Chapter 67

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Just as he was pondering, Dragonite suddenly let out two rapid roars, its tone carrying obvious urgency.

Meowth immediately reminded: "Meow! It says you've answered all the questions you asked, now it's your turn to fulfill your promise—tell it where its kind is!"

Huo La came back to his senses, looked at the anxious Dragonite, took a deep breath, and said to Meowth: "Tell it, northwest of Pallet Town, on Mount Podoro next to Mount Miasha, there is a very ancient Pokémon ruin. According to records, there were traces of super-ancient Pokémon activity there, its kind is very likely sleeping nearby, or left clues to finding its kind."

Meowth quickly translated the words.

After listening, Dragonite's massive body became visibly excited, its wings flapping slightly, the wind it kicked up causing ripples on the sea surface.

It let out a series of roars full of anticipation at Huo La, and Meowth translated: "It asks you, how to get to Mount Podoro? If possible, it hopes you can take it there."

"Hopes I take it there..." Huo La mused for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Ash beside him, and then recalling the current state of Mount Podoro in his memory.

That mountain was still in an undeveloped state, let alone traces of super-ancient Pokémon, even the road to the ruins was covered by dense forest; going there rashly would likely be futile.

He said to Meowth: "Tell Dragonite, Mount Podoro hasn't been developed yet, it's full of dense forest and cliffs, even if we go, we might not be able to find what it's looking for, and might even encounter danger."

Meowth immediately translated the words.

After listening, Dragonite's massive body paused slightly, then let out a firm roar, its tone filled with unwillingness to give up.

"It says," Meowth turned and said, "even if it can't see its kind, it wants to go and take a look! That's the only clue at the moment, even if it's a wasted trip, it's willing, and will come back after taking a look."

Looking at the persistence in Dragonite's eyes, Huo La was silent for a few seconds—he could understand this feeling of "clutching at the last hope".

Finally, he nodded: "Fine, I'll accompany it on a trip. But it must promise me, to be as low-key as possible on the way, not to expose its form easily, to avoid scaring ordinary people, and not to attract unnecessary trouble."

"It says okay!" Meowth replied immediately, its tone even carrying a bit of relief—being able to resolve this matter as soon as possible meant it could get rid of the oppressive feeling of this "giant Dragonite" sooner.

"Huo La, you..." Hearing that Huo La was going to accompany Dragonite, Ash hurriedly stepped forward, but before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Huo La.

"It's fine, just going to confirm the situation, will be back soon." Huo La turned to look at him and suddenly smiled, "Do you want to come along? Maybe you can see what the super-ancient ruins look like in advance."

Ash was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting Huo La to invite him.

His eyes lit up instantly, and he nodded vigorously: "I'm going! Of course I'm going! Pikachu, let's go see the super-ancient ruins together!"

"Pika Pika!" Pikachu rubbed against Ash's shoulder excitedly, the electricity on its tail flashing happily.

Meowth just wanted to sneak away, but was grabbed by the scruff of its neck by Huo La: "You have to come too."

"Meow! Why do I have to go too!" Meowth wailed and struggled, but was still held in Huo La's hand, unable to move.

Dragonite slowly lowered its giant head and extended a giant palm—that palm was spacious enough to easily accommodate both Huo La and Ash.

Huo La climbed up first, stood firm, and reached out to pull Ash up; Ash held Pikachu in his arms, while Meowth was placed beside Huo La, clutching the protrusions on Dragonite's palm tightly, terrified of falling off.

"Let's go, toward Mount Podoro." Huo La said to Dragonite.

Dragonite let out a low roar, its wings flapping violently, bringing up a gale, and its massive body slowly rose into the air. As the frequency of its wing beats increased, its speed became faster and faster, flying toward the direction Huo La pointed.

The lighthouse gradually shrank in their field of vision, finally turning into a tiny speck of light, disappearing into the night.

Until Dragonite's figure completely disappeared into the horizon, Xiao Xia, Lilian, Zheng Hui, and Xiao Gang at the top of the lighthouse finally breathed a sigh of relief, slumping by the railing one after another, gasping for air.

"Phew... that scared me to death just now!" Xiao Xia clutched her chest, her face still a bit pale, "When Dragonite's claw was only a step away from me, I thought I was done for!"

Zheng Hui hugged the camera, so excited her voice was trembling: "Too precious! These materials are too precious! Dragonite's oral account, the details of the space-time rift, and the process of Huo La communicating with it... if my thesis is published, it will definitely shock the entire Pokémon research community!"

Xiao Gang stood to the side, looking in the direction Dragonite flew, his brows slightly furrowed, saying nothing. He was secretly worried, but also knew the personalities of Ash and Huo La; once they decided on something, they wouldn't change it easily.

