It was obvious that Deoxys held a tremendous grudge against Rayquaza. The very first thing it did after being fully restored was search for Rayquaza's whereabouts.
"Uh, Deoxys, calm down for a moment. Turn around and look at that giant sphere behind you. The Rayquaza from earlier is already trapped inside."
Liam pointed helplessly toward the sand sphere behind Deoxys, an amused smile appearing on his face.
"Bzzzt~ What? It has... been trapped? You... did this?"
After hearing Liam's words, even Deoxys's normally emotionless face showed a hint of surprise. Turning to look at the massive sand sphere behind it, Deoxys spoke in astonishment.
"Yes, Rayquaza has already been trapped. Heh, that's the power of teamwork. We all worked together to finally corner that guy. How about it, Deoxys? You could say we've avenged you, right?"
Liam grinned proudly as he spoke.
However, Deoxys said nothing. It simply stared motionlessly at the giant sphere of sand.
Seeing Deoxys's reaction, Liam was about to continue speaking when suddenly—
"Hm?"
Still connected mentally with Garchomp, Liam abruptly sensed something unusual from his Pokémon. Instinctively, he looked up.
"GRAAAH!!"
BOOM!!
What Liam saw next shocked him.
Garchomp, who had been standing atop the sand sphere the entire time, suddenly leaped away as if electrocuted. In the very next instant, a massive Hyper Beam burst out from inside the sphere!
"Not good! Garchomp! Hold it down!"
Startled by the sudden development, Liam immediately understood what had happened and shouted at Garchomp.
But just as the words left his mouth—
Deoxys, who had been standing in front of him, suddenly narrowed its eyes.
Its body twisted and transformed into its Defense Forme.
"EUUS!!"
With a sharp cry, Deoxys crossed its four thick tentacles before its chest. Deep violet psychic energy erupted from its body, rapidly condensing into a gigantic shield in front of it.
The barrier protected everyone behind it—including Aerodactyl.
BOOM!!
At the exact moment the shield formed, another golden Hyper Beam tore through the sand sphere's restraints and came crashing down with overwhelming power.
Its target was Deoxys.
RUMBLE!!
"EUUS!!"
The golden beam slammed directly into the psychic barrier. Amid deafening explosions and shrieking impacts, Deoxys was steadily pushed backward.
"ROOOAR!!"
BOOM!!
The instant Deoxys completely blocked the attack, an enormous roar erupted from within the sand sphere.
A violent tremor followed.
The giant sphere that had imprisoned Rayquaza exploded apart.
Sand and stone were blasted in every direction as a powerful shockwave burst free. Even Garchomp, hovering in the air, was forced backward by the force.
"EUUS!!"
The moment Rayquaza reappeared, Deoxys's fury exploded like a volcano.
Having just defended against the Hyper Beam, it immediately shifted into Attack Forme.
All four of its sharp tentacles gathered energy simultaneously.
Its most powerful move—
Psycho Boost.
"EUUS!!"
As Deoxys roared in rage, a massive dark-purple sphere of psychic energy appeared before it once again.
Filled with burning hatred, Deoxys launched the Psycho Boost toward Rayquaza at tremendous speed.
However—
The Rayquaza that had just broken free from the sand sphere showed absolutely no reaction.
And just as the Psycho Boost was about to strike.. Rayquaza suddenly fell from the sky.
Just like that.
"What?!"
BOOOOM!!
Rayquaza's sudden collapse completely exceeded Liam's expectations.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he watched the legendary dragon plummet headfirst, its eyes closed.
Meanwhile, Deoxys's Psycho Boost, having lost its target, continued flying forward without slowing down.
Moments later it struck a distant mountain peak.
BOOOOM!!
The mountain was instantly flattened.
Countless rocks exploded into the air.
"Aerodactyl! Let's go down and take a look!"
"ROAR!!"
At the same time, Rayquaza had already crashed to the ground. Its massive body smashed into the earth, kicking up enormous clouds of dust.
Liam immediately directed Aerodactyl toward the crash site.
Deoxys, meanwhile, remained hovering in midair, stunned. Even it had not yet recovered from the shock of Rayquaza suddenly falling from the sky.
"Roooar~"
Aerodactyl carried Liam to the impact site at top speed. A powerful flap of its wings scattered the dust clouds, revealing Rayquaza lying motionless on the ground.
"GRAAAH!!"
Garchomp landed beside Liam.
Liam slid off Aerodactyl's back and began walking toward Rayquaza.
"GRAAAH!!"
The moment he took his first step, Garchomp moved in front of him and blocked his path with its scythe-like fins.
Clearly, Garchomp still viewed Rayquaza as extremely dangerous and did not want Liam taking unnecessary risks.
"Heh, don't worry, Garchomp."
Liam naturally understood what Garchomp meant.
But he simply shook his head, gently pushed aside Garchomp's fin, and continued forward.
"Graah..."
Garchomp followed closely behind, its eyes locked firmly on Rayquaza.
If Rayquaza showed even the slightest sign of movement, Garchomp would strike instantly.
"Rooaaar..."
At this point, Rayquaza had not completely lost consciousness.
But it could no longer move.
Its injuries were severe. Combined with the enormous amount of energy it had expended in the recent battles, Rayquaza had finally reached its limit.
It had completely lost the ability to fight.
Thus, as Rayquaza watched Liam slowly approach…. as it watched this tiny human that it could normally swallow in a single bite…. all it could do was let out a weak growl, a feeble attempt at intimidation.
"Rayquaza, now I'm going to capture you."
Standing before the legendary dragon, Liam wasted no words.
As he spoke, a pink PokeBall appeared in his hand.
With a light touch, the ball expanded to full size. Then Liam raised his arm and threw it directly at Rayquaza's head.
Whoosh!!
The PokeBall bounced open.
A flash of red light shot forth.
The gigantic Rayquaza was drawn into the tiny ball. The PokeBall then closed and fell to the ground, landing on the loose earth created by Rayquaza's impact.
Then it began to shake.
Wobble... wobble... wobble...
The pink PokeBall continued rocking back and forth.
Liam couldn't help clenching his fists.
Although the PokeBall he had used was a Dream Ball—one whose effectiveness was not far inferior to a Master Ball—he still felt nervous.
The Dream Ball continued shaking, but Rayquaza never broke free.
And so Liam could only wait.
And wait.
Until—
One minute later.
DING!!
A crisp chime rang out.
Liam's eyes widened as he stared at the PokeBall, now completely still.
The joy on his face was impossible to hide.