That evening, John had dinner at Saul's house.
Saul suggested they head out afterward to keep drinking and chatting, and both John and Damain were game for it. But then John got a call from Emerald, he needed to leave tomorrow morning to head to Sky Island for the tournament. Reluctantly, he had to decline the invitation.
To keep himself from just passing out immediately, John figured he'd kill some time and pulled out his Gameboy.
He controlled his character running around the Hoenn region map, collecting berries, battling a few trainers, just burning time before bed.
"Oh yeah, I haven't checked Sky Pillar in forever. Wonder if Rayquaza's back yet," John thought to himself. His hands kept moving, guiding his character to fly straight to Pacifidlog Town, then surf over to the Sky Pillar entrance.
He approached to check.
[Dungeon Recommended Entry Level: 100]
"Still not back. Guess I'll check again next time. No clue when Rayquaza will actually return..." John yawned, preparing to have his character fly away.
Wait a second!
John sobered up instantly!
"Hold on, last time I came here, the recommended entry level was only 85, and it straight-up said Rayquaza wasn't home, so entry was restricted. But now..."
John sat up in bed, manipulating his Gameboy character to try entering Sky Pillar again, checking the dungeon entry message one more time.
[Enter dungeon "Sky Pillar"?]
[Dungeon Recommended Entry Level: 100]
"The recommended entry level is 100! And it's NOT saying Rayquaza's absent or that entry is restricted!"
"Which means Rayquaza's inside!" John's eyes lit up like headlights.
Rayquaza!
The thought was even more intense than when he'd wanted to catch Mewtwo!
Not that he liked Rayquaza more than other legendaries, but it was because his Gardevoir had already completely demolished the other top-tier Dragon-type deities, Giratina, Dialga, and Palkia.
The only reason he hadn't gone after Rayquaza was because the damn thing was never home.
"Time to wreck this thing!" John rubbed his hands together eagerly, immediately adjusting his Pokemon team formation and equipping items. Then he borrowed two more Plates from Arceus.
Returning to the front of Sky Pillar, John selected to enter the dungeon.
Inside the top chamber, a max-level Rayquaza floated in the air.
"Max level Rayquaza," John muttered, grabbing a Pokeball. "Gardevoir, get ready to battle!"
Silver temporal light flickered. Gardevoir appeared wearing the Space-Time Fairy Queen's crown, immediately going into MEGA Evolution.
Almost at the exact same moment, Rayquaza woke from its slumber. The Gardevoir before it gave off an incredibly strong sense of danger, like a needle point, impossible not to notice.
ROOOOAR!!
Rayquaza roared toward the sky, hovering in midair as it observed John and Mega Gardevoir.
John didn't deploy any of his other Pokemon. For this match, he planned to let Mega Gardevoir handle it solo.
Because honestly? Mega Gardevoir alone was more than enough.
"Gardevoir, activate Moon Queen's Domain," John commanded.
Mega Gardevoir raised her hand toward the sky. Immediately, the heavens dimmed as if night had fallen, and a bright full moon quietly appeared hanging on the horizon.
ROOOAR!
Rayquaza still understood type advantages and disadvantages.
But... understanding didn't make it any less screwed!
Mega Gardevoir's eyes locked onto the Sky High Pokemon. Moonlight gathered in her palms, condensing into devastating energy. Without hesitation, she unleashed a barrage of Moonblast.
SSSHHHHH!!
In just an instant, the top three floors of Sky Pillar were shredded into fine dust by the storm, finally scattering in all directions with the wind.
When the storm dispersed, Mega Gardevoir reappeared before Rayquaza. She still stood at Sky Pillar's original peak location, or what was left of it. Beneath her feet was what remained of the highest floor, now just barely large enough for one person to stand on.
Rayquaza saw this scene and felt genuine shock!
Mega Gardevoir hadn't dodged its attacks. Hadn't defended against them. She'd taken every single strike head-on.
But... but why didn't they work?!
In the distance, seeing this scene, John's lips curved into a slight smile.
This was the power of Plates!
For this battle against Rayquaza, John had Mega Gardevoir equipped with two Plates, the Fairy-type Pixie Plate, and the one representing Flying-type power: the Sky Plate!
So right now, Rayquaza's Flying-type and Dragon-type attributes were both completely ineffective against Mega Gardevoir.
"Gardevoir, Moonblast barrage!"