Chapter 145: Rayquaza, Will You Be My Partner?
As he spoke, Mammon activated the Power of Viridian, green motes of light drifting toward the black Rayquaza, tending to its wounds.
The Power of Viridian's healing effect was nothing to dismiss — in just a short while, the black Rayquaza felt a good portion of its strength return.
"You, human…"
The black Rayquaza lifted itself into the air, draconic eyes narrowing as they fixed on this unusual person.
Deoxys — honestly, it wasn't particularly bothered about that anymore. Something like Deoxys, it could eliminate any time it chose. That wasn't especially difficult.
But this human…
"You were the one directing them, weren't you?"
The black Rayquaza swept its gaze across Primal Kyogre and the others. Speaking without exaggeration — one-on-one, it could have beaten any single one of them with ease.
Including Primal Kyogre.
Even fighting all of them simultaneously, the black Rayquaza had absolute confidence in itself, because its power was simply that overwhelming!
And yet in the end, it had lost. Even if it could explain it away by saying it hadn't taken its opponents seriously at the start — it had still lost.
That was a fact it couldn't escape.
"That's right." Mammon returned the look with an easy smile.
"For a human, you're impressively capable. But if we fight again — I won't lose to you."
The black Rayquaza's low telepathic rumble made its dissatisfaction with the outcome plain.
Replaying the battle in its mind now, it was convinced it could absolutely have won! This human had simply leveraged the burn status and buff stacking — but all it had needed to do from the start was go all-out and knock Primal Kyogre out before it could finish buffing, and none of this would have happened.
Or — Kyogre and the others could buff up. Couldn't it do the same?
Mammon smiled and said nothing. It was obvious. The black Rayquaza was insufferably proud.
Primal Kyogre was not pleased. This black charcoal flying caterpillar — what a sore loser!
"Fine. A loss is a loss. Since you won this time — this alien bug is yours to deal with."
The black Rayquaza glanced sideways at Deoxys. If this human had given his word, it wasn't opposed to extending him that courtesy.
Methods aside, this human had genuinely defeated it.
The black Rayquaza was arrogant — but it wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"Interesting human. If we meet again, I won't be underestimating you."
The black Rayquaza fixed Primal Kyogre with one last cold stare, then brought its gaze back to Mammon.
"I like you too. I hope we'll meet again." Mammon made no effort to hide his appreciation for the black Rayquaza.
The black Rayquaza could feel the warmth in Mammon's words, and it was, all things considered, not displeased.
Of course. It was the invincible Rayquaza — and a shiny one at that. Having humans admire and revere it was perfectly natural.
"I wonder if I'd have the honor of inviting you to travel with me, Rayquaza? To witness this beautiful world together?"
Mammon pressed his advantage and put the invitation forward directly, eyes burning with eagerness.
Deoxys and Dark Mewtwo showed no reaction whatsoever. Ho-Oh tilted its head and stared at this human with genuine astonishment — he really had the nerve to ask, didn't he?
Primal Kyogre, meanwhile, was staring at Mammon in pure disbelief.
You're inviting Rayquaza first??!
I was here first!!
I may have gone into your Ball, I may have followed your commands, but that doesn't mean I'm your Pokémon yet! You haven't even formally invited me!! The nerve!!
The fat fish was extremely put out. What was so great about this black charcoal Rayquaza anyway? Was it prettier than the great Kyogre…? Well — ahem, okay, Rayquaza was different from that smelly lizard, the looks really weren't worse than its own.
But I was here first!
The wild Rayquaza, meanwhile, was watching this human with an expression of pure disbelief.
…The guts on this guy. He was inviting its dad to be his partner??
Absolute legend.
"Oh?"
The black Rayquaza was briefly taken aback. It glanced over at Primal Kyogre glowering at it, and glowered straight back.
This fish had gotten bold. It was daring to glare at me?
Primal Kyogre quietly edged back a little. The black Rayquaza's stare still carried enormous menace.
"Human — are you serious?"
The black Rayquaza turned its attention back to Mammon with something approaching curiosity.
How long had it lived? An immense span of time. Several hundred million years, perhaps.
In all that time, this was the first occasion a human had ever issued it an invitation to become a partner. It was, in a strange way, rather novel.
"Completely." Mammon answered without hesitation.
"Rayquaza — I don't know what the world looks like through your eyes. But I want to share what it looks like through mine. Journeys, adventures, ideals, reality — and the bonds between us humans. These different kinds of scenery."
Mammon looked up and met the black Rayquaza's eyes directly.
"I want to invite you to witness it alongside me."
The young man's words weren't forceful. But they reached the black Rayquaza clearly, landing somewhere deep within it.
The black Rayquaza narrowed its draconic eyes and regarded this unusual human.
Honestly? Most of what Mammon had described held little appeal. It was Rayquaza. It had already witnessed far too much of this world's history — seen too many nations and civilizations rise, rot, and crumble to dust under the wheels of time.
Even the so-called "kings of legend" in some region or another, their kingdoms blazing at their heights — hadn't they all disappeared in the end?
So no, the things Mammon spoke of didn't particularly interest it.
But the human himself — that was another matter.
Because he had commanded Primal Kyogre and the others and beaten it.
