Rayquaza

Rayquaza (, Rayquaza), stylized as RAYQUAZA in European versions of Brawl, is a draconic creature from the media franchise.

Origin
Rayquaza is a dual /-type legendary Pokémon that debuted in the third generation of Pokémon games, serving as the version mascot for ', the solitary third version of ' and fifth main series game in overall. It is categorized within the Pokédex at #384 as the "Sky High Pokémon". A green, serpentine creature, it is part of a trio of legendary Pokémon commonly referred to as the along with Groudon and Kyogre, and in its games is able to mediate the fights between those two. Symbolising this, it has the ability, which neutralises weather effects. It is considered very territorial and usually flies around in the ozone layer, often having battles with.

Rayquaza first appeared in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire as a legendary Pokémon residing in. However, it did not have a significant story role, with little even implying its existence. In Pokémon Emerald, however, Rayquaza is the mascot and served a much bigger role, becoming the one who stops the fight between Kyogre and Groudon. It also stays in Sky Pillar once the conflict is finished and can be obtained much earlier. Rayquaza later returned in the remakes, , playing a major role in the post-game's "Delta Episode", where it was shown to be capable of Mega Evolution. Uniquely, Mega Rayquaza is the only Mega Evolution accessible without the use of a Mega Stone, instead simply by having the move.

Rayquaza's distinctive metallic roars seen in Brawl are derived from, the seventh Pokémon movie.

Role in The Subspace Emissary
Rayquaza is the second boss in The Subspace Emissary in Brawl. In the mode, Rayquaza first appears in the level The Lake after goes to investigate a crashed Arwing. Seeing Diddy and the Arwing's pilot as intruders of its territory, Rayquaza bursts out of the water, destroys the Arwing with a ball of energy from its mouth, and then grabs Diddy. Before it can retreat into the water, leaps from the burning Arwing and attacks Rayquaza using Fox Illusion, causing it to lose its grip on Diddy Kong. The beast attacks Fox with the energy ball attack again, but Fox reflects the attack back at Rayquaza using his, sending it tumbling back into the water. Both Diddy and Fox face off against the dangerous legendary Pokémon.

Even though it was not working for the Subspace army, Tabuu brings back Rayquaza to slow down the heroes in The Great Maze.

Additionally, when Rayquaza is defeated, it twitches at the last second, suggesting it was only knocked out (a possible throwback to the Pokémon series, where a Pokémon that is defeated in battle is said to have fainted).

It can also be battled at any given time in Boss Battles mode.

As a playable character

 * Main article: Rayquaza (SSBB)

Like all bosses, Rayquaza can be controlled in Boss Battles mode by hacking. The start button will, like all bosses, self-destruct it.

HP and damage taken
While Rayquaza technically has less health than later bosses, its massive battery of resistances practically gives it a very large amount of health. In fact, the only moves which it does not resist are those with freezing hitboxes, which is a nod to the Pokémon games, where Rayquaza's typing makes it weakest to Ice-type moves. However with there being only a few moves in the game with hitboxes of the freezing type, only possessed by the, , and , this lone relative weakness can rarely be exploited. Even then, most of those few freezing moves are projectiles, meaning Rayquaza will still resist them, while also being low-damaging and laggy moves that would make them ineffective for using against bosses. With this inability to use moves that Rayquaza does not possess an at least x0.7 resistance to, it is effectively about as or even more durable than Duon, the most durable boss outside of Tabuu.

None of Rayquaza's hurtboxes are programmed to be a weak point, though it notably has weak point numbers programmed in that are not the default ×2.0 like they are for other enemies that lack a weak point. This may indicate that Rayquaza originally had a weak point to counterbalance its massive resistances, which was scrapped late in development.

Like all bosses in Brawl, Rayquaza gains an additional ×0.6 damage resistance modifier when fought in co-op mode, effectively gaining 67% more health. This modifier is applied whenever the second player is in-game, and is no longer applied if the second player loses all their stocks.

Trophy
Rayquaza's trophy must be obtained by using a Trophy Stand on it during its Subspace Emissary fight.

As a stage element
Rayquaza appears in the Kalos Pokémon League stage as a stage element. Appearing rarely in the Dragonmark Chamber, it performs its Air Dash move from The Subspace Emissary by flying 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
Rayquaza's trophy is exclusive to, where it is part of the Legend of Pokémon Ruby & Pokémon Sapphire.

As a stage element
Rayquaza returns in its role on Kalos Pokémon League.

Spirit
Rayquaza appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an Ace-class primary spirit.

Rayquaza's Spirit Battle uses a puppet fighter and is fought on the Kalos Pokémon League stage's Dragonmark Chamber, which features Rayquaza as a stage element. During the battle, heavy winds are immediately in effect, referencing Mega Rayquaza's ability,, which creates strong winds.

Trivia

 * Despite being the "Sky High" Pokémon which lives high in the ozone layer, Rayquaza in Brawl seems to be able to live underwater (although in the game, it is capable of learning the move ) and attacks by burrowing underground (it cannot learn in the games). The Pokédex says that Rayquaza never touches the ground, however, unless Groudon and Kyogre were to fight.
 * A glitch can happen when facing Rayquaza. It is unknown how this happens, but it can leave some of the playable character's model stuck frozen in the immediate foreground, moving with the camera. Any attack Rayquaza performs that targets the player's location go offscreen, failing to hit the almost-KO'ed player. This glitch lasts until the player quits the battle.
 * Rayquaza is the only boss fought at the beginning of a stage whose fight is not the entire stage.
 * Rayquaza is the only boss in The Subspace Emissary known to have a specific voice actor (Katsuyuki Konishi), with said voice actor having voiced the Pokémon in the seventh Pokémon movie, as well as several other Pokémon throughout the series as well.
 * Aside from freezing attacks being the most effective, many of Rayquaza's weaknesses and resistances do not match its properties in the Pokémon games: it resists electric, grass, water, and dark attacks more than flame attacks, whereas its Pokémon typing dictates it takes regular damage from electric, ghost and dark, half damage from fire and water, and quarter damage from grass.