Chapter 318: Laplace and the Happy Dragon

"The primary condition for entering the Dragon's Den is to pass through the powerful whirlpool inside the entrance or break through the strong air currents; basically, it only tests a Trainer's strength."

Looking at the people who had already set off one after another, Cynthia analyzed thoughtfully.

Drayden also added his own opinion in a leisurely tone: "I've heard of the Dragon Clan's Dragon's Den; most of that area consists of caves and lake water, inhabited by Kingdra families, Dratini, Dragonair, and some Pokémon with intricate connections to dragons."

"But there are rumors that somewhere in the Dragon's Den there is a passage leading to the true core region of the Den, where it is spring all year round, ordinary Pokémon and many Dragon-type Pokémon live in harmony, just like a utopia~"

"A utopia!"

Iris, standing beside Cynthia, looked full of longing, already unable to wait to enter the Dragon's Den and meet her new partner.

The speaker meant nothing by it, but the listener took it to heart.

Information that was merely legend to Drayden confirmed one thing for Luo Mu.

In the anime, behind the passage deep within the Dragon's Den lies a place called the "Dragon Sanctuary," which in Luo Mu's view, very likely has something to do with the so-called hidden trial.

A moment later.

The many Trainers who were struggling forward against the gale alongside their Flying-type Pokémon within the chaotic air currents suddenly heard a voice.

Riding a Dragonite flying at a constant speed, Luo Mu's gaze swept over those Trainers searching for the entrance by going up into the sky and diving into the water in the middle of the lake, and he sighed slightly.

Without Luo Mu needing to say anything, Dragonite directly approached that rocky dragon mouth which seemed capable of devouring people, and sure enough, saw that the lake water below began to form large whirlpools at the entrance.

The environment inside the Dragon's Den is dim and extremely humid, with complex internal passages; without preparation, one could easily get lost inside.

That orange-yellow figure, wrapped in terrifying air currents, actually scattered the air currents within the cave directly; the crowd, stumbling and falling, only saw an orange-yellow figure break through in one breath the air current they had exerted great effort to traverse less than half of, and they fell completely silent.

Several people planned to act separately, and Luo Mu did not rashly do anything superfluous to draw legs on a snake, after all, whether it was Cynthia or Drayden, in terms of strength they were already at the peak among Trainers.

This Garchomp is truly very strong.

"However... at this level, it's not even enough to block Dragonite's force."

As a successor, isn't accomplishing such a thing only natural?

In the dark corner of the cave, the Flying-type Pokémon secretly creating the air currents froze, and immediately looked at each other in blank dismay.

"Bo-woo..."

The power of the whirlpool was extremely strong; in the darkness, many Trainers who had set off first and luckily found the entrance were resisting the whirlpool's suction force alongside their Pokémon.

Actually, the entrance to the Dragon's Den is not difficult to find.

As the voice faded, Luo Mu lightly patted Dragonite; Dragonite merely fluttered its wings gently, and its body was pushed forward by a powerful force, flying a great distance.

Without a strong physique and absolute control over the gale, it would be absolutely impossible to achieve this level.

Seeing fewer and fewer people remaining, the few of them also planned to set off toward the wide lake behind to search for the entrance to the Dragon's Den.

But Luo Mu knew clearly how to find the entrance to the Dragon Sanctuary.

What thing just darted past?

Their momentary stupor caused the intensity of the air currents echoing at the entrance of the Dragon's Den to decrease significantly; by the time the Pokémon reacted, some cunning Trainers had already seized the opportunity to break through the area covered by the air currents in one go.

The entrance is usually not at the bottom of the lake, where only aquatic Pokémon can reach, making it impossible for air currents blocking Flying-type Pokémon to exist; but the entrance is also not in the center of the lake, where there is nothing at all.

"Since there are no Pokémon capable of learning Extreme Speed, then we will catch a member of the Dratini line within the Dragon's Den."

Those air currents should be created by certain Flying-type Pokémon arranged by the Dragon Clan, after all, many Flying-type Pokémon have intricate connections with Dragon-type Pokémon.

