Rayquaza appeared.
Originally, for Aiden, this was actually quite a normal occurrence.
This black Rayquaza didn't usually make its presence known much, but from the perfectly timed appearances over this period, at least it could be confirmed that it probably often kept an eye on him.
However, this time its reason for appearing was a bit... hasty.
You big-browed legendary Pokémon—how did you steal the job of Bagon's fatherly Mismagius...
"Sylveon?"
Sylveon, Rayquaza's only little fangirl, also quickly noticed its appearance, her expression immediately becoming delighted.
There it is—my drawing material!
Sylveon didn't hesitate to use her ribbons to poke Aiden's back, her eyes showing no other thoughts—only a desire for impromptu painting.
She had been quite satisfied with her last work, which had high completion, but it was missing a pair of lively eyes.
If she could paint its dignified golden eyes this time, her masterpiece would be complete!
As long as this painting was finished, Master Smeargle would surely recognize her talent!
Sylveon thought to herself.
Aiden also quickly noticed her little gesture, helplessly patting her head. He placed his hand behind his back, using his system space to retrieve special drawing paper.
Although the broken system's presence had been getting lower and lower lately, it was still very useful as a storage space for small items that might be needed at any time.
After receiving the drawing paper, Sylveon immediately quieted down, using two crossed ribbons as a stand to hold up the paper, beginning to observe Rayquaza's every move.
"Hmm?"
Bagon, who had instinctively closed its eyes due to the high-altitude fall, didn't feel the sensation of falling for long, so it subconsciously opened its eyes.
Then it discovered it had actually reached the sky, circling at an extremely exaggerated speed.
"Hmm!"
Bagon's eyes instantly filled with light, and it instinctively stood up, wanting to jump down.
However, as soon as it began its jumping motion, it was immediately firmly controlled by black Rayquaza's claws and placed back on its head.
Aiden below immediately noticed Rayquaza's behavior, his expression becoming somewhat peculiar for a moment.
Even now, having already adapted to the presence of this black Rayquaza, he still wasn't quite sure why it kept appearing by his side from time to time.
At first, it was the unevolved Eevee who noticed its presence, once making Aiden think it was just a coincidence.
But its second appearance was when he was preparing to rescue Miraidon and Mabostiff with Riolu, at the critical moment when he planned to delay Houndoom's attention.
An obviously weakened Meteor Shower had 'kindly' helped the clearly insomnia-plagued Houndoom fall asleep quickly.
As for its subsequent appearances, they became more and more absurd each time.
Not only did it make a strong presence at the Dragon-type Master Tournament, but it also gave the newly hatched Bagon a fresh Mega Stone.
Meeting it on the plane back to Paldea probably wasn't an accident either.
Now it wasn't even pretending anymore—it had directly "kidnapped" Bagon, freely flying over Casseroya Lake, giving Bagon a taste of flight.
Wait... flight?
Thinking to this point, Aiden's eyebrows suddenly raised.
He seemed to understand Rayquaza's intentions.
Did it feel that Bagon's cliff-jumping practice for flying was too dangerous, so it couldn't resist appearing to let it directly experience the feeling of flight?
Compared to Dragonite, whose speed was already extremely exaggerated, Rayquaza was even faster—even after Mega Evolution, it could surpass the atmosphere and fly directly into space to feast on meteorites.
With it as a "childcare nanny," Aiden actually felt quite reassured.
After all, this terrifyingly powerful black Rayquaza was a genuine legendary individual—if it really had any intentions...
Forget about him—even adding Lance and Clair together wouldn't be able to stop it, and Dragonite's speed would only be able to eat its exhaust fumes.
"I hope my guess is correct..."
After helplessly shaking his head, Aiden muttered to himself.
If even sitting on Rayquaza's head to simulate flight couldn't make Bagon evolve, it could only mean he had oversimplified evolution.
Although he had already witnessed two of his team's main Pokémon complete evolution, whether it was Sylveon or Lucario, the core of their evolution was the intimacy with the trainer—relatively easy to understand.
As for Bagon...
In the game, Bagon needed to reach Level 30 to automatically evolve into Shelgon.
As for evolving into Salamence, it had to wait until Level 50.
Often, Level 50 was already qualified to challenge the Victory Road, leaping to become Champion and completing the first playthrough.
Just hearing it sounded like a very long process.
But for late-blooming Pokémon, this condition wasn't too harsh—in fact, it could be considered a very standard pseudo-legendary evolution curve.
However, in reality, there was no Level reference for evolution methods—even Professor Rowan, who specialized in this field, couldn't completely understand Pokémon evolution patterns.
So Aiden could only guess based on Pokémon habits.
Among Bagon's behavioral habits, the one most strongly associated with evolution seemed to be only the somewhat abnormal "leap of faith."
