"IMPOSSIBLE!"
Wilma's face turned grim as she refused flat-out. She had prepared herself for Sato to make some outrageous demand, but she hadn't expected him to be a total Snorlax!
"Don't get so worked up. Think about it carefully, my request really isn't that much. Just two pairs of mature Hydreigon. Compared to the future of the Village of Dragons, this is just a tiny, insignificant favor."
"A TINY FAVOR? Then go find that 'tiny favor' somewhere else if it's so easy!"
At that moment, Wilma felt like Sato had finally shown his true face, and every word he spoke made her liver hurt.
"You want two pairs of fully grown Hydreigon because you're trying to raise a pseudo-legendary clan. But with your little Gym Trainer background, there's no way you'll succeed.
Even if you become an Elite Four someday, work your whole life for the League, you still won't be able to afford it!"
Wilma didn't hold back with her mockery. If anyone could raise a pseudo-legendary clan, Hydreigon wouldn't be so rare.
"That's exactly why I need your help, Wilma. And don't worry about the funding, give me two more pairs and I can still raise them just fine. The problem is, professional Hydreigon breeders are rare, and you just happen to have some. Let me take two of them back with me. Once they've trained my people hands-on, I'll send them back safe and sound."
"YOU… you…"
Wilma was both furious and anxious.She had been a prodigy in her youth, later becoming the leader of the Village of Dragons.You could say her entire life had been one long string of admiration and praise.
And now, at over sixty years old, this was the first time she'd encountered someone as shameless and unbearable as Sato.
Worse still, she had shown weakness in front of him, which left her with no immediate room to counterattack.
"It's settled then. You provide the people and the Pokémon.Whether I succeed or not in raising them is all on me."
Wilma wanted to object, but nothing came to mind. She even began thinking -unconsciously- about which families still had extra Hydreigon that could be sent out.
'Wait, why am I worrying about that?!'
Wilma silently cursed herself, but under Sato's unwavering gaze, she still couldn't help adding a statement.
"…Helping you raise Hydreigon isn't because I'm afraid of you… it's only because you did a favor for the Village of Dragons. But after this, we settle all scores!"
Sato grinned, flashing what he thought was a charming smile, but in truth was the kind that made people want to punch him.
"Let's not talk about settling scores. Mutual support sounds better. After all, the news that I'm raising a whole bunch of Hydreigon can't be hidden for long. From the outside, it's only going to look like the Village of Dragons and the Shadownight Gym are becoming closer and closer."
Wilma fell silent. She knew full well that Sato was right, but it still rubbed her the wrong way.
Just ten minutes ago, they had been wondering whether one of them would try to kill the other. And now they were talking about "mutual support" and "deepening ties"?
The pace of this shift was way too fast. For an old woman who rarely left the house, this was hard to keep up with.
Seeing that Wilma remained quiet and didn't argue further, Sato knew she just needed time to process everything.
This elderly woman, who seemed so experienced with life, wasn't nearly as cunning as she looked.
At the very least, she still couldn't outplay Sato, who could be even sneakier than Zoroark when he wanted to be.
Zoroark: wha…?
The Village of Dragons' deep-rooted legacy was a huge part of why it could control the pseudo-legendary Hydreigon clan in Unova.
The sight of Dragon-types roaming freely was enough to intimidate most enemies who didn't have the guts to fight them.
As for the remaining ones, all it took was a few ruthless examples to warn the rest, and the Village of Dragons could continue enjoying peace… at least until the next troublemaker appeared.
When Sato and Wilma finally walked out of the underground palace, whether by intention or not, Wilma casually tossed out a Poké Ball.
With a flash of red light, a Hydreigon nearly twice the size of an average one appeared in front of them.
"DREEEEI!"
The moment it emerged, the Hydreigon raised its "heads" and let out a deafening roar. Its dragon cry echoed through the skies, unleashing a terrifying aura without hesitation.
Peak Elite Four!
Sato stared dumbfounded at the Hydreigon before him, suddenly feeling like his own Hydreigon was just a bunch of... no, just a group of kids.
Wilma had been watching Sato the whole time. The moment she saw his stunned expression, all her pent-up frustration vanished instantly.
'See that, brat? Your grandma here only fell for your nonsense out of carelessness. If I had sent out Hydreigon from the beginning, there's no way you'd have beaten me!'
Though she didn't say it aloud, her straightened posture and the proud tilt of her chin made it clear how pleased she was.
"Wilma!"
Suddenly, Sato called out to her with an unusually "respectful" tone, which immediately made her take two steps back.
"What shady scheme are you up to now?!"
Wilma spoke warily, instinctively ducking behind Hydreigon.
"Please continue to be my coac- Ahem, I mean, help guide my training!"
"..."
"Heh~"
Sato ended up staying in the Village of Dragons for another week… clearly beyond his original half-month plan.
Of course, what he gained far exceeded expectations. This trip was more than worth it.
As for why he stayed an extra week? Besides receiving genuine guidance from Wilma, he also needed time to choose the two Hydreigon pairs he would use for breeding.
Dragon-type Pokémon were already hard to raise, and that went double for breeding a pseudo-legendary Hydreigon lineage.
For Wilma, finding suitable Hydreigon in the village wasn't difficult, the hard part was convincing the villagers to let them go.
After a full week, Wilma had only found one pair of Hydreigon that Sato could take with him.
But Sato didn't complain at all. In fact, he gratefully and cheerfully thanked Wilma from the bottom of his heart.
Because although he only got one Hydreigon pair, he also received three Zweilous, two Deino… and one excellent Dragon-type breeder: Lotta!
Lotta's parents had died two years ago, and since then she had been caring for the Hydreigon family they left behind.
The two youngest Deino were the fourth offspring born to the Hydreigon couple, and surprisingly, they had been born as twins from the same egg cycle.
Normally, Hydreigon only produce one egg per clutch. Twin Deino hatchings were extremely rare.
After all, Dragon-type infants take a long time to mature, and focusing care on a single hatchling increases survival chances.
While this didn't outright prove Lotta's excellence as a breeder, it at least confirmed her skills were solid.
Not to mention she came with a whole group of five baby Dark-types in tow.
As for why Lotta agreed to follow Sato to Shadownight Gym… on the surface, she said it was because she wanted to leave the Village of Dragons, a place filled with painful memories.
Whether there was more to it? Hard to say.
Everyone has their secrets. They weren't close. So Sato had no intention of prying.
After all, if she really did run off… he could just go back to Wilma and demand someone else.