I, Gary, Want to Become a Pokemon Master

"Eevee, get to the corridor. Let's find Zinnia!" Gary urged.

"Ee-Vee!"

Eevee nodded sharply and darted down the hallway, Gary following closely behind.

Right now, Gary wasn't concerned with Rayquaza. The priority was rescuing Zinnia and Latios.

Rayquaza would likely fly off once it had calmed down—as long as no one provoked it further.

Eevee sniffed the air and locked onto Zinnia's scent. It led Gary to a heavy steel door. Without hesitation, Eevee launched a Hydro Pump, blasting the door open. Through the jagged hole, Gary could see Zinnia and Latios restrained inside.

Zinnia was tied up with her mouth gagged. Latios was encased in a sticky gel-like net, unconscious and immobile.

"Mmmph! Mmm-mm!"

Zinnia squirmed and cried out when she spotted Gary at the door.

Gary rushed in and quickly pulled the cloth from her mouth.

"Gary! You have to save the Dragon God—Rayquaza! These villains captured him!" she exclaimed urgently.

Gary sighed.

"Rayquaza doesn't need saving. We need to make sure we can even get out of here in one piece."

While Rayquaza's raw destructive power may not match Groudon or Kyogre's when in primal form, an enraged Rayquaza was still a catastrophic force—especially with people still aboard the Aether Paradise Marine Platform.

Not all the employees of the Aether Foundation were aware of the experiment. Many were innocent bystanders... who were about to face the wrath of a Legendary Pokémon.

"Let's focus on getting you out of here first," Gary said, drawing a blade and cutting through Zinnia's bindings.

Meanwhile, Eevee dashed to Latios and used Aqua Jet to shred the gel-like substance binding him. The sticky fibers resisted, but Eevee's jet-powered slashes eventually did the trick.

Once Zinnia was free, Gary asked, "Where's Latios's Poké Ball?"

Latios was still unconscious. Carrying him out manually was impossible—they needed to return him to his Poké Ball.

"They took all of my Poké Balls," Zinnia said, frowning.

Gary groaned. "Great. Just what we need."

No Poké Ball meant no easy way to extract Latios. But Zinnia, ever hopeful, stood up.

"Wait, I think I know where they're keeping them! I can sense where my Pokémon are."

"You can?" Gary blinked, caught off guard.

Zinnia nodded. "I don't know how, but I just feel it."

Gary didn't waste time questioning it. "Then let's go."

He left Eevee behind to telekinetically levitate Latios using Psychic. Eevee had practiced lifting heavy Pokémon like Tyranitar during training—it could handle Latios for a while.

Zinnia led Gary down a nearby hallway and straight to a storage room. Inside, a metal case contained her stolen Poké Balls—including Latios's distinctive Heal Ball.

"You found it that fast?" Gary asked in disbelief.

"I just knew," Zinnia replied, a little dazed by her own intuition.

"Awesome. Then we're ready to go."

Gary clipped Latios's Heal Ball onto his belt. He figured Wallace had already taken care of most of the Rocket grunts—they just had to escape now.

"No," Zinnia suddenly said. "I still have to save Lord Dragon God!"

BOOM!

An explosion rocked the base, sending tremors through the floor.

"What was that?!" Zinnia cried out.

She had been locked in isolation and hadn't seen what was happening outside. She assumed Gary had simply snuck in quietly.

"That? That was Rayquaza," Gary said grimly. "After waking up and realizing it was captured, it lost its mind. The Aether Foundation's equipment can't restrain it anymore."

Zinnia stood frozen. "No way... Lord Dragon God wouldn't do that... right?"

She hesitated, but the situation was undeniable. Bad people had tried to control Rayquaza—its fury was justified. She now understood: this punishment was the Dragon God's justice.

"Our bigger problem is getting out before this place collapses," Gary said. "We're running out of time."

"I have an idea!" Zinnia suddenly said.

"What is it?" Gary asked, hopeful.

"My Meteorite! The one my grandmother gave me! If I bring it to Lord Dragon God, he'll recognize me. He'll listen!"

Gary's eyes lit up. "You know where it is?"

"I can feel its presence now. It's close!"

"Eevee, go with Zinnia to retrieve the Meteorite," Gary commanded.

"Vee!" Eevee chirped, hopping to Zinnia's side.

"Gary, aren't you coming with us?" Zinnia asked.

"I have to help the others."

"Help who?"

Zinnia looked genuinely confused. From her perspective, no one on this platform was worth saving—they'd all dared to capture a god.

"You're forgetting the man who smuggled you aboard. And there are plenty of workers here who had no idea what kind of research was going on. They're innocent."

Zinnia hesitated, struck by his words.

She hadn't considered that—not all who served under evil were evil themselves. Uncle Luki had risked his life for her. Others might be in the same position.

"You're right," she said finally. "I'll find the Meteorite fast."

Gary gave her a thumbs-up. "Good luck."

He turned and raced down the hall, toward the tower entrance.

"ROOOAAAR!!"

Above the marine platform, Rayquaza roared furiously, its serpent-like form coiling through the sky.

Below, Wallace battled alongside his Milotic, Swampert, and Walrein. Though the trio stood no chance of overpowering Rayquaza, they did their best to buy time with well-coordinated Ice-type attacks.

"Roooar!"

Rayquaza howled again. A vortex of black light swirled in its mouth—then burst into a massive Shadow Beam, arcing straight toward Milotic.

"Swampert, protect Milotic!" Wallace yelled.

Swampert lunged in front of Milotic and activated Protect.

BOOOOM!

The blast collided with the shield. Swampert and Milotic were thrown backward like ragdolls. Though the barrier absorbed much of the attack, the sheer force still overwhelmed them.

"Incredible…" Gary gasped, watching from a distance.

Only Z-Moves or Dynamax Moves could typically break through Protect. But Rayquaza had shattered it with a single standard move. That meant one thing—its power was now on par with Legendary-exclusive mechanics.

"RAAARGH!!"

Rayquaza's eyes glowed as it charged another blast—this time a multicolored energy wave shaped like a coiling dragon. It fired Dragon Ascent directly at the recovering Milotic and Swampert.

"Not good!" Wallace gasped. His Pokémon had already used up their Protect moves.

At the last second—

"Blastoise, Protect!!" Gary shouted, hurling a Poké Ball toward the battlefield.

"Blaaastoise!"

With a flash of white light, Blastoise emerged and threw up a shimmering green shield in front of Milotic and Swampert.