After walking in the dark cave for about ten minutes, Natsui thought they were now in the middle of the mountains. He guessed this based on the distance.
After walking a few hundred more steps, the area in front of them became bright.
A small, round space appeared before them. In the center of the floor, there was a silver meteorite.
It was covered in many round holes. A beam of sunlight came down through a large opening at the top.
The light hit the meteorite. It looked cold and mysterious.
"Is this the meteorite that has Deoxys inside?"
May looked at the meteorite with curiosity. She went closer and saw that it was very large.
Even without counting the part under the ground, the part above the surface was already three or four meters high!
But she had a new question.
"If such a huge meteorite hit the Earth, shouldn't it have caused more damage than this?"
Just as she said, the meteorite was massive. If it hit the planet from space, the damage should have been catastrophic.
It would not just make a small cave in a mountain like this.
"It probably has something to do with Rayquaza," Natsui said. He did not know the exact reason, so he could only guess.
"Rayquaza lives in the ozone layer and has seen this planet as its territory for a long time.
It wouldn't just watch a meteorite destroy the world. So, it's very likely that it stopped the rock and slowed it down.
Otherwise, it would be hard to explain why the Deoxys inside took ten years to wake up."
"You're right." Solana agreed with Natsui. She looked down and opened the records in her hands.
"According to the records, when this meteorite fell, there was a big explosion, but that was it.
It didn't cause any other disasters. Because of that, people didn't pay attention.
They thought it was just a small meteorite. Even this cave was only found by local villagers later by accident.
They reported it, but no one took it seriously."
This was not surprising. This place was far away, so no one cared about it. No one came looking for a meteorite.
"Then... where is that Deoxys hiding?"
May turned her head to look around. Solana also took out her geomagnetic detector.
She scanned the area, but she could only tell that the source was here. She could not find Deoxys's exact location at all.
"At a time like this, we need to let a professional step in."
Now, Natsui did not hide anything. He took out the Ultra Ball that held his Deoxys.
"Come out, Deoxys."
Natsui called softly. The Ultra Ball opened by itself from the inside in the next second.
There was a flash of blue light. The Mythical Pokémon that looked like an alien appeared quietly before Solana and May.
Is this Deoxys?
Solana and May both looked at Deoxys. They were watching it from a very close distance.
Their sense of aesthetics was different, but they could still feel its strangeness. They also felt fear.
That was right. They felt a natural chill when they looked at this Pokémon from space.
It was like looking at the meteorite. Its alien shape made them uneasy.
Deoxys did not look at the two of them. It floated in the air and moved closer to the meteorite.
At the same time, the whole cave began to shake. Then, the geomagnetic detector in Solana's hand made a loud noise.
Even her Capture Styler stopped working for a short time.
"The geomagnetic interference is getting stronger... it seems like something is about to come out..."
Solana almost lost her balance. Luckily, she and May held onto each other so they would not fall.
Then, the space above the meteorite warped. It was just like what they saw earlier under the aurora.
In the next second, another Deoxys appeared before them.
This Deoxys looked just like Natsui's Deoxys. The size, patterns, and shape were the same.
Of course, that was only how it looked to others. Natsui was a Trainer, so he could still feel the difference between them.
Another member of its species had appeared. Because of this, this Deoxys did not do anything else after showing up.
Instead, it started communicating with Natsui's Deoxys.
Soon, Natsui also received a message from his own Deoxys.
'It... feels... pain...'
This was Deoxys's Telepathy. It allowed the Pokémon to send its voice into Natsui's mind.
However, it was an alien creature, so it spoke in an unfamiliar way. Even with Telepathy, its messages were not as clear as Gardevoir's messages.
Sometimes, Natsui had to guess to understand the meaning.
For example, right now, Natsui knew this Deoxys was in pain. But his own Deoxys could not explain the problem clearly.
It knew the cause, but it did not know the exact problem.
Luckily, there was a simple way to approach this.
Natsui turned back and said to the two of them, "My Deoxys says this wild Deoxys is in pain.
We have to find a way to take it away from here."
"That should be easy, right?" May asked.
"After all, we have a Deoxys too. We can just talk to it and ask it to leave!"
"That is what I'm worried about." Natsui shook his head.
"If it were really that simple, this Deoxys would have left a long time ago.
It wouldn't have waited until now. I think the geomagnetic anomaly is keeping it trapped here."
"But..." May asked again.
"Didn't we see it in the sky outside before? How did it leave back then?"
"I think that was a clone," Natsui guessed.
"This Deoxys must have used a clone to go outside and create the aurora.
It was trying to ask for help from any others that might be nearby."
Natsui was only guessing, but May felt this was likely correct. She sighed.
"That makes sense. It's just a shame that Poké Balls can't be used right now.
If we could put it in a ball, things wouldn't be so complicated."
Solana listened and understood. Then, she spoke.
"We just need to take Deoxys away from here? Then leave it to me!"
As she spoke, she took out her Capture Styler. Just like the last time they met, she changed the mode.
She fired a Capture Disc at Deoxys.
She clearly wanted to use that method to capture Deoxys for a short time.
