"So amazing, so cool!"
Iris's eyes sparkled brilliantly. In this moment, she grasped more deeply what battles between top-tier Trainers truly were.
Ignoring the rainwater puddles all over the ground, Cynthia crouched, her beautiful gray eyes looking straight into Iris's.
"Iris, make sure you etch this into your heart. It will help you greatly in the future."
This perspective and experience would save Iris many detours, giving her a clear goal and the drive to pursue it.
Drasna held up Altaria's cottony wings with a troubled face. "Now they're soaked through. I'll have to go dry them."
Altaria's cotton wings could neutralize a lot of attacks, but they sagged when wet—still a bit inconvenient.
After temporarily recalling Altaria, Drasna glanced around at the pairs and small groups of Trainers who were marveling at the spectacle and discussing the details of the battle. She walked over to Cynthia and Iris, squinted her eyes with a smiling look, and asked, "What do you think of that battle, Ms. Cynthia?"
Cynthia paused and looked toward Lucas and Clair.
By then, Clair had handed Kingdra over to the Dragon Clan's healer, while Lucas was personally tending to Dragonite's minor injuries. From his practiced technique, it was obvious he had done this many times.
Perhaps Dragonite was startled by the coolness of the medicine—or maybe it was on purpose—but its hulking body toppled onto the unsuspecting Lucas, splashing straight into a puddle.
Feeling the cool dampness on his back, Lucas scowled and told Dragonite to get off. But Dragonite clung to him like a spoiled child, refusing to let him up no matter how he struggled, even wearing a pitiful expression that left Lucas with nowhere to vent his frustration.
Serperior watched coldly from the side, wearing the look of, "I don't know these two who like to roll in puddles."
Seeing this harmonious scene between human and Pokémon, a smile lifted the fine lines of Cynthia's profile. "It exceeded my expectations. A wonderful battle, Ms. Drasna."
"Is that so~"
Drasna's tone was as leisurely as ever. But neither Cynthia nor short-statured Iris noticed that, at some point, Drasna's perpetually narrowed eyes had opened.
Her sharp gaze swept over Cynthia and finally settled on the blazing look with which Cynthia watched Lucas and Dragonite.
In Drasna's view, the fire in Cynthia's eyes was fighting spirit, respect for the strong, and a confidence forged through countless battles.
The Battle Goddess of Sinnoh was, at this moment, filled with the desire for Lucas and his Dragonite—to battle them and emerge victorious.
No hesitation.
Cynthia longed to battle Lucas, but she knew it wasn't the right time—not tonight, at least. So she kept that desire firmly suppressed with reason.
Even Drasna admired the self-control of this woman who shared the same lineage as her own forebears.
However—
"In the end, still a young one. So easy to read~"
Drasna whispered to herself, a flicker of anticipation flashing in her limpid eyes.
Leaving the League's future to the younger generation—Lucas, Cynthia, and Clair—filled her with unprecedented ease of mind.
Not long after Lucas and Clair's battle ended, Lance's match against Drayden wrapped up as well.
Lance won, as expected, but Drayden proved far more troublesome than he had anticipated. Though Lance had begun earlier, his battle ended later than Lucas versus Clair, giving him the feeling he'd lost a remote contest with Lucas.
As for Clair, who had lost, Lance would only wish success for his troublesome cousin.
Drayden was undoubtedly far stronger than Clair.
It wasn't about seniority—it was respect for Drayden's strength as one of Unova's main pillars.
Though Drayden was stronger than Clair, the fact remained that Lance's match started much earlier than Lucas's—so in a sense, Lance felt he'd lost.
But a loss is a loss. Lance of the Dragon Clan wouldn't stop because of one setback; he would simply aim to surpass Lucas next time. At least, there was no chance tonight.
It was close to midnight, and the guests should return to the Dragon Clan's luxury hotel to rest.
As the cars gradually departed, Lance quietly watched the now-silent estate. The stillness made the earlier clamor feel like a dream.
But the fiery heartbeat in his chest didn't lie. Lance pressed a hand to his chest and murmured, "That plan spearheaded by Galar… Perhaps it's worth considering."
…
Elsewhere, after bidding farewell to Clair, Cynthia, Drayden, Iris, and Drasna, Lucas rode a black sedan to the luxury hotel prepared by the Dragon Clan.
First thing upon entering, he ran to the bathroom to peel off his filthy, Dragonite-caused clothes and happily took a hot shower.
