"When the flowers bloom," Sam said softly, watching the ancient king's eyes, "they'll dance beneath the blessings of life once again."
He smiled faintly.
"Maybe when you finally step out of the shadows, your Floette will return to you."
AZ, who had been curled up on the cold stone floor, trembled.
For the first time, a spark flickered in those lifeless eyes, like a dying ember catching wind.
His dry throat twitched as he forced out a voice that sounded both ancient and fragile.
"Bearer of Delta…" he whispered, his tone trembling between disbelief and hope.
"Is what you said true? Will Floette… truly come back to me?"
Sam met his gaze. He wasn't surprised that AZ knew who he was.
A man who had lived for three thousand years had likely seen too much, perhaps even glimpsed the flow of fate itself.
Looking into those pleading eyes, Sam nodded.
His voice was steady, sure.
"Yes. One day, she'll return to you."
In the original history, Sam remembered Floette did come back.
That reunion had always been one of the few truly hopeful endings in Pokémon's long and tragic tales.
And now, standing here, he felt like he'd helped set that ending back in motion.
AZ's lips trembled. Then, for the first time in centuries, a faint smile broke through the lines of sorrow on his face.
"Thank you… inheritor of Delta," he said, voice heavy with gratitude yet light with relief.
Sam rose to his feet, brushing the dust from his coat.
"Goodbye," he said quietly.
He turned, leaving the ruined hall behind.
There was still something he had come here for, the legendary boulder hidden beneath this forgotten laboratory.
Behind him, AZ's voice drifted faintly through the hall, a whisper of ancient prophecy.
"Delta… born from the world's chaos… when prayers and bonds intertwine, they shall calm the disasters of the earth… Go, child of fate. Seek the stone that grants you strength…"
The lab was silent when Sam entered, nothing but the hum of dormant machines and the smell of rust and old dust.
He stepped carefully between scattered instruments, their metal frames twisted and half-melted from whatever energy had once surged here.
Then, he saw it.
Floating in the center of the chamber was a massive boulder, nearly twenty meters across, suspended in midair as though gravity itself had given up.
Its entire surface shimmered with shifting colors, blues, purples, and golds blending like liquid light.
The sight alone was enough to make the air feel heavy, charged with something vast and ancient.
Sam exhaled slowly.
"So this is it… the legendary boulder."
He activated the system's Eye, the faint blue light flickering in his pupils as lines of text appeared before him.
[Item: Source of Mega Evolution]
[Description: Contains immense, condensed energy.]
[Effect: Unknown.]
[Usage: Unknown.]
[Adverse Reactions: Unknown.]
Sam frowned. "Even the system can't analyze it properly? That's… not good."
He crossed his arms, pacing slowly around the glowing stone.
"No wonder Lysandre didn't bother with it. He probably couldn't figure out how to harness its energy."
The light from the boulder pulsed softly, casting waves of color across the walls.
Sam studied it for a while, his thoughts shifting.
"Leaving something like this behind would be stupid," he murmured.
"Let's see if I can at least take it back for study."
Cautiously, he reached out. His fingertips brushed the surface,
And in that instant, the world exploded into light.
A tidal surge of energy rushed through his arm and flooded his entire body, faster than thought, deeper than breath.
It was like touching the heartbeat of the planet itself.
His consciousness blurred, then was pulled violently inward.
Somewhere far above the skies of the Hoenn Region, deep within the ozone layer, a colossal figure stirred.
A serpentine dragon, scales gleaming emerald and gold, opened its eyes.
Rayquaza.
Its gaze sharpened instantly as it felt the familiar resonance, a pulse, ancient and powerful, connecting directly to its essence.
The dragon's chest rumbled, and its wings of light flared wide.
"Sam…" Rayquaza's voice boomed through the atmosphere, a deep echo that carried across the clouds.
"That energy…!"
It lifted its head, golden eyes blazing with excitement.
"That is the power that strengthens me!"
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