Rayquaza (Pokémon)


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Rayquaza (Japanese: レックウザ Rayquaza) is a dual-type Legendary Pokémon introduced in Generation III.

While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, it can Mega Evolve into Mega Rayquaza if it knows, but only if it is not holding a Z-Crystal. In, the Rayquaza featured in the Delta Episode must be (which requires it to eat the Meteorite) before the player can Mega Evolve any Rayquaza.

Rayquaza is the game mascot of, appearing on the boxart of the game. It serves to end the conflict between and  when Team Magma's leader Maxie and Team Aqua's leader Archie awakened them.

Along with Kyogre and Groudon, Rayquaza is a part of the weather trio, serving as its trio master. In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it plays an important role during the Delta Episode and is required to be caught there to fight.

Biology
Rayquaza is a large, green, serpentine creature. It has red-tipped, rudder-like wings on its shoulders and down its body, and similarly patterned fins on the tip of its tail. Yellow ring-like symbols run across the length of Rayquaza's body and it has an additional yellow ring on top of its head. Rayquaza has two limbs with three-clawed hands, and two long, flat, horn-like structures on its head, with two shorter horns along its jawline. It has small, yellow eyes with black pupils, prominent pink gums, and two discernible fangs in its upper jaw.

As Mega Rayquaza, its body becomes longer and gains more features. Its head becomes longer with the symbol appearing on its forehead. Its eyes now contain yellow pupils and red irises, and black, tree-like markings trail behind its eyes. Its red lips and teeth become gold, and the gold lines connect to those on its lower horns, which take on a broad, triangular shape. At the outer edges of its lower horns are long, golden, glowing tendrils that each extend to a green, fin-like structure; these tendrils have ring patterns that strongly resemble the yellow markings running along the length of Rayquaza's normal form. Its two upper horns become longer with a gold line running over them in a V shape, and each upper horn has another glowing tendril that ends in a circular shape with a spike. Along the length of its body are golden, glowing orbs placed where its ring patterns used to be. The chin, part of the neck, and parts of its serpentine body are changed to the color black. The fins running along its body are now marked with gold lines; the fins on its tail become entirely yellow and substantially longer. Particles stream from the long tendrils that extend from its jutting jaw; these particles can control the density and humidity of the air, allowing Mega Rayquaza to manipulate the weather. Its green hide sparkles with an emerald-like quality.

Inside Rayquaza's body lies an organ that contains the same power as a Mega Stone. A Devon Corporation scientist named this organ the mikado organ (Japanese: ミカド). By consuming meteoroids as it flies through the stratosphere, the mikado organ will be filled with enough energy to enable Rayquaza's Mega Evolution.

It is able to soothe the other members of the weather trio, even in their Primal Forms. Rayquaza is said to have lived for hundreds of millions of years in the, where it feeds on water and other particles. Rayquaza is seen by people; even in flight, its appearance is indistinguishable from that of a meteor. Rayquaza preys on the in the Alola region. Rayquaza is the only known Pokémon capable of learning the move.

Rayquaza (M07)
Rayquaza debuted in Destiny Deoxys. It fought, believing it to be invading the Sky High Pokémon's territory when Deoxys was in fact looking for its friend, another Deoxys.

A Rayquaza appeared in Mega Evolution Special II, where it Mega Evolved. Alain and tried to battle it, but were quickly defeated by the Sky High Pokémon. It reappeared in Mega Evolution Special III, where it tried to stop the rampage between Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre for trying to obtain the Giant Rock, and eventually succeeded.

Other
In Malice In Wonderland!, a Rayquaza appeared under ownership of Cynthia, but only as an illusion created by. When Mismagius fuses with Rayquaza, it becomes the same color as the Mismagius, making it look like a Rayquaza.

Rayquaza made its physical main series debut in outer space in Where No Togepi Has Gone Before!. In the episode, it used on the rocket ship, , and  were on, presumably in order to protect its territory from them.

A Rayquaza appeared in SS028, where it was seen by.

