Lilycove City.
Deep within a seafloor cavern completely untouched by sunlight, a pair of cold eyes flashed with a razor-sharp gleam.
Massive wing-like fins slowly unfurled, churning the freezing seawater and kicking up a whirlpool nearly a hundred meters in diameter at the bottom of the cave.
Beneath the pitch-black depths of the ocean, a behemoth nearly thirty meters long slowly moved its body. The crimson patterns engraved across its form pulsed with an eerie, unnatural red light in sync with its movements.
This was the God of the Ocean, the super-ancient Pokémon, Primal Kyogre!
At this moment, the awakened Kyogre could clearly sense a powerful energy that made it incredibly ravenous radiating from a sea area far away from here.
If it could absorb that energy, let alone completely suppressing Groudon in the future, even if its destined rival Rayquaza—who always managed to overpower it—showed up, it wouldn't be impossible to drag it down from the sky.
"WOOO——!!!"
However, the mere mention of Rayquaza caused this deep-sea overlord to bare its fangs, its wing-fins violently swatting out a massive wave.
—Toward the "God of Suppression" who ruled the skies, the destined rival whose strength far surpassed both its own and Groudon's, Kyogre harbored not only a degree of fear and wariness, but also a deep sense of irritation that made it grind its teeth in anger every time it thought about it.
It couldn't be helped. It was one thing for Rayquaza to be strong enough to 1v2 them, but its fighting style was also incredibly underhanded.
Even before fighting Groudon, Kyogre had never thought about using [Calm Mind] to stack its Special Attack while traveling to the battlefield. After all, once the venue was set, a battle between destined rivals had to be fair and square. What they wanted was the exhilarating thrill of exchanging massive beams of energy head-on.
But that guy Rayquaza was different. The moment it entered the field, it would twist its body and perform a Dragon Dance.
It would roar and intimidate them at the start of the battle, taking the opportunity to sneak in a Dragon Dance.
When beams clashed and kicked up smoke, it would secretly sneak in a Dragon Dance.
While dodging attacks, it would sneak in a Dragon Dance.
When knocked back to a distance, it would sneak in a Dragon Dance.
In the end, before it and Groudon could even react, a [Dragon Ascent] backed by six stacks of Dragon Dance would come crashing straight into their kidneys.
Therefore, every single time the super-ancient Pokémon battled, the plot was surprisingly identical. Kyogre and Groudon would successively awaken, pick a spot, and fight over energy and territory. And when their battle reached its climax and they were on the verge of destroying the Hoenn region, Rayquaza would descend from the heavens, using its overwhelming strength and authority to force them back into a deep slumber.
However, it seemed a massive anomaly had occurred this time.
Kyogre rolled its eyes, its cold pupils flashing with increasing vitality.
Just as it awakened moments ago, it was surprised to discover that Rayquaza's aura seemed to have vanished.
—It wasn't that its power had weakened, but rather that it genuinely couldn't be sensed at all, as if it had evaporated from the face of the earth.
Could it be that that guy Rayquaza had run off to some other corner of outer space, making it impossible even for a fellow super-ancient Pokémon like itself to perceive and track its aura?
After pondering for a long time, the deep-sea overlord admitted it couldn't figure it out.
But for Kyogre, this was absolutely fantastic news. After all, without Rayquaza's checks and balances, it could freely and recklessly use its authority of ocean creation, using torrential rainstorms to amplify its own strength.
Thinking about it this way, Groudon's situation was probably similar to its own.
Kyogre couldn't help but start looking forward to the upcoming massive battle.
Although it had just awakened from a long slumber and its strength was only at about sixty percent of its peak, even with this severe decline in power, defeating its old rival Groudon and ultimately seizing the energy of that seven-colored meteorite shouldn't be a problem at all.
"WOOO——!!!"
Thinking of this, even though it was currently holed up in a cave resting and recovering, Kyogre's mood became exceptionally excited.
Its eyes, which had transformed into a molten-gold orange-red, seemed to pierce through the endless, boundless ocean, already capable of seeing the continuously erupting Mt. Chimney in the distance.
A day without Rayquaza...
You better prepare to fight me for three hundred rounds, Groudon!!!
...
Eleven hours remained until Kyogre and Groudon awakened and clashed.
After flying over the skies of Pacifidlog Town, an isolated island gradually appeared on the boundless horizon of the ocean.
