The Draconid people worship Rayquaza. According to unverifiable historical records, a Lorekeeper of the Draconid people once stood upon a rainbow-colored meteorite and prayed for Rayquaza’s return. That prayer caused Rayquaza to undergo Mega Evolution and brought an end to the battle between Groudon and Kyogre. Afterward, the Draconid people built the Sky Pillar to summon their god, Rayquaza. Murals still remain on the pillar today, recording the Draconid people’s own prophecy—that a gigantic meteorite would crash into Hoenn one thousand years later…
Zinnia said that she had gone traveling in order to resolve Hoenn region’s meteorite crisis. Terrance remained doubtful and immediately contacted Devon. Before long, he indeed received detailed information on Zinnia. The girl before him truly was a descendant of the Draconid people.
“I infiltrated Team Aqua because I hoped to grow stronger by stopping the battle between Groudon and Kyogre. If I succeed, I’ll be able to earn Rayquaza’s recognition and borrow its power to resolve the meteorite crisis,” Zinnia said seriously.
“Commanding Rayquaza, huh? Not a bad dream.” Terrance rubbed her head, only to receive a roll of the eyes in return.
“Haha. Since you want another battle, let’s go outside.” Now that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, Terrance no longer dwelled on the matter. After putting away the Poké Balls containing the Lunatone he had caught, he headed outside on his own. Seeing this, Zinnia immediately followed after him, chattering nonstop.
“Why did you catch so many Pokémon?”
“I’ll take care of them properly, so don’t worry.”
“You were also the one who frightened those Dragon-type Pokémon, weren’t you?”
“Huh… I was found out? So those Dragon-type Pokémon told you about me?”
“Mm, you could say that. Meteor Falls used to be our homeland.”
As the two talked, they soon arrived outside the cave. After choosing a relatively spacious area, Terrance spun a Poké Ball on his fingertip, then caught it in his hand and threw it out.
“My Pokémon will be this one.”
There was no real need for Terrance to accept Zinnia’s challenge, but he did so anyway. This was largely because Zinnia possessed Mega Evolution items. Trainers capable of mastering Mega Evolution were exceedingly rare, and every battle against a Mega-Evolved Pokémon could provide valuable experience. Naturally, Terrance would not pass up such an opportunity to temper his Pokémon.
After all, Mega Evolution would dominate the future. There was certainly no harm in accumulating more experience now.
As Terrance threw out the Poké Ball, yellow sand began sweeping through the surroundings. Amid the violent currents of the sandstorm, two crimson gleams flashed first, and only then did the Pokémon Terrance had sent out fully reveal its form.
Desert Beast—Tyranitar!
The moment it appeared, Tyranitar was already in the violent state brought on by Outrage. This was not for the sake of ending the battle quickly, but to adapt to this state and transform itself into a true Sandstorm Beast.
The crimson glow in Tyranitar’s eyes placed tremendous pressure on the Salamence beside Zinnia. Compared to the Gardevoir from earlier, this Tyranitar looked even stronger.
Zinnia patted Salamence, giving it confidence, then immediately had it undergo Mega Evolution. In the previous battle, she had failed to use Mega Evolution because she had underestimated her opponent, but this time, Zinnia would not make the same mistake again. As the Key Stone on her Mega Anklet resonated with the Mega Stone hidden on Salamence’s body, Mega Salamence’s “blood-soaked crescent” form instantly appeared. Its pressure surged forth to clash against Tyranitar’s, with neither side yielding the slightest ground in terms of aura.
“Salamence, Dragon Pulse!”
Zinnia stepped forward and began commanding Salamence as it soared through the sky. In an instant, a dragon-shaped wave came surging forward with terrifying speed, baring its fangs and claws as though it intended to swallow Tyranitar whole in a single strike. Pushed by the strong wind, the move looked extraordinarily imposing.
“Tyr!!”
