Buzz!
A golden ring appeared in front of Steven and Little Hoopa. From inside it, Hoopa Unbound's huge face pushed out.
Steven and Little Hoopa tried to run, but Hoopa Unbound had already learned from its last mistake.
Five rings opened at once, blocking every path they could use to escape.
From one of the rings came Hoopa Unbound's giant arm, with a thin layer of dark energy wrapped around it.
Steven frowned as he looked at the fists closing in around him.
"Hmph!" Hoopa Unbound roared, and all five fists struck at the same time!
Just outside the rings, Lugia beat its wings and flew low and fast across the ground.
It swept Steven and Hoopa onto its back, dodging the attack at the last second.
"Lugia?!" Steven was surprised, then said gratefully, "Thank you, Lugia!"
"Roar!" Lugia gave Steven a small, gentle smile.
Boom!
A Dark Pulse suddenly hit Lugia from the side, knocking it down onto the street below.
Steven and Little Hoopa were thrown to the ground as well.
"Roar!" Lugia let out an angry cry, and as it turned around, its whole body glowed with a blue aura.
Bang!
Lugia slammed into Hoopa Unbound, sending it crashing into a nearby building.
Steven quickly stood up and checked on his Doublade and Little Hoopa nearby.
Thankfully, neither of them was hurt.
"Metagross!"
"Steven!"
Hearing his Pokémon's cries behind him, Steven turned around.
All of his Pokémon had come back to his side.
"Thank you, everyone, for your hard work," Steven said with a soft smile. But his face turned serious again as he looked up at Hoopa Unbound, still fighting Lugia in the sky.
He didn't know where Little Hoopa had summoned Lugia from, but its power was frightening.
Lugia was already gaining the upper hand against Hoopa Unbound.
A hundred years ago, Hoopa Unbound had never lost, not even to a Legendary Pokémon.
(Although a few of them had been beaten in a single hit.)
"Roar!" Lugia cried out, its body burning with a blue and white light.
As its huge white wings flapped, a wave of blue and white energy rushed toward Hoopa Unbound with a sharp whistling sound, like countless blades cutting through the air!
Aeroblast!
Boom!
Hoopa Unbound fired a Dark Pulse to block it, but the attack only lasted a moment before Aeroblast tore straight through it!
Aeroblast slammed directly into Hoopa Unbound's body!
Hoopa Unbound was thrown backward, smashing through several buildings before finally crashing down into the ruins.
The battle between Lugia and Hoopa Unbound had already cracked many buildings across Desert City!
It looked like the smallest gust of wind could bring them crumbling down.
"Everyone, return for now," Steven said, calling back all his Pokémon except Metagross into their Poké Balls.
"Diancie, you go in too."
Diancie looked at Steven's face, puffed out its cheeks, and said, "I'll keep watching closely."
If Steven were ever in danger, Diancie would burst out of its Poké Ball no matter what.
"Don't worry about me," Steven said with a soft laugh, nodding in agreement.
After clipping his Poké Balls back onto his belt, Steven climbed onto Metagross's head.
Little Hoopa settled itself on top of Steven's head.
"Leaving this to Lugia should be enough for now, Hoopa. Let's go find somewhere to hide."
"Hide, hide, hehe!" Little Hoopa giggled.
Buzz!
A powerful tremor caught Steven's attention.
Lugia was once again glowing with blue aura, charging straight at Hoopa Unbound.
Suddenly, a golden ring rose up and stopped right in front of Lugia.
"Roar?!" Lugia flapped its wings hard, trying to stop before reaching the ring.
But before Lugia could even catch its breath, the ring moved forward on its own and pulled Lugia through it.
Lugia found itself staring at a pitch-black, deep-sea world, its mouth twitching in annoyance.
If it hadn't lost the fight, why had it been sent away?
"Hoopa!" Hoopa Unbound roared, rising into the air and glaring down at Steven and Little Hoopa.
"There's still this one to deal with..." Steven muttered, his mouth twitching too.
He had to admit that Hoopa Unbound was still frighteningly strong, even against Lugia.
"Hoopa! Call out more Legendary Pokémon!" Steven said, glancing upward at Little Hoopa.
"Leave it to Hoopa!" Little Hoopa said cheerfully, floating higher into the sky.
It threw out three golden rings!
"Come on out!" Little Hoopa raised both hands and shouted.
Buzz—
Steven flinched and looked down at his pocket.
The three stones inside it were glowing with blue and pale pink light!
"What kind of trouble is this now?!"
"Roar!"
A deep dragon's roar echoed out from within one of the rings!
A massive black dragon, over ten meters long, burst through the ring and soared into the sky.
From Little Hoopa's other two rings, two more similar-looking Pokémon flew out.
One of them was already familiar to Steven.
"Latias, Latios, and a black Rayquaza?!" Steven stared up at the three Pokémon in the sky, caught completely off guard.
[Steven?!]
Latias's voice rang out inside Steven's mind.
"Could it really be..." Steven said in surprise, looking at Latias, who had stopped right in front of him.
He glanced up at the massive black dragon staring down at him from above.
Could this Rayquaza be the very same one that had once fought off both Reshiram and Zekrom?!
All three of these Legendary Pokémon were from his own timeline.
Steven's hand pressed against his pocket.
Was this the power of the three stones?
[Steven! I can sense my trainer's aura!]
Latias, floating beside him, suddenly looked overjoyed as she spoke to Steven with excitement.
"Really?!" Steven asked, just as surprised as she was.
But he quickly pushed that feeling of joy aside for now.
"Right now, our main job is dealing with that big one," Steven said, nodding toward Hoopa Unbound in the distance.
Hoopa Unbound was staring intently at the black Rayquaza in the sky.
The pressure coming from this Rayquaza felt even greater than the pressure Lugia had given off earlier.
[Then let's end this quickly!]
"Mm!" Steven nodded and rode Metagross forward, stopping in front of the black Rayquaza.
He reached out a hand glowing with green light and spoke seriously:
"Rayquaza, I accidentally trespassed into your territory once before."
"For that, I sincerely apologize."
"Now, would you be willing to lend me your help?"
The black Rayquaza's stern face stared down at the small figure of Steven before it.
[Human, you wish to fight by my side?]
A voice filled with quiet authority echoed through Steven's mind.
Feeling the sheer power radiating from Rayquaza, Steven's heart began to race.
"Yes," Steven said, nodding firmly.
Rayquaza didn't answer right away. Its eyes shifted toward Hoopa Unbound in the distance.
Hoopa Unbound had raised all six of its hands, lining up six rings above its head in a row.
An immense amount of power was building up from within them.
Even Rayquaza seemed to find this troublesome.
Rayquaza's gaze returned to Steven.
A cold voice echoed through his mind once more.
[Don't die, human.]