Ky thinks he can awaken Rayquaza himself? Ha! Rayquaza chose me and me alone. That imposter would not impress the Great Dragon one bit.

With a shrug of indifference, I climbed the last of those imposing granite stairs. As I approached the peak, I changed my vision to aura, sensing ahead for any emotions that I needed to be aware of. Two strong emanations came forth, both from the peak of the Sky Pillar. One was a calm, benevolent gray essence, seeming almost bemused about something. The other was an intensifying red emission of pride and — was that frustration? How funny.

Kyler would be unable to rouse the Pokémon. That right belonged to moi.

Confidence renewed, I reverted my vision back to normal and ascended the staircase. The top of the tower now sprawled before me. In its center was the mighty dragon, Rayquaza. My idiot of a commander was standing before him, attempting to wake the sleeping Pokémon. Of course, the mighty green dragon remained asleep, unresponsive to this dimwit.

"You didn't actually think you'd be able to do it yourself, did you?"

Kyler's face turned blood-red. " You think you're so special, don't you? Fine then! You try it! Let's see you do it better."

I cracked a smile. "I thought you'd never ask." I slowly walked over to Rayquaza until I could feel his breath against my face. His breath was warm and overbearing — it was quite arousing, let me tell you. In just moments, his power would be mine. All I had to do was wake him up.

Placing my hand gently on his forehead, I went on the tips of my toes to whisper in his ear, "Wake up, Rayquaza, for your chosen is here."

My hand started shaking and Rayquaza's golden rings turned a soft silver color. The entire Sky Tower started shaking, as if Groudon itself had fired an Earthquake at us. Ky began hyperventilating, but I was fine — in fact, I was divine. The earthquake was not a threat, at least not to me.

Rayquaza's rings faded back to yellow. The Great Dragon opened his eyes, his sharp gaze piercing into my soul. It worked. I woke him up. I, his chosen, will ascend to powers greater than even Arceus.

The Great Dragon opened his mouth, and let out a deafening roar. His eyes, ones I found alluring just seconds ago, were now condescending, glaring daggers at me. In spite of myself, I stumbled backwards. Did I do something wrong? Does this mean the legends were... wrong?

No! That was impossible.

Kyler practically jumped out of his shoes at this. It would have been hilarious to watch him squirm had I not been distracted by Rayquaza. The serpent-like dragon uncoiled his body, releasing a burst of moist wind as he unfurled to his full length. Rayquaza hovered just before me, looking anything but obedient.

What have I done? This was not right at all! How could he defy his Chosen One? Like this? I thought back to that fateful day, the day he chose me. This was wrong! All wrong! Why?

Why would he betray me?

o-o-o

"Get your hands off me!"

Squished, I shoved at the human fiends, or whatever they wanted to call themselves, trying to get them off me. My efforts were getting me nowhere.

The woman with the notepad watched, offering me a cold smile as she took notes. I was no longer in my glass chamber. Instead, I was somewhat stuffed in this tube like some stupid lab Rattata. I punched and kicked and flailed and screamed the whole way inside that tube, too, and was shoving like crazy at these stupid Muk-brained humans when they closed the tube on me.

"Ralts!"

Rio was being restrained in the tube next to mine. I could hear more than see his psychic powers crackling, trying to break his confinements.

One of the scumbags turned to the woman. "Are you sure this will work? No one has ever survived this procedure before."

The woman looked up from her notepad, clearly unamused. "This little girl has the highest aura readings I've ever seen." She gestured over to Rio. "You see her Ralts? It shares a perfect bond with her. Ralts are exotic Pokémon, but despite that, it stays loyal to her— even without a Pokéball! I don't know about you, but that says volumes to me."

Scumbag raised an eyebrow. "So you're basing the success of this highly fatal and risky experiment from the bond of a Pokémon and preteen?"

The woman waved her hand impatiently. "Nonsense! If that doesn't convince you, take a look at her aura readings! Her abilities could match those of an aura guardian! If she doesn't work, no one will."

Scumbag shrugged. "If you say so. Partner, prepare the Green Orb."

Scumbag's partner walked over and placed the Green Orb somewhere at the back of the test tube. He glanced over at Scumbag. "She's ready to go. Fire 'er up."

The test tube started glowing and shaking. My heart jumped. "W-what's happening? Tell me!"

"Little girlie," the woman exclaimed with false cheer, "do me a favor, eh? Enjoy the ride! It may very well be your last."

Oh, Arceus. Am I going to die?

Flashing lights flooded my vision. The world seemed to be spinning and spinning and spinning. This was it. I was going to die. I was going to die like a stupid Rattata for the amusement of these sick bastards, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

I faintly remember crying before I blacked out.

I was standing on a floating continent. The sky was a lavish blue, the winds a cool, gentle breeze, the lush green grass sashaying with it ever so slightly. The sun was bright and warm, making the pristine land before me seem like paradise.

I took in a deep breath and sighed. The wind, the sun, the soft green grass — everything was perfect.

The experiment must have failed. I'm dead. Those wretched fiends didn't get what they wanted. In a way, that made dying okay for me. If this was heaven, it wasn't so bad. In fact, if I had to stay here for the rest of my life, I wouldn't mind it in the slightest.

The only thing that set me off was the size: the continent was small. I walked over to the edge to see what lay below me, and what I saw almost made me choke.

Destruction. Death. Debris. And fire — it was everywhere and it consumed everything, like a raging inferno. There were ashes in the air, and bodies scattered all over the place. Pokémon and humans alike had dead bodies torn to shreds; the ground soaked with blood. To call it a nightmare would be the understatement of the century.

It was Hell — and I mean that in everyway possible.

I backed up and fell on my bum. As long as I stay on this continent, I should be fine — right? I took a moment to take in the continent before me. Its beauty was enough to calm me down. The hellhole down below won't affect me. I'm above such desolate destruction.

Rayyyyyquaaa!

W-what was that?

Quaaaaaa!

Descending from the skies was a creature of perfect benevolence. There was no other way to describe it. It had beautiful golden rings, smooth green skin, distinguished yellow eyes, and rippling muscles. It let out another screech, its majestic voice ringing loud and proud.

Its gaze landed on me meaningfully, and then it hit me: it was trying to tell me something!

The Great Dragon flexed its muscles and roared, firing a loose Hyper Beam towards the ground, incinerating everything in its path. The creature wrapped itself around my small continent, with me in the middle. I could see it more closely now, that the dragon didn't have green skin but actual scales. Its head was at level with mine now; its piercing eyes staring directly at me.

It grumbled something softly and touched the top of my head with its snout.

It all started to make sense to me now. The Hyper Beam from earlier was a demonstration of its abilities… of its power.

Somehow, the creature was trying to tell me that it belonged to me, that I was its master. It was asking me what I wanted it to do. It was waiting for my commands!

The heavenly creature let out one, final, majestic roar, and then everything was gone.