Faced with this attack, countless sandstorms rose around Tyranitar. Almost the instant Dragon Pulse descended, Tyranitar swung both arms. During this process, an enormous sandstorm greatsword formed in an instant and swept horizontally across Dragon Pulse. Visible to the naked eye, the Dragon Pulse was immediately split in two, while wherever the sandstorm greatsword passed, a tremendous boom erupted along with chaotic air currents.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Swept up by the air currents and the aftermath of the explosion, several trees more than ten meters away were instantly snapped by the storm from that single sweep and violently sent flying.
Standing in place and allowing the gale to batter against it, Tyranitar remained as immovable as a mountain. It looked coldly at Salamence in the sky, seemingly mocking the weak attack.
During the Elite Four matches, Tyranitar definitely had not possessed this level of destructive power. However, with the help of Terrance and Rotom Pokédex, Tyranitar’s light and heavy sandstorm system had nearly been perfected. From then on, the effects of the Float Stone could be transmitted into the sandstorm created by Tyranitar. By using its maximum strength to swing a sandstorm greatsword condensed to the extreme, while reducing its weight to the most suitable level, Tyranitar—already possessing an excellent feel for wielding it—instantly raised its destructive power by an entire tier.
The propulsive force of the sandstorm, the cutting power generated by its flowing movement, the strength brought by extraordinary weight, and the optimal handling granted by the Float Stone—combined together, it was like giving a battle-hardened strongman a weapon that fit perfectly in his hands and was crafted to the highest possible quality!
Zinnia was indeed stunned by that slash. If Tyranitar had not controlled the direction of its swing, it would not have been miscellaneous debris that was blown away, but her, the Trainer.
However, this light and heavy sandstorm system was still not perfect. Tyranitar’s sandstorm had to remain in constant contact with its body in order to be considered part of its body. Once detached, it would no longer be controlled by the Float Stone organ. Otherwise, this system could have evolved into even more tactics, and Tyranitar was also working hard toward that direction.
With Salamence in the air, Tyranitar switched to throwing solid rocks condensed from the sandstorm using the Rock Slide move. Rocks filled the sky as they shot outward, and merely feeling the force of the air currents was enough for Salamence to understand how powerful they were. After judging the situation, Salamence immediately tried to dodge, but unexpectedly, the Rock Slide suddenly exploded and transformed back into sandstorm once again. Riding the violent winds created by the explosion, the sandstorm struck Salamence from every direction at astonishing speed, making it difficult for Salamence to control its flight for a time.
Seeing Salamence begin to fall, Zinnia shouted, “Use the momentum to launch Double-Edge and combine it with Steel Wing!”
Mega Salamence’s Aerilate Ability could turn Normal Type moves into Flying Type moves, imbuing them with the power of wind. With the Flying Type Double-Edge, Salamence quickly adjusted its falling trajectory, then spread both wings wide. Borrowing the force of this faster and more powerful Double-Edge, it launched an attack at Tyranitar with Steel Wing.
Seeing the situation develop exactly as intended, Tyranitar revealed a ferocious expression and once again gathered the power of the sandstorm, determined to collide head-on with the desperately charging Salamence. In the next instant, the twin Steel Wings, transformed into streaks of silver light, slammed against the sandstorm greatsword. As the Steel Wings ground against it, countless grains of sand from the rapidly flowing sandstorm greatsword were sent flying. With the two sides locked in a stalemate, traces of sparks actually began appearing between the two moves.
Salamence’s all-out strike, combining the power of its Ability while leveraging the side effects and its type advantage, did indeed cause Tyranitar a small amount of trouble. However, Tyranitar barely hesitated before directly breaking through the attack, flexibly whipping its sandstorm tail around and sending Salamence flying.
The power of the sandstorm flowed across Tyranitar’s entire body, as though clothing it in an easily controlled suit of sand armor that integrated both offense and defense. This was another major application of the light and heavy sandstorm system.
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