Chapter 50: The Flute of the Sky

Zhao Fang looked in utter astonishment at the Pokémon before him—Rayquaza. He never imagined he would encounter one of the ancient legendary Pokémon of the Hoenn region right at Mount Chimney, and such a immensely powerful one at that, an entity capable of suppressing both Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre. Yet, immediately following this realization, Zhao Fang tightly embraced Rayquaza because he discovered they were flying far too high. The surrounding air even gave him a sense of thinness, bringing an uncomfortable feeling of breathlessness.

Rayquaza did not stop, continuing to soar through the sky with Zhao Fang in tow. This left Zhao Fang somewhat perplexed. There was only one thing he could be entirely certain of right now: the sudden trembling of his backpack earlier, and that the meteorite inside was undoubtedly the key factor that attracted Rayquaza. Does this mean he had been spotted by Rayquaza, and was consequently swept up into the skies?

This puzzled Zhao Fang. He remembered that Rayquaza was virtually invincible within the ozone layer; why would it carry him up here? If it were truly interested in that meteorite, it could have simply taken his backpack, leaving Zhao Fang with nothing to do but gaze helplessly after it.

"Roar!" Just as Zhao Fang was contemplating the meaning of life, he heard Rayquaza emit a sharp cry. Immediately afterward, Zhao Fang noticed that Rayquaza had actually come to a complete halt in mid-air. With a swift flick of its head, Rayquaza tossed Zhao Fang's backpack right back into his hands.

Confused, Zhao Fang caught the backpack. Everything inside was still there, including the meteorite. This only deepened Zhao Fang's bewilderment. If Rayquaza didn't intend to eat it, why on earth had it brought him up here?

"Aren't you going to eat it?" Zhao Fang asked, looking at Rayquaza with a puzzled expression.

He recalled that Rayquaza seemed quite fond of consuming these space meteorites; some meteorites could even react with the organ within Rayquaza's body, triggering its Mega Evolution.

Rayquaza gave no reply. Instead, it suddenly flipped around and plummeted downward at an incredible speed. The abrupt sensation of weightlessness caused Zhao Fang's heart to skip a beat. Just as he came to his senses and wanted to scream, he found himself landing on top of an archaic structure.

This was an exceptionally tall building; Zhao Fang could even see the cloud layer below. A structure this tall in the Hoenn region could only be...
The Pillar of the Skies!

The Sky Pillar!

Zhao Fang considered this possibility. If there was any structure in the Hoenn region known as the tallest, it was undoubtedly the Sky Pillar—a towering monument built by the Draconid people to worship Rayquaza and pray for its protection, sparing the people of Hoenn from disaster.

Legend had it that the Draconids witnessed Rayquaza shattering a meteorite to save Hoenn, and one of them prophesied that a millennium later, Hoenn would once again face the impact of a colossal meteorite. When that time came, the people of Hoenn would need to pray to Rayquaza so that it would shatter the meteorite and save Hoenn once more.

However, regarding the actual truth of this event, Zhao Fang had some familiarity with it. In the games, that meteorite did indeed fall, driving even the Hoenn League to despair. This had always left Zhao Fang perplexed at the time; given the strength of the Hoenn League, even if Steven and Wallace were powerless, surely they could have contacted the Champions and Elite Four of other regions for a solution, right?

Yet, in the game, the Hoenn League was utterly helpless. In the end, it was Zinnia, the Loremaster of the Draconids, who came to the Sky Pillar and prayed for Rayquaza's descent, while the protagonist happened to follow along by chance. The meteorite in the protagonist's pack resonated with Rayquaza's organ, helping Rayquaza achieve Mega Evolution to shatter the meteorite in the sky, thus saving Hoenn while simultaneously uncovering the mastermind hidden within the space rock:

Deoxys.

Zhao Fang suddenly froze for a moment. Aside from the fact that the meteorite hadn't fallen yet, and aside from the absence of Zinnia the Draconid before him, how similar was his current situation to that scene in the game?

"Could... could you possibly need my help to complete Mega Evolution?" Zhao Fang considered the possibility and asked cautiously.

Rayquaza hovered above the altar of the Sky Pillar, its golden eyes gazing silently at Zhao Fang, leaving the latter at a loss. Could he have guessed wrong?

Yet, immediately afterward, Rayquaza opened its mouth and let out a roar. Following that, Zhao Fang saw the meteorite in his hand float into the air. Immediately following, his heart began to beat violently, racing as if he were running a hundred-meter sprint. Zhao Fang's heartbeat reached its absolute limit, his vision began to blur, and his consciousness started to scatter. The very last scene caught in the corner of his eye was a brilliant, dazzling light of evolution erupting from Rayquaza's body.

Was it truly evolution?

That was Zhao Fang's final thought before losing consciousness. When he finally regained awareness, he was still standing at the apex of the Sky Pillar. The meteorite was still firmly clutched in his hand, a green flute lay right before him, and Rayquaza was nowhere to be found.

"What just happened to me?" Zhao Fang looked around in a daze, and the memories lost during his unconsciousness flooded back into his mind.

"Did Rayquaza really want to Mega Evolve? But why?" Zhao Fang was somewhat puzzled. Before losing consciousness, he had only seen the evolutionary light on Rayquaza's body, but whether Rayquaza actually evolved remained unknown to him. He had passed out afterward because his physical stamina could not handle the immense strain.

Zhao Fang looked down at the meteorite in his grip. The description notes were identical, showing no changes whatsoever.

Then what was that green flute?

Confused, Zhao Fang picked up the flute.

[Sky Flute: Can summon the Sky Deity Rayquaza to descend upon the earth. Proof of a profound bond formed with Rayquaza.]

Zhao Fang stared blankly at the Sky Flute in his hand. This thing could actually summon Rayquaza? And he had somehow forged a bond with Rayquaza? A deep sense of bewilderment washed over him.

Gazing at the flute in his grasp, Zhao Fang swallowed hard. He desperately wanted to test whether Rayquaza would show up if he blew the flute right now. But soon, Zhao Fang forced that bold idea down. Summoning Rayquaza for no particular reason would be an absolute waste; Zhao Fang decided that unless he encountered an extraordinary situation, he must never summon Rayquaza.

"Improving my physical stamina is something I need to prioritize as soon as possible, otherwise my body won't be able to support the toll of Mega Evolution," Zhao Fang muttered, scratching his head. If his stamina had been better, he surely would have been able to witness whether Rayquaza successfully underwent Mega Evolution, right?

Yet, another problem quickly occurred to him: how was he supposed to get down from the Sky Pillar? As it was known in the game, the Sky Pillar served as the habitat for numerous high-level Pokémon, not to mention the guardians stationed at the entrance. When the time came, how on earth was he supposed to explain how he managed to get up to the summit of the Sky Pillar in the first place?

With this thought, Zhao Fang's gaze drifted back to the flute in his hand.