Boots sinking into yellow sand, Natsui trailed behind Zinnia as they headed toward the island's middle.
You could take the whole place in with one sweep of the eyes—small, bare, and dead quiet. And yet there was no sign of the Sky Pillar. A tower that supposedly punched through the clouds should've been visible from miles away. Here, there wasn't even a hint of stone on the horizon.
Zinnia didn't explain right away. She just walked between two worn, wind-carved rock spires and slipped a small, key-like charm from inside her cloak. She pressed it into a groove hidden in the stone of a statue—so well concealed you'd miss it even if you were looking straight at it.
Light flared.
And the world behind the rocks… changed.
The sand was still sand, the same dull yellow underfoot, but the "island" wasn't an island anymore. The cramped little patch of land vanished like a trick. In its place, a wide-open desert unfolded—dozens of times larger than anything they'd seen from the air.
And at the far edge of sight, a colossal stone tower rose from the earth, stabbing straight up into the sky until it disappeared into the clouds.
The Sky Pillar.
So this is the barrier Zinnia was talking about…
Whatever the ancient Sootopolis people built, it didn't just hide the tower—it hid the entire interior, making the island look plain and forgettable from the outside. Nobody would ever guess a whole other world was tucked inside. The craftsmanship was unreal. And the scale was worse—how do you even stack stone into a tower hundreds… maybe thousands of meters tall?
After opening the path, Zinnia glanced at Natsui again. His face didn't twitch. She looked away, silent, but the doubt was obvious: with security like this, how could he possibly have "found" this place before?
"Next comes the last trial," she said flatly, eyes forward. "Sinking sand. Heat. Wind that'll peel your skin. Anyone the Pillar accepts walks it—on foot—to the base. It's respect. For our ancestors. For Rayquaza."
She didn't get to finish.
A dark blur snapped past her shoulder—Natsui was already moving. In one clean hop he was on Dragonite's back, and Dragonite surged forward, blasting across the desert like a cannon shot.
In a heartbeat, he was a speck in the distance.
Zinnia: "…"
Misty pressed a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh as she looked at Zinnia. "Well… guess I'm the only one doing the 'respectful walk' with you."
Zinnia's hands balled into fists. She watched Natsui vanish toward the tower, then exhaled—long and tired, like she'd expected exactly this and still hated it.
The Inside of the Legend
Sand whipped by beneath Natsui like a smeared yellow river.
From the entrance to the tower had to be five or six kilometers at least. On solid ground, that was nothing. Through dunes, under heat, fighting wind? It would chew through you.
And that "trial" Zinnia was so proud of?
Yeah. No.
Natsui wasn't some Draconid "chosen one." He wasn't here to be judged. He was here to catch Rayquaza. He wasn't about to waste time and stamina to satisfy someone else's tradition.
Minutes later, Dragonite dropped him at the base of the tower.
Up close, the Sky Pillar was even more monstrous—stone tapering as it climbed, the top swallowed by bright white cloud. The walls were built from massive blocks, weathered but stubbornly intact, scarred only by time. There was one enormous door and nothing else—no balconies, no side entrances—just narrow slit windows on each level, like the tower was watching you back.
The Dragon's Altar was at the very top. If he flew up there, he could probably stir Rayquaza just by showing himself. But before that, he needed one more thing.
He patted Dragonite's neck and signaled it down near the entrance. When Natsui jumped onto the hard stone at the threshold, he glanced back.
No Zinnia. No Misty.
Zinnia really is stubborn in the strangest ways, he thought.
But it worked out for him. It bought him time.
He shoved the heavy doors.
Creeeak—
The hinges complained like they hadn't moved in a century. The doors swung open anyway.
Inside, the first floor spread into a wide hall—two, maybe three hundred square meters. The outside looked preserved; the inside looked like it had taken a beating. Broken pillars lay scattered like fallen bones. Rubble and collapsed stone choked corners. Murals covered the walls, but most were faded or cracked, their details hard to read. Sand had blown in through the windows and piled up in drifts.
History sat heavy in the air.
Light slanted through the narrow windows, keeping the space from going pitch-black. But the second Natsui stepped in, he felt it—something off. The air had weight. The stone felt… wrong, like there was a pressure tucked into the walls.
Not surprising. Without something holding it together, a tower like this should've turned to dust ages ago.
He scanned the murals. No text, but the story was obvious: Primal Kyogre. Primal Groudon. And then Mega Rayquaza cutting between them to shut the whole disaster down.
So the Draconids didn't just keep the story alive through words. They carved it into stone, so even if history got scrambled, the legend wouldn't die.
Natsui pulled out several Poké Balls.
"Alright," he said, letting them open. "Spread out. Start here and work up. We're looking for a stone—one of a kind."
