"Shameless thing! All you ever do is launch sneak attacks!"
Mega Rayquaza cursed in its heart. This Palkia was such a dog—it always ambushed him!
But now was not the time to complain.
"Dragon Pulse!"
A brilliant beam of draconic energy burst from Rayquaza's maw in retaliation. It had just finished clashing with Dialga's Roar of Time, so evading this sudden Spacial Rend was practically impossible.
Since there was no chance to dodge, it might as well strike back with all its might—at least it could offset part of the attack's power.
The Dragon Pulse and Spacial Rend collided violently. A shockwave of raw energy rippled across the sky. Yet within moments, Rayquaza's Dragon Pulse was sliced apart, and the massive pink light blade of Spacial Rend tore straight into Mega Rayquaza's body.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion erupted. Smoke and dust billowed outward, and Rayquaza's agonized roar echoed across the battlefield.
Even for Mega Rayquaza, that hit was heavy.
It lost balance midair, its colossal form plummeting toward the earth. When it struck the ground, the impact made the entire land quake, scattering clouds of debris.
"Rayquaza!"
On a distant hillside, Green, Marnie, and the others cried out in shock as they watched the mighty dragon fall.
That awe-inspiring Mega Rayquaza… had actually crashed?!
"Are you all right, Rayquaza?"
In his mind, Lucas's voice called out, concern lacing his tone.
After its Mega Evolution, Rayquaza's strength had indeed reached the level of top-tier legendary Pokémon. But without question, its combat habits still weren't very refined.
After all, it was fighting two legendary beings at once—taking a few hits wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Otherwise, if it kept letting its guard down during battle, that would be a real problem.
"I can still hold on… but damn, that hurts."
Rayquaza's deep telepathic growl echoed in Lucas's mind.
That Spacial Rend hit hard, but Rayquaza's body wasn't something that could be broken so easily.
"Whip up a hurricane. They're coming again."
Lucas immediately issued the command, noticing Dialga already charging energy in its maw—no doubt preparing another Dragon Pulse.
The Spacial Rend's damage had been significant, but to think Mega Rayquaza would fall from just that attack was laughable.
"ROOOAAAR!"
From within the thick smoke came a deafening roar.
A massive black dragon shot upward, golden ripples of light glimmering across its coiled body.
Rayquaza ascended, soaring higher and higher until it loomed over both Dialga and Palkia. Its serpentine form twisted through the air as the winds began to scream.
In the next instant, a violent tornado burst into existence from thin air—
A Dragon-type Hurricane!
But that was far from all.
The swirling cyclone grew larger and larger, nearly piercing the heavens. Within it, raging air currents spun chaotically, the pressure and pull so fierce that even Palkia and Dialga struggled to stay aloft.
Delta Stream.
That was Mega Rayquaza's special ability—Delta Stream!
In the games, this ability changes the weather into "Strong Winds," which cannot be overridden by other weather effects—except by Primordial Sea or Desolate Land.
While Delta Stream is active, Rayquaza's Flying-type weaknesses are completely nullified.
Yes—that's why Mega Rayquaza's power shines brightest under this ability.
As a Dragon/Flying-type Pokémon, Rayquaza already possesses excellent offensive coverage and resistances.
But it also has one fatal flaw—its quadruple weakness to Ice-type moves.
Yet with Delta Stream, that weakness vanishes entirely, leaving Rayquaza with near-perfect resistances—so strong that it's almost unfair.
Aside from double weaknesses to Dragon and Fairy, nothing else can effectively counter it.
That's what makes Mega Rayquaza's combat potential truly terrifying.
Normally, its Delta Stream constantly surrounds its body in a subtle aura that's nearly unnoticeable.
But when needed—just like now—its effects can be expanded dramatically!
"ROOAAAR!"
Dialga and Palkia roared furiously, launching Aura Spheres and Dragon Pulses toward Rayquaza above.
But before those attacks could even get close, the chaotic winds of the dragon tornado shredded them to pieces!
"Delta Stream might not be as absolute as Desolate Land or Primordial Sea," Lucas murmured, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the enormous storm, "but it's still one hell of a useful ability."
Because of the massive tornado, Lucas couldn't see what was happening inside. But he trusted Rayquaza completely.
In pure scale, Delta Stream couldn't rival the overwhelming, world-distorting power of Desolate Land or Primordial Sea. Those weather effects created endless sunlight or torrential rain that could even disrupt nature itself.
Delta Stream wasn't that extreme—but in utility, it was second to none.
In the Hoopa and the Clash of Ages movie, the black Mega Rayquaza used Delta Stream to create a colossal tornado that shielded a tower from attack. With Mega Latios and Mega Latias aiding it through telepathy, they managed to fend off an onslaught from seven top-tier legendaries at once.
That alone showed how formidable Delta Stream truly was.
Of course… part of that came from that Rayquaza's insane power level.
Lucas's shiny Rayquaza here definitely couldn't pull off something quite like that—yet.
"Blow them away, then hit them with Giga Impact!" Lucas commanded.
