"To enter the Den, the first condition is to pass through the strong whirlpools at the entrance or break through violent air currents. Basically, it's a test of the Trainer's strength."
Watching people set out one after another, Cynthia analyzed thoughtfully.
Drasna added in her leisurely tone, "I've heard of the Dragon Clan's Den. Most of it is caverns and water, home to the Kingdra, Dratini and Dragonair, and some Pokémon closely connected to dragons."
"But rumors say that somewhere in the Den there's a passage leading to the true core—ever-spring, where ordinary Pokémon and many Dragon-types live in harmony, like a utopia~"
"Utopia!"
By Cynthia's side, Iris's eyes shone with longing; she could barely wait to enter the Den and meet her new partner.
The speaker hadn't meant much by it, but the listener took it to heart.
What was legend to Drasna confirmed something for Lucas.
In the anime, beyond a passage deep in the Den lay a place called the Dragon Holy Land. Lucas felt it was highly likely connected to the so-called hidden trial.
Moments later.
As more people departed, they also prepared to head for the broad lake to search for the entrance.
Drasna mounted her Noivern; Cynthia had Garchomp carry Iris—Excadrill and Axew obviously couldn't ferry her across the lake.
They planned to split up. Lucas didn't try to meddle—both Cynthia and Drasna stood at the pinnacle of Trainer strength.
Before leaving, Lucas took a look at Cynthia's Garchomp. Even without flaring its aura, every motion revealed deep foundation; its smooth takeoff showcased superb control over its body.
This Garchomp was truly strong.
Lucas and Dragonite agreed with a high evaluation.
In truth, the Den's entrance wasn't hard to find.
Riding Dragonite at a steady pace, Lucas's gaze swept past the Trainers who were diving and flying at the lake's center in search of it, and he sighed slightly.
The entrance wouldn't be at the bottom—a place only aquatic Pokémon could reach—and it wouldn't have air currents to block fliers. It also wouldn't be in the open center—there was nothing there.
A cavernous Den would only be found near land, where there was plenty of soil and rock.
At Lucas's request, Dragonite circled the lake's edge once and soon found the entrance.
Staring at the oddly-shaped, unfathomably deep opening, Lucas sighed, "Looks like a gaping maw, even the teeth are lifelike."
Without being told, Dragonite drew closer to the rocky dragon's mouth. As expected, the water beneath was forming massive vortices at the entrance.
The whirlpools were powerful. In the darkness, several Trainers who had set out early and luckily found the entrance were struggling against the suction.
In Lucas's view, the environment here shouldn't be enough to form such maelstroms. Remembering Clair's ace Kingdra, whose power could generate huge whirlpools in lakes and seas, he guessed the answer.
"Drago…"
Dragonite frowned at the whirlpools below, as if sensing something unpleasant within.
Dragonite's reaction confirmed Lucas's suspicions. There was enough distance between sky and seabed that the Kingdra line and Dragonite shouldn't be clashing. Better to punch straight through the turbulent air ahead.
That turbulence was probably caused by Flying-types arranged by the Dragon Clan—after all, many fliers are closely tied to dragons.
"But… at this level, it can't even slow Dragonite down."
With that, Lucas patted Dragonite. With a few light wingbeats, Dragonite's body surged forward as if propelled by a mighty force.
Repeat. Increase wingbeat tempo. Increase speed.
In the next instant—
Trainers struggling with their fliers against the chaotic currents heard a sound.
The shriek of the wind!
Swoosh—
A torrent of air rolled in from afar. Before anyone could react, it had already filled the damp, shadowy cavern.
That orange figure, wrapped in a fearsome current, simply blew away the airflow in the tunnel. People and Pokémon alike wobbled as the orange blur pierced through the gale they'd barely halfway traversed, and fell silent.
Hidden in the dark, the Flying-types generating the winds froze, glancing at each other.
What just shot past?
