Chapter 671: The Island of the Dragonites

Time rewinds to shortly after Groudon and Kyogre departed.

Luo Mu was asking the Politoed he had quietly placed in the safe zone to watch the battle whether it had gleaned any inspiration from the torrential rain summoned by Kyogre.

After he finished communicating with the Politoed.

Lugia, having dispelled its Stellar Form, sighed that this miraculous power actually worked on itself as well, then somewhat hurriedly proposed that it, the giant Dragonite, and the giant Tentacruel should depart first.

Inherently, they disliked contact with humans; the giant Dragonite was one thing, but both the giant Tentacruel and Lugia had suffered persecution at human hands and truly did not wish to have much involvement with any humans other than Luo Mu.

Lugia did hold a favorable impression of the "Commander" who had been its partner at the time, namely Ash, but since the latter had not participated in the core of this battle, there was no need for Lugia to wait here specifically.

Without Lugia's assistance, the team Luo Mu brought himself would indeed have struggled to handle Kyogre out at sea.

At sea, Luxray's proud close-combat attacks were almost entirely ineffective, leaving it able to rely only on discharging electricity.

—Because it had no footing.

As for Mega Swampert, if it wished to deal with Kyogre, whose type compatibility neither hindered nor benefited Swampert, and achieve what the giant Dragonite accomplished.

It would likely require considerable effort.

Given that Lugia had voluntarily exerted itself, why would Luo Mu make things difficult for it?

He also clearly understood the reasons why Lugia and the others were unwilling to contact humans, so he did not obstruct them, merely agreeing to meet them again in a specific sea area after he finished handling the aftermath of matters.

It was also at that time that the giant Dragonite, via Lugia's telepathy, left an invitation for their next meeting: it would take Luo Mu to an island.

Time returns to the present.

"So, just what is that island—?"

After Moltres landed on a small sea island, Luo Mu, now with solid ground beneath his feet, posed this question to the giant Dragonite, which floated on the sea surface showing only its large head.

Lugia, responsible for real-time translation, constructed the bridge of telepathy.

—One could only say that in this Pokémon world, Psychic-type Pokémon played an immensely significant role.

"Aowu~" The giant Dragonite shook the antenna atop its head; not understanding what it meant to "keep someone in suspense," it directly spilled all of Ji De Xiang Fa.

It wanted to take Luo Mu to an island where many Pokémon like itself, but much, much smaller in size, dwelled!

Namely, the Island of the Dragonites!

On the afternoon island, coconut trees unique to the Hoenn nearby seas in tropical regions grew at bizarre angles, and the coconons hanging from them were the favorite food of a certain "King" who appeared foolish but was actually wise.

Beneath the coconut trees, Luo Mu was on a call with the farm's landline.

"Yes, just have the Dragonite come over; following Lugia's aura, it will be able to find us."

Hearing the slightly static-filled "Yare Yotta" coming from the receiver, Luo Mu figured Oranguru must have understood his meaning, spoke a few more words, and then hung up the phone.

Although Psychic-type Pokémon and certain individual Pokémon's "telepathy" were very useful, needless to say, they could not conduct barrier-free communication via telephone, which counted as a minor flaw.

It was only when Oranguru had its tablet with it that it could speak by typing and then playing the audio.

Luo Mu had just put down his mobile phone when Lugia drifted over, "Finished talking?"

"Mm, at the Dragonite's flight speed, it will arrive within half a day at the latest." Luo Mu nodded, simultaneously restraining the impulse to stroke Lugia's feathers with his wandering hand.

During the ride earlier, he had taken the opportunity to pet it enough; touching it again now would be somewhat Tang Tu.

Lugia raised its head to gaze into the distance, its magnetic male voice transmitting into Luo Mu's mind, "This time upon returning, I think I will sleep for a period."

Since it had already ascertained that the anomaly in Kyogre's aura originated from humans, Lugia no longer had a reason to remain active.

For it, staying in the deepest depths of the seabed, sleeping while drifting with the ocean currents, was its normal state of life.

The reason it remained here now was merely to use its own aura as a beacon to guide the Dragonite's direction.

Glancing at Luo Mu's profile, which did not seem sorrowful, Lugia did not mention that if Luo Mu did not summon it via the Silver Wing in the future, it would likely sleep straight through for several hundred years.