They needed to move fast. The element of surprise was gone—if Dialga and Palkia regained composure, the tide would turn.
Hearing the command, Rayquaza intensified its spinning. The tornado howled louder, stronger, until its inner currents became pure chaos.
"ROOAR!"
Dialga and Palkia struggled desperately to keep their balance.
Rage burned in Dialga's eyes as blue-violet energy began gathering in its mouth—it was preparing another Roar of Time to obliterate the tornado itself!
But Palkia, as cunning as ever, chose differently. A rift in space opened behind it, and Palkia simply stepped into it—vanishing.
Mega Rayquaza's golden eyes narrowed. That damned Palkia—so sneaky!
The moment things looked bad, it immediately hid away. Clever, yes—but infuriating!
Within the tornado, Rayquaza darted through the swirling winds and appeared behind Dialga.
White spiral energy condensed around its body—
Giga Impact!
Without warning, Rayquaza slammed full-force into Dialga's back!
The raw power of the blow was devastating. Dialga screamed in agony as it was driven straight into the ground below.
KABOOM!
It crashed hard into a nearby mountain, shattering the entire formation into rubble.
Even with its Steel typing resisting Normal-type attacks, the sheer force behind that Giga Impact—and the momentum of Rayquaza's dive—made the damage catastrophic.
The mighty Time Dragon lay buried amid shattered rock, groaning in pain.
"Awesome!"
"Nice hit!"
Sheena's eyes sparkled with admiration, while Green clenched her small fists, grinning widely.
What a perfect counterattack!
She knew it—there was no way Mega Rayquaza could be weak!
"ROAR!"
Hovering midair, Rayquaza didn't even wait for Lucas's next command. It fired a blinding Dragon Pulse straight into the cratered mountain, blasting Dialga once more before it could rise.
Strike while it's down!
The dragon's eyes gleamed viciously. Its tail coiled back—ready to unleash a devastating Earthquake to finish Dialga off—
"Behind you!"
Lucas's urgent voice echoed in its mind.
Rayquaza's heart seized—Palkia!
A tear in space ripped open behind it. Palkia emerged from the rift, the pink light of another Spacial Rend gleaming wickedly from its claws.
"Seriously?! Can't you do anything besides sneak attacks?!"
Sensing the danger, Rayquaza roared in fury. This damned Palkia—it always waited for the perfect moment to strike!
Though it was raging inside, it couldn't ignore the attack.
It whipped its tail backward with Breaking Swipe, meeting the incoming slash—
But it wasn't enough. The Spacial Rend sliced clean through, slamming into Rayquaza's side.
"ROAAAR!"
Pain exploded through its body as it was hurled back to the ground once more.
"ROOOOAR!"
Palkia roared triumphantly. See? Playing dirty works!
That idiot Dialga only knows how to charge headfirst—and look at him now, lying like a corpse!
But me? I, the great Palkia, am untouchable!
"Damn it! Human, this thing is too shameless—too despicable!"
Rayquaza gritted its fangs as it forced itself upright. Still hurting, it quickly lifted back into the sky, keeping a safe distance from Palkia.
It had been so close to finishing Dialga off, only for that sneaky space dragon to interrupt again.
"You're fighting two-on-one. You should've expected that," Lucas sighed, rolling his eyes. "In battle, there's no such thing as 'fair' or 'unfair.' The only thing that matters is winning."
"Don't rush. The Mega form can still hold. We'll take it slo—wait, what the—?!"
Lucas suddenly froze, his gaze fixed on Rayquaza. Even Reshiram beside him blinked in confusion.
"What's wrong with you two?"
Perplexed, Rayquaza glanced sideways at them. Why were they both staring at him like that?
Actually… not just them. Even Palkia had tilted its head curiously.
And Dialga, who'd just dragged itself out of the rubble, was staring too—with a strangely bewildered expression.
Rayquaza looked down at itself—and froze.
For a brief moment, the world seemed utterly silent.
"Rayquaza… your color—it's… it's peeling…"
Marnie's voice trembled as she pointed, eyes wide in disbelief.
"Ah…" Even Green was speechless, her expression utterly baffled.
Yes—Mega Rayquaza's majestic black scales… were peeling.
Right down its middle, the black sheen had flaked away, revealing a strip of deep, unmistakable green.
A bright, gleaming green that stood out all too vividly against the surrounding black.
At that moment, the most embarrassed creature in existence was undoubtedly Mega Rayquaza.
No—embarrassed wasn't even the right word. Devastated was closer.
Especially under the bewildered gazes of Palkia and Dialga.
If their expressions could be summed up in one emoji, it would be: (O_O)
"This must be some kind of… human-made paint, right?" Palkia's telepathic voice finally broke the silence, filled with awe and mock admiration. "Rayquaza, incredible! Truly incredible!"
"So that's what this was! I thought you were a genuine shiny variant, but it turns out you just… painted yourself that way!"
"Respect. Absolute respect."
"I, Palkia, hereby acknowledge you as the most magnificent Rayquaza of all time."
Mega Rayquaza: "…"
(End of Chapter)
TN: LMAOOOO