"This guy — hiss—"
Tim Wynn watched Soren Li disappear down the hallway and sucked in a sharp breath. That was something else. *Unhinged.*
"Forget it, forget it." Auron waved a dismissive hand, visibly uncomfortable. "Don't bring him up. It's giving me chills."
He turned and looked at Grandpa Ashford's Kommo-o, eyebrows raised.
Kommo-o blinked. Looked around. Stared back at Auron in flat disbelief. *That's it? That's* really *it?*
Auron bit back a laugh and nodded. "That's it. Battle's over."
Kommo-o was still processing — already stepping forward to lodge a formal complaint — when Lucario, expression long-suffering, reached over and dragged it away.
"Bye-bye~! I'll bring you to a proper high-stakes match next time~!"
"Roar!"
Once Kommo-o and Lucario had gone, Auron turned to the group and tilted his head toward the exit. "Let's head out. Everyone's got their new Pokémon — we can call it for today."
"Sure. We'll hang at your place for a bit, then wait for Jace before dinner."
"Works for me."
They left one by one, each carrying a Pokémon egg, and caught the subway back to the school district. It wasn't long before everyone was home. Serena, though, was still a little flustered — she'd tried to pay Auron's mom on the way out, and his mom had flatly refused every attempt. Auron had pulled her away before she could push further, and the matter was dropped, but the awkwardness was still sitting with her.
---
While Auron and his friends made their way home, Rayquaza had already arrived at its destination.
Sleek and black, the legendary serpent hung in the air above a vast lake scattered with small islands, and let out a slow, satisfied breath. A smile touched its face.
"!"
*(Hey there, little sis~ Big bro's here again~)*
Rayquaza twisted its gleaming dark body with shameless enthusiasm, completely unbothered by the gasps and camera shutters from the tourist boats below.
"ROAR!"
A furious cry — then a bolt of vivid green energy exploded from one of the islands and streaked straight toward it.
Rayquaza spotted the **Dragon Breath** coming, felt its smile widen, and banked lazily to one side. The beam sailed past.
On the boats below, the tourists erupted.
*Who's attacking Rayquaza?! In Dragon Kingdom territory?! Do they seriously think we have nobody here?!*
The crowd was already reaching for Poké Balls when the tour guide held up a calm hand.
"Hey — put those away. Rayquaza's just sparring with Latios. What are you all worked up about?"
"Latios?" A little girl's face lit up. "So what the guidebook said is true?"
The guide stood at the bow, took an ostentatiously slow sip of his tea, and nodded. "Of course. Would I lie?"
"*Wooow!*" The girl's eyes went wide as saucers. "Does that mean Latias is here too?"
"Naturally. They're siblings. Inseparable."
He'd barely finished the sentence when a blue Latios and a pink Latias rose into the sky and squared off against Rayquaza.
Rayquaza flicked a brief sidelong glance at Latios — then immediately transferred its full and undivided attention to Latias.
*(Hey~! Come on, Latias — let big bro take you somewhere fun~)*
*(Hehe, Rayquaza big bro is...)*
Latias let out a soft laugh and started to answer — but Latios cut her off with a voice shaking with fury.
*(Will you ever stop?! You show up every few weeks, every single time — you don't respect me at ALL!)*
Rayquaza gave Latios a slow, unhurried look.
*(And you are? Want to fight?)*
*(Bring it!)*
Latios charged. Furious. No warm-up, no preamble — zero to maximum velocity in an instant, closing the distance in a heartbeat.
Rayquaza didn't panic. One quick glance at the tourists below, then it hit **Extreme Speed** and pulled straight up — neatly sidestepping Latios's rage-driven **Dragon Claw**.
*(Is that it? Really?)*
The contempt on Rayquaza's face pushed Latios from angry to incandescent. It launched itself forward again, all restraint gone.
Rayquaza laughed under its breath and shot upward — and as it went, it caught Latias's eye and gave a small flick of its head.
They were above populated water. Too close, and the shockwaves would hurt people. Rayquaza was telling her: *cover the civilians. Handle the collateral.*
Latias smiled and nodded. This had happened before — more than once. She knew exactly what to do.
Latios, unfortunately, did not.
The moment Latios saw Rayquaza *still* flirting with his sister in the middle of a fight, he lost another layer of composure and pushed harder.
Rayquaza felt Latios bearing down from behind and felt a flicker of genuine delight. It edged its own speed up just enough — keeping Latios in that precise, maddening window of *almost caught you, but not quite* — and held it there.
"Fireworks!"
Down on the boats, the little girl was pointing excitedly at the blooms of light erupting across the sky.
Latios flung **Dragon Breath**, **Air Slash**, **Dragon Pulse**, and **Ice Beam** at Rayquaza in a relentless stream. Every single attack missed. The moves, exhausted by the chase, detonated at maximum range — and from the boats below, they looked exactly like fireworks.
*(If you're so comfortable hitting on my sister, then stand still and actually fight! Come here!)*
Rayquaza slowed.
It stopped its ascent and turned to face Latios, its expression carrying a kind of serene, patient contempt.
*Me? Flirt with Latias?*
*I'm here because I want a proper fight from* you.
*I politely asked, and you said no. I had to wind you up through Latias first. Take a moment and think about what that says.*
This wasn't Rayquaza's first time running this particular play. It worked every time. Latias had figured out the pattern ages ago. This thick-skulled Latios still hadn't caught on.
You couldn't really blame Rayquaza for the contempt. This was a pure IQ gap.
Latios, however, had drawn an entirely different conclusion. When he saw the disdain in Rayquaza's eyes, he assumed it was a slight on his strength. This made him angrier. Which made the attacks come faster.
Rayquaza watched Latios reach full fury and felt its mood lift considerably.
*Good. Now we can actually start.*
There was still a gap between Latios's strength and its own — without real effort from Latios, this wasn't much of a workout. He needed to be properly pushed.
That was why it kept coming back to wind him up.
*Crack.*
Rayquaza's **Dragon Tail** snapped the incoming **Air Slash** clean in two. One wide sweep of **Breaking Swipe** shattered the **Triple Attack**, **Aura Sphere**, and **Energy Ball** that followed — all at once.
*(Where's your **Dragon Dance**? Why aren't you buffing up? What am I supposed to do with this?)*
That was the final straw.
[Chapter End]