[Pokemon] Chapter 68: Awakening

“You bastard...”

Amethio shot Jin a sharp glare filled with seething anger. And honestly, it wasn’t hard to see why.

It wasn’t just Roy who wanted to battle and catch Rayquaza—Amethio had the same goal. But unlike Jin and the others, who stumbled upon it by chance, Amethio had meticulously gathered data, calculated every outcome, and followed that path all the way here. He had cornered Rayquaza in battle, and just as he was about to finish it—Jin interfered. It would be strange not to be furious.

“……”

Jin silently accepted Amethio’s wrath. If someone had barged into a battle he’d been fighting for, with a Pokémon he’d chased so far—he might feel murderous rage himself. As a fellow Trainer, he completely understood the feeling.

“I get how you feel… but you should calm down. Your Pokémon are in real danger.”

“…What?”

At Jin’s words, Amethio quickly turned his attention to his Pokémon. Ceruledge and Garchomp lay asleep on the reef, while Mega Gyarados floated unconscious at the surface. All three wore expressions of pain despite being asleep.

“This is… don’t tell me—Darkrai’s Ability!?”

Darkrai’s Ability: Bad Dreams. It torments sleeping opponents with nightmares, draining their health. It’s one reason Darkrai is so feared—and in this situation, it was devastatingly effective.

“Bingo. If you don’t pull them out fast, they’ll keep taking damage.”

“Tch… Corviknight!”

Amethio recalled Tyranitar, then called Corviknight over and jumped onto its back, heading off to retrieve his downed Pokémon.

(Yeah… that’s the right call.)

At least for now, Amethio was out of the equation. He still had Corviknight and Tyranitar, but that wasn’t nearly enough to handle Rayquaza anymore. For all intents and purposes, he was out of the battle.

“Now then…”

With Amethio out of the picture, the real challenge began.

“Ryyyyraaagh!!”

“…Yup, it’s still mad.”

Though the green aura from earlier had faded, Rayquaza was still in a blind rage. And now, despite Darkrai having just saved it, it had locked onto him as the next threat.

“It’d be best if we could talk this out… but so be it. Darkrai!”

“Dark!”

At this point, battle was unavoidable. Jin and Darkrai braced themselves and faced the enraged Rayquaza.

“DarkraiDark Void!”

From above, Darkrai launched a swirling black orb toward Rayquaza, hoping to put it to sleep like the others. But Rayquaza moved with astonishing speed, dodging instantly and charging straight at Darkrai.

Protect! Now!”

Darkrai quickly cast Protect, cloaking itself in a green barrier just in time to block Rayquaza’s devastating Extreme Speed.

(That was Extreme Speed… No way Dark Void is gonna land if it moves like that.)

Rayquaza had already seen the effects of Dark Void. Now that it knew what to expect—and could move that fast—hitting it was nearly impossible. They’d need to create a real opening first.

“Then let’s try this… Double Team!”

Darkrai scattered dozens of clones around the sky, encircling Rayquaza. The dragon immediately countered, blasting the copies with a barrage of Dragon Pulses, keeping its guard up and ready to strike again at any moment.

But Jin wasn’t expecting this to fool Rayquaza. He just needed its attention—nothing more.

(It’s furious, yet it still reads the battlefield so well… Impressive.)

“Alright, prep phase done… Nasty Plot!”

While Rayquaza focused on the clones, Darkrai used Nasty Plot, sharply raising its Special Attack. There wasn’t time to plan a perfect strategy like Amethio, but this would have to be enough.

“Darkrai! Move in—get in front of Rayquaza!”

Emerging from the clones, the real Darkrai appeared and rushed Rayquaza. It fired a Dragon Pulse straight at him.

“Counter itDark Pulse!”

As long as it was a direct clash, speed didn’t matter. The two attacks collided in midair. For several seconds, they pushed against each other—but Darkrai, powered up by Nasty Plot, broke through.

Rayquaza took the hit head-on, letting out a painful roar. It wasn’t down yet—far from it—but it was staggered. And Jin wasn’t about to let it recover.

