"Finally, one important reminder to all guests: if you wish to befriend a Pokémon from the Dragon's Den, they must choose to follow you of their own will. Whether they're moved by your character, drawn to your strength, or tempted by your food, that's all fine—but you are absolutely not allowed to forcefully take any Pokémon that shows reluctance."
"This is absolute."
As the Dragon Elder announced the true main event of the Dragon Feast—the Dragon's Den Trial—the venue immediately buzzed with a wave of commotion.
Any trainer chosen and invited by the Dragon Clan would hardly be someone who'd ignore a Pokémon's will and capture it by force out of greed.
Drasna's narrowed eyes opened slightly. "My, my—worthy of being a venerable house in Johto with a long history. How generous."
Drayden nodded slightly, his gaze still circling on Lance. "Just the dragon-type trainers invited here number at least a hundred. Not to mention those juniors in the other halls."
Cynthia slipped one hand into her pocket, absently rubbing the lipstick inside, pensive. "Even if that so-called trial filters out those lacking in strength or temperament, a large number will still remain."
"To provide so many dragon-types and pseudo-dragons in one go—no wonder that Dragon's Den stands on equal footing with places like Meteor Falls and the Village of Dragons."
Lucas looked at the trio curiously and asked, "Are you planning to take part in the Dragon's Den Trial?"
Cynthia touched her chin and spoke first. "No need for now. Once the banquet ends tonight, I'm flying back to Sinnoh early tomorrow."
"After all, I'm not planning to capture and train new powerhouses at the moment, and my Garchomp can't learn Extreme Speed."
Drayden said nothing, but shook his head to express the same.
He had no intention of participating in the trial either.
Drasna said airily in her feather-light tone, "Oh? Neither of you are going? I'm going, though. Who knows, I might meet a child that really meshes with me. After all, at home, the more little ones the better."
Iris's eyes sparkled, clearly excited at the thought of entering the Den and meeting new partners. Though she loved Excadrill and Axew, she wanted to love even more dragon-type Pokémon—after all, they were all her partners, the wings that let her soar!
But Drayden's silent refusal made Iris, who had just been about to speak up, fall quiet. If her teacher wasn't going to participate, they'd have to catch a plane back to Opelucid City in Unova tomorrow.
Although she was here nominally representing the Village of Dragons, with Drayden as her guardian leaving, Iris couldn't stay on her own to take the trial.
She didn't have money to buy Poké Balls. The Village of Dragons had only provided her current still-growing Axew; Excadrill was captured using a Poké Ball borrowed from the village elder.
If she wanted more partners, the trial was her only chance.
Perhaps because he'd been a teacher for so long, Lucas had unconsciously picked up certain professional habits. He'd been watching Iris, and didn't miss the brief flash of disappointment on her face.
With a slight lift at the corner of his mouth, he asked Iris—about the same age as Nemona and the others, still in school and quite green, "Iris, do you want to participate in the Dragon's Den Trial and make friends with a new partner?"
Iris blinked, then shouted with shining anticipation, "I do!"
"In that case," Lucas turned to Drayden with a suggestion, "Mr. Drayden, how about waiting until Iris finishes the trial before heading back to Unova?"
Cynthia and Drasna both looked to Drayden, curious to hear his answer.
Cynthia even considered that if Drayden still refused, she might just skip work for one more day, dump her duties on Bertha and Lucian, accompany Iris through the trial, and then see her back to Unova.
Cynthia's feelings toward Iris were those of a senior appreciating a junior. She felt the girl might one day become a trainer who could stand shoulder to shoulder with her. That gave Cynthia a very favorable impression.
As it happened, the villas she'd bought in Unova hadn't been used in a while. She could notify the butler and take the opportunity for a little vacation, exploring the mysteries of Unova's ancient legends.
Pressed under the weight of several gazes, Drayden couldn't understand how things had developed to this point. He'd only said he didn't plan on entering the trial himself—he hadn't said Iris couldn't.
How had he suddenly become the bad guy?
For the first time, Drayden reflected on something even his grandson Drayton had mentioned: he was so serious about everything that people often misunderstood his intentions.
In the end, Drayden could only take the blame and "take a step back," agreeing to Iris's request to stay one more day.
The Dragon Elder had only come to announce the trial. Lucas and the others clearly noticed that ever since the announcement, the mood among many attendees had risen markedly.