Don't look at Bagon being only two months old—under the influence of Herba Mysticas and the dragon milk formula, its physical development was very good.
Pokémon were inherently mysterious creatures—their juvenile period was very short, and after maturing, they had a long time to gradually improve their strength.
Like Eevee, who had held back evolution for so long just to confirm the trainer's intentions—was actually quite abnormal.
"However, even if it evolves into Shelgon, it still seems quite a distance from truly leaping to become the brutal Salamence..."
Aiden suddenly sighed.
Raising Pokémon really wasn't something that could be rushed, especially for late-blooming Pokémon.
Better to take solid steps forward one by one.
Thinking this, Aiden again turned his gaze to the high-speed circling Rayquaza in the sky, which continued to fly upward.
Bagon sitting on its head looked up at the sky, gazing at the cloud layer almost within reach, and the sun that seemed to be at the same level as itself. Its small eyes sparkled with big lights.
Flight... was within reach.
So this was the beautiful feeling of freely soaring in the sky...
However...
Flying alone in the sky didn't seem as happy as imagined.
Bagon subconsciously lowered its head, looking down at the Casseroya Lake below.
The sea wind carrying moisture roared past, the trainer's figure below was too small to distinguish, and the only sound in its ears was the sharp sonic boom of air cutting past.
The scene it had always looked forward to since childhood suddenly materialized before its eyes.
Bagon suddenly recalled its childhood, the scene of being lifted high by its trainer flying over its head still vivid in its mind.
Perhaps it was from that moment that a seed longing for the sky was planted in its heart.
So, enjoying the joy of flight alone was far from enough.
At this moment, the not-yet-mature Bagon suddenly determined its true wish in its heart.
Soaring over the vast ocean, overlooking the beautiful scenery that could only be seen from the air—how wonderful it would be to experience it with the trainer...
Just as Bagon was thinking this, its body suddenly emitted waves of white light.
Aiden below suddenly sensed something, after a moment of being stunned, subconsciously gripping the Key Stone pendant on his chest.
Bagon seemed about to evolve?
He didn't know why he was so certain in his heart.
The next moment, a beam of white light burst forth from the direction where black Rayquaza was located. As he had expected, brilliant evolution light appeared above Casseroya Lake.
Evolution was both the Pokémon's own will and had some kind of mysterious connection with the trainer.
Aiden confirmed this again, suddenly feeling somewhat emotional.
He didn't know if Bagon had eaten enough recently—after evolution, Shelgon apparently couldn't eat at all...
Even if hungry, it could only endure on its own, until it grew wings and evolved into the Tyrant of the Sky Salamence.
If only he had fed it a few more sandwiches just now.
The evolution light didn't last long, quickly returning to normal.
And just as Aiden had guessed, black Rayquaza's appearance seemed to be only to help Bagon evolve.
After the evolution light dissipated, it quickly stopped its upward movement, rapidly diving full-speed toward his direction. Only when approaching the waterfall did it suddenly slam on the brakes.
And the Bagon on its head... no, it should be called Shelgon now, was thrown off due to inertia, caught steadily by Lucario.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rayquaza."
Aiden smiled, waving at Rayquaza who wasn't far away.
Rayquaza didn't respond to him—after exchanging a look with him, it immediately took off from its spot, quickly disappearing into the horizon.
Aiden wasn't surprised by this.
Compared to the unreliable but clingy Mew, this black Rayquaza—though a bit tsundere and ignoring people—but appearing every time to bring him surprises, was much more reliable...
This time, Bagon's evolution was also thanks to Rayquaza.
If there was an opportunity in the future, he needed to find a way to properly repay it—he didn't have the habit of owing favors.
Aiden quickly walked to Lucario's side, gazing at the already-evolved Shelgon before him—covered entirely in white shell, only its limbs and eyes visible.
Like Sandshrew, at its second evolution stage, it completely lost its ability to eat, only able to survive this stage on energy accumulated previously.
It was said that when all its accumulated energy was completely consumed, the day it broke out of its shell would be its evolution day.
Aiden recalled the details about Shelgon from the Pokédex while carefully examining its body.
Then he suddenly widened his eyes.
"Wait... where did the Mega Stone hanging around your neck go???"
Some Pokémon indeed didn't have the ability to evolve independently and needed unique items to complete evolution.
But Bagon definitely wasn't one of them—Aiden could be completely certain of this.
Moreover...
Whose evolution item was a Mega Stone?
While shocked, Aiden suddenly had another bold idea—
Could it be that his own Bagon was also... illegal?
It seemed that from the moment it received the Mega Stone, it had wanted to swallow it.
So, was there a possibility...
After swallowing the Mega Stone, could it also Mega Evolve without items like Rayquaza???
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