"Rayquaza? You're battling *Rayquaza?*"
Mom clutched Eevee, staring at Lu Ze with wide eyes — looking him up and down as if searching for something.
"Come on, Mom. Don't worry about those guys. I wasn't even thinking about them."
Mom smiled and reached up to pat Lu Ze's head.
"Mom, I'm serious. Tomorrow I'm fighting Rayquaza."
Lu Ze sighed. Why won't anyone just believe me?
"Mhm, mhm. Sure, sure. Don't go watch you and Rayquaza's battle tomorrow. Instead — come with Mom. I'll show you how I caught Ho-Oh."
Mom laughed, quickening her pace toward the testing grounds.
"Mom—"
"*Sigh.* When did you all stop trusting me?"
Lu Ze looked up helplessly at Deoxys hovering invisibly overhead. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll make them all eat their words."
"Sixi!"
Deoxys nodded firmly. Even a good-natured Pokémon like it got frustrated when family didn't believe in it.
---
"What?! *What?!*"
On the walk home, Mom shot Dad a stunned look — then turned that same stunned look on Lu Ze.
"You said — *tomorrow* — you're fighting Rayquaza?"
She swallowed hard before asking again. "You're really going to fight Rayquaza?"
Lu Ze tilted his head with innocent confusion. "Of course. I told you just now. You just didn't believe me."
Mom still couldn't process it. She turned to Dad.
"Honey~ You two aren't *both* pulling my leg, are you?"
Dad spread his hands in a helpless shrug. "No joke. It's the truth."
Mom pursed her lips, turning to Grandpa Xing.
"Father?"
Dad nodded earnestly to his daughter-in-law.
"It's real. Tomorrow Lil' Ze fights Rayquaza. The venue is the Colosseum."
He watched Mom stand there gobsmacked — then the three men exchanged a look and shrugged in unison.
"What?!"
---
Mom was still walking around in a daze when they got home. She threw herself into Grandma Liu Xiangjun's arms like finding safe harbor.
"Mom, they say Lil' Ze is fighting Rayquaza tomorrow."
Grandma Liu Xiangjun heard it — and reacted exactly the same way at first.
She patted Mom's head, then laughed gently. "Silly child. They're just teasing you. Why would you believe something like that?"
She shot Grandpa Xing and Grandpa Lu Wu a look — *explain yourselves, hurry.*
Grandpa Xing gave Grandma Liu Xiangjun a strange shake of his head. Grandpa Lu Wu managed an awkward smile.
Grandma Liu Xiangjun narrowed her eyes — but before she could speak, Grandpa Xing rushed to explain.
"No, it's real! Tomorrow Lil' Ze really is fighting Rayquaza!"
"Impossible! Lil' Ze just got his first Pokémon a few months ago, and now he's fighting Rayquaza?"
Lu Ze could only produce Cyrus's WeChat message as proof.
"Here."
And then came the scene from before.
---
"Someone explain this."
Recovering from the shock, Grandma Liu Xiangjun quickly regained her composure as a university professor.
"It's like this — blah blah,嘟嘟嘟嘟~"
Grandpa Xing quickly explained how Lu Ze had spotted Deoxys's energy core in Mo Qiangcheng's vault with his keen eye, brought the divine beast core back to life, and how Deoxys had protected Lu Ze throughout the Dark Mystery Zone.
Finally, he summoned Deoxys to give them a demonstration.
The target: Grandpa Xing's Rhyperior.
Now, Grandpa Xing's Rhyperior was the weakest of all his Pokémon — barely at the Quasi-Elite tier. But Deoxys lifted a single *Psychic* and Rhyperior couldn't move an inch.
Only then did Grandma Liu Xiangjun and Mom look at Deoxys differently.
As a peace offering, Lu Ze also promised Rhyperior that he'd find a way to trigger its next evolution.
That was when Grandma Liu Xiangjun and Mom finally, truly believed.
Tomorrow's fight with Rayquaza was real.
"See? We weren't joking."
After the demonstration, Lu Ze spread his hands toward Mom and Grandma.
*Who am I? An honest, reliable young man! Would I lie to you?*
"Part of me still can't believe it."
Mom shook her head, looking dazed.
"I never would've guessed that the son I thought would amount to nothing... the moment he met Pokémon, it was like the whole chemistry changed..."
As she spoke, she laughed — and tears she couldn't control rolled down her cheeks.
"Mom—"
"I'm fine, sweetie."
Mom wiped her eyes, then quickly stood up. "Come on, dinner's getting cold. Let's eat."
---
After Mom went into the kitchen, Dad rested a hand on Lu Ze's shoulder. He wanted to say something, but in the end only managed:
"Eat up."
"Yeah."
Lu Ze nodded, then went into the kitchen to help Mom carry dishes out.
Grandpa Xing and Grandma Liu Xiangjun stayed behind, exchanged a glance, and smiled — both looking very happy.
---
By the time dinner was served, Mom had recovered.
You could tell she was still over the moon, though. She kept piling food onto Lu Ze's plate without pause, and her chatter wouldn't stop.
The one who benefited most from Mom's serving Frenzy was Mini Dragon.
Grandma had made some fried chicken drumsticks that Mini Dragon loved — so Mini Dragon hadn't gone to the backyard with the other Pokémon. Instead, it ate right in Lu Ze's arms.
After all those extra portions from Mom, Mini Dragon ended the meal lying on the sofa with a perfectly round belly.
"Lil' Ze — are you nervous about the Rayquaza fight tomorrow?"
"Gonna say I'm not nervous would be a lie, but it's manageable, I guess."
Lu Ze sipped tea the way he'd seen Grandpa do, steadying his racing heart before answering.
"Don't worry. Rayquaza's actually pretty approachable."
Lu Ze苦笑了一下. *Pretty approachable and fighting it — what does one have to do with the other?*
Watching his grandson like this, Grandpa Xing smiled. "Alright, go get some sleep. Talking won't fix this. Get a full night's rest, and you'll be fine by morning."
"Really?"
"Really!"
Grandpa Xing nodded firmly. Lu Ze, half-believing, carried Mini Dragon upstairs.
---
After Lu Ze went up, Crobat and the others soon filed in after him.
"Crobat — tomorrow I'm fighting Rayquaza, and I'm nervous. What do I do?"
"Chir~"
"Rayquaza... it's my favorite Legendary. Even the majestic White Kyurem, the imposing Black Kyurem, and the cold Mewtwo — none of them come close to Rayquaza in my heart."
"...Hey, do you think Mewtwo even exists in this world? I mean, Mewtwo was created by Team Rocket, and there's no Team Rocket here. Although... there *is* the Church. I wonder if the Church leader has the same guts as Giovanni."
Lu Ze muttered to himself. Crobat tilted its head, thoroughly lost.
Rayquaza — she understood that.
White Kyurem and Black Kyurem — she'd heard of those, at least, knowing they had something to do with Kyurem.
But everything after that — Mewtwo, Team Rocket — none of it made sense. And Giovanni — was he someone in the Church?
*(End of chapter)*
———
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