In Pokémon GO, the GO Tour is currently running: Hoenn with the special research “Legend Hunt”. And a small sentence fuels speculation about Mega Rayquaza.
Warning, spoilers: If you’re playing the Legend Hunt Special Research in Pokémon GO and you value the story and don’t want to know what it covers, don’t read here until you’re done with the quest.
From here follows information about the end of the quest.
What is this quest? The “Hunt of Legends” tells of the quest for the Red and Blue Gems in order to tame the runaway proto-forms of Kyogre and Groudon. Among other things, the two let the weather go crazy in the story, gameplay-wise they are the two “boss” opponents in the arenas in the proto-raids.
At the end of the quest, the two monsters are calmed down again, which calls Professor Willow into action. This is where it gets interesting: The Prof explains that normally Rayquaza would descend from the sky to keep Kyogre and Groudon at bay. But it didn’t have to do that this time.
“Maybe you made it. Rayquaza would have to be very fast to be faster than you!” the professor praises and then wants to talk about a theory as to how the whole thing came about in the first place. But then something flashes: “Did you see that, Trainer?” Willow asks, “Something bright just flew across the sky – could that be a Pokémon?”
And this part is what makes trainers speculate right now. Or: The original English version of it.
What does Mega Rayquaza have to do with Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon?
What coaches talk about: In the TheSilphRoad subreddit, trainers talk about Willow’s dialogue (via reddit). In the English original, the crucial sentence is: “Maybe you got the jump on it. Rayquaza would have to be mighty speedy to get ahead of you two!”
However, the Pokeminers’ dataminers found that this version is also a modified variant that was adjusted before the event. Previously the text read:
“It’s said Rayquaza would descend to the ground if Kyogre and Groudon were to fight, but maybe you got the jump on it. Rayquaza would have to be Mega speedy to get ahead of you two!”
(via pokeminers.com)
Text causes speculation: In the subreddit, trainers pick up on this older variant of the text. They suspect this must be a reference to Mega Rayquaza, since “Mega” was capitalized in the old variant.
This has prompted theories from Trainers that Mega Rayquaza might be coming soon – say at GO Fest.
But there is also a counter assumption:
However, the change in the text in particular is used as a counter-argument – in order not to allow such hopes to arise. It wouldn’t be the first time Willow hinted at something new early on, though.
Why would the theory make sense? From a purely story point of view, an early release of Mega Rayquaza after the proto forms would be appropriate. In the backstory of the Pokémon main games, one learns that in the past, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre had to be stopped by Rayquaza, but woke up again after a meteorite impact (via pokewiki.com).
Rayquaza faced the two again and used this meteorite to perform the historically first Mega Evolution. In this form, it once again defeated the two primeval proto-monsters.
With that in mind, Rayquaza doesn’t sound all that unlikely in its mega form. However, the focus of Pokémon GO is probably not necessarily on the story aspect.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen when Mega Rayquaza will appear in Pokémon GO. One thing is for sure: It would be one of the most powerful monsters in the game ever as soon as it appears.
You can find out what else is happening at the event in the live ticker for the Hoenn Tour 2023.