While Kazuya scanned and observed the Dragonite clan within the valley, they all noticed him in return. A colossal orange-red dragon with a flaming tail was an existence that was hard to miss.
"Ahoo?"
The Dragonites cast their gazes over, surprise and uncertainty pooling in their eyes. This was the first ti they had ever laid eyes on such a towering Pokémon.
This wasn't surprising. After all, when a Dragonair evolves into a Dragonite, it gains imnse weight but undergoes a massive regression in height. Take the Dragonites standing before him right now, for instance—they only asured around six and a half ters tall. Compared to the fifteen-ter-tall Kazuya, this stature was undeniably quite short.
"Iny~"
The Dragonair beside Kazuya let out a soft call, causing the clansn within the valley to shift their attention over. Their eyes were incredibly pure and clean, like a collection of blank sheets of paper that had never been touched by ink, appearing thoroughly out of place in this brutal era.
Kazuya proactively stepped forward into the valley. The oncoming breeze draped a thin veil of mist over his eyes. Within the fog, he felt as if he had traveled over two hundred years back in ti, returning to the exact mont he first stepped into the Dragonite Valley of Mt. Silver.
The exact sa serenity. The exact sa tapestry.
The mist dispersed, dragging him back to reality. Kazuya lowered his head, letting out a silent, internal sigh.
Originally, he had harbored so designs regarding the Dragonite clan here. After all, the Dragonite line was an exceptionally powerful dragon-grouped species; with their integration, the Dragon Clan's comprehensive might would achieve a qualitative leap, and aerial combat would completely cease to be a vulnerability.
But... he didn't want to shatter the serenity of this sanctuary, nor did he want to defile the pure simplicity lingering within the eyes of the Dragonite line.
Let it be. Let them continue to thrive happily within this hidden utopia, free from the disturbances of the outside world, living out their lives in eternal happiness.
The Dragonites had no inkling of what was churning inside Kazuya's mind. Seeing a creature like Kazuya for the very first ti, they were all intensely curious. Those with shy or timid dispositions hid in the far distance to peek and observe covertly, while the bolder ones took the initiative to gather close.
There was even a remarkably plump Dragonite that waddled directly up to Kanto, using its palm to poke Kazuya's abdon. Sensing the slightly coarse, solid texture beneath its claw, the Dragonite withdrew its hand and rubbed its own soft, squishy belly.
"Hello there~" Kazuya grinned, reaching out a claw to gently stroke the head of the Dragonite before him. The texture was wonderful; a Dragonite's body had always been this squishy and warm. It was precisely because of this that Liz loved to fling herself into his embrace back then.
"Ahoo~" The Dragonite smiled and waved a hand at him, then turned around to beckon its other companions.
A few slightly bashful Dragonair and Dratini gathered close, chattering excitedly as they conversed with Kazuya. So other mbers brought over a collection of Berries, clearly intending to offer a hospitable welco to their guest, Kazuya.
Kazuya didn't act like an outsider either. He sat cross-legged on the ground, munching on Berries he had never seen before while patiently answering the questions thrown his way by the Dragonites.
Through Kazuya's descriptions, the Dragonites gained an actual concept of the world for the very first ti. They had honestly thought that besides this single island, the rest of creation was entirely composed of a terrifying, endless ocean.
"Have you guys never tried to cross the ocean, or even dive beneath the waves?" Kazuya asked with genuine curiosity. Pokémon residing within the sea might not be able to crawl onto land, but the Dragonite clan shouldn't have lived their entire lives without ever entering the sea, right? The ocean was the very cradle of the Dragonite line.
However, if they had entered the ocean, the Dragonite clan would have undoubtedly encountered the Pokémon living beneath the waves, and so form of conflict or competitive friction would have inevitably ensued. It shouldn't have been possible for them to cultivate such a narrow worldview.
"Ahoo," the Dragonite shook its head. Kazuya turned his head to scan the other Dragonair and Dratini; their expressions were completely identical.
"Huh?" Kazuya was genuinely floored. This Dragonite clan had truly never entered the ocean?
As a living being who had personally existed as a Dragonite in a past life, he believed he possessed a fundantal understanding of this species' biological traits. If one were to rank a Dragonite's combat proficiency based on terrain, Kazuya firmly believed that a Dragonite's underwater combat prowess reigned supre, with the sky taking second place.
Don't be fooled by a Dragonite's lack of the Water typing. From their very first developntal stage, they live beneath the waves and can practically only thrive underwater. The second-stage Dragonair obtains the capacity to leave the water, but the duration cannot be prolonged; otherwise, it causes imnse discomfort to a Dragonair's skin, even inducing dryness and peeling.
Furthermore, the Dratini and Dragonair stages are exceptionally prolonged, effectively consuming the entire first half of a Dragonite's lifespan. Therefore, even after evolving into a Dragonite and securing wings capable of soaring through the heavens, they remain fundantally more adept at underwater combat.
Yet right now, the pack of Dragonites before him turned out to be an entirely land-dwelling group. This left Kazuya's mind utterly muddled.
"Ahoo!" The Dragonite before him extended both arms, gesturing dramatically in front of Kazuya while its face contorted into an expression of sheer dread.
It explained that their ancestors had left behind a final warning:
"A truly terrifying Pokémon resides within the ocean. That Pokémon commands an unrivaled, absolute power, and no living thing can stand as its match. Long ago, many of our kinsn dove into the sea and never returned. They were undoubtedly devoured by that horrific creature. Therefore, our descendants must absolutely never enter the ocean!"