Under the surprised gazes of the surrounding Trainers, although lacking the shock brought by that fleeting orange-yellow figure from before, the sight of Zinnia and Salamence walking leisurely forward through the air currents was also quite impressive.

The gazes from around were something Zinnia had long grown accustomed to; the only thing she didn't understand was why those people were looking at her with eyes full of worship.

At Luo Mu's request, Dragonite flew at a constant speed around the edge of the lake for one circle and soon discovered the entrance to the Dragon's Den.

In Luo Mu's view, logically speaking, the geographical environment here should not be sufficient to form a whirlpool; connecting this with the power of Clair's ace Kingdra, which can cause huge whirlpools in lakes and seas, Luo Mu roughly guessed the answer.

That was the sharp whistle of the wind!

Then repeat this step, increasing the flapping speed of the dragon wings to raise the flight speed.

"Then pass the hidden trial to become stronger, find Rayquaza, and complete her..."

Luo Mu and Dragonite both gave an extremely high evaluation.

Swish—

Dragonite also frowned, staring at the whirlpool below, as if there was some aura deep within that made Dragonite uncomfortable.

Looking at that uniquely shaped entrance, infinitely deep inside, Luo Mu sighed with emotion: "It's just like a wide-open mouth; even the upper and lower sharp teeth are so vivid."

Massive air currents rushed from far to near, descending into the huge, dim, and humid cave before the crowd and Pokémon could even react.

Before leaving, Luo Mu took a moment to look at Cynthia's Garchomp; although it hadn't released any aura, every move displayed its powerful foundation, and its smooth takeoff motion demonstrated how strong Garchomp's control over its own body was.

At this moment, Zinnia, riding Salamencer, also found the entrance to the Dragon's Den; looking at the violent air currents before her, she merely said lightly, "Salamence, go straight in."

Drayden rode his Noivern, while Cynthia used Garchomp to carry Iris as they entered the Dragon's Den together, after all, Iris's Excadrill and Axew clearly could not carry her to move across the lake.

The next instant.

Only areas near land, with large amounts of soil and rock, can accommodate a Dragon's Den that is like a cave.

Dragonite's reaction further confirmed Luo Mu's guess; after all, there is a certain distance between the sky and the water bottom, so the Kingdra family and Dragonite shouldn't end up fighting; better to break through the chaotic air currents ahead in one go.

Thinking of this, Zinnia lowered her eyes, her fan-like eyelashes trembling slightly: "It's still not enough; to be excellent enough to be acknowledged by Lord Little Little Dandan, I need even stronger power."

The Flying-type Pokémon immediately felt something was wrong; if they let too many people pass at once, they would definitely have their dinner deducted when they returned!

Anything but that!

The Flying-type Pokémon flapped their wings even harder, and air currents much stronger than before swept across the area again, blowing until many Trainers complained bitterly, with some even choosing to withdraw from here and switch to the water route.

In the anime, after Team Rocket stole the Dragon Fang from the Blackthorn Gym, they directly boarded a speedboat by the lake and entered the Dragon's Den in one go.

After advancing for a while within the Dragon's Den, Team Rocket accidentally fell into a certain huge waterfall, and the place connected to that waterfall was precisely the location of the Dragon Sanctuary.

Therefore, the key point to finding the Dragon Sanctuary is the waterfall!

While maintaining constant-speed flight, Dragonite concentrated most of its attention on its ears, amplifying its hearing to search for the intense flowing sound of the waterfall rushing over rocks.

This was not a simple task; the Dragon's Den was much wider than Luo Mu had imagined; having already entered the Dragon's Den for an hour, he still felt that he and Dragonite hadn't even completed half of it.

However, Luo Mu did spot quite a few wild Pokémon living inside the Dragon's Den.

Like a Mini Dragon in its initial form, its big eyes, inherited from the Dragonite lineage, were incredibly cute. There was also a Mareep-like Inkay being carried by a Seadra. The little one looked very adorable too. It seemed that because it had not evolved into a Kingdra, Dragonite felt nothing toward the pure Water-type Inkay and Seadra, at most disliking their appearance, which bore some resemblance to that of a Kingdra.

But what surprised Luo Mu the most was near a deep-water area in the Dragon Cave, where he witnessed a small group composed of multiple Lapras.

