Chapter 672: Flash Dragonite!

January 29th, 8:00 AM.

Luo Mu, who had slept straight through until now, felt absolutely no empathy for the Dragonite that had endured a night of torment akin to wading through water and fire.

Instead, aided by raindrops that had begun falling from the outside at some unknown time, he had slept very soundly.

With only two days left until the end of January, Luo Mu planned to finish viewing that Dragonite Island with the giant Dragonite today, then set out to return to the farm.

He would immediately redecorate everything, as Grandma Ju Zi Academy, which had been chaotically changed from Grape Academy and then back again, was about to start its new term.

Although Hearing Hearing Nimo, Shizuka, and Shinji had all applied for extracurricular treasure hunting and did not need to rush back specifically for the start of school.

Peony, Paipa, and the others were long accustomed to sparring amongst themselves, only calling Luo Mu when they encountered something they did not understand.

But Luo Mu still had to rush back.

This had nothing to do with whether Ume could grant him leave; it was simply that after experiencing this period of time, the formalities on the Blueberry Academy side in Unova were completed, and both Danyu and Wuli would be coming to attend school at Grandma Ju Zi Academy.

—This was information Principal Clavell had sent to Luo Mu in advance; as for the other long string of passages praising his deeds in the Hoenn region, those could be skipped.

These two had been personally talked into coming by Luo Mu himself, and they would most likely be assigned under his own command to receive instruction, so he absolutely had to show his face.

"Although I acted as the great firefighter twice, I also got to experience the characteristic scenery of Hoenn, so it's not really a loss."

Letting out a sigh and tidying himself up, Luo Mu walked straight out onto the beach.

At this moment, Lugia was folding its wings, watching as the Comfey, exhausted to the point of collapsing on the ground and refusing to move, administered a double massage service of "Flower Healing" plus "Aromatherapy" to the Dragonite, alleviating its fatigue.

Smelling that pleasant floral scent, Lugia's mood was also quite good.

—Perhaps this was also related to the fact that the Dragonite could barely be considered to have inherited its mantle.

Noticing Luo Mu approaching, it lifted its head to look.

"Awake?"

"Awake."

Luo Mu nodded, while glancing at Lugia, which showed not a trace of sleepiness, silently marveling in his heart.

As expected of a Legendary Pokémon capable of sleeping for dozens or even hundreds of years at a stretch, one that could sleep until the end of time if no one woke it; a single night of training posed absolutely no difficulty.

In contrast, the Dragonite had physically collapsed from exhaustion.

Lugia raised a wing as if raising a hand. "It barely met the conditions; under my tutelage, it finally managed to release a barely passable 'Twister' just before dawn."

As if proud of its teaching achievements, a hint of pride and smugness appeared even on Lugia's steady face.

"."

Luo Mu's eyelids twitched; he was speechless.

Yet his heart could not help but surge with turbulent emotions for a moment.

Just that simple?

No trials, no scene of a Pokémon and a Legendary Pokémon parting ways after cultivation?

—While I merely slept for a while, the Dragonite just smoothly learned 'Twister,' this Flying-type ultimate move exclusive to Lugia?

This truly was a pie falling from the sky... just kidding; everything was thanks to the Dragonite's daily self-discipline and accumulation, as well as my, Luo Mu's, excellent teaching!

Looking at Luo Mu, who had suddenly started smiling foolishly, not only Lugia but even the Dragonite, whose entire body ached without a single pain-free spot, popped several question marks above its head.

Moments of parting always arrive suddenly.

Since the direction the giant Dragonite intended to travel was completely opposite to the sea area of the Orange Islands where Lugia needed to return.

After their brief side-by-side battle and having taught the Dragonite 'Twister' without charge, Lugia also completed its farewells with Luo Mu and the others.

Watching the figure leap into the sea, Luo Mu still did not understand the reason behind the slightly complex emotion in Lugia's gaze as it departed.

Was it reluctant to part?

Since he really could not figure it out, Luo Mu did not dwell on it excessively.

If there was a chance in the future, they would surely meet again.

Quickly organizing his emotions, Luo Mu packed up the tent he had built on higher ground along with the camping equipment, then took stock of the number of Pokémon.

—Hmm, everything was correct!

The Dragonite needed time to recover, so Luo Mu had it rest inside its Poké Ball, continuing to travel riding Moltres.

Before departing, he specifically took another look at the two 'actual gains' from this trip to the Hoenn region.

The Pokémon egg entrusted by the old lady in Lavaridge Town was in normal condition, and the mysterious crystal packed in a box showed no difference from when it was first obtained.

With everything ready, Luo Mu flipped onto Moltres's back.

From the satchel across his chest, Terapagos poked out its little head.