A Shiny Rayquaza capable of Mega Evolving appeared in Hoopa and the Clash of Ages, summoned alongside and  by  to protect it from the shadow. The trio protected Hoopa from the shadow Hoopa and its reinforcements, Primal, Primal , , , , and , in Dahara City. Eventually, the ended after the shadow Hoopa was sealed in a Prison Bottle, and Rayquaza departed for its home.

Minor appearances
A Rayquaza made a cameo appearance in the opening sequence of Pokémon Ranger and the Temple of the Sea, where it was captured by Team Rocket operatives.

A Rayquaza made a cameo appearance in the opening sequence of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

A Rayquaza made a cameo appearance in the opening sequence of The Rise of Darkrai, where it fired a at a.

A Rayquaza made a cameo appearance in the opening sequence of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.

A Rayquaza briefly appeared in Showering the World with Love!, where and  saw it in the sky at Starfall Hill after saying goodbye to.

In the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer
A Rayquaza appeared in the Pokémon Omega Ruby and Pokémon Alpha Sapphire Animated Trailer, where it descended from the ozone layer and Mega Evolved.

In Pokémon Generations
A Trainer undefined's Rayquaza appeared in its Mega Evolved state in The Scoop. It was seen destroying the Grand Meteor Delta while being ridden by the Trainer. It later battled a  that appeared from inside the Meteor, allowing its Trainer to  it.

In the Let's Play the Pokémon Card Game XY! manga
Manabu was seen with a Rayquaza.

In the movie adaptations
Rayquaza plays a major role in the second, Destiny Deoxys. Likewise, it appears in the of the film by Takashi Teshirogi.

A Shiny Rayquaza appears in .

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
To stop the battle between Kyogre and Groudon, and Norman trained at the Sky Pillar and woke up Rayquaza. Five years earlier, 's victory over a was the reason Norman was banned from the Gym Leader test as the wounded Salamence rampaged in a lab, accidentally letting Rayquaza, who was in captivity at that time, free. Having been ordered to recapture Rayquaza in the five years he was prohibited from attaining a Gym Leader position, Norman attended the Mossdeep Space Center and scrutinized its tracks, finally discovering that it slumbered atop the Sky Pillar when it wasn't scouring beyond Earth's atmosphere. With Wally's help, he was able to awaken and take command of Rayquaza, using it to calm and  in conjunction with Ruby's Red and Blue Orbs. When Norman fell under the strain of controlling Rayquaza without a proper medium, it escaped once again. It first appeared in Rayquaza Redemption I.

In the Pokémon Ruby-Sapphire manga
A Rayquaza appears in Pokémon Task Force In Action!! where, , Pikachu and as usual try to stop it from destroying the city.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Rayquaza appears in The Subspace Emissary mode as a boss. After lands in, Rayquaza lunges out of the water and grabs him, angry at being disrupted. Before it can further attack, ejects out of his ship, which had crashed and been destroyed by Rayquaza earlier, and rescues Diddy Kong. Enraged, Rayquaza attacks Fox with, but Fox its attack back at it, sending it reeling back into the water. Rayquaza soon launches back out and engages in battle against Fox and Diddy Kong.

Like all other Subspace Emissary bosses, Rayquaza is later battled again in, and can be fought in the mode after the latter is unlocked. Its attacks in battle include, , , , and.

Trophy information
''A Sky High Pokémon. It normally resides high up in the ozone layer where it flies endlessly, so it is rarely seen. However, when and  began to fight, it appeared to calm them down. It has the ability, which blocks all weather-condition effects. It has exceedingly strong abilities, and its attack power is especially remarkable.''

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Rayquaza appears as an occasional stage hazard in the of the  stage. Appearing rarely, it flies across the stage at various angles, dealing damage to fighters. Its path is shown briefly by lightning before it appears, giving players time to avoid it.

Trophy information
''This Dragon- and Flying-type Pokemon usually dwells high in the ozone layer, so it can't be seen from the ground. In the Kalos Pokemon League stage, it occasionally flies at great speed through the Elite Four's Dragon-type chamber, where any fighters in its path will be damaged and launched with great force.''

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Rayquaza appears as a.

