"What? Are you refusing?"
Seeing Chen Shi hesitate, Rayquaza spoke directly.
Chen Shi paused before answering honestly. "It's not that I refuse. I just don't have confidence that I can help you Mega Evolve."
"Doesn't that require a strong bond?"
Rayquaza let out a disdainful snort. "What makes you think I am like ordinary Pokémon?"
"All you need to do is use your power, channel it through the Key Stone, and resonate with the organ within me."
"The rest is none of your concern."
Chen Shi fell silent for two seconds, then nodded slowly.
"Alright. But…"
"But what?"
"Shouldn't we test it first? What if it doesn't work when it matters?"
As he spoke, he pulled out the Key Stone necklace from around his neck and held it up.
Without trying once, he couldn't feel at ease.
If it succeeded, perfect.
If not, they could think of another solution.
"Fine. We can try."
Seeing the Key Stone, Rayquaza considered briefly before agreeing.
It cost nothing. It didn't consume meteor energy.
There was no harm in testing.
Besides, it had been a long time since it last Mega Evolved.
A faint sense of nostalgia stirred within it.
"I'm starting!"
Chen Shi took a deep breath. Pink psychic energy surged outward, enveloping the Key Stone.
The moment his psychic power touched it, familiar prismatic light burst forth, illuminating Rayquaza's massive body.
He focused carefully, guiding his psychic power to search for and connect with Rayquaza's special organ.
Rayquaza cooperated.
After some effort—
Chen Shi finally sensed it.
The organ that stored meteor energy.
A white beam erupted from Rayquaza's body, linking with the Key Stone's radiant glow.
Rayquaza's eyes gleamed.
It shot skyward, engulfed in the light of Mega Evolution.
Chen Shi stared blankly from below.
"Holy— it actually works?"
He had doubted it.
Rayquaza claimed that psychic power plus a Key Stone was enough.
Chen Shi wasn't entirely convinced.
Yet it had succeeded.
This was completely different from how he Mega Evolved Swampert or the others.
With them, it was the bond that bridged the Key Stone and Mega Stone, triggering evolution.
But here—
No bond.
No Mega Stone.
Just psychic resonance, a Key Stone, and Rayquaza's cooperation.
And it worked.
Of course, Chen Shi knew this wasn't replicable.
Only Rayquaza possessed that unique organ.
Soon, the light faded.
Rayquaza appeared in its new form.
Mega Rayquaza.
Its emerald body gleamed like polished jade. The golden ring above its head remained, but a Delta-shaped marking now adorned its forehead.
Its gums turned golden. The lower horns extended forward, framing its jaws, while ribbon-like golden streamers flowed from its upper horns, lower horns, and tail.
Magnificent.
Chen Shi scanned again.
The system still returned almost nothing.
Except one change—
Ability: Delta Stream.
A simple yet terrifying effect.
It created strong winds that nullified Flying-type weaknesses.
A signature ability unique to Mega Rayquaza.
...
Far away in Kanto's deep ocean, a massive white-and-purple bird opened its eyes.
Lugia tilted its head toward Hoenn.
Rayquaza again?
Did Groudon and Kyogre start fighting?
No… their auras weren't present.
Then why Mega Evolve?
Was something invading from space?
No.
There was no sign of large-scale battle.
Lugia shook its head.
"Forget it. Not my problem."
In a hidden forest elsewhere, Ho-Oh also sensed the disturbance, opened one eye, then returned to rest.
Chen Shi had no idea that his simple test had awakened countless powerful beings across the world.
Many legendary and mythical Pokémon turned their attention to Hoenn's skies, puzzled.
In Kalos, streaks of faint green light rose and converged at a single point.
A black-and-green canine figure materialized.
Zygarde.
The Order Pokémon.
Even it had been stirred by Rayquaza's surge of power.
Some of its scattered Cells gathered, forming its 10% Forme.
Sensing no ongoing catastrophe, confusion flickered in its gaze.
...
Meanwhile, within the newly discovered secret realm near Sootopolis in Hoenn, the ground trembled briefly—
Then fell silent.
Back in the ozone layer, Chen Shi knew none of this.
All he felt was exhaustion.
His stamina drained like water from a broken dam.
He hurriedly waved his hand.
"I'm done—!"
He cut off his psychic power, withdrew the Key Stone, and ended the Mega Evolution.
Rayquaza returned to its original form.
Chen Shi's face was pale. He panted heavily and collapsed onto the rocky ground without caring about the dust.
This was far more exhausting than his first Mega Evolution with Swampert.
It felt like being pumped dry.
Rayquaza descended and looked at him.
"Your duration is too short. It is insufficient for a true battle."
"At our level, combat is prolonged. If things escalate fully, a battle can last for days."
Chen Shi's eye twitched.
He resisted the urge to retort.
But Rayquaza wasn't wrong.
The higher the level, the greater the endurance.
When Dragapult had still been a Drakloak, it had fallen to a single Ice Punch from Steven's Metagross.
Now?
That wouldn't happen.
Evolution and growth had changed that.
At its current level, it would take multiple blows to bring Dragapult down.
As for beings like Rayquaza—
Their stamina was on an entirely different scale.
Any clash between them would not be brief.
It would be a war of attrition.
...
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