“Don’t give it time to counterIce Beam! Hit it now!”

Before Rayquaza could regain its balance, Darkrai unleashed an Ice Beam from both hands. The blast hit cleanly, partially freezing Rayquaza’s body and sending it crashing into the sea below.

(...That ended faster than I expected.)

Darkrai’s attacks were powerful, sure—but more than that, Rayquaza had already taken serious damage in the earlier battle against Amethio. Jin had expected a far more drawn-out fight, making the quick end feel a bit anticlimactic.

(If only we could’ve fought while you were at full strength…)

Back when they first met in Kanto, Jin wasn’t sure he could even win. But that encounter reignited his passion. He trained harder than ever—and now, he wanted a real, all-out fight with Rayquaza. That dream now felt unfinished.

“…It’s over.”

All that was left was to put Rayquaza to sleep with Dark Void. Once it was asleep, maybe they could talk. Jin raised his hand to give the final command—

But then—

“RYUUUURAGH!!”

Rayquaza let out a furious roar, shattering the ice on its body. It quickly recovered, gathering energy at its mouth, and fired upward at Darkrai.

Jin knew how dangerous Rayquaza was. He’d braced for this. But even so, he underestimated it. The strongest partner of the ancient adventurer Lucius wasn’t going to fall that easily.

“—Dodge it!!”

“Daaaark!?”

Rayquaza’s Draco Meteor barely missed Darkrai—but exploded above, unleashing a storm of glowing meteors that rained down like falling stars.

“Damn it!?”

Darkrai and Jin, riding on Salamence, had to dodge just to survive. That meant they couldn’t assist their friends—or the Brave Olivine.

(Shit… What now!?)

He’d left Sceptile behind with Liko and the others. With help from Charizard and Arcanine, they might intercept some meteors—but there was no way a regular Sceptile could block them all.

Just as Jin desperately searched for options, a radiant light erupted near Liko’s group.

“What is that…?”

He recognized it—it was the same light that had always appeared whenever Liko was in danger, back when Terapagos was still a pendant. But this time, the light was far greater in scale—expanding to engulf the entire reef they stood on.

As the light faded, a single glowing Pokémon stood suspended in midair. It had a crystalline shell, fluffy tufts on its neck and tail, and the body of a sea turtle.

“…Terapagos? Is that really you?”

＊＊＊

At the same time, Amethio, having finished retrieving his Pokémon on the back of Corviknight, was also captivated by the radiant light of Terapagos.

“That glow... is it evolution? No, it’s something else.”

＊＊＊

“Sceptiiiiile!!”

Countless glowing orbs rained down from above. One of them closed in, but Sceptile cut it down with Leaf Blade. Then, it quickly formed an Energy Ball and launched it at another nearby orb, neutralizing it.

“Charizard! Use Flamethrower!”

“Arcanine! You too, Flamethrower!”

“Fuecoco, Flamethrower!”

“Sprigatito! Use Magical Leaf!”

It wasn’t just Sceptile—Charizard, Arcanine, Fuecoco, and Sprigatito all followed up with their own moves, countering the incoming Draco Meteor barrage. Each individual orb could be dealt with easily by them.

However, the problem was scale. When a Pokémon like Rayquaza goes all-out with Draco Meteor, the number of orbs is staggering. Several of them slipped past the defenses and began crashing down around the reef.

“Whoa!?”

“Nyaa!?”

“Liko!?”

One of the impacts knocked Liko off balance, and she fell to the ground. Seeing his Trainer down, Sprigatito rushed to her side. The already thin defensive line finally collapsed the moment Sprigatito left its position.

“Damn it!?”

“This isn’t good...”

Friede and Diana fought to cover the gap, but they could only hold on for a moment. One of the orbs slipped through the opening left by Sprigatito and hurtled toward the fallen Liko.

“Ah...”

Liko couldn’t move. The incoming Draco Meteor looked like it was happening in slow motion. There was no time to intercept, nowhere to run. Only the worst-case scenarios ran through her mind.

“Paaaaaaagooooooo!”