The Delibird, accustomed to staying outside, sat in front of Luo Mu.

Victini clung to Luo Mu's shoulder.

Moltres looked somewhat helplessly at the three little guys on its back who were adding to its burden, then as if resigning itself to fate, flapped its wings burning with bright flames, keeping pace with the two large figures ahead in the sea that were looking back.

The fog, whose principle was unknown, followed the giant Dragonite like a shadow; yet thanks to this very fog, their movement proceeded quite smoothly.

On Moltres's back, Luo Mu confirmed their direction using a compass, his expression somewhat strange.

Going in this direction... it didn't look like they were heading toward the sea area of the Kanto region.

From known journeys, when Ash and a certain unspeakable character encountered disaster, they departed from Vermilion City to conduct an investigation, then encountered a shipwreck, and were finally picked up by a passing Dragonite and taken back to Dragonite Island.

Therefore, the location of Dragonite Island should be somewhere within the Kanto region's sea area, at most not exceeding the scope of the neighboring Johto region's sea area.

But the direction the giant Dragonite was leading them in the front was not toward that side.

Instead, it was approaching the Paldea region, or perhaps the Galar region?

"."

Luo Mu rubbed his eyes, looked forward, and parted his lips slightly.

—In other words, the 'island where Dragonites dwell' that the giant Dragonite wanted to take me to would most likely be a different island?

This made things slightly more anticipated!

As they moved forward, gradually, the islands faintly emerging from the thick fog became fewer and fewer, crossing several seas whose names he could not recall.

Changes appeared in both the appearance of the plants on the occasionally occurring islands and the species of the most common aquatic and flying Pokémon at sea.

Amidst the ebbing and flowing tides, along the shores of small islands covered in fine white sand, Mareanie and Toxapex would occasionally appear, lingering at the islands' edges.

Although schools of roaming Wishiwash could occasionally be seen, along with timid Burmys hiding within the white sand of the small islands.

Due to the absence of Pyukumuku, the climate had already departed from the tropical zone.

It could be confirmed that this was not the sea area near the Alola region.

"As expected, this is the sea area near Galar; it converges with the Kalos sea area, and beyond these two seas lies the sea area belonging to Paldea."

Because the thick fog obscured visibility, Luo Mu could only determine their location through ecological and climatic features visible to the naked eye or perceptible to the body.

Also, because they were far from human settlements, the signal was very weak, and there were no satellite maps to help him confirm their position.

He could only make a rough judgment.

During the journey, Luo Mu also asked the giant Tentacruel why it had followed them.

It couldn't be that after making friends with the giant Dragonite, it simply didn't want to part ways, could it?

The look in the giant Tentacruel's eyes when looking at Luo Mu was no longer as disdainful and hostile as it had been at the start; after that battle, it had somewhat accepted Luo Mu as a person.

—But Luo Mu should never, ever have asked that question.

The giant Tentacruel's dark face visibly flushed red with anger; it waved its tentacles, driving Luo Mu and Moltres aside, and it was only when the giant Dragonite came to resolve the situation that it reluctantly used the Moltres-brand telepathy translator to state the reason for its following them.

—The giant Tentacruel was very clear that the incident where it attacked the city would ultimately remain a large thorn between itself and the Kanto League.

Although the Kanto League had temporarily signed a "Peace Treaty" with it now, there would surely come a day in the future when the two sides would completely fall out.

Rather than facing humanity's unpredictable technological weapons, it would prefer to lead its kin to a sea area rarely tread by humans, settling down there slowly to rest and reproduce without any worries behind them.

—The place the giant Dragonite intended to take Luo Mu happened to fit the giant Tentacruel's criteria for a location perfectly.

"And more importantly, that place is also where the giant Dragonite occasionally rests while searching for companions?"

With a somewhat punchable teasing smile on his face, Luo Mu repeated, or rather explained, the giant Tentacruel's final awkward and hesitant words.

What greeted him was naturally a tentacle attack from the giant Tentacruel, born of shame turning into rage.

—Although, considering that Luo Mu was a tiny little thing, the giant Tentacruel, afraid of pressing him flat like a sheet of paper with a single tentacle strike, merely waved them symbolically a few times.

In this way, Luo Mu finally figured out the reason why the giant Tentacruel had followed along.

It turned out it had voluntarily come to scout the path, confirming whether the water quality and water resources were satisfactory.

From their departure in the morning until the afternoon, when intense sunlight pierced through the thick fog and poured onto the sea surface.

Through the hazy mist, the silhouette of an island that looked quite large finally appeared within their field of vision.

Terapagos excitedly reminded Luo Mu with its cries, while the Delibird flew up, poking the Victini, who had been waiting until it was nearly drowsy.

