North of Mt. Coronet.
Roughly five kilometers from the looming peak, three figures stood on a cliff overlooking the battlefield below.
A man in a sharp black suit stood at the front, the breeze tugging at his cropped dark hair.
His posture was relaxed, almost casual, but his eyes were sharp with anticipation.
Behind him stood two men, Maxie and Archie, following a step behind.
The man in front was Giovanni, leader of Team Rocket.
From their vantage point, they could see the tension building on the distant battlefield, the air thick with power that even they could feel from here.
Giovanni murmured, almost to himself, "It's been a long time arranging all of this… finally, the battle begins."
Maxie shifted impatiently behind him.
"Can Rayquaza really take down the Creation trio?"
His voice trembled slightly, not from fear, but from awe.
He had once watched Groudon and Kyogre fall to Rayquaza's overwhelming might.
But now there were three.
Three legendary forces acting together.
Could Rayquaza still reign supreme?
Giovanni didn't look back.
"I don't know. That's the nature of legends… You only understand their limits once you face them."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"But between the two sides? Samuel and Rayquaza have the advantage."
Maxie's expression darkened.
He had followed Giovanni long enough to know the man saw further than any of them.
If Giovanni believed Sam held the upper hand… then the outcome was likely already set.
Archie let out a low whistle.
"If he loses, everything we've been planning becomes nothing but a daydream."
Giovanni finally turned slightly, enough for his voice to carry but not enough to show his expression.
"I didn't help Cyrus or Lysandre out of need. I helped because I wanted this moment. I want to see how far Samuel and Rayquaza can go."
He paused, then added with quiet authority, "Don't misunderstand. The Sinnoh trio were never expected to defeat Rayquaza."
Maxie and Archie straightened unconsciously as Giovanni's tone hardened.
"If you want to accomplish something great," he continued, "you cannot depend solely on external forces. Power borrowed is never true power."
"What you rely on must be yourself."
Though spoken softly, the conviction in Giovanni's voice shook the two men more than any shouted command.
It was the presence of someone used to standing above others.
"Yes," Maxie and Archie answered together.
Their attention returned to the distant battlefield.
Cyrus looked furious.
He had known Sam possessed Rayquaza's legacy, and he expected Sam to summon it for the fight… but the moment he watched Sam recall Reshiram without hesitation, Cyrus felt insulted.
As if Sam didn't consider the trio worth Reshiram's time.
"It seems," Cyrus called out, frustration sharpening his words, "you have great confidence in your Rayquaza."
Sam didn't bother responding. His focus was solely on the emerald dragon spiraling above.
Rayquaza let out a low, thunderous roar.
Sam stepped forward and leapt lightly onto Rayquaza's lowered body, landing with the ease of someone who had done so countless times.
As soon as he touched down, three divine energies surged toward Rayquaza, powers from legends themselves, merging into the dragon's form like streams feeding a raging river.
Sam felt Rayquaza's power rising beneath him, wild, ancient, and unrestrained.
His eyes sharpened.
"Rayquaza… Mega Evolve."
Rayquaza answered with a roar that shook the mountainside.
"ROAR!!!"
The cry echoed across Mt. Coronet, rattling stones, sending wild Pokémon fleeing.
Rayquaza's form twisted and expanded, the delta symbol glowing brilliantly across its length.
Golden light trails danced behind it as the atmosphere around them cracked with energy.
Pressure, pure, overwhelming, draconic might, flooded the mountain.
In that moment, Mega Rayquaza's presence crushed the Sinnoh trio beneath a single wave of its aura.
Without saying a word, Sam had delivered his answer to Cyrus.
His confidence didn't need to be spoken.
Rayquaza spoke it for him.
Sam could have called Reshiram to fight alongside Rayquaza.
He knew the combination would form a terrifying force, one that even the Sinnoh trio might crumble before.
But Sam refused.
Rayquaza was the lord of the skies, the myth that soared above all others.
It carried its own pride, a dignity carved into its very existence.
Rayquaza did not need another legendary stepping into its battle.
It would never accept interference.
And Sam felt it too, deep in his bones.
Something about this fight… something about facing the Sinnoh trio… felt like an opportunity.
A chance for him and Rayquaza to break through a boundary neither of them had fully understood yet.
Across from him, Cyrus tightened his grip on the Red Chain.
His ambition burned behind his cold expression.
Team Galactic wasn't just an organization to him; it was a blueprint for a new world.
And the Sinnoh trio carried the authority to create that world. If he could control them completely, nothing would stand in his way.
But Sam stood in front of him, and Sam would never allow that future to unfold.
Cyrus realized then that there was no path where he and Sam could coexist.
Their goals were too far apart. Reconciliation was impossible.
So he chose to fight.
"Dialga, Roar of Time!" Cyrus shouted, twisting the Red Chain.
"Palkia, Spacial Rend!"
"Giratina, Shadow Force!"
The air trembled as the three Sinnoh gods responded immediately, their roars shaking the ruins of Spear Pillar.
"ROAR!!!"
"ROAR!!!"
"ROAR!!!"
Each unleashed its signature attack at full power, time fractured, space split open, and shadows surged like a tidal wave.
Sam didn't flinch.
"Rayquaza, Dragon Ascent!"
Rayquaza's snarl cut through the sky.
"ROAR!!!"
Its delta symbol blazed with golden light, turbulence spiraling around its body as air condensed into armor.
Rayquaza coiled, then shot forward like a divine spear.
Dialga's Roar of Time twisted the world around it, warping the flow of seconds, but Rayquaza slipped through the distortion as if time itself daredn't slow it.
Palkia's Spacial Rend tore open a jagged wound in space, devouring everything in its path, but Rayquaza was already gone, its speed beyond the god of space's reach.
Giratina vanished into a field of shadows, the sky turning into a landscape of writhing black shapes.
Rayquaza tore through them head-on, ripping the shadows apart with a single burst of force.
Mega Rayquaza cut through all three legendary attacks like they were nothing more than mist.
Then it closed in on Giratina.
BOOM!!!
Rayquaza struck Giratina with a colossal blow, sending the Renegade Pokémon hurtling through the air.
The impact cratered the ground below, carving yet another massive pit into the already shattered Spear Pillar.
One attack. Just one.
And the power behind it rivaled the combined might of the Sinnoh trio.
This was Mega Rayquaza, A true Tier 1 Legendary.
And Sam understood why the creation trio were suppressed to Tier 2.
They existed far beyond this world's limits.
In their true forms, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina were too powerful, so powerful that if they entered the physical world at full strength, the region would collapse under the strain.
Arceus had placed restrictions on them long ago.
Their presence alone could distort the world beyond repair.
What stood before Sam now… were fragments of their full power, manifestations tempered so the world wouldn't break.
Rayquaza, however,
Rayquaza was designed by Arceus for this world.
Not a destroyer.
A guardian.
A being meant to protect the planet from outside threats… and to balance the forces of sky, land, and sea.
That was why Rayquaza could unleash its full power without tearing reality apart.
That was why, even against the restricted forms of the Creation Trio, Rayquaza stood at the true peak.
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