The Sky Pillar had a total of fifty floors.
Having to climb fifty flights of stairs in one breath without relying on the power of Pokémon, while constantly avoiding the cracked floor tiles on every floor that would crumble and send you plummeting down... this was no small challenge for any climber.
Walking in front, Zinnia occasionally shot subtle glances at the black-haired young man behind her.
Hakuya was not a Draconid.
According to the rules passed down by their people, only Draconids and those who had obtained permission were allowed to enter the Sky Pillar.
Over thousands of years, the number of outsiders who had obtained permission could be counted on one hand.
But for a Trainer possessing such a dense Draconic Aura—one even stronger than hers, the chosen Lorekeeper of the Draconids—regardless of whether Hakuya won the battle or not, he actually inherently possessed the qualifications to enter.
Possessing multiple types of Draconic Auras, Zinnia initially thought the black-haired young man before her was born with a "Dragon's Heart."
In the records of the Draconids, there was a place called the Village of Dragons in the distant Unova region. The people there, just like them, raised and revered Dragon-type Pokémon.
Over time, Trainers who possessed a sufficiently pure love for Dragon-type Pokémon could communicate and connect with them flawlessly. They could even amplify their strength in battle. This was possessing a [Dragon's Heart].
But thinking about it carefully... to be blessed by so many Draconic Deities, it absolutely couldn't be as simple as just a Dragon's Heart.
Could it be... the power to overcome? (The power of Aura/Telepathy used by Sir Aaron/Riley/Ash)
Recalling the legends and stories she had heard from her grandmother as a child, and the divine miracles where possessors of this power could communicate telepathically with major Legendary Pokémon, Zinnia secretly sucked in a breath of cold air, trying her hardest to stop her imagination from running wild.
After a moment of silence, the girl calmed her emotions and looked back at Hakuya.
"Since we're already at the Sky Pillar, just climbing stairs is boring. Hey, Hakuya, want to hear the stories passed down through generations by my ancestors—the Draconid people?"
As she spoke, a smile spread across her face. Although she verbally asked if he wanted to listen, Zinnia had absolutely no intention of waiting for Hakuya's response. She leaped nimbly onto the adjacent staircase and pointed to a mural not far away—countless little stick figures wearing dragon-shaped ornaments were holding hands, clustered around a colorful meteorite as if in prayer and sacrifice.
"Look over there. You've probably seen those murals already, right?"
Following the direction of her finger, Hakuya nodded.
Indeed, even though he had played through the story of the Ruby/Sapphire games multiple times, upon arriving at the Sky Pillar, he still couldn't help but look at the historical murals carved by the Draconids thousands of years ago.
It was just that earlier, because of the cracked floor tiles, he had fallen back to the first floor before he could take more than a few glances.
"In the ancient era thousands of years ago, this world once brimmed with an astonishing amount of natural energy. In order to fight over this energy, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre engaged in an endless, ceaseless battle."
"Faced with the world-ending power of these two super-ancient Pokémon, humans could do absolutely nothing. Everyone could only silently endure the baptism of one disaster after another. But under such circumstances..."
As they continuously climbed the stairs, a new series of murals came into view.
The girl's narration also grew more passionate as the murals increased in number.
"Suddenly, a massive shower of meteorites fell from beyond the heavens onto this land. Attracted by the powerful life energy of the meteorites, the mysterious green Pokémon—Rayquaza—descended from the sky and quelled the battle between the two super-ancient Pokémon. The earth returned to peace. Ever since then, Rayquaza has been revered by our Draconid people as our guardian deity."
Whenever Rayquaza was mentioned, Zinnia's tone became incredibly devout and fanatical.
The rest of the content was basically identical to the game's lore.
—A thousand years later, meteorites from outer space fell once again. While smashing out a massive crater that formed the present-day Sootopolis City, they also caused the natural energy hidden beneath Hoenn to leak out, triggering a new round of conflict between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre.
—The helpless humans could only pin their hopes on Rayquaza once more. And drawing upon the power of the meteorites and the people's prayers, Rayquaza successfully Mega Evolved and physically pacified the two super-ancient Pokémon yet again.
At this moment, listening to the girl's words, Hakuya also focused his gaze on the series of murals before him.
To be precise, the abstract designs of the murals really didn't match Zinnia's sacred and impassioned speech.
For example, Mega Rayquaza's head was depicted as a sharply angled triangle. Its body was covered in twisted, fiery patterns that seemed to tear through the sky, and its long, slender form stretched out like high-altitude turbulence, seemingly representing the traits of Delta Stream. Unfortunately, it lacked overall spirit and charm.