As their flight speed decreased, the oncoming sea breeze lessened slightly. On the isolated island, an ancient, towering pillar taking the form of a triangular prism quickly entered Hakuya's line of sight.
That was their destination for this trip, the habitat of Rayquaza: the Sky Pillar.
"Phew~ I didn't expect it to only take half an hour to get here, even though it's so far away." Riding on Latias's back, Hakuya looked at the towering pillar before him, its peak piercing through the clouds, and couldn't help but sigh in admiration.
Thousands of years ago, the Draconid people built this stone tower that reached into the clouds. Even with the help of Pokémon at the time, it remained a massive architectural undertaking.
And although weathered by time, giving the exterior of this "Sky Pillar" a somewhat dilapidated and ancient look, it was precisely because of this historical accumulation that it possessed an even more sublime and majestic aura, leaving one in awe.
Recalling the lore, Rayquaza resided in the skies above the Dragon unnamable Altar at the very top. Flying over there so recklessly would highly likely incur the wrath of Rayquaza, who placed extreme importance on territorial security. Therefore, Hakuya ultimately chose to have Latias fly to the base of the tower, planning to climb the stairs up step by step.
[Idiot Trainer! Haven't you ridden me enough already?!]
Beneath him, Latias turned her head, her tone filled with annoyance.
Against the backdrop of the cloud-filled sky, her flushed, red face was exceptionally eye-catching.
There was a reason for her blush. After all, during that flight just now, besides sweating profusely from rushing, Latias felt like she had been touched all over by her Trainer. She was burning up inside.
"Sorry, sorry! But it's not like you have a clutch or a handbrake, Latias! It was really hard for me too, okay..."
Jumping down from Latias's back, Hakuya looked at the little jet plane puffing her cheeks in embarrassed anger and sighed helplessly.
Compared to when they explored the cave ruins on the outskirts of Rustboro City earlier, the ultra-long-distance cross-ocean flight from Rustboro to the Sky Pillar clearly demanded much more from the "driver's" skills.
Latias's flying capabilities were simply too outstanding.
Her streamlined body, combined with a flight speed much faster than a jet plane in her Mega-evolved form, and her short, balanced wings made her exceptionally suited for high-difficulty maneuvers like mid-air loops, rapid ascents, and sudden nosedives.
With multiple factors stacking together, during high-speed flight, besides needing to clamp his legs tightly around her waist and abdomen, he also had to grab or hold onto other places. Otherwise, he could very easily be thrown off by a sudden mid-air drift.
Therefore, Hakuya had just tried holding onto various parts of Latias's body.
For instance, pressing his entire body low against her back, wrapping his arms tightly around her soft and sensitive stomach...
And precisely because of this, throughout the journey, his ears were constantly bombarded by the little jet plane's embarrassed, angry, and indignant psychic telegrams.
Having finally managed to pacify the embarrassed and angry Latias, Hakuya rubbed his chin and suddenly asked curiously.
"By the way, Latias, when you transform into your Rosa form, do you still retain your original flying abilities?"
"La-woo~"
The little jet plane instinctively nodded.
Although by mimicking a human form she would possess a body and senses completely identical to a human's, some abilities from her Pokémon form would ultimately be retained, such as psychic power and long-distance flight.
But not long after, with her incredibly strong imagination, she immediately thought of something, and two rosy blushes instantly flew to her pretty cheeks.
Riding my Pokémon form wasn't enough for him... is Trainer planning to...
This is absolutely not the kind of ride meant for a Pokémon kindergarten!
[I-Idiot Trainer! You're absolutely not allowed to think about those weird, perverted things!!!]
Steam practically blew out of the top of Latias's head, and in the blink of an eye, she evolved into a steam-powered little jet plane.
After delivering a vicious headbutt to her Trainer, she darted back into her Poké Ball with a bright red face, refusing to come out again.
"..."
Hakuya held his forehead, finding it very hard to comment on Latias's act of premeditated Trainer murder.
A tsundere, thin-skinned little jet plane is sometimes truly not cute at all—
"Maybe next time I should ask Steven if he has any flying saddles."
Recalling Steven's other identity besides the Hoenn Champion, Hakuya nodded thoughtfully.
