ROOOOAR!!
Rayquaza roared furiously, its long serpentine body diving straight through its own Twister, attempting to use the tornado to block Mega Gardevoir's Moonblast assault.
But how could Moonblast boosted by the Pixie Plate be so easily stopped?
Each condensed sphere of lunar energy fell into the tornado, and when the energies collided, they immediately triggered massive explosions!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The violent explosions created enormous clouds of pink mist, one after another. They nearly dyed the entire sky pink.
Hidden within the storm, Rayquaza couldn't use the tempest to block the Moonblast attacks anymore. Now it had to admit that the collision between Moonblast and the tornado created explosive energy far more powerful than either attack alone!
John stood in the distance, able to see dragon-shaped silhouettes vaguely appearing within those massive pink energy explosions as the storm detonated.
Looked like Rayquaza was getting completely wrecked.
But... no rush.
He'd play with Rayquaza a bit longer.
"One more time. Moonblast," John commanded.
Mega Gardevoir raised her hand, gathering lunar power once more.
In an instant, Moonblast condensed into cruise missile-like projectiles raining down again, this time even more numerous and larger than before!
A brain-melting barrage exploded into the pink smoke.
Rayquaza fell from the sky full of pink smoke, the energy created by Moonblast following it down. Just as it seemed Rayquaza would crash into the ocean below, it suddenly burst with power, skimming close to the sea surface as it flew. Its speed was explosive, shaking off the Moonblast energy clinging to it while using the high-speed wind generated by its flight to cut through the attacks.
Wherever Rayquaza flew, pink explosions erupted continuously!
Turning back around mid-flight, Rayquaza locked onto Mega Gardevoir again as its target.
A gleam flashed in Rayquaza's eyes. A bright white airstream appeared around its body, carrying it forward as it slipped effortlessly through the air, rising like a kite on the wind!
This move was called Tailwind.
Rayquaza's speed began noticeably increasing.
It accelerated through its flight path, getting faster and faster, then suddenly dove when it reached peak velocity!
That massive body became so fast during flight that it was nearly a blur, and this was with John's Ghost Eye. An ordinary person probably wouldn't even see its shadow, only hearing the occasional sonic boom in the air proving Rayquaza was still nearby.
For legendary Pokemon, John had long known you couldn't judge them purely by game logic and battle stats. Many moves that legendary Pokemon wouldn't learn in the games could actually be mastered in reality by most ancient legendary Pokemon, often knowing over a hundred techniques.
The only difference was between knowing a move and truly mastering it.
Extreme Speed wasn't in Rayquaza's natural move pool, but its mastery of that technique... was pretty damn high!
But that was all it was.
A Rayquaza that couldn't use Dragon Dance had no way to MEGA Evolve. And it couldn't bring John any surprises.
Mega Gardevoir had already predicted Rayquaza's attack. She brought her hands together before her chest.
Immediately, a wave of psychic power rippled outward from her as the center, spreading rapidly in all directions!
In an instant, Trick Room encompassed the surrounding space for several miles in every direction.
Rayquaza, which had been approaching Mega Gardevoir at extreme speed, suddenly appeared to slow down to a crawl visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile, Mega Gardevoir's speed was increasing at an alarming rate.
Trick Room made fast Pokemon slow and slow Pokemon fast.
Unfortunately, John hadn't equipped Mega Gardevoir with a Psychic-type Plate, or the Trick Room effect could've been taken to its absolute limit. That would've allowed Mega Gardevoir to completely surpass Rayquaza in terms of speed!
But this was enough.
Between Mega Gardevoir and Rayquaza rising and falling, Rayquaza's Extreme Speed was gone.
She could lock on now.
Mega Gardevoir looked up toward the full moon, clasping her hands before her chest in a prayer-like gesture. In an instant, she was bathed in moonlight and flew toward the horizon.
"Queen's Grasp!"
Time to lock onto the target.
Two giant pink hands formed from pure energy extended from rifts in space, left and right coordinating to grab Rayquaza between them!
In just a moment, space and time began to warp.
Rayquaza was like a powerless rag doll caught in those hands, played with at will.
When the assault of temporal energy finally ended, the seal was released.
No one could deny that Rayquaza had been completely helpless, falling from the sky.
Facing a Rayquaza that had lost all fighting ability, now was the perfect opportunity to catch it.
John pulled out a Luxury Ball, but he didn't throw it at Rayquaza. Instead, he recalled Mega Gardevoir. Then he chose to exit the dungeon directly.
[Dungeon Recommended Entry Level: 100]
John selected to enter again.
Light flashed before his eyes.
Beneath his feet, the top three floors of Sky Pillar that had been destroyed by Rayquaza's storm were intact once more, just like before.
Not far away, that fierce and powerful silhouette lay sprawled on the tower's top floor, covered by a layer of faint mist, sleeping peacefully. There was no trace of the devastation it had suffered after being beaten down by Mega Gardevoir.
And clearly, less than thirty seconds had passed between exits.
John's pupils gleamed slightly. Everything was just as he'd predicted.
"Each time I enter, I'm encountering a different Rayquaza."
"Which means... I can enter repeatedly and encounter different Rayquazas, until I find... a Shiny Rayquaza!"