And compared to the murals on the wall and the lore that was essentially identical to his past-life games... to a certain extent, Zinnia herself was far more captivating than both.
Hakuya turned to look at the girl walking in front of him and couldn't help but sigh in admiration inwardly.
It had to be said...
The fashion sense of Trainers in the Pokémon world is incredibly trendy—
Steven was dressed like a standard wealthy young master. Aside from changing into worn-out miner's gear when going down into caves to dig, he wore a sharp suit and a red tie the rest of the time. Wallace, on the other hand, wore his white bowler hat everywhere he went. His green-and-white performance outfit perfectly matched his aura as a Contest Master, oozing flamboyant charm.
As for Zinnia right in front of him...
Her outfit was incredibly "Dragon-type," possessing a wild, untamed aesthetic tension. This was especially true for that grayish-white cape. It had a ring of dragon-like scales around the shoulders, and the tail end of the cape wasn't so much "tattered" as it was bearing an asymmetrical ring of scorch marks, perfectly burned into the shape of a dragon's tail and wings.
And her top... looking from the front, Hakuya initially thought it was just a normal, tight-fitting tank top.
But in reality, it was actually a backless halter top.
As Zinnia moved, the dragon-shaped cape behind her would occasionally be gently lifted by the draft, naturally revealing her smooth, graceful, jade-white back to Hakuya's sight.
Even though she had short hair and her personality and aura were like a tomboy's, her figure was unexpectedly well-endowed.
The plump, beautiful curves of her back flowed as elegantly and delicately as a trickling stream. Following the lines downward—likely due to frequent exercise—her peach-like hips were firm and perky. Her calves, wrapped in white socks, were slender, with soft, beautiful muscle definition.
Even compared to those older, mature 'onee-san' type Trainers, Zinnia wouldn't lose out in the slightest. Let alone in her current age bracket, where she absolutely crushed any other young girl with zero competition.
Recalling the hidden location of the Sky Pillar, and Zinnia's nature of taking the guardianship of the pillar as her duty—essentially being a shut-in who never left the house—Hakuya felt that besides him, probably no one else had ever seen the girl's wildly untamed outfit up close.
"What's wrong?"
Still enthusiastically explaining the contents of the murals, Zinnia suddenly noticed the gaze from behind her and asked.
"Nothing..." Hakuya scratched the back of his head and sighed, "I was just marveling at how incredibly powerful Rayquaza truly is. To defeat two super-ancient Pokémon in a 1v2 and save the Hoenn region from destruction... it's no wonder it was revered as a savior by the Draconids a thousand years ago, and that they built this Sky Pillar to commemorate and worship it."
"Hah~!"
Zinnia looked back at him with a face full of pleasant surprise.
"Hakuya, you... you think so too, right?!"
The girl's cheeks flushed slightly red, and her tone was filled with an excitement she couldn't hide at all.
If it weren't for the stairs being too narrow for two people to walk side-by-side, Hakuya actually felt this wild girl was fully prepared to reach out, grab his shoulders tightly, and start rambling endlessly about Rayquaza while climbing.
"Indeed! In the hearts of us Draconids, the Lord Dragon God who defeated Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, returning the Hoenn region to peace, is naturally the supreme savior! An irreplaceable existence..."
"Mhm..."
"The Lord Dragon God is absolutely the strongest Dragon-type Pokémon in the world... No, it should be the strongest Pokémon, period! I didn't expect a Trainer blessed by multiple draconic deities like you to think the same way, Hakuya! That's really wonderful!"
"Mhm..."
Looking at Zinnia, who had been so easily fooled by him and was practically treating him as a soulmate, Hakuya sweatdropped slightly.
This girl truly lives up to her title as Rayquaza's ultimate dedicated fan. Hyping it up like this... aren't you afraid the Mega-green-caterpillar will get secretly nerfed by the Alpaca (Arceus), changing [Air Lock] to [Slow Start] to put it in its place?
However, looking deeper into it, Zinnia's words weren't entirely wrong to a certain extent. In terms of game performance, setting aside the strength of its base form, Mega Rayquaza was indeed an existence capable of fighting for the top few spots among all Pokémon across all generations.
As for the 'blessings' Zinnia mentioned, Hakuya felt he had roughly guessed the truth.