Even Lucas had to admit the Dragon Clan's methods were textbook: they were forging ties with dragon-type trainers and families from across the world; those who benefited would surely establish healthy, friendly relationships with the clan, potentially even sharing techniques and resources.
After temporarily bidding farewell to Cynthia and Drayden, Lucas—hungry again after a battle—dived back into the banquet with Dragonite. The dishes had just been switched out for steaming new plates, and he couldn't help marveling at his good luck.
With the rising excitement, many dragon-type trainers had already begun battling. Lucas felt that standing a little off to the side with a plate to watch dragon-type Pokémon clash made for a perfect side dish.
Dragonite, who hadn't stopped chewing, felt the same: fighting personally was great fun, but eating while watching others duke it out had its own charm.
Lucas also secretly brought some food to Sandslash—after all, it had spent a lot of energy earlier and deserved to recover.
On the other side, after seeing the Elder home to the ancestral residence and dealing with most of the guests, Lance returned to the banquet.
He glanced around and quickly spotted Lucas and Dragonite.
After last night's events in Mt. Silver, Lance had tossed and turned, his mind full of the image of Lucas's Dragonite.
Don't misunderstand—he wasn't coveting Lucas's Dragonite. It was the unique aura Dragonite gave off when it stood against his Dragon Army yesterday that ignited Lance's fighting spirit. He wanted to face it head-on.
Even Lance's own Dragonite felt the same.
Unable to hold back any longer, as soon as Lance spotted them, he planned to invite Lucas to battle. After all, the Dragon Feast combined banqueting and battles; such a request was reasonable and hard to refuse.
Just as Lance took a big step toward Lucas under his cousin Clair's resentful stare, a wall of muscle blocked his path.
Standing over 1.9 meters, Drayden looked down at Lance, voice stern yet sincere. "Elite Four Lance, would you wrest—no, that's not appropriate."
"Would you have a dragon-type Pokémon battle with me?"
Lance froze, remembering the Dragon Elder's parting words.
"Lance, you're the face of our Dragon Clan. If anyone challenges you, you must accept—do not shy away. Even if it's Champion Cynthia of Sinnoh, Elite Four Drake of Hoenn, Elite Four Drasna of Kalos, or Champion-level trainer Lucas of Paldea—show the world our clan's strength."
The corner of Lance's mouth twitched. Catching many sidelong glances, he forced a smile that hid his bleeding heart. "Of course, Gym Leader Drayden."
Right then, Clair pulled a face at her foolish cousin and skipped off toward Lucas.
This made Lance see red, but he had to maintain composure. Under the gaze of many trainers, he and Drayden moved to a battlefield and each sent out their Pokémon.
Drayden used his mainstay: Haxorus.
Lance, naturally, used his iconic Dragonite.
As much as Lance wanted to flatten Haxorus quickly and go challenge Lucas, Drayden was the eighth Gym Leader of Unova—extremely strong. His years on the path of a trainer might even exceed Lance's age.
This battle would not be easily settled.
Meanwhile, known as the strongest below the Johto Elite Four—bold enough to challenge even them, with her only known loss being to Champion Lance—Clair went straight to Lucas.
She opened with her stance clearly stated.
"Mr. Lucas, have a Pokémon battle with me!"
Because Lucas told Clair she didn't have to be overly polite with him, she relaxed and returned to her usual brisk, valiant self.
Lucas paused mid-bite on his steak, chewed and swallowed slowly, then calmly dabbed the sauce from his mouth with a napkin. "Sure."
"Huh?"
Clair had prepared for a long negotiation, even considered provoking the Dragonite by Lucas's side—still head-down, annihilating cake—to stir its fighting spirit and get what she wanted.
Lucas's breezy "sure" caught her completely off guard.
Setting down his now-empty plate, Lucas looked at Clair and smiled. "But this time I won't send out Sandslash. It'll be Dragonite. Is that okay?"
Clair blinked, battle intent flaring. "I couldn't ask for more!"
Because the on-site battling fever was so high, Lucas and Clair had to wait a while for a free field.
As soon as they took their positions, many trainers noticed that the duelists were Blackthorn's Gym Leader Clair and Paldea's champion-level trainer Lucas.
Interesting—Lucas's earlier match with Iris had been him holding back, using the not-so-strong Sandslash.
This time, the Dragonite that defeated the Fire God would be battling. Some spectators who'd been drawn to Lance vs. Drayden reconsidered and moved over.