Humming a tuneless song, he left the bathroom in a robe. Gazing at the superb night view through the floor-to-ceiling windows, Lucas recalled the flash of a scene from the adjacent battlefield after he'd finished treating Dragonite's minor injuries.
It was when the battle between Lance and Drayden had reached its fever pitch—their Dragonite and Haxorus locked in ferocious close-quarters combat.
Haxorus's eyes glowed blood-red, its whole body shrouded in a baleful crimson aura—Undoubtedly, it had unleashed Outrage.
Like Draco Meteor, Outrage trades a side effect for explosive power.
Ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon, once they start Outrage, lose their reason and become berserk battle machines, intent only on defeating the enemy without regard for their own injuries.
Only Dragon Pokémon who can wield Outrage without losing sanity are truly ready to stand on their own. Drayden's Haxorus maintained reason, suppressing the rampage while fighting with the massive power boost from Outrage.
Side effects aside, Outrage did let Haxorus match Dragonite in raw power for a time.
This reminded Lucas of the World Championships, when Iris's Haxorus tanked a Mega Garchomp's Draco Meteor from Cynthia with Outrage.
Even so, Drayden's Haxorus still fell behind against Lance's Dragonite.
The reason was simple: besides being able to clash with Outrage in power, Lance's Dragonite maxed out speed and agility.
It was using some technique to remain in an "Extreme Speed state" during the fight, drastically increasing its speed via that powerful priority move.
Facing the axe-wielding Haxorus, Dragonite—glimmering with green light—would often slash first with an even faster Dragon Claw to drive it back, or slip past Haxorus's less precise attacks—though still rational, they lacked normal precision—and then land another strike.
From Lucas's observation, that technique didn't seem wildly over-the-top. At Lance's level, Dragonite only entered that state when trading blows with Outrage.
Once Outrage ended, Extreme Speed returned to being a single ultra-fast shoulder check.
Even if it likely had flaws and limits, the enhancement from this special use of Extreme Speed was enough to prove its worth as a Dragon Clan secret handed down through generations.
Lucas also remembered how, in the Alola League exhibition match, Kukui's Lucario used a somewhat similar technique to dodge the blazing speed of the Ultra Beast Naganadel and deal solid damage.
But that move still differed significantly from what Lance used; at minimum, Lucario couldn't use other moves while in the Extreme Speed state, whereas Dragonite could freely use Dragon Claw, Dragon Pulse, and even Hyper Beam.
Considering that Kukui had lost to Lance before and that his research specialty as a Professor was battling and moves, it all made sense.
Using his research skills, Kukui had copied Lance's Dragonite technique onto Lucario, but by merely aping the form, it captured the shape without the spirit.
Though he had mentally prepared for this, the image of Dragonite failing to fully accelerate and being unable to catch up to Kingdra during today's battle was still seared into Lucas's mind.
Geeta's words were right: if Dragonite mastered the Dragon Clan's Extreme Speed technique, then the power it had swelled to since Lugia would reach a new peak.
"It seems… I have to clear that so-called hidden trial."
…
The next day.
July 1st—a new month, a great time to make new strides in strength.
After washing up and putting on his dried clothes, Lucas opened his door to see four figures who seemed to have been waiting for a while.
"Good morning, big brother Lucas!"
Iris leapt in, as if she had been looking forward to this day for ages.
"Morning, Iris."
Lucas patted her head. Iris—who usually pouted and mumbled "Don't pat my head, I won't grow"—showed no displeasure at all.
This greatly discouraged Drayden, who had already been wronged and then was oddly refused when he invited Lance to a private wrestling match before leaving.
This little girl treated Lucas and him like two completely different people.
After greeting Iris, Lucas looked up at Cynthia, Drasna, and Drayden and greeted them in turn.
"Morning," Cynthia nodded, then invited, "Want to have breakfast with us? There's plenty of time before the Dragon's Den trial begins."
Iris rubbed her stomach with a strained look. "I'm a little hungry too…"
Since he planned to eat breakfast anyway, Lucas naturally didn't refuse. He nodded and joined them in the elevator to the hotel restaurant for a delicious meal.
As for how Iris's slightly unladylike eating gave Drayden a few more forehead lines, that wasn't Lucas's concern.
After a fine breakfast, they simply shared a car to the Dragon Clan's estate.
Lucas, Cynthia, Drasna, and Iris rode together. Drayden, not participating in the trial, chose to take his time—there were many things in Blackthorn City that interested him.