—Blessings kindly bestowed by draconic deities? [X]
—Marks left over from brawling with those overpowered shit-mons in the randomized world? [✅]
Before they knew it, the fifty-floor climb passed by in a flash. Accompanied by Zinnia's occasional narrations, she and Hakuya arrived at the top floor of the Sky Pillar together.
"Alright. That covers the history of the Sky Pillar and the relationship between us Draconids and the Lord Dragon God... So, Hakuya, may I ask what exactly is your purpose for coming to the Sky Pillar today?"
Standing in the center of the Dragon Altar at the top, Zinnia turned around and raised her question.
Immediately after, the black-haired young man's response made her widen her eyes in shock.
"I was wondering if it's possible for you to use another method to summon Rayquaza here right now, Zinnia?"
"Eh?!"
"Yes. That is my purpose for coming to the Sky Pillar."
Seeing Zinnia point a finger at herself in astonishment, Hakuya nodded and reaffirmed.
"Due to a certain unforeseen event, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre are preparing to awaken again. Rather than waiting for those two super-ancient Pokémon to nearly destroy the Hoenn region before drawing Rayquaza out to stop them—like in the legends—I hope it can arrive a bit earlier this time."
Asking Zinnia to summon Rayquaza wasn't Hakuya deliberately making things difficult for her.
As the chosen Lorekeeper, Zinnia wasn't an ordinary Draconid; she possessed the ability to communicate with Rayquaza.
In the plot of the Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire remakes, because of the legendary impending meteor strike, Zinnia had initially planned to use the battle between Groudon and Kyogre to summon Rayquaza. However, due to the protagonist's intervention, the conflict between the two super-ancient Pokémon was resolved, and her initial plan was shattered.
To deal with the impending meteor strike, this wild girl ultimately activated Plan B: collecting Key Stones. Utilizing the energy of multiple Key Stones, she summoned Rayquaza to the Sky Pillar through a ritual.
The principle behind the summoning was twofold: on one hand, the sacrificial ritual passed down by the Draconids since ancient times allowed resonance and communication with Rayquaza; on the other hand, the Rayquaza, lacking energy at the time, happened to be attracted by the energy emitted by the Key Stones.
Since that was the case, besides Key Stones, other crucial items possessing immense energy should have a similar effect.
Thinking of this, Hakuya directly pulled out the Legend Plate he obtained from the randomized world, as well as the Rainbow Wing that a Shiny Fearow had stuffed into his backpack at some unknown time.
The energy emitted by these two items was far stronger than ordinary Key/Mega Stones.
"These are..."
The girl looked at the items placed before her, temporarily so shocked she could barely speak.
—Today she truly stumbled into the realm of the divine. Her eyes were opened.
On the left was a feather radiating seven-colored light. Although Zinnia couldn't sense a familiar Draconic Aura from it, the rich aura of the Flame of Life was absolutely unmistakable. Without a doubt, this was a rare treasure of the world.
And the large stone plate on the right... on an energy level, it far surpassed the feather possessing the Flame of Life. Without even needing to touch it, just by looking at it from a distance, a profound, inexplicable urge to fall to her knees and worship welled up from the bottom of Zinnia's heart.
"Although these two items don't possess the Mega Evolution energy of the legendary meteorites, I imagine there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Hmm... You aren't a Draconid. Why are you so obsessed with summoning the Lord Dragon God?"
Not responding immediately, Zinnia looked at the black-haired young man before her with a complex gaze.
To this, Hakuya spread his hands and replied immediately.
"The reason? It's probably because I want to minimize the destruction caused by those two guys, Groudon and Kyogre. If they caused massive destruction to the cities and severe casualties, I'd probably be very troubled by it~"
Although Hakuya felt very excited about the prospect of battling the two super-ancient Pokémon in their Primal forms soon...
...he didn't know if Floragato and the others could actually beat those two. If they got brutally crushed, and it just so happened that Rayquaza was busy stuffing its face at a Minior buffet in the ozone layer and arrived way too late... setting aside what kind of tragic state the Hoenn region would be reduced to, Rustboro City, being the center of the battlefield, would be the very first to be directly annihilated.
Therefore, to prevent any potential unforeseen variables, he specifically rushed to the Sky Pillar to find Rayquaza.
He didn't know why, but having stayed in the randomized world for so long, constantly facing those NPCs who lacked any ability to think and only knew how to shoot overpowered monsters at him, Hakuya felt his own mindset was becoming a bit abnormal.
Even though he had only stayed in the real-world Rustboro City for a little over a week, his sense of belonging was unexpectedly high. If he failed to stop the battle between Kyogre and Groudon, resulting in Rustboro City suffering severe destruction, he figured he wouldn't be able to eat or sleep well for several days.