This included Iris, who'd been watching her teacher fight Lance. Compared to yet another of Drayden's gym-style battles she'd seen countless times—and was often dragged to—she was more curious about the Dragonite that had shown her the "storm."
Iris's movement drew Cynthia and Drasna over to Lucas and Clair's battlefield as well.
Seeing the two face off, Cynthia and Drasna perked up.
As Lance's cousin, they knew exactly how strong Clair was. It looked like they'd get to witness Lucas's true strength.
The referee was arranged by the Dragon Clan.
He lifted red and green flags, moved to the side of the field, and spoke in a deep voice. "Next is a Pokémon battle between Miss Clair of the Dragon Clan, host of this Dragon Feast, and Mr. Lucas, champion-level trainer from Paldea."
"The format is one-on-one singles. The first to render the opponent's Pokémon unable to battle wins."
Lucas confirmed the rules with the referee and called, "Come on out, Dragonite."
Dragonite, who'd been at Lucas's side, flapped its wings once and floated up into midair over the field.
Clair pulled out a Lure Ball, her smile fading as a serious look settled on her face.
"I'm counting on you—Kingdra!"
Scarlet light from the Lure Ball washed over the arena, and Kingdra appeared.
Its form resembled a seahorse with dragon horns; its blue scales shimmered under the lights. Despite the battlefield being land, Kingdra freely manipulated water energy to shroud itself in a mist, floating as if swimming through water.
The instant Kingdra entered, Dragonite's usually goofy, adorable expression changed.
It locked eyes on Kingdra, releasing its aura and pressure, as if there was some old grudge.
Kingdra's red pupils glared back, the water mist around it roiling, ready to become a vast maelstrom to swallow Dragonite.
Iris was baffled. Even if this was a battle, wasn't the tension rising a bit too fast?
Cynthia patted Iris's head gently and explained. "In the wild, Kingdra and Dragonite are like natural rivals."
Drasna added, "You can compare it to Seviper and Zangoose in Hoenn, though not quite as extreme. A Kingdra and Dragonite in the same team can still get along."
"I see!"
Iris nodded, looking adorably enlightened.
While Cynthia and Drasna explained, tension between Dragonite and Kingdra peaked. If not for waiting on their trainers' orders, they would have started brawling already.
"Whirlpool!"
Clair struck first. Kingdra, impatient already, roared and summoned boundless water energy, forming a mighty whirlpool that smashed toward the airborne Dragonite.
"Cut it. Air Slash!"
"Drago~!"
At Lucas's command, Dragonite looked at the oncoming vortex with disdain. Its wings swept rapidly, sending crescent-like blades of air pelting down like rain. In seconds, the maelstrom was sliced into a storm of spray.
Breaking Whirlpool so easily made Iris frown. If they were by a river or sea, Dragonite would never have cut down Kingdra's Whirlpool so easily.
"Rain Dance!"
Kingdra raised its head and roared. In an instant, dark clouds covered the sky. The watching trainers, well-prepared, pulled umbrellas from their coats and popped them open.
If you're here to watch battles that can change the weather, how could you not be ready for at least this?
Cynthia unfurled a black umbrella and tugged the unprepared, bewildered Iris under her canopy.
Beyond the umbrella, she had sunglasses, wind goggles, sand goggles, and a folding fan—ready for wind, rain, drought, or sandstorms alike.
As most opened their umbrellas, fat raindrops poured down like a waterfall, and in a blink, the battlefield became a world of rain.
The disturbance even spread to the other field. Lance, directing Dragonite in a close fight with Haxorus, glanced at his now-soaked uniform, showing a look of fraying patience.
For some reason, neither Lucas nor Dragonite tried to stop Kingdra's Rain Dance. The result: Kingdra's body glowed with a faint blue sheen, and in the rain its speed surged until it became a blur.
Cynthia was about to explain, but Iris blurted out first, "I know this one—Kingdra's ability is Swift Swim! Its speed doubles in the rain, right?"
Drasna was a bit surprised, smiling. "Little Iris really knows her dragon-types."
In the rain, Kingdra moved so fast ordinary eyes could barely track it. Clair didn't know why Lucas hadn't contested weather, but she knew Kingdra's next strike would be gorgeous.
"Hydro Pump!"
At her command, brilliant blue light gathered in Kingdra's long snout.
The next moment—
Kingdra aimed at Dragonite's soft belly, seemingly slow to react overhead, and blasted a Hydro Pump compressed to the extreme!
...
Bonus chapter at 100 PS