As for Iris's safety, Drayden was at ease. With Cynthia, who clearly doted on Iris, the Champion could be trusted.
Not to mention Lucas and Drasna were also looking after her. Since he'd taken the blame anyway, Drayden figured he might as well take the chance to reward and comfort himself.
If Drayton were here to see his usually rigid grandpa being so flexible, his jaw might drop.
At 9 a.m., their car rolled steadily into the Dragon Clan's suburban estate. When the four reached the assembly area, they saw quite a few people already gathered.
But compared to yesterday's crowd spread across the grounds, the numbers had shrunk by more than half.
More concretely, most of the established or older guests hadn't joined, leaving the opportunity to the younger generation.
Most Trainers here were under thirty, but Lucas and company's arrival still stirred whispers.
No one expected that—never mind Iris—accomplished Trainers like Lucas, Cynthia, and Drasna would opt to join the Dragon's Den trial.
The strong aura they unconsciously radiated would likely attract many Dragon Pokémon to volunteer themselves. Most dragons admired strength, and their innate wisdom told them how important it was to follow the right Trainer.
Who knew—those three might attract the most gifted dragon Pokémon inside!
Seeing the crowd keep its distance, Drasna sighed. "My, my, looks like we're being isolated."
"But these are trivial matters, aren't they?"
Cynthia smiled. She had no plans to capture any Pokémon today; her main role was to volunteer as Iris's guardian.
"Let's stick together today, Iris."
Hearing Cynthia's gentle voice and seeing her warm gray eyes, Iris blushed and stammered, "Th-thank you for the trouble, Ms. Cynthia."
Cynthia chuckled. "Leave it to me."
Whether it was watching this warm interaction or thinking ahead to the Dragon's Den that could make Dragonite stronger, Lucas felt uncommonly cheerful.
He unobtrusively sized up the Trainers who would be entering the trial alongside him. Most seemed intent on securing a dragon from the Den—either a gifted Dragon- or quasi-Dragon-type, or perhaps an egg from the dragon brood.
Drasna didn't seem to be after the Extreme Speed manual. Cynthia planned to focus on babysitting. The potential competition was minimal.
Dragon specialists like Hoenn's Drake or the Paldean dragon-tamer families weren't present—but this still wouldn't be a one-man show for Lucas.
His gaze fell on a short-haired girl in a fitted top and hot pants, a tattered gray cloak on her shoulders.
A name surfaced in his mind.
Zinnia.
He hadn't expected her to come. This raised a question—
Were the Dragon Clan's invitations mass-sent?
In Lucas's impression, Zinnia only appeared in the games and the manga. The world he was in didn't seem connected to the manga—there wasn't a particularly dark background—and it leaned more toward the anime while showing traces of the game's plot. Early on, this mix had made Lucas wonder what kind of world this really was.
In the games, as a member of the Draconid people, Zinnia traversed Hoenn to awaken the Sky High Pokémon, Rayquaza.
For someone like her to accept the Dragon Clan's invitation—surely not for the Dragon Pokémon in the Den?
Those held no lure for a Draconid like Zinnia. The Meteor Falls of Hoenn housed plenty of Dragon Pokémon, and as the Lorekeeper, Zinnia herself was closely tied to the legendary Rayquaza.
This led Lucas to suspect Zinnia came for the Extreme Speed manual—to become a stronger Lorekeeper and win Rayquaza's favor.
"Rayquaza, huh?"
Lucas withdrew his gaze and muttered to himself.
Was the black Rayquaza he'd encountered the same being as Zinnia's Rayquaza?
Or were there two Rayquaza in the ozone layer of this world? How would they divide their territory?
The half of the planet's atmosphere over Paldea belongs to the black Rayquaza; the Kanto side belongs to the green Rayquaza?
His thoughts churned until Lance and Clair brought the aged Dragon Elder before the crowd. As the Elder re-explained the rules, Lucas stopped woolgathering to listen carefully—maybe there were clues about the hidden trial.
Unfortunately, the Elder repeated what she'd said yesterday. When she finished, she smiled, pointed to the broad lake due north, and said, "The first stage of the Dragon's Den trial—find the entrance somewhere in the lake."
"Once you find it, show your strength!"
"Break through the whirlpools and gales at the entrance, pass the Dragon Shrine, and then you'll be considered inside the Den!"
...
Bonus chapter at 100 PS