To be honest, for a beginner at flying, the most suitable riding Pokémon was undoubtedly Charizard. Paired with the riding gear popular in the Alola region, the comfort level of high-altitude flight was absolutely maxed out.
In comparison, Hakuya felt that based on his current flying skills, he highly likely needed to practice with a saddle for a while before he could perfectly handle Mega Latias.
Given the lore that Team Magma and Team Aqua's heat-resistant and pressure-resistant uniforms were manufactured by the Devon Corporation, there was no reason they wouldn't have ordinary flying gear. He could go ask Steven when he had the time.
Setting this thought aside for now, Hakuya walked toward the towering pillar before him.
Pushing open the door, the dust unique to ancient architecture permeated the air.
"Oh~ I didn't expect it to be this accurate..."
Sweeping his gaze over the internal structure of the first floor, Hakuya immediately gave it a positive review.
It looked almost exactly like the Sky Pillar in his memories. The old, historical floor tiles and ceiling, the crumbling walls inside the tower, the spiral staircase winding upwards...
Along the walls were murals depicting the three super-ancient Pokémon.
Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre, and Mega Rayquaza.
Just as Hakuya was admiring the murals of the super-ancient Pokémon on the walls while walking up the spiral staircase to the second floor, he took one step forward and suddenly felt the floorboards beneath his feet shatter in an instant.
The speed was so fast it didn't even give a person a chance to react.
Crack, crack, CRASH—
"Seriously, why do you still have this disgusting mechanic?!"
Falling directly from the four-meter-high second floor, Hakuya, completely unharmed, couldn't help but complain.
Alright, he had to take back his previous review.
—Being too accurate is not a good thing.
The exterior of the towering pillar, the overall internal structure, the murals depicting the deeds of the super-ancient Pokémon... these were all similar to his memories. But the mechanic from Generation III where you needed to ride the Mach Bike to cross cracked floor tiles, otherwise you would fall to the floor below, had actually been retained!
If you were even slightly careless and your steps weren't fast enough, you would fall directly from the four-meter-high second floor, just like he did.
"...I guess I just have to climb it again."
And just as Hakuya was preparing to walk up the stairs again toward the altar at the very top, a voice suddenly rang out from above.
"Uninvited intruder, have you come for the Lord Dragon God?"
Looking up, a patch of snow-white, delicate skin was the first thing to catch his eye.
Anyone who saw it would immediately be drawn to this pair of flawless, slender legs that looked like a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship—not only reflected in their perfectly proportioned length that formed a golden ratio with her body, but also in the shape of her legs and even the curve of her ankles, which were absolutely perfect. Paired with the anklet on her right foot, it exuded a uniquely alluring charm.
Amidst the whistling sound of a cape billowing in the wind, this short, black-haired girl jumped down.
Even though she was just a young girl, she unexpectedly possessed the valiant, dashing aura of a mature older sister.
"You're the Draconid guarding this place, right?"
Quickly retrieving the information in his mind, Hakuya instantly recognized the identity of the girl before him.
—Zinnia, the Draconid guarding the Sky Pillar.
In the plot of the Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire remakes, she was a crucial character spanning the main storyline.
"That's right."
At this moment, making no attempt to hide her true identity, Zinnia crossed her arms and looked at Hakuya before her. The tattered cape behind her was whipped up by a wind from an unknown source, making a loud, fluttering sound.
"Although you carry a very powerful aura of a Dragon-type Pokémon on you, one that is absolutely not inferior to the Lord Dragon God's... the residence of the Lord Dragon God is not a place you can just casually barge into."
She took a Poké Ball from her waist and held it level in front of her chest.
"Mister, if you want to keep going up, you'll have to earn my acknowledgment first."
"Hmm...?"
Hearing these words, Hakuya couldn't help but blank out for a moment.
He had absolutely no recollection of ever coming into contact with any powerful Dragon-type Pokémon.
And one that was supposedly not inferior to the Rayquaza of the native world, no less...
The [Contrary] Rayquaza from the randomized world? Or the [Desolate Land] Reshiram that once sent me and Floragato packing in a single hit? Or perhaps Arceus holding the Draco Plate? It feels like all three are highly possible...
Ultimately unable to figure it out, Hakuya still chose to pull out Latias's Poké Ball first.
"Alright. But my time is tight right now. Doing just a one-on-one battle shouldn't be a problem, right?"