Chapter 80: Training in Dragonite Valley
"Nite?"
Just as Will was secretly observing the valley, a soft cry sounded by his ear, and a puff of hot air blew against his head-wing.
"Whoa!"
Will shuddered, his body almost going limp. A Dragonair's head-wings are very sensitive, even more so than a human's earlobe. But when he came to his senses, the scales all over his body stood on end. He stared wide-eyed at the creature that had made the sound.
It was a Dragonite. Good heavens... buddy, you are ugly.
Yes, Will was face-blind, that was true. But a Shiny Dragonite was ugly even by human aesthetic standards. As everyone knows, Pokémon players have a certain obsession with Shinies, but that does not include Shiny Dragonite. A Shiny Dratini and a Shiny Dragonair are pink, looking very pretty and cute. But their evolution, this Shiny Dragonite, was truly a tragic sight. It looked like a giant, mobile booger.
"Nite?"
The Dragonite, seeing Will staring at it, scratched its head a little shyly. He knew he was handsome; after all, he was the heartthrob of the clan. But being stared at like this was still a little embarrassing.
"...Hello," Will said, not knowing what else to say, so he just nodded.
"Nite?"
"Yes, I came from the outside. I grew up on my own."
"Dragonite?!"
The Shiny Dragonite was shocked to hear Will's words. It then reached out and gave him a big hug. As a dragon who had been there, it couldn't imagine how miserable Will's life must have been. It had to bring this kinsman back to the clan and let him feel their great warmth and great love.
Ooh~ so soft and warm, Will thought. It was his first time being hugged by a Dragonite, and the feeling was quite wonderful.
A Dragonite's body has no fur, but its cream-colored belly is incredibly soft. And its body temperature was completely different from a Dragonair's; it was very warm. The moment he was hugged, Will felt himself starting to get sleepy.
Before he knew it, he had been carried back to the valley by the Shiny Dragonite.
Seeing a strange Dragonair appear, the other Dragonite, Dragonair, and Dratini all gathered around, their eyes filled with surprise, because Will was huge. In the Era of Primal Beasts, the upper limit for a Dragonair's length should have been about 8 meters. Will's 10 meters was already 2.5 times the Pokédex value. He was a Dragonair whose length had been affected by his strength.
"Nite?"
The leader of the Dragonite clan was a giant, eight-meter-tall Dragonite. A height like this was not just due to the "Alpha" bonus; it was definitely also influenced by its outstanding strength. Will couldn't even imagine how high this Dragonite's level must be.
"Nite, nite," the Shiny Dragonite explained Will's situation.
This made the other clan members feel very sorry for him. They all took out their own treasures to share with him and invited him to stay. One particularly lovely female Dragonair even sidled up to him and wrapped the tip of her tail around his.
Although Will had never interacted with other Dragonair in this life, he could guess the meaning of this action from her eyes. He immediately performed a Dragon Tail, sweeping the female aside.
"...I'll gladly accept this, but as for staying, I'll have to pass," Will said, taking a Dragon Fang from a female Dragonite but refusing their other kind offers.
Mainly because the Dragon Fang was just too good to refuse. It could increase the power of his Dragon-type moves by 20%, an item on the same level as the Mystic Water.
"Dragonite?" the Alpha asked, tilting its head, wanting to know the reason. Mt. Silver was so dangerous, and Will was still so young. If he didn't stay here, where could he go?
"...In the past, I was taken in by a..." Will hesitated for a moment, then briefly explained his and Liz's story.
"Nite?"
"Yes, we can be partners with humans. At least, Liz is trustworthy. I will return to her side. And you, if you ever encounter any difficulties in the future and can no longer survive in Mt. Silver, then go and find her and her people. In that direction, you will find humans with red and blue hair," Will said, pointing in the direction of the Dragonite Kingdom.
"Nite, dragonite?" the Alpha glanced in that direction, not particularly concerned, but still nodded to show he had taken note of it. At the same time, it placed a hand on Will's body.
"Can I?" Will's eyes widened in pleasant surprise as he looked at the big, chubby dragon.