For Lugia, it had long grown accustomed to partings, and at the same time, did not wish to make partings sorrowful.

It was just that Luo Mu did not know what Lugia was thinking; otherwise, he would surely have smiled and said that in about another year, it would have to be dragged out to battle Hoopa, and ultimately miss its attack.

It was even possible that the Kyogre awakened by Manaphy after some time might not be the original one.

Perhaps believing they would find it difficult to meet again, Lugia, after pondering for a few seconds, spoke via telepathy: "If the Dragonite's progress in mastering air currents is going well, why not take this opportunity to let it learn 'Aeroblast'?"

Just as Ho-Oh could enable Entei to learn Sacred Fire, as long as the Dragonite met the conditions, Lugia was not unable to enable it to learn 'Aeroblast'.

The seeds of the conditions had been sown back on Asertia Island; more than half a year had passed since then, and Lugia was unclear about the Dragonite's training progress.

But judging solely by Moltres's growth rate, perhaps it wasn't bad?

"... Are you serious?"

Luo Mu did not display the surprise Lugia had imagined, but instead looked at Lugia with confusion.

Wasn't it Lugia itself who had said that as the Dragonite improved, sooner or later it would master 'Aeroblast'?

Why change its mind today?

And even plan to teach it personally.

"Rest assured, it won't take much time."

Misinterpreting the situation, Lugia lifted one wing, as if waving its hand.

"What I'm worried about isn't that... never mind."

Although he didn't understand what Lugia was up to, and despite having established a flag just a few days ago claiming he didn't need legendary Pokémon exclusive moves.

Since Lugia had already fed the rice to his mouth, Luo Mu was not so ungrateful as to reject its kindness.

Although 'Aeroblast's' power in the game was inferior to 'Hurricane', from that single 'Aeroblast' Lugia used to defeat Groudon, one could already discern some clues.

At the very least, in reality, 'Aeroblast' was unequivocally a Flying-type ultimate move, a trump card for deciding victory.

Once this move was learned, stacking it with 'Extreme Speed' and Terastallization similar to before, it was not impossible for the Dragonite's comprehensive strength to catch up with Luxray and Swampert.

After chatting briefly with Lugia a few more times, Luo Mu ran off to one side to interact with the Pokémon scattered across the island's beach.

Politoed, Comfey, Victini, and Terapagos, these four, were currently sitting in a row, wearing expressions of worship and longing, listening as the "senior veteran" Delibird bragged about its magnificent travel experiences.

"Deli~ Deli!"

(In that romantic city coexisting with water, there exists a little-known legend of siblings; a pair of sister thief Pokémon have targeted them and are attempting to capture them~

A Pokémon disguised as a human girl was saved by a traveling boy, giving rise to a story between them tinged with a hint of romance.

But good times do not last; the Pokémon's older brother was captured, the precious Heart of the Sea was stolen, and the entire Water City fell into a crisis of being submerged by an impending tsunami.

At this moment, this bird and a group of companions met at sea stepped forward, gathering the strength of the multitude to halt the tsunami's advance!)

At this moment, the Delibird puffed out its chest just like a proud Piplup, its face brimming with an expression of self-satisfaction.

Victini and Terapagos, the two inexperienced ones, clapped their hands and forelimbs with excited faces.

Politoed, considered an "old Pokémon" that entered the farm around the same time as Delibird, merely wore a cheerful smile, clapping its hands rhythmically to provide background music for Delibird's "epic and magnificent story."

Comfey smiled while weaving flower crowns, placing them on Victini and Terapagos, who were immersed in the story.

Suddenly, Delibird's proud expression vanished rapidly, a trace of silence and sorrow floating onto its face.

"De-li—"

(But the obstruction was only temporary; the power of the Heart of the Sea, polluted by greedy people, was too immense. The frozen ice layers shattered, and the freed older brother exerted all his strength to stop the tsunami's advance, even willing to offer up his own life for this—)

"Gos."

"Vi-mi."

The two little ones immediately hung their heads, somewhat afraid to listen further.

Fortunately, the story's ending could be considered satisfactory.

In Delibird's narration, the older brother of the Water City burned his life to block the tsunami, but perhaps because of his summons, the united strength of the wild Pokémon indeed slowed the tsunami's power.

The older brother ultimately survived and, with the help of arriving kin, finally reunited with his younger sister.

