At the moment he was about to fall.
A strong force suddenly pulled Baimu from behind, allowing him to hover in mid-air.
"Pa-li!"
Porygon II transformed into a large umbrella, casting a shadow, as small Electric Balls floated and rotated around it.
This form helps shield UV rays and also saves its energy.
"Thank you."
Baimu managed to say, quickly putting on the prepared mask and using the compressed oxygen tank inside to smooth his breathing.
Unexpectedly, it's not that cold?
Feels like minus...five or six degrees? Still within the tolerable range of normal Molten Rock Armor without space suits.
At higher altitudes, he'd probably need space suit versions, capable of accompanying Rayquaza in single combat through the atmosphere—Black Technology representing the highest tech pinnacle of the Magma Team.
Presumably, he should be in the stratosphere now, likely near the top.
Surely all these are not important.
What's important is.
The dragon?
Baimu looked around, then gazed down at the sea of clouds below, remembering he entrusted Hoopa to open a portal about a hundred meters near the Alternate-colored Rayquaza, could it be...
He quickly turned his head, suddenly noticing a familiar black dragon head behind the Golden Ring curiously watching him and the ring, with its two front claws swinging as if trying to grab something.
"Well..."
"Sss—!"
Before Baimu could even say a word of reminiscence, the Alternate-colored Rayquaza excitedly let out a long roar.
Visible ripples vibrated through the air,
Fortunately, its roar was mainly released higher up, or else he definitely would have been dizzy from the shock.
"L-long time no see, I haven't visited you in such a long time, I'm really sorry..."
He quickly shouted, almost pulling his throat, worried the Alternate-colored Rayquaza wouldn't hear him clearly.
However.
The Alternate-colored Rayquaza seemed even more anxious than him.
The big guy spiraled around the Golden Ring, its huge head directly nudging over, forcing Baimu to be tightly pressed against it with a loud "pa".
"Ugh!"
His stomach churned as he felt he was about to vomit his breakfast.
Dealing with this gigantic Pokémon like Rayquaza is extremely difficult, especially with such a rough personality.
If he weren't strong and healthy, just the impact from before could have broken several ribs.
This darn guy!
Baimu gritted his teeth, struggled mightily to barely turn over with Porygon II's help, which transformed into something like a seat, allowing him to place both hands on Rayquaza's broad Dragon Horn.
But before he could catch his breath, noticing he was steady, Rayquaza turned swiftly, whistling like a giant dragon descending toward the ground.
"Aaah—"
"..."
Baimu felt his face under the mask being forcibly elongated, thinking this was more thrilling than a roller coaster.
A roller coaster at most drops a few dozen meters, but Rayquaza descends straight from ten thousand meters high!
You're not human, but don't treat me like I'm not either!
His full of sorrow and indignation had no outlet, he could only endure it and pretend nothing happened. After Rayquaza left, Hoopa poked its head out from the Golden Ring, looked around, only seeing the Alternate-colored Rayquaza now a small black dot.
"Xiaobai left so fast."
Hoopa mumbled, receding into the Golden Ring, closing the portal.
It really wanted to go find Rayquaza to play with Baimu, but Balza and Mei Yali seriously asked for its help, so it had to suppress its playful thoughts.
Playing is important, but Balza and Mei Yali's request is even more important!
Hoopa wandered to where people gathered, hoping to see if anyone needed its help.
Suddenly.
An unfamiliar person to it, but well acquainted with [Xiaobai] stopped it.
"Hoopa-chan, where is Baimu?"
"Xiaobai went to play with Rayquaza!"
"...Huh?"
Liu Ge paused, thinking he misheard, "Who went to play with whom?"
"Xiaobai! Went to play with Rayquaza!"
Hoopa also thought he didn't hear clearly, repeated loudly.
As expected, Liu Ge was completely baffled by this sentence, his head full of question marks.
Who is Xiaobai?
Baimu's nickname?
He went to play with Rayquaza? A person nicknamed Rayquaza?
Da Wu, who was about to leave, casually overheard, seeing Liu Ge facially contemplating life, showed a wry smile and told him about Baimu's friendship with the Alternate-colored Rayquaza.
Liu Ge: "..."
He covered his forehead, lowered his head and exhaled deeply, "Hiss—Ha—"
A thought flashed through his mind:
Why not directly designate the Ore Region's Champion then.
How can you fight that!
The Legendary Pokémon Rayquaza!
Still a special existence beyond human understanding!
Did you say you were going out to find the Ore Region's Lugia? How did you end up finding Rayquaza? Do these two Pokémon even have any similarities?
Wait.
He already found Lugia.
If one's not enough, then bring another one...right?
Playing Divine Beast Stackers!
Liu Ge took a deep breath, a proper smile resurfacing on his face, he said to Da Wu: "Sorry for the laugh."
"No worries…"
The story continues.
As Rayquaza passed through thick clouds, a land somewhat unfamiliar to Baimu came into his view.
"Carlos..."
Baimu realized right away that Rayquaza had been following his request, staying above the airspace of Lysandre Labs, monitoring the Legendary Giant Stone below.
Did it see Z2 being captured?
If it did, what kind of thoughts does it have about humanity now?
No matter what.
"Thank you for your hard work."
He gently caressed Rayquaza's head beneath him with soft eyes.
"Aaah—"
Rayquaza growled softly, spiraling toward the uninhabited island off the coast of Carlos.