Chapter 185: A Good Round of Convincing
Although he sensed something was off, Rayquaza ultimately chose to follow along with Rio’s line of questioning.
"See? That’s right." Rio still wore a pitiful expression. "Lord Rayquaza, I’ve been working so diligently to help you get revenge, and you still doubt me. It’s truly disappointing."
Seeing him like this, Rayquaza suddenly felt a bit embarrassed.
"I just thought there would be at least a few bodies." Rayquaza’s voice became much softer.
"Exactly — under normal circumstances, there would be a few bodies. But the thing is, most of the people here are victims just like you. They’re innocent."
Rio picked up the Greater Mauville Holdings company anthem from the ground.
"Look at these three big characters — ’Go to hell.’ Can you feel the deep resentment in this?"
Rayquaza was bewildered. It actually wanted to say it couldn’t feel anything at all — but looking at Rio’s agitated expression, it suddenly felt that saying so would make it seem utterly despicable.
"Here, let me tell you — these three characters were written by an ordinary employee of Greater Mauville. They wrote it on the back of the company’s anthem sheet. Do you know what that represents?"
Rayquaza shook its head. It didn’t even know what a company anthem was — how was it supposed to answer that?
"Sigh, you don’t even understand this. You really don’t understand us humans." Rio sighed with a look of disappointment.
"This represents that they deeply hate their own company. They wish it would go bankrupt. Look at what it says here — ’Holiday attendance is top-notch, labor unions are not allowed, overtime pay is unnecessary.’ This isn’t work — this is exploitation."
"Wouldn’t you say these people should be on the same side as you?"
Rayquaza stared at Rio, feeling a bit dizzy. It hadn’t understood most of what he’d said, but it gave him an inexplicable sense of guilt.
"Since they’re on the same side, why must they be put to death?"
"Shouldn’t the ones who truly deserve to die be the leadership?"
"But those leaders aren’t here today."
At this point, Rio shifted his tone again. "Sigh, I’m so useless. I didn’t kill the ones who should have died. Lord Rayquaza, you should just kill me. I’m too incompetent."
Rayquaza’s eyes widened. Wait — this wasn’t right. It had been the one feeling guilty, and now Rio was asking to die?
"No, no — you’re not incompetent at all. You’re actually a very kind human. I’m sorry — I misjudged you." Rayquaza, overcome with guilt, couldn’t help but apologize.
"No, Lord Rayquaza, it’s me who’s incompetent. Please kill me — I’ve failed your expectations." Rio said with reddened eyes. "If you can’t bring yourself to do it, then I’ll do it myself. I just hope that after I’m gone, you’ll take good care of my Pokémon."
With that, Rio resolutely started walking toward a pillar on the Sea Mauville platform — but after just two steps, Rayquaza used Zen Headbutt to stop him.
"I was wrong, I was wrong — you’re not incompetent at all. I misjudged you. You did an excellent job this time." Rayquaza said, full of apology.
"No, Lord Rayquaza, you’re not wrong — I’m the one who’s wrong for not killing those leaders." Rio continued shouting.
Beside him, Articuno kept its eyes to itself, trying hard not to laugh at Rio’s performance. Charizard was also holding back — but as it did, it felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if it had seen this scene before. It couldn’t quite place it, though.
In the end, it took Rayquaza five minutes of calming Rio down before he stopped trying to kill himself.
"Lord Rayquaza, don’t worry — next time, I won’t be soft-hearted. I’ll make sure the other three companies suffer the harshest blows. I’ll make sure those leaders’ bodies lie before you." Rio said solemnly.
"I believe you." Rayquaza nodded slightly, inwardly relieved. It was exhausting — stopping this human from killing himself had taken more effort than stopping Groudon and Kyogre from fighting. Those two were easy — just beat them up and they’d behave. But this human... you could talk until your mouth went dry and still not stop him. Too stubborn.
In all its years of existence, it had never encountered anything like this.
"Lord Rayquaza, is the reward you promised me still valid?" Rio asked.
"What reward?" Rayquaza was confused.
"The one where you said that if I destroyed one company first, you’d grant me one request — even if it meant fighting other legendary Pokémon."
Rio continued: "From what I understand, the other three companies are all stronger than Greater Mauville Holdings. If I don’t get stronger myself, I might not come back. So I need your help."
"Fine." Rayquaza agreed. "Same as before — whenever you need me, just call out to me through the emerald fragment."
Hearing that it was to help destroy the other three companies, Rayquaza didn’t refuse.
"Thank you for understanding, Lord Rayquaza." Rio flattered.
"If there’s nothing else, I’ll be going now." Rayquaza, finding Rio a rather troublesome human, didn’t want to linger.
"Safe travels."
"Mm."
Rayquaza flew back into the sky. But as it reached the clouds, it paused — suddenly feeling as though it had been tricked. Yet it couldn’t pinpoint exactly how.
It looked back at Rio, who was waving goodbye on the Sea Mauville platform.
Maybe I’m overthinking things? Rayquaza wondered. Whatever. He said there would definitely be bodies next time. If there aren’t, then he’s the one with the problem.
Sea Mauville Platform.
"Tsk tsk tsk — what a performance. Kid, you really can act. If Old Ghost hadn’t known everything from the start, I might have been fooled too." Gengar’s voice suddenly echoed in Rio’s mind.
Rio, still waving as Rayquaza disappeared into the clouds, smirked: "If I hadn’t put on that act, I’d be dead right now. And then you’d never get to see your old master, Gess, again."
"Charizard, go fetch Red Gyarados and Greninja — it’s time for us to head back to Lavender Town." Rio turned around.
"Roooar~" Charizard spread its wings and flew off.
Rio pulled out a Poké Ball and recalled Articuno. This trip to the Hoenn region had been incredibly fruitful. In just one week, he had captured the three Regi, obtained a Champion-tier Aerodactyl, secured a promise from Rayquaza, and acquired Beedrill’s Mega Stone. In short — it was a bounty of gains.
There was no need to stay any longer. It was time to return and prepare for Greninja to complete Raikou’s challenge, as well as the Indigo Conference. The next time he came to Hoenn, it might very well be during the clash between Groudon and Kyogre.