Lapras, this kind of Pokémon, generally live in the ocean and operate in groups. Seeing Lapras in this Dragon Cave near an inland lake in Mahogany Town made Luo Mu suspect whether there was a hidden passage leading to the outside sea within the deep-water area where the Lapras resided.

Overcome with desire, Luo Mu temporarily stopped his steps, had Dragonite lower its flight altitude, and began interacting with this rare group of sea spirits.

This Lapras group currently appeared to consist of six adult male Lapras and two female Lapras, among which was a small Lapras, well-protected by the two females, looking curiously at Luo Mu and Dragonite.

"Little one, want something to eat?"

Luo Mu made no attempt to hide his desire to lure the small Lapras over with food and then have it let him pet it.

Lapras are intelligent and kind-hearted Pokémon. At least, this Lapras group Luo Mu encountered did not show much wariness toward humans, perhaps because they were almost isolated from the world and did not communicate with humans.

When Luo Mu and Dragonite approached, they did not show any stress reactions or take any extreme actions; they merely instinctively protected the small Lapras.

Attracted by the berries Luo Mu took out, the small Lapras, surrounded by the group, looked at its parents with longing eyes.

The two female Lapras were also somewhat helpless. They usually did not go up to land specifically, at most resting on the edges of small islands, which meant they almost had no chance to eat berries.

Not to mention the berries Luo Mu brought out now were top-grade, with both taste and effects doubled due to the ripening of the Chewtle. In the face of such fresh fruit fragrance, it would be strange if the small Lapras could hold back.

Finally, the two female Lapras could not resist the request of the only offspring in the group, allowing the small Lapras to approach Luo Mu and Dragonite and happily eat the berries from Luo Mu's palm.

Seizing this opportunity, Luo Mu was finally able to pet a Lapras.

Whether it was because the small Lapras was still young or because this tribe was naturally this way, its exposed skin felt strangely moist to the touch, making Luo Mu feel it was slippery.

And the gray shell on the small Lapras's back felt like the shell of a lobster that had just molted; it had a soft sensation, yet one could clearly know it was a hard shell.

It was obviously not fully developed, let alone capable of carrying people like an adult Lapras.

Satisfied, Luo Mu was in high spirits and directly distributed many berries to each Lapras. Taking advantage of the fact that the Lapras's wariness was almost zero, Luo Mu tried the texture of the other few Lapras one by one. Overall, the female Lapras felt smoother to the touch, and even the hard shell on their backs was well-groomed.

On the contrary, the male Lapras, perhaps due to fighting with other wild Pokémon, occasionally had some scars on their bodies. Their hard shells on their backs were harder and also had many scratches.

However, none of the eight adult Lapras gave Luo Mu the same texture as the small Lapras, which reminded him of the three abilities of Lapras—

"Water Absorb," "Shell Armor," and "Riptide."

The texture of the small Lapras, different from other Lapras, might be the effect brought by the hidden ability "Riptide."

Just as Luo Mu's own Dragonite, due to the ability "Multiscale," had dragon scales that were denser and stronger than those of its kin, and could also reduce more resistance generated during flight.

In this real world, different abilities were not just manifested as a string of black text effects on game statistics; more were reflected on the Pokémon themselves.

Incineroar with the "Intimidate" ability, which was more ferocious than its kin; Passimian, which possessed a strong sense for dropped items and an obsession with picking them up and taking them home; and so on.

Having bonded with the Lapras through the food lure method, Luo Mu also tested the riding comfort of Lapras. Although the hard shell on Lapras's back appeared to have many protrusions that could easily turn into a "thousand-year kill" scene if one wasn't careful.

In reality, the back of a Lapras was terrifyingly wide, and those protrusions were meant for people to hold onto. Although it was a hard shell, sitting on it was not actually very uncomfortable. Although the riding experience was not as good as Dragonite, adding a riding seat should make it more comfortable.

Before bidding farewell to the Lapras group, whose wariness had been completely thrown to the winds, Luo Mu specifically reminded these intelligent and gentle water spirits that they should maintain wariness when meeting humans later, after all, not everyone was like him, offering many berries just to pet a Lapras.