Luo Mu did not know what they were talking about; after all, he possessed neither the Aura ability to communicate telepathically with Pokémon, nor the special ability of the Special Chapter known as the Viridian Force, which was said to allow one to understand Pokémon language and communicate with them.

He was merely a small fry whom three Psychic-type Legendary Pokémon—Lei Guan Wang, Lugia, and Mewtwo—had determined to have no talent for psychic abilities.

Waiting until the moods of the several Pokémon had calmed down, he then walked over.

"De-li?"

Delibird raised its wing, happily greeting Luo Mu.

Politoed and the others also gathered around Luo Mu.

Ignoring the scorching heat of the sand, Luo Mu squatted down and sat directly, turning his head to ask Delibird: "Next, are there any places in the Hoenn region you still want to explore?"

Delibird froze for a moment, thinking very seriously.

In reality, it had already flown over most places in the Hoenn region and made many Pokémon friends living there.

Speaking of where else to go, it seemed there was nowhere left—

Thinking of this, Delibird honestly shook its head.

"Then let's return to the farm to rest for a while first; the next destination, the Sinnoh region, has quite a few environments very suitable for you."

"Setting off again after resting well is not a bad choice; moreover, hasn't it been a long time since you went home?"

Stroking Delibird's fluffy head, Luo Mu suggested with a smile.

Go home...

Delibird inexplicably felt a sourness in the corners of its eyes; although it hadn't stayed at the farm for long before departing to temper itself through travel.

But one thing alone was true.

In the farm, it had experienced a sense of belonging no less than that brought by the clan it once led.

Even more, because there were many powerful family members ahead shielding it from wind and rain, Delibird, which had once shielded its clan from wind and rain, also experienced something called a "sense of security."

"De-li!"

Delibird hesitated no longer, flapping its small wings to pounce onto Luo Mu.

After traveling for so long, it was indeed time to go home!

Dragonite did not make Luo Mu wait too long.

Shortly after sunset, it followed Lugia's aura and the conspicuous guidance of Luxray's released "Flash," landing on this nameless small island.

Having not seen each other for nearly half a month, the first action this fellow took upon landing was to tightly hug Luo Mu into its embrace, expressing its longing through this method.

Although Luo Mu often made video calls to the farm usually, communicating through a screen and actually being together were two completely different matters.

No matter how strong Dragonite was, it was still just a baby a little over one year old; coaxing it well cost Luo Mu quite a bit of effort.

Thinking that upon returning to the farm, a huge pile of Pokémon would still be waiting for him, Luo Mu could only sigh helplessly.

—Truly a sweet trouble.

Dragonite had already met the Huge Dragonite, so no further introduction was needed.

Hearing Luo Mu say that the Huge Dragonite would take them to an island of Dragonites, Dragonite's eyes instantly lit up.

Seeing its expectant appearance, Luo Mu only then realized—come to think of it, Dragonite had indeed rarely seen its own kind.

Even the Dragonites it had seen were basically countable on one's fingers, and those it had battled against were pitifully few.

Its mother whom it had never met before, its three Hakama godmothers, Lance's Dragonite, the large Dragonite of the Dragon Holy Land, and the Huge Dragonite in the sea.

Basically, that was all.

—Indeed, the choice to specifically call it over so that Dragonite could see a Dragonite of its own kind was not wrong.

Luo Mu did not set out under the cover of night but chose to camp on this small island for one night, departing tomorrow morning.

Taking this opportunity, Lugia pulled Dragonite aside and began its teaching session lasting an entire night.

Although this time it was not teaching Dragonite the technique of mastering air currents through actual combat, for Dragonite, it was instead more torturous than that time.

—Compared to its kind attitude, Lugia's standards were simply high enough to scare a dragon to death.

Hearing the sound of strong winds blowing past outside the tent from time to time, Luo Mu could only silently mourn for Dragonite for a few seconds.

Tomorrow during the day, he would let it rest inside its Poké Ball and, while at it, have Comfey give it a massage.

The Huge Dragonite's size was too large; regarding travel speed, Moltres could keep up.

Thinking of this, Luo Mu, having hypnotized himself into not caring about it, peacefully closed his eyes.

Before his consciousness sank into sleep, a final thought surfaced in his mind.

—I wonder, is the Dragonite Island that the giant Dragonite wants to take me to the one I already know?

Or is it another habitat for Dragonites?

(End of Chapter)