She wanted to connect her heart with it and make it a temporary partner.
Her idea was good. However, she underestimated Deoxys's power and its will to resist.
White capture lines wrapped around Deoxys. Solana thought the capture was successful.
But then, a ball of energy suddenly burst out from Deoxys's core. It destroyed the capture lines instantly!
"What? How can this be!?"
Solana's eyes widened in shock. This was the first time she had seen a Pokémon break free from the capture lines!
"It looks like it doesn't want to be your friend," May joked.
The failure of the Capture Styler made Solana lose her confidence immediately. She stepped back.
Her meaning was clear. She could not handle this, so she was leaving it to Natsui.
Solana scratched her cheek and smiled awkwardly.
"I... I thought of a possibility. I'll ask headquarters first to see if they have any ideas."
Natsui shook his head and looked away from her. He looked at this Deoxys again.
Now he was sure that he had never seen this Deoxys before. When it looked at him outside earlier, it was not because it knew him.
It must have sensed the presence of its own kind from him!
Now, he needed to use his own method to take this Deoxys away from here.
"Can you move this meteorite out of here directly?" Natsui asked his own Deoxys.
That was right. Natsui's idea was simple. Deoxys could not leave because of the geomagnetic anomaly.
So, he would just move the meteorite it lived in!
No matter what the reason was, he would take this meteorite to another place.
Then, the geomagnetic anomaly would not affect Deoxys anymore.
Deoxys did not answer, but it nodded.
It flew high above the meteorite. It raised its hands.
The entire meteorite seemed to be wrapped in an invisible force. It suddenly began to shake!
Natsui could not guess exactly how heavy the meteorite was. That depended on its mass.
But either way, it weighed more than ten tons.
A normal Pokémon might not be able to do anything with such a large and heavy object.
But the one using its power right now was Deoxys. It was one of the strongest Psychic-type users in the world!
The huge meteorite was slowly lifted. They could see the fresh soil underneath.
Under Deoxys's control, it and the meteorite flew out together through the opening at the top of the cave.
Natsui turned to the two of them.
"Get closer. Let's leave this place quickly, too."
Solana wondered how Natsui would take them out. Then, a Poké Ball on his belt opened by itself.
The Gardevoir she had seen before appeared in front of them again.
So he wanted to...
Just as she thought that, Solana felt the scenery change suddenly. Her legs felt a bit weak.
When she could think clearly again, she, Natsui, and May were standing outside the mountain.
There was a blue sky with white clouds above them. There was soft grass under their feet.
They had reached the outside in an instant.
"Teleport is really convenient..." she whispered.
Then she quickly looked up into the distance. She saw Deoxys carrying the huge meteorite. It was flying toward them.
Natsui waved his hand.
"Let's go. This place is still within the range of the geomagnetic interference.
We need to go even further."
They followed the same path back and walked away from the mountains. They finally stopped when they were very far away.
The huge meteorite hit the ground hard. It made a loud noise and the ground shook.
But the strange thing was that they were far away from the cave, yet the area still had strong geomagnetic interference.
Regular equipment and Poké Balls still could not be used.
"Natsui..." May asked.
"What is going on? Didn't we take the meteorite out of that cave and move far away?
Why are we still affected by the geomagnetic interference?"
"In that case, there is only one reason left." Natsui looked at the meteorite behind them.
"Maybe the interference isn't affecting the meteorite.
Instead, it's very likely that this meteorite is causing the interference!"
Just then, Solana also received a response from headquarters.
"I think I know the reason for this incident." Solana saw the two of them looking at her and gave a forced smile.
"Do you know about solar winds?"
"Solar winds?"
May shook her head. She turned around and saw Natsui nodding. She was impressed that he seemed to know everything.
"What is that? Is it a kind of wind on the sun?"
"To be exact, it isn't wind," Solana explained.
"It refers to a stream of charged particles released from the sun's upper atmosphere.
Because it flows toward our planet like wind, it is called solar wind."
May did not speak. She waited for Solana to continue.
Solana went on, "According to the news from Ranger Headquarters, this is currently a period when sunspots are growing larger.
When they expand, solar winds become stronger.
Looking at the wave pattern, it matches our geomagnetic interference exactly.
So, it seems the interference here was caused by the solar wind.
But based on what we just did, I have reason to believe that the solar wind isn't affecting this area.
It's affecting this meteorite!"
In an instant, everyone looked at the meteorite.
"It seems all the clues have finally come together. This meteorite should be the source of the problem," Natsui said while rubbing his chin.
May finally understood everything. She sighed.
"No wonder we couldn't leave the area with the interference.
The meteorite was the cause all along!
Does that mean this meteorite brought Deoxys to our planet, but also trapped it?"
"Yes, that seems to be the case now." Solana turned to look at Natsui.
"Natsui, what should we do next?"
"Isn't it obvious? Since it is a cage, we have no choice but to break this meteorite and rescue Deoxys."
"Huh?" May felt a bit troubled.
"Do we really have to do that?
Is there no other way?
After all, this meteorite... is also Deoxys's home..."