Some context for those who are unaware, this post was originally made on Kotaku by me, but I had decided to expand upon it and move it here. Rayquaza is a Legendary Pokémon.
It originated in Pokemon Emerald, which came out in the year 2004. Eventually GameFreak released remakes of it's companion games (Sapphire and Ruby), essentially replacing all three.
In those two remakes Rayquaza takes on a larger role, and in the context of this post an even bigger one for me.
Why Mega Rayquaza is the Greatest Companion
In the original game it was one of the late game legendaries you could catch, but it was still a lot of fun to use. In Emerald in particular it could even be caught sooner, and use it I did!
So heres a little touching story. There once was a lad who derived from an Emerald world, he conquered and plundered, but alas his time came to an end. He sent his creatures far and wide, some came back, some would hide.
Traveling between lands they were sent to a newer world, one they hoped to call home. They settled about but were quickly thrown. They aided in many battles and quested mightily in these newer world lands. One stood out above them all.
He was the mightiest and the bravest. They revered him, and named him Rayquaza. This amazing creature fought all and always won. Even though his original master was long gone, he still stood strong. Rayquaza traveled with his fellow friends and even some new ones along the way. Hoping that one day he can return home.
Although he was only half way through his journey his persistence never quit. His master’s Blaziken kept him company and together they made each other strong. Generations of heroes and battles have passed. Albeit a half a dozen. Finally he is near to his home. Soon he will return to his land of origin, and gain a new power. This creature has endured a lot, but will finally end his journey.
Traveling Across Games
A really neat thing that the creators did is that through a really drawn out process you can actually send your Pokemon across generations.
The process goes like this:
From the GBA era like Emerald you and migrate them over to Pal Park in the DS generation, where you have to "catch" them again. Then in the later set of DS games you can send them over once again (this is the next generation).
Through that set of games you can insert them into a 3ds (sequel game handheld console), and using an app on the device you can take them out.
Mind you in most of those processes ^^^ you could only do SIX at a time.
Finally on the 3ds they could go to Pokemon Bank, and then from there to the 3ds games or to Pokemon Home on the Switch. The latter being the new bank essentially on the new platform. However my needs stopped at the 3ds.
I’ve had my Rayquaza since Emerald, and have sent it across dozens of games and files. Sent it all the way up to Generation X&Y. He has helped me through numerous battles, 3 leagues, and even faced off Red himself (a titular character from the original games). Now I am going to be able to Mega evolve it in it’s land of origin.
In the remakes of the generation the creature came from you can now Mega Evolve, a special occurence where it gains even more power. Since the games that it came from, and the ones that you can send it to are in the same locale it feels like it is returning home.
For a creature that isn’t alive, it holds a dear place in my heart.
Thanks for listening.