal.
So why did this little Rayquaza feel… kind of goofy?
Who exactly did it inherit that personality from?
While Chen Shi was still lost in thought, little Rayquaza suddenly sniffed the air.
Very quickly, it found the source of the fragrance—
The Pokéblocks in Chen Shi's hand.
Without any hesitation, little Rayquaza stretched out a tiny claw, grabbed the Pokéblocks from Chen Shi, picked one up, and tossed it straight into its mouth.
"Mmm~~"
"So tasty!"
A spicy flavor exploded throughout its mouth, and an expression of pure enjoyment instantly appeared on little Rayquaza's face.
Back in his previous life, Rayquaza's preferred flavor in the games had always been spicy food.
Because of that, Chen Shi had specially prepared a large amount of spicy Dragon-type Pokéblocks in advance, intending to give them to Rayquaza the next time they met.
Who could've guessed they'd end up benefiting little Rayquaza instead?
Seeing how much it loved them, Chen Shi simply dumped out all the Pokéblocks from his backpack and piled them onto the ground.
Little Rayquaza accepted everything without restraint, devouring them enthusiastically.
As it ate, its body continuously grew larger, while its level rapidly climbed upward.
Not wanting to disturb it, Chen Shi rubbed his hands together excitedly before moving closer to big Rayquaza.
"Now that little Rayquaza's issue is solved… can you satisfy my curiosity?"
Rayquaza paused briefly before casually nodding.
"Go ahead and ask."
"Great!"
Chen Shi immediately became excited.
"I want to know… are there any Legendary Pokémon in this world stronger than you?"
He genuinely was curious about this.
Back in his previous life, people had constantly debated which Legendary Pokémon was truly the strongest.
As the leader of the Hoenn super-ancients and one of the most popular Legendary Pokémon ever, Rayquaza was always among the top contenders.
There might be stronger Legendary Pokémon—
But definitely not many.
Now that the actual Rayquaza was right in front of him and willing to answer questions, Chen Shi naturally asked directly.
"Stronger than me…"
Rayquaza thought for a moment.
"There are."
"For example, that giant poisonous dragon. It's stronger than I am."
"The giant poisonous dragon?"
Chen Shi repeated the words silently before quickly realizing who Rayquaza meant.
Eternatus.
If Eternatus was stronger than Rayquaza, Chen Shi could understand that.
After all, Eternatus was the source of Dynamax energy itself. Once Eternamax Eternatus activated, its base stat total skyrocketed to an absurd 1125.
Sure, in the anime, it had once been caught by the "One Ball Superman" himself—
But that was just anime logic.
This was the real world.
The two couldn't be mixed together.
"And anyone else?" Chen Shi quickly continued asking.
After thinking for a while, Rayquaza answered:
"There are also a few whose strength surpasses mine under special conditions."
"For example, the one who rides the horse. Its strength depends on the amount of faith it possesses. At the peak of its faith, even I wouldn't be its opponent."
"And then there's Giratina. Inside the Distortion World, I can't defeat it."
After hearing Rayquaza's explanation, Chen Shi stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"The one who rides the horse," whose strength depended on faith…
That had to be Calyrex.
The fact that Calyrex at the height of its faith could surpass Rayquaza genuinely surprised Chen Shi.
Back in his previous life, although Calyrex had appeared on most Legendary rankings, it usually couldn't compare to Rayquaza in popularity or perceived strength.
Yet now, Rayquaza itself was openly admitting inferiority.
Still, considering that this referred specifically to the peak of its faith power, Chen Shi could understand it.
As for Giratina—
Was it really that terrifying inside the Distortion World?
At that moment, Rayquaza added:
"You don't need to doubt me. I've personally witnessed their strength."
"Besides, why would I even need to lie to you about something like this?"
"If I wanted to, I could simply claim I'm the strongest."
"After all, it's not like you can go ask them personally."
Crude logic, but reasonable.
Rayquaza truly had no reason to deceive him over something like this.
"You're surprisingly straightforward," Chen Shi said with a smile.
"Hmph. What's there to hide?"
"If they're stronger than me, then they're stronger than me. There's nothing shameful about admitting that," Rayquaza replied coldly with obvious disdain.
The pride carved deep into its bones simply wouldn't allow it to lie about such things.
"Any more questions?"
Chen Shi rubbed his hands together awkwardly.
"Uh… well…"
"At the end of the battle, Groudon and Kyogre handed over those two Orbs to you. Could you maybe… give them to me?"
After speaking, Chen Shi quickly added another sentence, afraid Rayquaza might misunderstand.
"It's not that I personally want the Orbs."
"I promised the people of Mt. Pyre that I'd help them regarding this matter."
"Those two Orbs were originally protected by the Mt. Pyre guardians, so I thought bringing them back would at least give them an explanation."
Rayquaza snorted disdainfully before casually tossing both Orbs over like they were trash.
"Take them."
Chen Shi hurriedly bent down to pick them up before cautiously asking:
"Those Orbs should be pretty important to Groudon and Kyogre, right? You seriously don't care at all?"
"Why would I care?" Rayquaza snorted again.
"These two Orbs are both important and unimportant."
"They're merely tools those two use to store natural energy. As long as they're willing to spend enough time, they can create new ones anyway."
"Besides, these things are useless to me. If you want them, then take them."
Only after hearing Rayquaza's explanation did Chen Shi finally relax enough to store the Orbs inside his backpack.
As long as Rayquaza genuinely gave them willingly, then there was no problem with taking them.
Afterward, Chen Shi suddenly thought of something else.
"Every time Groudon and Kyogre fight, you always come out to stop them. The three of you have been battling for countless years."
"You're clearly much stronger than they are, so why not solve the problem permanently once and for all?"
Rayquaza let out a cold laugh.
"What would be the point of killing them?"
"Leaving aside the fact that although I'm stronger than them, if I truly wanted to kill those two, I would still have to pay a considerable price myself…"
"Even if I succeeded, what meaning would there be?"
"After they die, it wouldn't take long before the world's laws naturally created a new Groudon and Kyogre."
"So tell me."
"Why would I pay such an enormous price to accomplish something completely meaningless?"
After hearing that explanation, Chen Shi suddenly understood.
No wonder both in the anime and in the real world, Rayquaza never bothered stopping Groudon and Kyogre from leaving after defeating them.
So this was the reason.
Actually, there was still one final thing Rayquaza hadn't mentioned.
From the very beginning, the great Arceus had established rules for the Legendary Pokémon.
Private battles between them were permitted—
But fights to the death were absolutely forbidden.
Over all these years, the fiercest battle had undoubtedly been the one between Xerneas and Yveltal three thousand years ago.
At that time, because Zygarde had failed to intervene, those two had nearly beaten each other to death.
Yet at the final moment, both of them silently chose to stop.
Then they each withdrew heavily injured.
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