Ash and his team spent three days training in the Battle Park and they had a great time fighting everyone, well at least Ash did.
Even Misty and Brock had several battles to make sure that their skills don't rust away.
Ash also exchanged his Lapras and his Tyranitar back from the Lab.
Lapras can now start special training especially created for him. He has made great progress recently under Slowking's training in his control over his energy. After these three days of constant fights, he has built up strong self-confidence.
Since Tyranitar was caught by Ash some time ago, he hasn't taken it on many trips or battles, but the Bond Value is actually very high. Ash attaches no less importance to her than Charizard, and he has a good run-in with it this time.
Ash hopes to make her one of his most powerful Pokémon's alongside his Charizard and Pikachu.
After all all, she has one of the highest stats across all of his Pokémon's.
After crossing the famous Ice Cave without much happening inside, Ash and his party finally arrived at the location of Ash's last Gym Badge, Blackthorn City. There was also a Dratini here waiting for him, waiting for a grand journey.
"Big Brother, look, Dratini!"
Molly has one of the sharpest eyes Ash has ever seen, she was the first to notice a Dratini lying by the riverside!
This is the Kanto Region's Pseudo-Legendary Dragonite, well in its initial stage.
This is a snake-shaped Pokémon, with its whole body covered in light blue scales, a small white dragon horn on its forehead, and white fins on both sides of its head. It is very cute to anyone and everyone.
"So cute!" Molly and Misty both exclaimed at the same time.
This little Dratini was lying with its body curled up by the lake. Before anything else, Ash stopped the two girls in his group from getting any closer to the Dratini, "This Dratini is shedding its skin. If it appears here like this, there must be a Trainer alongside it."
The energy in Dratini's body is constantly expanding and cannot be suppressed by much, so it will molt repeatedly and grow up little by little until it evolves.
The skin of Dratini that has just shed its skin is very delicate, so it usually molts under the protection of waterfalls. This little one looked like it was its first time shedding its skin. Not only is there likely a Trainer with it, but there must also be a Pokémon guarding it nearby and making sure that was safe from any harm.
"Be careful, I sense a Gyarados underwater next to that Dratini." Ash said after sensing it with his passive Auar Sense.
Sure enough, as soon as Ash finished speaking, the water in the lake started churning, and a ferocious-looking Gyarados jumped out and hit them with a Hydro Pumps without giving any warnings.
The Gyarados species as a whole was always so unreasonable when they met his group. They always began with using one of their Hydro Pumps.
The same goes for Ursaring and them using Hyper Beams every time they enter a forest.
"Petal Dance!"
Meganium's Petal Dance not only blocked Gyarados' Hydro Pump, but it also did some heavy damage to the Gyarados as well with her attack.
"Now use Sweet Smell!"
The rich and refreshing fragrance of flowers calmed down the alredy injured Gyarados, Dratini also seemed to relax and came to Pikachu's side, and Togepi also jumped out of Misty's arms to greet the new friend it saw.
They already seemed to began to play with each other with Pikachu looking over them.
"Dratini, it looks like you have found a new friend for you." A tall girl beautiful girl with long light blue hair appeared in front of Ash and his group. She was obviously Dratini's trainer.
Gyarados and Dratini soon came to her. She touched Gyarados' big horns, then picked up Dratini and put her into the lake. "Who's a good boy?"
At this time, she looked at Ash and his group, and her eyes lit up, "To be able to neutralize Gyarados' attack so easily, then calm its anger, and play so well with Dratini, you are Ash, right?"
Unexpectedly, the young lady in front of him actually managed to recognize him. Ash was stunned and said, "Hello, I am indeed Ash from Pallet Town!"
"Well nice to meet you, my name is Clair!" The young lady introduced herself to the group.
Brock immediately stood up and took a bouquet of flowers, and rushed to Claire, "Geodude's strong willpower, Magmars burning enthusiasm, and Sunflora's smile, Miss Clair, you are a combination of all of them!"
However, Clair noticed that Dratini started to move upstream of the lake. She didn't care about Brock trying to hit on her, and quickly called Gyarados, "Gyarados, Dratini has started to move, chase after him!"
When she was leaving, she left a message for Ash, "Well Ash, see you at the Blackthorn City Gym!"
Of course, Ash didn't want to miss this incident that was obviously related to Dratini. He hurriedly led his group to follow her, but an old man called out from behind him, "Miss, wait for me! Lady Clair, today is an important..."
This man was old, and he looked to be carrying a package. He can't keep up with Claire at all. Instead, he fell to the ground.
"Grands, are you okay?" The group hurried over and helped the old man get up.