NPC appearances

 * : Rayquaza is the focus of the third and final Bonus Field. It can only be challenged after capturing or  and will then join the circuit of bonus fields. Rayquaza will bounce along from left to right, allowing the ball to roll under it if it is up. It will sometimes use  to paralyze the ball if it is not moving fast enough, though it does stay still while it is unleashing the attack. Rayquaza will also sometimes use  to create two tornadoes that cause the ball to fly up into the air for several seconds if contact is made. Rayquaza must be hit 15 times in three minutes to win. After beating the round twice, Rayquaza will be captured.
 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rayquaza acts as the final boss, living on the Sky Tower. After it is defeated, Rayquaza helps save the from a meteor. After the credits roll, the player can re-battle Rayquaza to recruit it.
 * : Rayquaza can be captured in a bonus mission after the credits.
 * : Rayquaza is the guardian of the Sky Melodica.
 * : Rayquaza first appears early into the game, fleeing to space in fear of Dark Matter's influence. When Dark Matter attempts to take the Tree of Life to space, Rayquaza and Deoxys use their energy to try and slow its ascent from above, with Rayquaza even Mega Evolving. Ultimately, when Dark Matter regenerates itself for the first time, it unleashes even more energy, turning both Rayquaza and Deoxys to stone. At the conclusion of the event, Rayquaza turns back to normal and takes residence at Dragon Gate and guards the Wind Looplet.

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In events

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Pokémon Global Link promotions

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Trivia

 * Rayquaza has many differences from the other members of its trio:
 * It is the only member without a Primal form, instead having the ability to Mega Evolve.
 * It is the only member not to be directly sought after by a specific crime syndicate.
 * It is the only member that cannot learn a one-hit knockout move.
 * It is the only member that cannot learn its signature move by level-up, as it must learn it by move tutor.
 * It is the only member that didn't appear in the episodes Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends.
 * Mega Rayquaza has the highest and  stats and the highest base stat total of all  and  Pokémon.
 * Mega Rayquaza is the tallest Pokémon, the tallest Mega Evolved Pokémon, and the tallest Legendary Pokémon.
 * Rayquaza's catch rate was raised from its original value of 3 to 45 in.
 * Rayquaza is the only Legendary Pokémon that can be caught at a higher level than the Elite Four's Pokémon before defeating the . However, this is only possible in.
 * Rayquaza was the most voted Pokémon of all pre-Generation V Pokémon in the Pokémon Global Link promotion poll.
 * Rayquaza was also the most voted on the, which was for the game mascots of the core series Pokémon games, making it Japan's favorite game mascot.
 * Rayquaza is misspelled as "Rayquayza" in in every instance.
 * Rayquaza is the only Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving that does not require a Mega Stone to do so in the games.
 * It is therefore the only Pokémon that can have a different held item (apart from Z-Crystals) while Mega Evolved, since Mega Stones cannot be taken off their proper holder during battle.
 * Mega Rayquaza is tied with 's Mega Evolutions for the highest base stat total of all Pokémon, with 780.
 * This makes it the only Pokémon with a base stat total above 720 that doesn't require a specific held item.
 * When Mega Evolving Rayquaza, the game will state, " 's fervent wish has reached Rayquaza", instead of the normal message.
 * Rayquaza was designed by Hironobu Yoshida.

Origin
Rayquaza's design is probably based on the and the . Its role is similar to that of in Hebrew legends. Rayquaza matches the description of the Aztec god, who was depicted as a flying serpent, and created the boundary between the earth (including the oceans) and the sky. Its trait of being capable of inhabiting the skies, and living there while subsisting on nothing but dew and particles for centuries, also bears aspects of the legendary Chinese xian hermit sages and East Asian dragons.

Name origin
Rayquaza most likely refers to , the Hebrew word for "firmament". It also may be a combination of ' and '. Alternatively, it may be a combination of 烈 retsu (violent or furious), 空 kū (sky), and 座 za (seat or location), which can be taken to mean "one that sits in the ferocious heavens".

Rayquaza's mikado organ refers to 帝 mikado (emperor), another name for the or 天皇 tennō in Japanese, which can be translated as either "heavenly sovereign" or "king of the heaven/sky".

Related articles

 * Rayquaza (M07)
 * Rayquaza (anime)
 * Rayquaza (Adventures)
 * Weather trio