Most were poachers who craved the bodies of Lapras or wanted to wipe out their entire group in one net.

After all, in the seas near Kanto's Ducheng, Lapras, this kind of Pokémon, was very rare, completely unlike the Alola region where they were so well-protected that they were flooding everywhere.

Seeing that the intelligent Lapras leader understood his meaning, Luo Mu smiled, bid them farewell, and continued riding Dragonite firmly in a certain direction toward the depths of the Dragon Cave.

Actually, during the time he interacted with the Lapras, he had not wasted time. In situations where distances were often vast, Lapras, this kind of Pokémon, would communicate and reconnect through songs over the sea, regrouping together.

It was also for this reason that the Lapras's hearing was outstanding; the two spiral structures on their heads, resembling buns, were used to amplify hearing.

Besides being able to hear sound waves humans cannot hear, for the violent surging water of a waterfall, the Lapras heard it without much effort.

At this moment, Luo Mu and Dragonite were constantly advancing toward the direction of the "sound of the waterfall" indicated by the Lapras.

This was a straight passage, basically without situations requiring a choice between two, three, or even multiple paths. About half an hour later, Luo Mu heard the sound of the waterfall violently washing over rocks.

"Bop-wu!"

The opportunity to become stronger was getting closer and closer; even Dragonite could not hide its excitement, flying over the rushing waterfall in one breath.

In an instant, Luo Mu and Dragonite's vision was immediately filled with clear sunlight, and below, on the vibrant vegetation and flower fields, Pokémon not of the Dragon type, such as Jumpluff and Butterfree, flew leisurely.

In the slightly farther distance, one could see young Pokémon like Swablu, Gible, and Goomy playing and frolicking.

Probably, these Pokémon were collected by the Dragon Clan from other regions through their own energy and raised by themselves.

Luo Mu's gaze quickly locked onto the most powerful and largest figure in this Dragon Sanctuary—

That was also a Dragonite.

That Dragonite was several sizes larger than his own Dragonite. Although not as huge as the giant Dragonite at the Goldenrod Lighthouse, it could be counted as a giant among Dragonites.

Let's call it Big Dragonite.

But when Luo Mu's gaze moved to a Pokémon with blood-red wings parked beside Big Dragonite, and to the slightly familiar figure on the Pokémon, his face showed a look of surprise.

Cynthia had actually arrived before him?

In the instant Luo Mu and Dragonite burst out of the waterfall, Cynthia, Salamence, and even Big Dragonite noticed their arrival. That Big Dragonite, which had a very good temper and could compare to Luo Mu's own Dragonite in its simplicity, tilted its head, as if somewhat puzzled that there were guests visiting today.

But Cynthia, who was asking Big Dragonite about the trial content, slightly clenched her hands hidden under her gray cloak. The person who came was actually him!

Luo Mu, the Champion-level trainer from the Paldea region, the powerful trainer who subdued the God of Fire. Even Cynthia, as the Successor, had to admit his great achievements.

But this did not mean she would hand over her opportunity to become stronger to him. She would continue to grow stronger before the time of the prophecy arrived!

After Luo Mu and Dragonite landed on the flower field where Big Dragonite was, Cynthia, having sorted out her emotions, wore a smile with no hostility on her face. Looking at Luo Mu who had flipped off Dragonite, she spoke: "I have long heard of your name, Champion Luo Mu."

"Just call me Luo Mu; there is no need to add the word 'Champion.' I have already retired." Luo Mu blinked, feeling that he saw some deeply hidden hostility in Cynthia's smile. No, perhaps "fighting spirit" was a more appropriate description. "You are... the Successor of the People of the Meteor, Cynthia, right?"

Luo Mu remembered this young girl's identity as the Successor; it seemed reasonable for her to reveal this fighting spirit.

"Then please allow me to address you as Mr. Luo Mu. May I ask if Mr. Luo Mu is also here for the hidden trial?" Cynthia nodded slightly. When her gaze lingered on the Dragonite behind Luo Mu, she slightly closed her eyes, then opened them and said: "No, it seems I just said something irrelevant and useless."

(End of this chapter)