Their moment of shock caused the intensity of the air currents to drop significantly. Some opportunistic Trainers seized the chance and shot through the wind zone.
The Flying-types panicked: if they let too many through at once, dinner would be canceled back home!
Anything but that!
They flapped harder than before. Stronger gales swept the area, making many Trainers groan and even give up to take the water route instead.
…
At that moment, Zinnia arrived at the entrance on her Salamence. Gazing at the violent winds, she said calmly, "Salamence, just go in."
To the others' amazement, it wasn't as shocking as the blazing orange streak, but Zinnia and Salamence walked the gale like a stroll through a garden—impressive in its own right.
Without a robust body and absolute mastery over the wind, that would be impossible.
Zinnia was long used to the stares. What she didn't understand was why they looked at her with worship.
As a Lorekeeper, wasn't this natural?
She lowered her eyes, long lashes quivering. "Still not enough… To be worthy of being acknowledged by the Dragon Lord, I need more power."
"If I don't have a Pokémon that can learn Extreme Speed, I'll catch a Dratini in the Den."
"Then I'll grow stronger through the hidden trial, find Rayquaza…"
…
The Den was dark and humid, with complex corridors. Without preparation, it would be easy to get lost.
But Lucas knew how to find the entrance to the Dragon Holy Land.
In the anime, Team Rocket stole the Dragon Fang from the Blackthorn Gym, took a boat from the lakeshore, and entered the Den.
After traveling for a while, they fell into a massive waterfall—and beyond that waterfall lay the Dragon Holy Land.
So the key was the waterfall!
Keeping a steady pace, Dragonite focused most of its attention on its ears, amplifying its hearing to pick up the crash of water on stone.
It wasn't easy. The Den was even larger than Lucas expected. After an hour inside, he felt they hadn't even covered half.
He did see many wild Pokémon living in the Den, though.
Like Dratini—the big-eyed cuteness shared with Dragonite's line—and Horsea carried by Seadra. Perhaps because they weren't Kingdra yet, Dragonite felt nothing toward pure Water-types like Horsea and Seadra, aside from disliking their resemblance to Kingdra.
The biggest surprise was a small pod of Lapras near a deep-water area.
Lapras typically lived in the ocean in groups. Seeing them in an inland lake's Den near Blackthorn City made Lucas suspect there was a hidden passage to the sea in that deep water.
Unable to resist, he paused and had Dragonite descend to interact with the rare sea sprites.
This pod had six adult males and two females, and a single small Lapras watched Lucas and Dragonite curiously under the protection of the two females.
"Hey there, want a snack?"
Lucas made no effort to hide his plan to lure the baby over with food and get a pat in.
Lapras are intelligent and kind. At least this group showed little fear of humans—perhaps because they were isolated and rarely interacted with people.
When Lucas and Dragonite approached, they didn't panic or overreact—just instinctively shielded the baby.
Drawn by the berries in Lucas's hand, the baby Lapras glanced pleadingly at its guardians.
The two females were helpless. They rarely went ashore—at most resting at small islets—so they hardly ever ate berries.
And Lucas's berries were top-grade, ripened by an Applin—twice the flavor and effect. Faced with that fresh aroma, the little one couldn't hold back.
At last, the two females indulged the only youngster in the pod, letting it approach Lucas and Dragonite to happily nibble from Lucas's palm.
Lucas finally got to touch a Lapras.
Whether because it was young or due to this pod's traits, the exposed skin had a subtle moistness—smooth to the touch.
The gray shell on its back felt like a lobster's carapace right after molting—soft to the touch, yet clearly hard.
It obviously wasn't fully developed, far from being able to carry a rider like an adult Lapras.
Satisfied, Lucas cheerfully handed out berries to all of them. While their guard was down, he sampled the feel of each. In general, the females felt smoother to the touch, with well-maintained shells.
The males, perhaps due to fights with other wild Pokémon, bore occasional scars and had harder shells with more scratches.