"A stone?" Gengar drifted up, curiosity all over its face. "What kind of stone?"
Natsui shook his head. "Don't know. Just that it's special—and it looks a lot like a Key Stone."
"A Key Stone?!" Gengar jolted. "If it's here… is it for Rayquaza? But you told me Rayquaza doesn't need a Key Stone or Mega Stone to Mega Evolve!"
"It shouldn't," Natsui agreed, but his tone tightened. "That's why it's weird. Still—Rayquaza reacts to it. I'm sure of that."
The Hidden Treasure
That part bothered him too. Normally, Rayquaza only needed Dragon Ascent to Mega Evolve. No stones. No shortcuts.
And yet—he remembered the official footage clearly. A Shiny black Rayquaza had ignored Zinnia completely and locked onto a stone like this, as if it mattered more than anything she said.
It didn't make sense.
But it didn't have to.
One thing did: if Rayquaza cared about it, Natsui wanted it first.
He clapped once, sharp and loud, snapping everyone's focus.
"Move. We're on the clock. Find that stone before Zinnia gets here."
His Pokémon fanned out. Natsui started sweeping floor by floor.
Searching was a pain. The first couple levels had sand, but above that it turned into a disaster zone—collapsed pillars, shattered steps, rubble everywhere. Something big had hit this place at some point, and the tower had never truly recovered.
Gray stone chunks carpeted every inch, turning the hunt into a slow grind.
Worse, some of the floors were cracked. Stone that looked solid would crumble under the wrong step. One slip and you could drop straight through.
That forced him to move carefully, which was the last thing he wanted.
Still, he had an edge: he remembered the stone being perfectly round—smooth like a river rock—so he could ignore most of the jagged debris.
Then it hit him.
He dug out a high-powered flashlight and started sweeping it across the rubble. If the stone had Key Stone-like properties, it might catch light differently.
It worked.
Between the seventh and eighth floors, the beam slid over a corner—
A sharp glint snapped back for a split second.
Eevee saw it too.
With a quick bark, Eevee dashed forward and returned with a round stone clenched proudly in its mouth.
Natsui took it—and there it was. Plain stone at first glance, like something you'd kick along a riverbank… except one side held a faint pattern, the same kind of shimmer you saw in a Key Stone. Under the flashlight, it flared brighter.
He actually found it.
"Good job." Natsui laughed and ruffled Eevee's head. With this, he could pull Rayquaza's attention. Maybe—just maybe—it could even open another path to Mega Evolution down the line.
He slipped the stone into his backpack and started to recall his Pokémon.
Then Misty's voice floated up from the stairs below.
"Natsui? What are you doing up there?"
He turned.
Misty climbed into view, confused. Behind her came Zinnia—eyes narrowed, suspicion written all over her face.
Natsui flicked his gaze to Zinnia and smiled like he had nothing to hide. "Nothing. Just taking a look at the murals."
Taking a look… with your whole team out?
Zinnia's suspicion didn't ease. If anything, it hardened. He'd ditched her "trial," raced here first, and now he was standing around like he hadn't done a thing.
But she'd arrived late. She hadn't caught him in the act.
Damn it.
That helpless feeling—being a step behind—gnawed at her. Still, with nothing solid to accuse him of, she swallowed it and kept moving, her face flat as stone.
As she headed upward, Natsui kept Dragonite out and followed.
Walking beside Misty, he asked quietly, "You really walked all the way?"
"Yeah," Misty groaned. "Those dunes were awful. And the wind kept kicking sand up—I almost got it in my eyes like five times."
Natsui lowered his voice further. "Did she say anything?"
"Not a word. She looked like she was thinking so hard it hurt. We just… walked."
Misty glanced at him. "Natsui—why bring her at all? Was it really just because she can open the barrier?"
Misty knew his goal was Rayquaza. What she didn't get was why Zinnia needed to be here if Natsui already knew where the place was.
Natsui only smiled.
Why bring Zinnia?
Yes, she found the island. Yes, she opened the way. But the real reason was simpler—and a little uglier.
Luck.
If this were one of those games where you needed a charm before you rolled the dice, Zinnia was the charm.
If Natsui just wanted any Rayquaza, he could've gone to the top and made enough noise to draw one out. Easy.
But the black one?
The rare one?
That wasn't something he wanted to leave to chance.
He'd never caught a single Shiny Pokémon in his life. If anything, it felt like shinies had a personal grudge against him. Zinnia, on the other hand, had been the one there when the Shiny Rayquaza appeared in the official story.
Coincidence or not, he'd rather lean on her "luck" than bet on his own.
He could only hope she still had that ridiculous streak—and that, this time, it would pay out for him.
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