The Alpha's meaning was that if Will wasn't in a hurry to leave, he could stay with the clan for a few days and learn some skills from them. He was, of course, more than willing. Although he couldn't see the Alpha's level, to be one of the rulers in the center of Mt. Silver, its level had to be incredibly high, and its movepool was surely very deep. Even their rival, the Kangaskhan, could learn Ice Beam and Ice Punch from fighting them. There was no reason he couldn't learn a few moves before he left.
"Dragonite!" the Alpha patted its chest with its other hand, promising that it was no problem at all.
"Can I come back in a couple of days? I'd like to go back and inform my partner first."
"Nite!" the Alpha nodded and beckoned, calling over two other Dragonite. The meaning was clear: they would escort him back and then bring him here again.
Although the Alpha didn't look old, it was actually over a thousand years old. It knew the situation in Mt. Silver better than anyone. It knew that if it let Will go back alone, there was a good chance he would die on the way. Therefore, it called two clan members to escort him.
"Thank you very much," Will said gratefully, looking at the two Dragonite. One of them was the Shiny one. Both were about 4.5 meters tall, not too absurd. This meant that at their age, their strength was not so outstanding as to affect their height. But could a Dragonite's age be compared to an ordinary Pokémon's? Although these two looked like babies, they were probably at least three or four hundred years old.
Come to think of it, he, at the age of one, would probably have to call the youngest Dratini in this clan "uncle" or "aunt." After such a long period of accumulation, this clan only had about fifty members. Could that still be called a lot?
As for the strength of the two Dragonite, they were certainly no weaker than that Kangaskhan; they would only be stronger. The evolution requirement for a Dragonair to become a Dragonite was around Lv. 55, so any Dragonite that appeared would not be below that level. This trip for Will was guaranteed to be safe and profitable.
On the way back to the cave, Will discovered that his two Dragonite escorts had definitely made a name for themselves in the central region. Many powerful-looking Pokémon would give way when they saw them, not daring to cause trouble.
When Will returned to the cave with the two giant Dragonite, the Scyther crew was shocked.
"Scyther?!" The old Alpha was stunned to hear from Will that his kin were one of the supreme rulers of Mt. Silver. At the same time, it felt happy for Will and wished him well in his training.
"Zubat-bat~" The Zubat, on the other hand, immediately clung to him. Its meaning was clear: it wanted to go with him to Dragonite Valley.
Will didn't refuse. The Scyther couldn't take good care of the Zubat, and the middle ring was not safe for it. In contrast, although Dragonite Valley was in the most dangerous central region, with the protection of the Dragonite clan, it was actually the safest place for the Zubat.
"I'll be back after a while. I hope your strength has improved by then. After all, we can only be an invincible team if our strengths are similar," Will said.
"Scyther," the old Alpha patted its chest, expressing its confidence. It had already learned from Will the reason for his rapid growth: constant battling.
Although most wild Pokémon were unwilling to engage in meaningless battles that lowered their survival chances, this Scyther was one of the few exceptions. The incident with the leadership change had already ignited a desire for strength in its heart. Now, with Will's words to motivate it, it would naturally fight hard to raise its level. It did not want to lack the strength to stand by Will's side in the future.
Goodbyes between Pokémon don't require many words. Will returned to pick up the Zubat, then turned and left with the two Dragonite. Besides, it wasn't as if they would never see each other again. Pokémon have a deep faith in the words "see you again." Since they had said it, they would surely meet again one day.
On the way back to Dragonite Valley, Will and the Zubat were carried by the two Dragonite. The two of them hadn't known the way to the cave, which was why they had let Will lead and had flown slower. There was no need for that on the way back.
Is a Dragonite fast? If it hasn't been specially trained, not particularly. A funny thing is that in the Pokédex, a Dragonite is described as being able to circle the Earth in just 16 hours, but its Speed stat is only 80. So, the Pokédex is total nonsense. A Dragonite's speed can only be attributed to the move Extreme Speed.
Among non-Legendary Pokémon, only four can learn Extreme Speed naturally: Arcanine, Dragonite, Lucario, and Togekiss. Two others can learn it through inheritance: Pikachu and Linoone.
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