"Uh…"
Lucas blinked as he looked at the Young Rayquaza following behind the now Mega Rayquaza.
At this moment, the flying green caterpillar who usually shouted in his ear every single day, declaring "This dragon is invincible across the world," now hung its head low, shrinking its presence like an obedient little daughter-in-law.
The mighty and imposing dragon body that had been dyed dark red earlier was now blotched in alternating patches of red and green… It was obvious that this child had just profoundly experienced what people meant by "a father's love is as heavy as a mountain"…
The Black Rayquaza's eyes curved with amusement, its black tail swaying lazily and comfortably, clearly very pleased with the outcome.
Meanwhile, Kyurem glanced at the Young Rayquaza with open disdain—this cowardly little worm of a dragon was truly embarrassing.
It was ashamed to even call it a fellow companion.
"Chosen, Young Green didn't cause you any trouble during this period, did it?"
Mega Rayquaza lowered its gaze toward Lucas, the deep, mature voice of its telepathy echoing in his mind.
Although this rebellious brat had done something flashy like dyeing itself in ridiculous colors, Mega Rayquaza had to admit—ever since it stayed beside this chosen, Young Rayquaza had grown considerably.
Yes… that "growth" referred specifically to its strength, and nothing else.
Originally, Mega Rayquaza did not have much goodwill toward Lucas, because with a single glance it could tell he was not a spiritually pure human being.
So, when the Young Rayquaza had chosen Lucas as its chosen, Mega Rayquaza had neither approved nor opposed the decision. It simply handed the choice fully to its child.
But now, it seemed the Young Rayquaza's judgment was not wrong after all.
A move it had failed to learn for two thousand years, Dragon Ascent was suddenly mastered within a mere six months.
This chosen was indeed exceptional!
On this point alone, Mega Rayquaza's ancient heart felt greatly comforted.
Ahem. If Lucas knew what Mega Rayquaza was thinking, he would probably respond very modestly, saying that the Young Rayquaza mastering Dragon Ascent had absolutely nothing to do with him…
That had purely been a case of Young Rayquaza getting so furious and shame-stricken that it burst out its hidden potential.
"No, it hasn't. It's very outstanding, an extremely reliable companion," Lucas replied with a gentle smile.
He wasn't lying. Although this Young Rayquaza occasionally acted a bit flamboyant, it was indeed reliable.
It had been his strongest Pokémon at the time. Without it, subduing Necrozma and Kyurem would not have gone nearly as smoothly.
"That's good to hear." Mega Rayquaza glanced at the Young Rayquaza with some surprise.
Feeling its father's examining gaze, the Young Rayquaza instantly straightened up into a perfectly obedient posture.
Yes… after being beaten just now, it had already understood that it was still far from being able to resist its father's "love."
"It seems I caused you trouble just now—hm?"
Mega Rayquaza was about to speak further when its eyes suddenly sharpened.
Lucas also immediately looked over. Not far away, the surrounding space was starting to twist and collapse!
"The space here can't hold any longer, we need to leave immediately."
Zygarde had also sensed the abnormality and spoke out in warning.
"Hoopa, use your spatial rings to teleport everyone out of here."
Lucas quickly estimated the collapsing range. Compared to the original movie, the distortion here was far larger.
After all, the number of legendary Pokémon present here greatly exceeded that of the original.
The distortion now enveloped nearly the entire Arche Valley, and the twisting was continuously converging toward the center.
"Hoopa understands."
Hoopa nodded as its body spun upward, overflowing with black energy.
In an instant, it switched into its Unbound Form.
"Hoopa~ lala!"
A giant golden ring flew out and expanded rapidly. Hoopa Unbound dove into it directly.
"???"
Lucas stared blankly at Hoopa's massive body disappearing through the ring.
Logically speaking, even though Hoopa had regained its true power, due to the punishment left behind by the Baraz and Meraz's grandfather, Hoopa itself should not have been able to pass through its rings freely.
In the original, even after being purified, Hoopa Unbound was still unable to pass through the rings—it only at the very last moment understood the meaning of its punishment and broke through the invisible shackle.
But here, Hoopa just… didn't have the punishment?
"Because of the Evil Hoopa?" Lucas quickly thought of Hoopa's second personality.
Or perhaps because Lucas had changed the course of events, Hoopa had come to understand its own will and thus broke free of the hidden restraint. Who knew?
"If you all attack together, can't you blast open a gap in the twisted space?" Lucas asked, looking at the slowly approaching distortion.
Now… this was the moment in the original movie when the Space Dragon lost its dignity.
As the ruler of spatial dimensions, Palkia, upon sensing distortion, immediately used Spacial Rend to stop the collapse.
But the result was tragically disappointing.
Spacial Rend created nothing but a tiny ripple on the twisted space—completely ineffective.
As the ruler of space, Palkia being unable to stop such a small-scale collapse became an unforgettable stain in its history.
Combined with the Sinnoh trilogy opening scene, in which Palkia and Dialga fought in the interdimensional gap, and Palkia's shoulder pearl was cracked early on, forcing it to retreat for repairs…
These incidents caused Palkia to be "officially recognized" as the weakest of the Creation Trio.
Well… it was the Water Dragon. Being a bit "watery" was understandable, right?
