Thinking of this, Dragonite resolutely shook its head.
It wanted to stay! Live together with Naoki!
But before that, Dragonite hoped Naoki could accompany it to Dragonite Island.
It wanted to show off the moves it had learned in front of the other Dragonite and tell them it had become the most powerful Dragonite in the group, making them envious!
Dragonite looked serious, tugging at Naoki's arm with its chubby paw.
"Rawr!"
"What's wrong?"
Naoki didn't react immediately. It took him a while to realize that Dragonite seemed to want to take him somewhere.
But unfortunately, Dragonite couldn't speak, and the two of them couldn't communicate normally.
After a long time of rawr-ing, seeing that Naoki still didn't understand, Dragonite drooped its head, looking disheartened and aggrieved.
It looked very pitiful in this state.
Naoki's heart was moved. He reached out to pat Dragonite's head, recalling Dragonite's recent actions, and guessed in his mind:
"You want me to go somewhere with you?"
Hearing this, Dragonite's eyes instantly lit up.
"Rawr!"
The place Dragonite wanted to take him...
Intuition told Naoki it couldn't be Casseroya Lake, nor the cliff where they first met.
Plus, from what he saw in Yousuke's picture book about Dragonite's ecological habits—flying from the sea to Casseroya Lake every evening, staying the night, and returning to the sea at dawn.
This meant the place Dragonite wanted to take him to was likely the Dragonite Island in the sea, home to many Dragonite.
While thinking about it, Naoki asked, "Is it far from the ranch?"
There were things to do at the ranch every day, and he couldn't leave for too long.
"Rawr!"
Dragonite shook its head; at its speed, they'd get there quickly.
Seeing this, Naoki agreed: "Alright."
Upon seeing Naoki agree, Dragonite immediately cheered and indicated they could set off now.
Naoki looked up at the sky.
Seeing it was still early, Naoki reckoned he could be back before dark.
But to avoid any mid-way accidents, he prepared food for the Pokemon at the ranch in advance.
He told them he would be going out with Dragonite, and if he returned too late, they shouldn't wait up for him to rest first.
None of the Pokemon had any objections, except for Koraidon, who wanted to come along.
With no choice, Naoki took it with him.
After handling affairs at the ranch, Naoki rode on Koraidon, leaving the ranch under Dragonite's lead, setting off towards the island of Dragonite.
The two Pokemon gradually ascended, the ranch below becoming a small black dot, eventually disappearing into the vast Paldea Region meadow.
The wind blew past their ears, the sky above was a clear blue, and in the distance, Paldea Sea stretched endlessly.
The speed of the two Pokemon was not slow. After about a dozen minutes, they left Paldea's borders, reaching above the ocean.
Looking at this familiar place, Dragonite happily said to Naoki: "Rawr~"
It mimicked the powerful and magnificent mysterious Pokemon with intense dance movements.
Seeing its actions, Naoki suddenly realized, "Did you meet that black Pokemon here?"
Dragonite nodded repeatedly: "Rawr!"
It looked up towards the higher dome, indicating that the Pokemon flew higher and disappeared above the clouds.
"Rayquaza normally lives in the atmosphere." Naoki looked up at the sky, and higher, to the mysterious cosmos, and said to Dragonite with emotion, "It's rare for it to come down here, so you were lucky to encounter it."
He regretfully added, "I wish I had come with you back then..."
After all, it was a shiny Rayquaza!
Seeing it even once would make his journey to this world worthwhile.
Most people rarely, if ever, see Legendary Pokemon in their lifetime.
Seeing Naoki constantly obsessed, Dragonite couldn't help but look upwards: "Rawr?" Should we try to find it there?
Naoki understood what Dragonite meant and shook his head: "Better not."
For Rayquaza, the whole planet's atmosphere was its domain. It was in Paldea before, and there's no telling where it has flown to now; it might even be on the other side of the planet.
Gradually, the Paldea region behind them also disappeared. Looking around, all that met the eye was endless azure ocean.
The sea occasionally raised white waves, with Wattrel skimming over, preying on the schools of fish beneath.
Occasionally, a small island of white sand appeared, with a few coconut trees growing wildly, some Wigletts poking their heads from the beach, enjoying the afternoon sun.
Now and then, Finizen would leap high out of the water, chasing and playing with their companions.
In mid-air, Naoki looked down at the vibrant scene, unable to help but exclaim:
"These are Pokemon rarely seen on land!"
But this also proved they were already far from the Paldea region.
As time ticked away, just when Naoki no longer remembered how long he'd left the ranch, a small island suddenly appeared on the horizon.