Unexpectedly, the first thing this old man did when he got up was to open his package, not even his own self. He was relieved to see that the thing inside of the box was not broken.
"Is this a Dragon Fang?" Ash immediately recognized the item in the package at a glance, "But why is it so big? How big must that dragon be that produced it?"
Seeing that Ash was so knowledgeable about this, the old man was willing to introduce it to them, "This is a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation in the Blackthorn City Gym!"
"My name is Kaburagi, and I work at the Blackthorn City Gym. Miss Clair is the Gym Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym but I think you have already known that part." Kaburagi put the Dragon Fang away after carefully making sure it was safe.
Looking at Ash, he smiled and said.
Ash nodded to what he said, Clair just said goodbye to them and followed her Dratini.
It was obvious that Kaburagi had a reason to follow Clair, so Ash and the others followed Clair with him to make sure he was safe.
Ash led him to catch up quickly with Clair. After all, Dratini was not that fast, so everyone just followed him quietly.
"A long time ago, there used to be a lot of Dragon-type Pokémon causing trouble in this place!" Along the way, Kaburagi began to explain the origin of this family heirloom to everyone.
There was indeed evidence that Pokémon from long time ago were much larger than their species today. The largest Dragon-type Pokémon at that time was pacified by the first-generation Gym Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym, thus obtaining this Dragon Fang!
"This Dragon Fang is an important item passed down from generation to generation in the Blackthorn City Gym, and today is the day to hold the ceremony to purify the Dragon Fang, which is an important task for the young lady as the current Gym Leader.
"What kind of ceremony is this?" Misty asked curiously.
"A ritual to cleanse the Dragon Fang and pray for the health and prosperity for all Dragon-type Pokémon. This is an important day, happening every three years!" Kaburagi explained to them.
Hearing Kaburagi's voice, Clair responded, "Okay, I know that, but now Dratini is more important. For the upcoming molt, Dratini is conserving energy. It won't work if we don't be quiet and protect him!"
Kaburagi still wanted to persuade, but Ash stopped him, "I can understand Miss Clair's intention, Mr. Kaburagi, this ceremony is for the health of the Dragon-type Pokémon, do you want Clair to ignore her own Dratini's health?" Does he really want that to happen? As Trainers, they must first be responsible for our own Pokémon, right?
"Pika!"
"Yes, Big Brother is right!" Molly raised both her hands in agreement with Ash's remarks.
Misty and Brock also smiled and nodded along.
This was indeed the case for them, so Kaburagi had no choice but to compromise. It seemed that he could only wait until Dratini shed his skin to go back.
Because of Ash's words, the group did eventually accompany Dratini on its journey to molt its skin.
When it was time for dinner, Dratini also stopped what he was doing, and everyone sat down to prepare for dinner. Due to the time constraints, Brock just made some simple meals, but the taste was still good.
"It's so delicious!" Clair bit into the jelly filled donut that Brock made just for her, then took a sip of the drink that Ash had just made, and looked at Ash, "Ash, I've heard everything about you. Lance promised to give you a Dratini. But whether you can really get it all depends on your ability."
Hearing this, Ash's eyes went up to her eyes, "Is there any kind of test that I have to do?"
Clair smiled and said, "If you just want to get a Dratini from here, Lance and I can give you the recommendation, but the condition is that you have to choose it yourself by going inside of the Dragon's Den!"
"The first Gym Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym built the Dragon's Den in the large cave behind the Gym for the Dragon-type Pokémon species to live here for generations! Lance and I got many of our Pokémon's from within Dragon's Den."
"Ash, do you know how difficult this is to follow?" Clair looked at Ash with a very serious expression, "Of course before being able to go inside there, you must first defeat me and get the Rising Badge of the Blackthorn City Gym!"
Misty's eyes lit up, "So, does Ash also have the same opportunity to enter Dragon's Den to practice the same way as Mr. Lance and you had?"
Clair smiled and nodded, "This is an special opportunity that Professor Oak and Lance himself have fought for you to be able to do. Ash, you must work hard and use that opportunity!"
The request for a Dratini was indeed not too much. The difficulty was that Ash wanted to choose it by himself, but Lance agreed to it and tried his best to fight for Ash's decision.
Ash remembered this favor and will do his best to return it in the future.
"Ash, how many Badges have you got now?" Kaburagi asked curiously from the side.
"Grandpa Kabu, look!" Molly opened Ash's backpack and dug out the Badge Collection Box that he always carried with him. Seven different Badges lay quietly inside, each one full of memories and all clean.