None of the eight adults felt quite like the baby did. That made him recall Lapras's three Abilities—
Water Absorb, Shell Armor, and Hydration.
The baby's distinct feel might be due to its Hidden Ability, Hydration.
Just like his Dragonite's Multiscale yielded denser, stronger scales that also reduced air resistance while flying.
In this real world, Abilities weren't just black text effects on a stat sheet; they manifested on the Pokémon themselves.
An Intimidate Incineroar with a fiercer aura than its kin; a Zigzagoon with keen sensing for dropped items and an obsession with bringing them home…
After winning over the Lapras pod with treats, Lucas even tested their riding comfort. Though the back shell's knobs looked like prime "thousand years of pain" hazards, the back was tremendously broad, and the knobs were for gripping. Despite being a hard shell, it wasn't too uncomfortable to sit on. Not as comfy as Dragonite, but with a proper saddle it'd be great.
Before leaving, Lucas reminded the gentle sea sprites to stay vigilant when encountering humans in the future—not everyone would trade berries for pats. Many coveted Lapras's bodies—or sought to net entire pods as poachers.
In the seas near Kanto and Johto, Lapras were very rare, unlike Alola where they were abundant under strong protection.
Seeing the Lapras leader understood, Lucas smiled, said goodbye, and rode Dragonite on, heading deeper toward where the Lapras had indicated the "sound of the waterfall."
Because Lapras communicate across long distances at sea by song, their hearing is excellent. The two spiral "buns" on their heads amplify sound.
They can hear frequencies humans can't—and the thunder of a waterfall took them no effort at all.
Now, Lucas and Dragonite were proceeding along the direction of that sound.
It was a straight passage, with no forks forcing two-, three-, or multi-way choices. About half an hour later, Lucas heard water pounding against rock.
"Drago~!"
With their chance to grow stronger close at hand, even Dragonite couldn't hide its excitement. It shot past the torrent.
In an instant, bright sunlight flooded their vision. Below, lush greenery and flower fields stretched out, with non-Dragon Pokémon like Hoppip and Butterfree drifting lazily.
Farther away, young Pokémon like Swablu, Gible, and Goomy played together.
Surely these were brought in and raised by the Dragon Clan, gathered from other regions.
Lucas's gaze soon locked onto the largest, strongest figure in the Holy Land—
Another Dragonite.
It was several sizes bigger than his own. Not quite the giant Dragonite of Bill's Lighthouse, but a behemoth among Dragonite.
Let's call it the Big Dragonite.
But when Lucas's eyes moved to the blood-winged Pokémon next to it—and the somewhat familiar figure upon it—his face showed surprise.
Zinnia had arrived before him?
As Lucas and Dragonite burst through the falls, Zinnia, Salamence, and the Big Dragonite noticed them. The gentle Big Dragonite, as humble as Lucas's own, tilted its head, puzzled that another guest had come today.
Hidden beneath her gray cloak, Zinnia's hands tightened.
Him!
Lucas of Paldea—Champion-level Trainer, subduer of the Fire Lord. Even Zinnia had to acknowledge his accomplishments.
But that didn't mean she would hand over her chance to grow stronger. Before the time of prophecy arrived, she would keep growing!
After Lucas and Dragonite touched down in the flower field, Zinnia composed herself and smiled without malice. Looking at Lucas dismounting, she said, "I've long heard your name, Champion Lucas."
"Just Lucas is fine—no need for 'Champion.' I'm retired," he said, blinking. He felt a deeply hidden hostility in her smile—no, "fighting spirit" fit better. "You're… Zinnia of the Draconid people, right?"
Remembering her identity as Lorekeeper, Lucas found her fighting spirit reasonable.
"Then please allow me to call you Mr. Lucas. Are you also here for the hidden trial?" Zinnia nodded slightly. When her gaze fell on the Dragonite behind Lucas, she briefly closed her eyes, then opened them. "No, I suppose that was a pointless question."