Hiss... this isn't right. Why does it feel like I'm trending toward becoming a 'King of Lovers' (someone who loves everything/everyone)?
Hakuya rubbed his chin with his hand, falling into deep thought.
Meanwhile, hearing this thoughtless reply, Zinnia's expression froze. Then, she lowered her head and muttered to herself.
"Not wanting the world to suffer destruction, otherwise he would feel troubled... Just because of that...?"
For a moment, she suddenly remembered the heavy responsibility she carried on her shoulders.
According to the prophecy made by the Draconids in the past, a meteorite from outer space would once again strike this planet. And the power would be even more terrifying than previous times. The scale was so massive that perhaps the entire world would be destroyed.
And precisely because of this, she had previously even considered imitating the legends—allowing Groudon and Kyogre to awaken and battle once more, using that to awaken Rayquaza and make it her Pokémon, ultimately resolving the future meteor crisis.
This love for the world, and this strong sense of responsibility, allowed her to understand the thoughts of the black-haired young man before her.
Zinnia lifted her face, unable to help but feel a significant surge of affection for Hakuya.
"Hakuya, theoretically speaking, there's absolutely no problem with the plan you proposed. Leave the rest of the summoning ritual to me."
The corners of Zinnia's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a moving smile.
With that, she walked to the center of the Dragon Altar, placing the Rainbow Wing and the Legend Plate in front of her.
Hakuya guessed correctly. As the current Lorekeeper of the Draconids, Zinnia did indeed possess the ability to communicate with and summon Rayquaza.
At this moment, standing in the center of the Dragon Altar, holding her Key Stone, with the Legend Plate and Rainbow Wing placed before her, the wild girl closed her eyes, lifted her head toward the sky, and chanted a prayer loudly, looking extremely devout.
"Oh, pure and flawless jade~ Incarnation of a noble soul, please listen to my plea and grant me power..."
"The Lorekeeper of the Draconids in this era is now willing to use her flesh and blood as a conduit to initiate the summoning ritual for the God of Suppression!"
"..."
Originally thinking that a prayer to summon Rayquaza—passed down for nearly a thousand years—would be some incomprehensible ancient language, Hakuya was slightly stunned when he heard the words the girl was chanting.
No way. The summoning prayer of the Draconids is actually this straightforward and... chuunibyou?
Thinking that the Rayquaza of this world highly likely possessed chuunibyou traits, Hakuya almost lost his composure for a moment.
But thinking that making any inappropriate noises might highly likely get him torn to pieces by the ultimate Rayquaza solo-fan beside him, or get him completely annihilated by a [Dragon Ascent] from the Mega-green-caterpillar swooping in... he ultimately pursed his lips tightly, visualized the Wonder Guard Regigigas several times in his head, and forcefully held it in.
On the Dragon Altar, Zinnia's sonorous and forceful prayer continued to echo in the air.
"Oh, great God of Suppression, may you descend upon this world and save all the common people who love and revere you!"
"I am moved to tears of gratitude, and swear loyalty unto death!"
According to the summoning ritual passed down by the Draconids, after reciting the prayer, the Key Stone should emit a brilliant light.
However, after a long time passed, the Key Stone in Zinnia's hand remained pitch black.
"H-How can this be...?"
Seemingly encountering some issue, the girl suddenly opened her eyes.
"Could it be... that my prayer was rejected?"
Looking at Zinnia, who was trembling all over, Hakuya furrowed his brow in confusion.
Could it really be like the original plot, where it absolutely MUST be the radiance of Key Stones to work? And right now, because there aren't enough Key Stones, that guy Rayquaza refuses to show up?
"No, that's not the reason."
Shaking her head, Zinnia looked at the sky, which was already showing signs of sunset, looking as if her faith had completely collapsed.
"Although using both our Key Stones, plus your plate and feather, Hakuya, I should definitely be able to summon the Lord Dragon God here through the ritual. But... I found that I seem to be completely unable to sense the Lord Dragon God's aura anymore."
As her words fell, the girl's art style instantly turned black and white.
Hakuya, on the other hand, was a bit dumbfounded.
"..."
What does that mean?
Did this Rayquaza run off to the Alola region for an all-you-can-eat Minior buffet?
Or did it fly into outer space to snipe an invading alien Deoxys?
Or... don't tell me the Mega-green-caterpillar actually got temporarily banned by the Alpaca of this world?!