"You even got the Glacier Badge, Ash, have you really been to the Mahogany Town Gym?" Kaburagi asked seriously, looking at the seventh Badge in the slot, "I heard the news a while ago that a Red Gyarados was near Mahogany Town. There was some trouble about it in the news, what's going on there now?"
Kaburagi and Pryce definitely knew each other at a personal level, Ash wouldn't believe it if they didn't know each other.
"You don't need to worry about this matter." Brock replied with a smile, "That Gyarados has been tamed by Ash using his Heal Ball, and it has now fully recovered and is training well in Professor Oak's backyard!!"
Of course, Brock doesn't know that Ash's Shiny Gyarados has completely recovered, and has also completed his Bond Evolution with Ash, becoming a real red water dragon!
"I see, no wonder Lance looks at you so differently!" Clair also looked at Ash with admiration, "Now I really am looking forward to the battle that we are going to have!"
"Me too, let's have a battle to remember!" Ash said with a confident smile.
As if feeling the fighting spirit of both Ash and Clair, Dratini, who was resting in the water, began to slowly molt for the last time as a Dratini.
Just then, his whole body began releasing a dazzling light!
"This is?"
Everyone quickly gathered around to witness the moment of Dratini's evolution.
The body in the white light continued to grow until the snake-like body straightened up to more than two meters in height. The evolved Dragonair did not change much in appearance from a Dratini, however the size definitely did.
After evolving, his body length now reaches more than 4 meters, and its whole body is covered with sapphire blue scales. Now it also has a small white horn on its forehead. The original white fins on both sides of its head have evolved into a pair of small white wings. When they fly, these small wings will become much bigger to help them go faster.
The most eye-catching thing is of course the three crystal-like blue beads on its body, one under its neck and two at the end of its tail.
These three beads contain the power to control the weather around it. When its whole body is shrouded in aura, the surrounding weather will completely change. Therefore, Dragonair has been worshiped by people who farm as the one who controls the weather since ancient times.
"Dratini, congratulations, you have finally evolved into a Dragonair!" Clair was very happy to see her partner evolving into a stronger form. The little guy who she had taken good care of for so long finally grew up.
"So beautiful!" Molly leaned forward and gently stroked Dragonair's scales, "It's slippery, haha. It feels nice to the touch."
Dragonair suddenly used its tail to grab Molly onto his back, floated into the air, and rushed upstream again.
Clair quickly followed them, followed closely by Ash and his group!
Under the leadership of Dragonair, everyone came to a waterfall, on which a pair of stone pillars that looked like dragon teeth protruded.
It was dark now, but the bright moon hung high in the sky. Viewed from the front of the waterfall, it fell right between the pair of dragon teeth, giving the entire waterfall a mysterious and sacred atmosphere.
"Dragonair guided us here for a reason. Its destination has been here from the very beginning!" Ash murmured after seeing the sight.
Whether it was Dratini's molt seeking the protection of the waterfall, or Dragonair's other purpose after evolution, Ash looked at Clair and Kaburagi, "Is this the best place to hold a ceremony?"
Only after Ash said this did Clair and Kaburagi react. Kaburagi quickly took off the package and handed the giant Dragon Fang to Clair.
The moonlight was bright and clear, Clair arranged the altar in the water and placed the giant Dragon Fang on it.
"Dragon of heaven, dragon of earth, dragon of water, give peace to all dragons! Give smile to all dragons! Give happiness to all dragons!"
She picked up a handful of water and poured the water from the source onto the Dragon Fang.
Just then, a miracle happened.
The golden light suddenly began to appear on the Dragon Fang, and then the golden light became stronger and stronger. It actually rose from the Dragon Fang, forming a shining ball of light that flew towards the sky.
"ROAR!"
The sound of dragon roars came from the void, and the light ball turned into a giant dragon, hovering in the air, and then turned into stars and dissipated from their sight!
"Big Brother, the light really become a dragon!" Molly was so shocked that her voice changed.
Patting her head gently, "Yes, this is the magic of Pokémon! Traveling and being able to see these kind of things is really great, right, Molly!"
"Hmm, luckily I went on a trip with Big Brother! When I get back, I will tell dad all about it for a long time!" Molly's experience along the way is the most precious treasure to her.
"The Dragon of Light that turns into a star will protect all dragon Pokémon. This is the legend of our place!" Kaburagi explained happily to all of them.
Clair came out of the water and looked directly at Ash, "I, Clair, the Gym Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym, am putting my reputation as a Dragon-type Pokémon Trainer on the line, Ash Ketchum, I'm going to fight you with all my strength! You better give it your all?"
"This is exactly what I wish for!" Ash said back to her.
————————————————————
Back to the Whirl Islands with Maya.
"Ash, I need you." She said in a soft melodic voice.
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