And later on, the Dragonite clan discovered that those kinsn who loved to play near the shoreline would occasionally vanish without a trace. Everyone assud they had been swallowed up by the terrifying leviathan dwelling within the waves, so their dread of the ocean intensified by the day. The Dratini and Dragonair relied entirely on the massive lake and freshwater streams situated on the island to hydrate and nourish their bodies.
Hearing this, Kazuya pinched his chin, falling into deep contemplation. He understood the puzzle now.
The ancestors of this Dragonite clan had indeed encountered an imnsely powerful Pokémon beneath the waves long ago, and many of their kinsn had perished down there. Thus, they strictly ordered their descendants to avoid the sea.
Right then, Kazuya cast another glance at the little Dratini draped across his neck, recalling the exact location where they had first encountered each other.
Furthermore, the ocean held an unparalleled, primal attraction for the Dragonite line; it was an ancestral calling embedded directly into their genetic code. So weak Dratini with poor self-restraint would uncontrollably wander down to the shore, only to be ambushed by the coastal marine Pokémon and carried off as prey. This tragic pattern inadvertently reinforced the belief that their ancestors' warnings weren't a re exaggeration, culminating in the current status quo.
The Dragonite clan avoided the ocean like the plague, and assuming nothing but water lay beyond their island, they had never left this land. They hadn't even flown far out to try and comprehend the world.
A bunch of landlubbers... Kazuya muttered silently.
Possessing the biological blueprints of an apex underwater predator, yet abandoning that innate talent due to a psychological block—it truly brought a wave of lantation to a dragon.
But Kazuya rely indulged in a brief mont of sentintality. He had no intention of revealing the truth to the Dragonite clan. As he had resolved before, things were wonderful just the way they were. The Dragonite clan lived an exceptionally blissful life; there was no need for redundant interference that would shatter this harmony.
"How long have you guys stayed on this island?"
"Ahoo..."
During the casual conversation that followed, Kazuya and the Dragonite clan exchanged many thoughts. He discovered that the clan's understanding of their own history was remarkably limited. They didn't even know when their lineage had first begun living on this island. Supposedly, the oldest Dragonite currently alive was only a little over seventy years old, and when it was hatched, the clan was already firmly rooted here.
As for the older generations of Dragonites, they had apparently all perished during that catastrophic ancient naval battle. It was also in the wake of that tragedy that the warning regarding the horrific ocean was established, influencing the clan to this very day.
Of course, besides that, the ancestors of the Dragonite clan had also imparted another directive: no matter what, they had to safeguard this island at all costs, for it contained an exceptionally vital treasure.
As for what that vital treasure actually was, not a single dragon within the clan knew, nor did they particularly care. In any case, this island was their holand; they would have protected it fiercely regardless.
"Safeguarding a territory requires a level of strength that matches the assignnt. You guys are entirely too weak; let teach you a few moves." Kazuya smiled and rose to his feet, scanning the Dragonite clan gathered before him.
Long ago, the Alpha Dragonite of Mt. Silver had generously passed down teachings to him—an outsider dragon. Today, he intended to pay that debt forward by rewarding these endearing, plump dragons who had treated him with such hospitality.
By this ti, the mbers of the Dragonite clan who had been wandering outside had mostly returned. Kazuya scanned the crowd, and things were exactly as he had surmised. The total population of the Dragonite clan hovered around eighty, with only eleven or twelve fully evolved Dragonites. Furthermore, they lacked an Alpha entirely—likely because an isolated clan stripped of external pressure simply had no practical need for a designated Alpha leader.
The number of Dragonair wasn't large either, sitting at less than thirty, while the rest were entirely Dratini. This was the destiny of "late-blooming" Pokémon, and concrete proof of a survival environnt completely devoid of competitive friction.
Since he had no intention of altering the Dragonite clan's peaceful environnt, yet wished to elevate their self-defense capabilities, passing down moves was the perfect avenue.
"Ahoo?" The Dragonite tilted its head in confusion.
"You guys know Fire Punch and Thunder Punch, right?" Kazuya raised both fists; his left fist ignited with roaring flas while his right fist crackled with blinding electricity.
"Ahoo?" The Dragonite furrowed its brow, tilting its head in sheer bewildernt before shaking its head blankly.
"You don't know either of these moves?" Kazuya blinked. It looked like he had still overestimated the current strength of this Dragonite clan.
The elental punches served as the hallmark repertoire for a Dragonite; a Dragonite that couldn't wield these three moves could hardly be counted as a proper specin. Fire Punch and Thunder Punch were moves the Dragonite line could easily unlock through biological mory, yet they didn't know them. It was clear this specific clan had completely forgotten these twin techniques, let alone Ice Punch, which required specialized training.
Originally, Kazuya had intended to teach the Dragonites Ice Punch, but looking at things now, he had to pivot his training regin on the fly.
"Since that's the case... I'll teach you Thunder Punch."
After careful consideration, Kazuya selected Thunder Punch for his curriculum. Given the Dragonites' current island environnt, the probability of encountering Water-type Pokémon was the highest, followed by Flying-type Pokémon. Thunder Punch was a professionally tailored solution against those two attributes, whereas Fire Punch and Ice Punch wouldn't find much practical application here.
"Ahoo!" The Dragonites nodded their heads forcefully. It had to be said that their learning attitude was remarkably enthusiastic.
If they were to step off this island, the Dragonite clan would undoubtedly shine with imnse brilliance across the world. But unfortunately, they wouldn't leave this land. Kazuya wouldn't lead them away, and they themselves harbored no desire to depart.
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