"Break open the space? If we combine our strength, it shouldn't be too difficult."
Zacian immediately understood what Lucas meant—using sheer force to shatter the already-collapsing space.
If space was going to break anyway, they could help it along.
"That wouldn't be appropriate. It would be hard for us to control the force precisely. If our attack spills outward…"
Mega Rayquaza voiced its disagreement. They couldn't fully restrain their power.
Indeed, if all the legendaries attacked at full force, they could easily shatter the distorted space—but the leftover force might cause large-scale destruction if it leaked outward.
"If not, then let's wait for Hoopa. Its spatial rings can teleport us out safely."
Black Rayquaza didn't mind either way. If they couldn't risk attacking, they could just wait for Hoopa.
And this was exactly why Palkia's stain was so enormous.
According to Sinnoh's creation mythology, it was because Arceus created Palkia that the world's space became stable. Space itself only existed thanks to Palkia.
Meaning—Palkia was the foundation of this world's spatial laws.
Yet the spatial collapse Palkia could not stop at all… Hoopa could casually bypass with its rings, teleporting lifeforms at will.
Good grief—this was basically rubbing Palkia's title as the God of Space into the dirt.
Hoopa Unbound, the Pokémon of chaos? Perhaps "Spatial Demon God Hoopa" was more accurate?
Meanwhile, outside the Arche Valley, Green, Marnie, and the others frowned at the bizarrely distorted space before them.
"Mew, are you sure it's safe?"
"It's fine~ There are so many legendaries inside, how could anything go wrong? Besides, Hoopa already teleported all the others out."
The blue turtle lay lazily in Green's arms, completely unworried.
It looked frightening, sure—but did they not see how many top-tier legendaries were in there?
If they all used Hyper Beam at once, they could blow a hole through the distortion easily.
At this moment, Baraz stood beside Meraz. They had already been teleported out earlier.
"But Lucas still isn't out yet…"
Marnie frowned deeply, still worried for the one she loved.
Just then, six enormous spatial rings appeared behind them.
Xerneas, Yveltal, Black Rayquaza, Complete Forme Zygarde, and many other legendaries emerged from the rings.
With Kyurem flying out and Hoopa Unbound coming through last—
"Whew—" Seeing Lucas unharmed, Green and Marnie finally let out a breath of relief.
Reshiram landed. Lucas leaped down and looked back at the valley.
The distorted space contracted, then with a flash of light—everything went still again.
As if nothing had happened. But the scorched earth and devastation showed the true horror of the spatial collapse.
"Our home…"
Meraz bit her lip tightly, tears welling up as she stared at the dead-silent valley.
Half a day ago, the Arche Valley had been a peaceful paradise. Now only charred ruin remained.
Houses, farmland—everything they built together was gone.
Baraz sighed softly and placed a comforting hand on his sister's shoulder.
Other residents silently wept or stared blankly, grief heavy in their chests.
Green and Marnie said nothing. Because truthfully… they knew the root cause of all this was them.
Lucas had sent information about the Valley to Lysandre, which caused the Team Flare to invade… and everything followed from that.
"I'm truly sorry. In the end, I still failed to protect your home." Lucas apologized to Baraz and Meraz.
"It's not your fault. In fact, thanks to you, not just the land but all of us were saved. As long as we're alive, we can rebuild." Baraz shook his head and smiled.
"We'll deliver Lysandre and his executives to the Dahara City Police. As the leaders of Team Flare, I'm sure the Kalos League will reward us generously."
Lucas looked at the arrested Lysandre and his group.
They were the core of Team Flare. Turning them in would earn substantial rewards—more than enough to rebuild the Valley.
This was Lucas's compensation, in his own way.
Because no matter what, it had been his plan that led these kind villagers to lose their home.
"Don't refuse it. This all happened because of them. This is what you deserve. And even if you don't think about yourselves, you should think about the other villagers—right?"
Seeing Baraz about to speak, Lucas cut him off, already knowing what he would say.
Kind-hearted Baraz would never accept such gifts lightly, so Lucas spoke first.
"…I understand." Baraz looked at the villagers' grieving faces and, after a long silence, nodded.
"Thank you, Lucas." The siblings bowed deeply.
To them, they had only hosted Lucas for one night as simple hospitality—yet he had done so much for them.
They were deeply moved.
"Don't be formal. This is just my compensation." Lucas shook his head.
His "compensation" meant something different from what they imagined, but he didn't explain.
Gaining their goodwill was necessary—after all, they were Hoopa's caretakers.
"You two should go comfort the villagers. They need your encouragement more than ever."
Baraz and Meraz nodded and went to speak to everyone.
Lucas then turned toward the floating legendaries in the air.
"Long time no see, Calyrex."
His gaze rested on the ancient king atop its white steed. Lucas smiled and greeted it first.
Ah… Calyrex. He truly had deep impressions of this one.
Back then, Calyrex had been the one who protected him and Eternatus.
Calyrex looked into Lucas's eyes. In truth, it also remembered this human very clearly—the one who had brought Eternatus before it.
"To me, it has not been very long. But according to the way you humans measure time…"
"Perhaps I should also say…"
Calyrex's telepathy remained clear and majestic as always, but by the end, its tone softened.
"Long time no see, human. You… have grown stronger~"
(End of Chapter)