"ROOOAR!!!"
Rayquaza, whose speed had been reduced, took Electabuzz's Thunder head-on. The black dragon twisted wildly through the air, rolling and thrashing as furious roars echoed continuously.
"ROOOAR!!"
However, although Electabuzz's Thunder had landed directly, Electric-type attacks were not particularly effective against Rayquaza. While the strike hit cleanly, the damage it dealt was actually less than the Ice Beam that had merely grazed Rayquaza's tail earlier.
But even if Thunder hadn't done much damage, Liam had already achieved his objective.
"ROOOAR!!"
Just as Rayquaza broke through the lightning and twisted its body free—
"Gallade! Your turn!"
"Gallade!!"
Liam shouted once more.
In the very next instant—
With a low cry from Gallade the Gallade, who had used Teleport from somewhere unseen, Gallade suddenly appeared directly in front of Rayquaza, which had only just broken free of the lightning and had not yet regained its bearings.
Then—
"Gallade!!"
Gallade abruptly widened his eyes toward Rayquaza.
As his eyes opened, rings of black energy burst forth and rapidly expanded outward. In the blink of an eye, the black rings enveloped Rayquaza completely.
The moment Gallade's Mean Look connected, Rayquaza—already black in color—became covered in yet another layer of dark energy. Just as it was preparing to twist away and escape, the black aura bound it firmly in place once more.
"ROOOAR!!"
Rayquaza froze for a brief moment as it felt the restraint on its body. Then, with an enraged roar, it raised its head.
The binding power of Mean Look was simply incapable of suppressing Rayquaza's overwhelming strength. Within moments, most of the black energy restraining it had already begun to shatter.
"As expected, Mean Look alone can't hold you. But a single moment is all I need! Garchomp! You're up! Grab him!"
"GRAAAAH!!"
A powerful roar erupted from beneath Rayquaza.
Immediately afterward came an immense tidal wave of sand.
Endless torrents of sand surged from the ground and swept into the sky like a raging river, coiling around Rayquaza's body.
"ROOOAR!!"
Sensing danger, Rayquaza struggled even more violently.In an instant, both the black energy of Mean Look and the surrounding sand restraints shattered simultaneously.Now free once again, Rayquaza ignored everything else. With a flick of its tail, it shot upward toward a gap in the sandstorm that had not yet fully closed.
But just as its head emerged—
"Garchomp! Stone Edge!!"
"GRAAAAH!!"
Following Liam's command, Garchomp—who had somehow already reached the top of the sandstorm—spread the massive Sand Claw Wings on its back and flew directly above Rayquaza.
Then countless Stone Edge projectiles rained down like a storm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"ROOOAR!!"
Caught off guard by the barrage, Rayquaza let out a pained roar. With its eyes shut, it was blasted back down into the sea of sand.
Immediately afterward, the endless sand began to swirl and compress.Eventually, under the support of a gigantic pillar of sand, an enormous sphere of sand formed high in the sky.
"Whew... it's finally quiet. This guy is seriously troublesome..."
Only after Rayquaza had been completely trapped inside the giant sand sphere did Liam finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"Aerodactyl, let's go take a look."
"ROAR!!"
At Liam's command, Aerodactyl beat its wings and flew rapidly toward the sand sphere.
"Gallade!"
At that moment, a flash of light appeared.Gallade, having completed his mission, teleported onto Aerodactyl's back.
"Gallade!"
After steadying himself, Gallade extended an arm. Resting on his forearm were three round PokeBalls.
"Heh, great job, Gallade. Get some rest."
Liam smiled as he took back the PokeBalls. Then he picked up Gallade's own PokeBall and recalled him.
In truth, everything that had just happened had been part of Liam's plan from the beginning.
First, he had Zorua use illusions to distract Rayquaza while he rescued the severely injured Deoxys.Then he had Gallade take Empoleon, Electabuzz, and Garchomp's PokeBalls and hide among the rocky terrain below.
Afterward, Liam Mega Evolved Aerodactyl into Mega Aerodactyl, dramatically increasing its speed and ensuring that Rayquaza wouldn't be able to catch up quickly.
Finally, using Aerodactyl's superior speed and evasive maneuvers, he lured Rayquaza into the area where Garchomp and Empoleon had already prepared their ambush.
The subsequent chain of attacks had successfully trapped Rayquaza.The operation had gone exactly as planned.
With Gallade's help, Empoleon and Electabuzz had already been recalled into their PokeBalls and returned to Liam's possession. Rayquaza had also finally been sealed within Garchomp's massive sand prison, rendering it unable to move.
Meanwhile, Garchomp landed directly atop the giant sand sphere.
The Sand Claw Wings on its back connected directly to the sphere, allowing Garchomp to exert even greater control over the flowing sand and further strengthen Rayquaza's restraints.
"Looks like everything's stable now. In that case... all that's left is Deoxys."
After inspecting the sand sphere and seeing no signs of movement, Liam finally relaxed and turned his attention toward Deoxys, whose body was still only half intact.
"Huh? I remember Deoxys can use Recover! Let's try it!"
"Deoxys! Use Recover!"
"..."
Remembering that Deoxys was capable of learning Recover, Liam gave the command with great anticipation.
Nothing happened."Yeah... figures. I was being too optimistic."
Liam scratched the back of his head helplessly and laughed bitterly.But the moment he finished speaking—
"Bzzzz~"
The completely intact core crystal inside Deoxys suddenly emitted a faint yellow glow.
As the yellow light spread outward, Deoxys slowly rose from Aerodactyl's back.
Then, under the illumination of the golden glow, the upper half of Deoxys's body—which had previously been completely destroyed—began regenerating before Liam's very eyes.
"DEOXYS!!"
Only a few seconds later, the fully restored Deoxys appeared before Liam once more.
"Deo? Xys? EUUS!!"
Freshly regenerated, Deoxys looked down at its own body in confusion. Then it turned its gaze toward Liam and let out a questioning cry.
"Everything's alright now, Deoxys."
Liam smiled reassuringly.After hearing his words, Deoxys extended one of its tentacles and gently touched Liam.
Then—
Bzzzzz~
"That... that black guy!! Where... where is he now?!"