At this moment, the colossal golden-green dragon, stretching well over ten thousand meters in length, was freely roaming through the vast System Space, its enormous tail sweeping through the sky as if nothing could restrain it.
As if sensing Aiden Flint's presence, Rayquaza suddenly changed direction and charged straight toward him.
The dragon's silhouette grew larger and larger in Aiden's vision.
Even though he knew Rayquaza was now his Pokémon, a trace of instinctive awe still rose in his heart.
There was no helping it.
Ten thousand meters—what kind of concept was that?
It was something you could only truly understand when witnessing it with your own eyes.
Even the so-called Giants of Light—Ultraman—were only a little over fifty meters tall. To reach Rayquaza's length, you'd need to stack two hundred Ultramen on top of each other.
When Rayquaza finally halted in front of him, the massive dragon began to shrink, its body gradually compressing until it stopped at roughly ten meters in length.
"Roar—"
With that deep dragon's cry, Aiden finally snapped out of his shock.
Listening carefully, he suddenly realized—
He could actually understand Rayquaza's roar.
Is this… because of the friendship level?
Two hundred and fifty points of friendship already allowed basic communication. If it reached the maximum, wouldn't that mean true mutual understanding between Trainer and Pokémon?
If so, then the existence of Bond Evolution suddenly made perfect sense.
Of course, reaching max friendship wouldn't be easy—especially with a proud Legendary Pokémon like Rayquaza. Without the system, Aiden would never have been able to capture it in his lifetime.
He probably wouldn't even have had the chance to see Rayquaza, let alone stand before it.
Looking at the now much smaller Rayquaza, Aiden slowly raised his right hand and gently placed it on the dragon's head.
Rayquaza didn't dodge.
Instead, it let out a low, steady rumble—almost like encouragement—clearly signaling Aiden to climb onto its body.
"Rayquaza… do you want me to ride you?"
Rayquaza nodded.
Aiden's eyes lit up instantly.
Humans had always dreamed of soaring through the skies—hence legends of immortals, wingsuits, airplanes.
And now?
He had a dragon capable of carrying him across heaven and earth.
How could he not be excited?
In the next moment, Aiden climbed onto Rayquaza's back, tightly gripping its body with his legs and wrapping his arms firmly around its massive frame.
Seeing this, Rayquaza acted immediately.
A layer of Flying-type energy enveloped Aiden, stabilizing his body and locking him securely in place.
Feeling the protective energy anchoring him, Aiden's face lit up with delight.
Then—
With a thunderous roar, the Sky Dragon took flight.
Accompanied by howling winds, Rayquaza carried its Trainer straight into the air.
Yet, wrapped in Rayquaza's power, Aiden felt no discomfort at all.
On the contrary—
The sensation of freely soaring through the sky was exhilarating.
With Rayquaza's help, Aiden quickly toured the entire System Space.
Grasslands, oceans, lakes, mountains, volcanoes, forests—every environment found in the Pokémon world existed here.
The total area was estimated to exceed eight million square kilometers.
Even larger than Australia, the biggest island nation from Aiden's previous life.
And this was merely the habitat and resting place for his Pokémon.
Only after thoroughly enjoying himself did Aiden part ways with Rayquaza and exit the System Space, returning to the real world.
As for food?
While flying around, Aiden had already eaten his fill of the various Berries growing inside the System Space.
That was another advantage.
The Pokémon living there would never need to worry about food. The place was practically a self-sustaining world.
And those Berries weren't ordinary either—they carried subtle effects that could slowly enhance a Pokémon's strength.
A perfect training environment.
With Rayquaza now by his side, Aiden's desire to begin his journey grew stronger by the second.
But before that—
There was someone he needed to visit.
The famous Professor of the Hoenn region.
Professor Birch.
Professor Birch was Hoenn's most renowned Pokémon Professor, specializing in Pokémon habitats and distribution, and well known for conducting field research in the wild.
Because Aiden was a resident of Littleroot Town, he'd had plenty of contact with the Professor over the years, often receiving odd jobs and help from the research lab.
As Aiden stepped out of his house and headed toward Professor Birch's laboratory, the townspeople greeted him warmly along the way.
"Little Aiden, heading to Professor Birch's lab to help again?"
"Yes, Uncle Sib!"
Almost every resident greeted him with a smile.
The Pokémon world truly felt like a utopia.
No—more accurately, the people of this town were simply kind.
When Aiden arrived at the laboratory, Professor Birch's assistant, Joshua, greeted him cheerfully upon seeing him.
"Aiden, perfect timing! Help me feed the Pokémon in the lab—doing it alone takes forever."
Aiden smiled and agreed immediately.
He'd been to the lab countless times and was already familiar with the Pokémon here, so feeding them was no trouble at all.
Still, he couldn't help but marvel at these magical creatures, and a bold thought quietly surfaced in his heart.
One day… maybe I'll have my own research institute.
Raising Pokémon on a large scale.
A farmer's life didn't sound bad at all.
Living alongside Pokémon like this really did bring happiness.
After finishing the feeding work, Aiden asked,
"Joshua, where's the Professor?"
Joshua froze for a moment.
"Aiden, you're here to see the Professor? He seems to be dealing with some trouble right now. I'll take you to him."
That immediately piqued Aiden's interest.
He was quite fond of Hoenn's starter Pokémon. If he had a chance, he'd love to obtain one.
And if he could help resolve the issue…
Maybe I could gain another Pokémon?
Following Joshua deeper into the lab, they heard crying from a distance, mixed with Professor Birch's helpless attempts at consolation.
"Professor… why? Why won't my Pokémon play with me?"
When Aiden and Joshua arrived, they saw the scene clearly.
A little girl, about ten years old, was crying her eyes out.
Professor Birch stood beside her, sweating profusely, while a Treecko stood nearby with its head held high, arms crossed, and an unmistakably proud expression.
At first glance, it almost looked like the Professor was bullying the poor girl.
"Professor, Aiden's here. He said he wanted to see you," Joshua said.
Professor Birch looked embarrassed.
"Oh—Aiden. Just wait a moment. Let me settle this first."
Aiden nodded and quietly listened from the side.
Before long, he understood what had happened.
The girl, named Lily, had just turned ten half a month ago and received her starter Pokémon—Treecko.
However, instead of treating Treecko as a partner for training and travel, Lily treated it purely as a pet.
She refused to let it battle and spent her days dressing it up instead.
Naturally, Treecko was dissatisfied.
Eventually, it abandoned its Trainer on its own and returned to the laboratory.
And so, the girl who'd lost her starter Pokémon came crying back as well.
…With that personality, she wants to be a Trainer?
Aiden couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
League-affiliated Trainers really did have it easy.
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