"Awooo~"

The giant Dragonite's long and loud cry, like a steam whistle, seemed to announce that their destination had appeared before their eyes.

The giant Tentacruel waved its tentacles at them, seemingly indicating that it would dive first to swim around in the nearby sea, then silently submerged its massive body into the seawater.

And on the distant small island, seemingly due to that single roar from the giant Dragonite, several black dots flew up from the island and subsequently approached this side rapidly.

After a moment, their figures gradually became clear.

Orange-yellow skin and scales, soft creamy-white bellies, and those simple, endearing large eyes.

—That's right, they were all wild Dragonites.

On the vast white beach, as Moltres landed, Luo Mu, flipping off the bird, finally set foot on solid ground.

If one were to look down from a high altitude, one could see just how vast the island beneath Luo Mu's feet was, with that endless green forest exuding a sense of bursting vitality.

To think that out at sea, far from human settlements, there existed such a "utopia"; to be honest, when Luo Mu looked down at the island from above, he had been shocked by it for several seconds.

—But what was more important was, of course, this group of big guys beside him, curiously staring at himself and Moltres and the others.

The thick fog had dispersed at some unknown point, and the sun's rays spilled onto the white beach, plating it with a layer of golden light film.

And on this beach, a quantity of roughly a dozen or so Dragonites, with their simple and endearing appearances, were tilting their heads to size up these "outsiders."

Furthermore, this was only the first batch of Dragonites.

As time passed, quite a few more Dragonites from within the island were arriving in a steady stream; mixed among them were some Dragonairs with bright scales and elegant postures.

The small wings on both sides of their heads appeared enlarged, looking just like pure white angel wings.

Fearing that apart from the protected Dratinis, most of the Dragonites and Dragonairs had probably come over.

This truly was an island inhabited by the Dragonite clan!

At this moment, Luo Mu completely confirmed this fact.

The Dragonites and Dragonairs curiously surrounded Luo Mu, sizing up this rare two-legged beast.

Terapagos weakly shrank its head back; although they were all Dragonites and their appearances were amiable and approachable, it was still somewhat afraid.

The boldest, Victini, had already flown up and was attempting to make contact and communicate with one of the Dragonites.

As for Moltres, it was squatting like a hen on the beach, casually preening its feathers, which were slightly disheveled from the flight, with its beak.

It seemed it was not interested in so many Dragonites.

"Boo-wu?" "Boo-wu!" "Boo-wu~"

The cries belonging to the Dragonites rose and fell around Luo Mu's ears; they were communicating, but without Moltres's translation, Luo Mu could not understand.

He suddenly felt that rather than him "visiting" Dragonite Island, it was more like the Dragonites were sizing him up as a "rare species."

After gathering around Luo Mu for a while, the Dragonites exchanged glances, then, leading the Dragonairs, flew up into the sky, circling above the giant Dragonite's head without landing on the island, keeping most of their bodies immersed in the seawater near the shore.

Just as if they were welcoming its return.

Seeing this scene, Luo Mu thought to himself that indeed, it was as expected.

No wonder at that time the giant Dragonite had not been so concerned about the existence of its own Dragonite, nor did it consider the Dragonite clan to be the "companions" it was searching for.

It turned out that a group of Dragonites and Dragonairs, and even Dratinis, had already been gathering around it all along!

If that's the case, could this island also be connected to the giant Dragonite?

Pondering internally did not hinder Luo Mu from reacting; he took out a Poké Ball and released the Dragonite that had rested along the way, now restored to vigorous energy.

"Bo-wu?"

Emitting a soft cry, the Dragonite wiggled the antenna on its head, seemingly observing the surrounding environment with some curiosity.

Strangely, it felt an indescribable sense of affinity toward this island.

Before Luo Mu could instruct his Dragonite to make friends with those wild Dragonites and Dragonairs circling the giant Dragonite,

"Ao-wu—"

From within the island, a somewhat sharp and domineering roar rang out.

Compared to the soft, cute cries of those Dragonites just now, this sound shook the leaves on the island's trees into constant tremors.

In merely the time it takes for Pian Ke De Gong, that figure had already approached the beach where Luo Mu and the others were located.

—Then, the other party descended directly from the sky, kicking up a cloud of "dust."

Amidst the rising dust, the silhouette of a figure predominantly dark green gradually became clear.

"Damn."

The moment he saw the other party clearly, Luo Mu's eyes widened instantly, his voice filled with disbelief.

"A Shiny... Dragonite?"

The Shiny Dragonite, called by name by him, looked over, yet its gaze could hardly be considered friendly.

—In fact, it was looking down its nose at Luo Mu with utter disdain!

(End of Chapter)