If this human had been inviting not itself but its child — the black Rayquaza thought it genuinely could hand the young Rayquaza over to this person for proper training.
Though looking at it now…
The black Rayquaza let its gaze drift sideways to the wild Rayquaza. Hm. This human didn't seem to think very highly of its child.
Well. The eye for talent was accurate, at least.
The wild Rayquaza felt its father's gaze and thought the look was rather rude. Why did it feel like it was being dismissed again?
It was a little wounded. It hadn't even done anything just now!
A quiet settled over them. The seconds ticked by.
Mammon wasn't in any hurry. He could wait.
At last, the black Rayquaza's low telepathic voice replied.
"If we meet again — and you can defeat me again — I'll walk this world with you for a while."
The black Rayquaza's draconic eyes were keen and imperious. This defeat had carved itself into its memory.
But next time — it would not lose.
"It's a deal."
Mammon's mouth curved. This answer — not a flat refusal — was more than satisfying.
"I look forward to seeing you again."
ROOAAR!!
It held Mammon's gaze one last moment, then the black Rayquaza climbed high, its sleek black coils sweeping elegantly as it vanished into the distant sky. The wild Rayquaza followed close behind.
"Finally over." Mammon let out a long breath, then turned to face Primal Kyogre and the assembled legends.
"You all worked hard. That was excellent teamwork — and we came out with a victory."
He said it with a smile. The process had been a touch convoluted, but all within projections.
Dark Mewtwo said nothing, lost in quiet thought. Deoxys stared into the distance, unreadable.
Primal Kyogre's blue light flashed and it dropped out of its Primal Reversion — but for some reason, Mammon had the distinct sense that the look this fat fish was giving him was… resentful?
"How's that? I didn't deceive you, did I, Ho-Oh?" Mammon looked toward the bird.
Ho-Oh had burned the dust off itself with rainbow flame, its feathers clean and brilliant once more. It heard Mammon's voice, slanted a sideways look at this human, and said nothing — but there was a glint of unmistakable self-satisfaction in those eyes.
As expected of me! Even a shiny Rayquaza couldn't withstand the great Ho-Oh!
But… it really hurt.
Ho-Oh slowly spread its wings and lifted off. It had done the favor it promised. Right now it only wanted to find a magma hot spring and soak away the exhaustion.
"Human — the next time you pick a fight with a Rayquaza, please leave my name entirely out of it. Thank you."
Ho-Oh circled once in the air, its telepathic voice carrying unmistakable gravity.
It was pleased they'd taken down the black Rayquaza together — but the full-body agony during the battle had been deeply unpleasant. It didn't see why it needed to suffer like that.
Next time someone picked a fight with the black Rayquaza, it absolutely was not showing up.
"Don't worry — for Rayquaza fights, I'll never call you." Mammon agreed readily. No Ho-Oh for black Rayquaza. Everything else is fair game.
Ho-Oh nodded, satisfied. As long as it wasn't a black Rayquaza fight. Two favors left after this — then it and Mammon were square.
Kyieee~!
Ho-Oh's brilliant cry rang across the sky, and its silhouette faded into the horizon.
Mammon watched it go, genuinely moved by how straightforward it had been. Getting three favors out of Ho-Oh upfront — that had been one of his better decisions.
Pity, though. Maybe he should have been greedier at the time. Ten favors, say. Looking at it now, three was starting to feel a little lean.
He wondered — if he used one of the remaining favors to trade up for three more, would Ho-Oh agree?
Mm… better not. Even for a big turkey with a decent temper, a move like that would probably get him pecked into the ground.
Mammon let the thought go with genuine regret.
"And you, Deoxys?"
He watched Ho-Oh disappear, then turned to Deoxys.
"I want to find my companion."
Deoxys's telepathy was still mechanical in quality — but the sentences came smoothly now.
"After that… may I come find you? Mammon." There was something like longing beneath that flat mechanical tone.
"Of course. I'll be waiting for you." Mammon's smile went deeper.
This outing had been quite the haul. All the effort of picking a fight with the black Rayquaza hadn't been wasted.
"Thank you, Mammon."
Deoxys expressed its gratitude, then rose skyward, releasing its psychic power once more — searching for the location of Individual One.
Mammon watched Deoxys for a moment, then shifted his gaze to the last one remaining.
Kyogre pointedly turned its eyes to the side.
But its full attention had been on Mammon this entire time.
My turn, my turn — finally my turn!
This human would invite it, surely? After all, in this battle, Kyogre had been the main carry! Without Kyogre, even this human couldn't have beaten that black Rayquaza.
And he'd specifically gone out of his way to bring it up from Seafloor Cavern. What did that say?
It said this human clearly liked it very much!
Honestly — couldn't he have just woken it up earlier? Was Kyogre really going to say no?
Though — it was still Kyogre. Perhaps it should play it a little cool. When this human extended the invitation, should it pretend to think it over first?
Kyogre deliberated this with great seriousness.
Then —
"Kyogre, be my partner. I'll take you to pick a fight with Groudon, I promi—"
"YES."
The fat fish abandoned every last shred of its planned composure on the spot. It didn't even let Mammon finish the sentence.
(End of chapter)
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