In that instant, a brilliant light enveloped the reef as Terapagos let out a mighty roar. Being closest, Liko witnessed Terapagos’s transformation firsthand.

Within the light, fur sprouted around Terapagos’s neck and limbs, and its shell expanded dramatically. The shell twisted into an irregular pentagon shape with symbols resembling Pokémon type icons.

“Terapagos...?”

Liko muttered in a daze as she sat, unable to process the surreal sight. Many strange things had happened before, but this transformation was unlike anything she’d seen.

“Paaaaago! Pa!”

With a forceful cry, a massive pillar of light shot skyward from Terapagos’s body. From that pillar, countless light projectiles were fired, intercepting the incoming Draco Meteor. Every orb aimed at Liko’s group was neutralized, and sparkling particles fell around them like rain.

“It’s beautiful...”

“What is this thing...?”

“Terapagos... that form...”

Liko was entranced by the beauty of the moment, while Friede and Diana were taken aback by Terapagos’s transformation.

In the midst of their awe, Terapagos and Rayquaza silently faced off across the sea, their previous attacks canceling each other out.

“Paa...go...”

The tense standoff ended when Terapagos suddenly shuddered and reverted to its original form, collapsing onto the reef.

“Terapagos!”

Liko hurried over and cradled the fainted Pokémon. Though it had lost consciousness, there were no visible injuries. For now, at least, she could feel relieved...

“Kiryuryuu...”

But the problem of Rayquaza remained. It no longer seemed enraged like before, but that didn’t mean they could afford to drop their guard.

(I have to protect Terapagos...)

As Liko moved to shield Terapagos, Rayquaza suddenly turned its back and began to fly away.

“Ah...”

Seeing it leave, Roy instinctively reached out to stop it.

‘Don’t. There’s nothing you can do in your current state.’

Jin’s words echoed in Roy’s mind, and he withdrew his hand.

(I can’t beat it... not as I am now.)

Roy had seen it clearly—Amethio and Jin’s Pokémon battling Rayquaza with everything they had. He wasn’t arrogant enough to think he could do better.

(So then, what should I do...?)

‘Roy... If you really want to catch Rayquaza, you need to understand exactly what you can and can’t do right now.’

(What I can do right now...)

＊＊＊

“Daaark...”

“No, don’t chase it.”

Darkrai was poised to give chase, but Jin stopped it as he watched Rayquaza disappear into the distance.

Rayquaza had taken considerable damage, but still seemed to have energy left. Plus, there was likely a trump card it hadn’t shown in the battle with Amethio. Continuing the fight would’ve been reckless.

“Good work. Take a break.”

Jin praised Darkrai and returned it to its Poké Ball. While it hadn’t suffered much physical damage, it had faced off with Rayquaza—it deserved some rest.

(For now, we’ve secured safety... no, the Explorers might still be around.)

Amethio’s presence confirmed that his two subordinates were nearby. There was also the slight chance that other high-ranking members were in the area. Staying here wasn’t wise.

“Anyway, let’s head back. Salamence, take us to the ship.”

“Salamennnce!”

Following Jin’s command, Salamence turned toward the Brave Olivine and began flying.

(That form Terapagos took... it resembled the one described in Lucius’s journals. So that really might’ve been its true form.)

It didn’t feel like evolution—more like a form change or an awakening. But Jin couldn’t reach a conclusion just by thinking about it now. To uncover the full truth, he’d have to meet the remaining Six Heroes—Rayquaza included.

(Well, in a short span of time, I’ve encountered three of the Six Heroes... four if you count Rayquaza. It might not be long before they’re all together.)

The remaining two—Kleavor and Entei—hadn’t shown up yet. There was no intel on them, but going by the pattern so far, encountering them might also mean seeing Rayquaza again. And next time, Jin might finally get a full-power battle with it.

A battle with Kleavor and Entei would be something to look forward to. Judging by their species, they were likely even more battle-oriented than Arboliva or Lapras. Still, the one that intrigued Jin most was Rayquaza.

“I’ll be waiting... for the day we meet again.”

//END