"Hope they can come back safely." Xiao Gang whispered, then turned to Xiao Xia, Lilian, and Zheng Hui, "Let's go back into the lighthouse and wait, it's windy outside, and... maybe when Huo La and the others come back, they'll still need our help with some things."

Xiao Xia, Lilian, and Zheng Hui nodded and followed Xiao Gang down the lighthouse.

It must be said, Dragonite's flight speed was truly astonishing—every flap of its wings carried the force of breaking the wind, the sea and forests below retreated rapidly, and even the night seemed to be torn open.

Huo La couldn't help but sigh inwardly: No wonder Lance liked to travel by Dragonite, this speed was faster than the League's airships, it was simply an "air express".

After only half an hour, a sparse cluster of lights appeared below—that was the direction of Pallet Town.

The low houses loomed in the night, and even the iconic white building of Professor Oak's Research Institute could be vaguely seen with the lights on the roof.

"Ash, we're home, do you want to go down and show your face?" Huo La patted Ash on the shoulder half-jokingly, his gaze falling on Pallet Town below.

Ash looked down following his gaze, his mouth twitched, and he shook his head helplessly: "Better not. If my mom saw such a big Pokémon carrying me back, her heart condition might be scared right out, and then I'd have to listen to her nagging for half a day."

Huo La smiled and didn't tease him further; he actually missed home a bit too, wanted to see if the lights in his room were on, but his concerns were the same as Ash's—riding such a big Dragonite home in the middle of the night would likely give his mother a fright.

Dragonite didn't stop, flapped its wings, crossed Pallet Town, and flew toward Mount Podoro in the northwest.

After a few more minutes, a continuous mountain range appeared below—that was Mount Podoro; in the night, the outline of the mountain range was like a sleeping giant beast, with only sparse moonlight sprinkled on the exposed rocks, shimmering with cold light.

Dragonite slowly lowered its altitude, hovering over the airspace of Mount Podoro, its massive body motionless, with only its wings flapping occasionally to maintain balance.

It closed its eyes, its giant head raised slightly, as if sensing something.

A moment later, it suddenly opened its eyes and let out a low roar at the mountain range, its tone carrying a bit of excitement.

Meowth immediately tensed up, pricked its ears to listen for a few seconds, then turned to Huo La and Ash and said: "Meow! It says, in this mountain, it really feels the aura of its kind! It's just that the aura is very weak, as if blocked by something, flickering, can only determine it's roughly in the depths of the mountain range, but can't find the specific location."

Huo La wasn't surprised and nodded: "That's right. The ruins of Mount Podoro haven't been developed yet, they've always been covered by dense forest and rock. And when the ancients built the ruins, to protect the things inside, they must have set up special devices—like energy barriers, to isolate the aura and line of sight, avoiding discovery by outsiders."

Meowth translated the words for Dragonite.

Dragonite was silent, its massive body drooping slightly, a bit of disappointment flashing in its giant amber eyes—it had crossed time and space, searched for so long, and finally felt the aura of its kind, but still couldn't get close, could only sense that faint existence through thick rock and dense forest.

Huo La and Ash didn't speak, just quietly accompanied it.

In the night, there was only the sound of Dragonite's wings flapping, and the occasional call of wild Pokémon from afar, the atmosphere quiet and somewhat heavy.

After a long time, Dragonite slowly raised its head and let out a long, desolate roar toward the direction of Mount Podoro.

That roar didn't have the previous irritability, nor the excitement of anticipation, only a kind of "relief after confirmation"—at least it knew, its kind was still there, hadn't completely disappeared.

After the roar ended, Dragonite turned its massive body, didn't stop, and flew toward the direction it came from.

It didn't ask "how to enter the ruins" again, nor did it show unwillingness—perhaps it understood that, as it was now, it didn't have the ability to break through the barrier of the ancient devices; perhaps it was just satisfied with the result of "confirming the existence of its kind", and was willing to wait until after the development Huo La spoke of to come back.

Looking at the rapidly retreating scenery below, Huo La felt inexplicably touched—flying thousands of miles, just for a "confirmation that couldn't meet", this persistence was more moving than any power.

"It will wait for that day." Ash suddenly spoke, holding Pikachu, his eyes firm.

Huo La turned to look at him and nodded with a smile: "It will. And by then, maybe we can unravel more secrets of the super-ancient era."

Dragonite's speed was still very fast, the lights of Pallet Town appeared in their field of vision again, and then gradually drifted away. In the night, this super-ancient Dragonite carried two people, one cat, and one Pikachu, flying toward the direction of the lighthouse; in the sound of its wings flapping, there seemed to be a bit more of the taste of "hope".