In the blink of an eye, another two days passed. Yuga and the others had gradually adapted to life on the island. Even that dilapidated wooden cabin had been repaired by them. Inside, they had placed simple, handmade furniture such as tables, stools, beds, and more.
The three of them didn't seem like they were on a mission but rather participating in some kind of deserted island survival challenge.
Steven, who had spent many years outdoors searching for stones, was especially skilled in wilderness survival. Most of the items in the wooden house were made by him. Yuga even admired him for quite a while because of this.
That day, Yuga and the others once again heard the sound of battle coming from a distance. They stared in the direction for a while, and once the noise subsided, they went back to their own business.
However, not long after, that girl named Shaya suddenly appeared in front of them.
"You three brats over there, come here!" she shouted toward Yuga and the others.
The three of them didn't move. Only Steven asked in confusion, "What do you want?"
Shaya impatiently curled her lips and walked up to the three, asking, "Do you plan to stay here forever?"
The three looked at Shaya in confusion. Shaya said, somewhat annoyed, "Come with me!"
As she spoke, she blew a whistle. Immediately, four Dragon-type Pokémon descended from the sky. One was the Noivern that Yuga had healed, and the other three included two Flygon and one Hydreigon.
Shaya flipped up and mounted the Hydreigon, then pointed to the Noivern and the Flygon and said to Yuga and the others, "Follow me!"
Because it had been treated by Yuga, the Noivern was very friendly toward him. It took the initiative to fly to Yuga's side and lowered its body, signaling for Yuga to climb on.
Steven and Robert looked toward Yuga and asked in a low voice, "What do we do? Should we follow?"
"Let's go see," Yuga nodded, then mounted the Noivern.
Steven and Robert quickly climbed onto the Flygon and followed.
Just as the three of them left with Shaya, the Latios leader appeared near the wooden cabin. It stared in the direction Yuga and the others had gone, watched for a while, then turned and flew in another direction.
Very quickly, the Latios leader arrived beside Yuga's Latios and Latias. At this moment, each of the siblings had a Latias and a Latios beside them who were trying to win them over.
The reason the siblings hadn't been able to go see Yuga these past few days was because they had been entangled by those two Latias and Latios.
The Latios leader's intent was very clear—it wanted the siblings to stay on Dragon Island. It believed that as long as the siblings each found a mate on Dragon Island, given the sense of duty their species carried, they would definitely choose to abandon that human and stay on the island voluntarily.
However, the truth was that not much progress had been made these past few days. The siblings were completely unresponsive and maintained a lukewarm attitude toward the Latias and Latios trying to win them over.
As soon as the Latios leader arrived, it gave the other Latias and Latios a look, and the two Pokémon consciously backed off.
Once they left, the Latios leader put on a pained and sorrowful expression and said, "Let me tell you a very unfortunate piece of news—your trainer has left you behind and gone off on his own."
Naturally, the siblings didn't believe it. The Latios leader looked at them with sympathy and said, "So pitiful, abandoned and betrayed and yet still unaware. If you don't believe me, I'll take you to see for yourselves."
It then took the siblings to the place where Yuga and the others were staying. Sure enough, there was no sign of them.
Latios even proactively led the siblings to search the surrounding area, but there was still no trace of Yuga and the other two.
"You see, I didn't lie to you," the Latios leader said with a sincere expression.
Yuga's Latios gave the Latios leader a deep look, then flew toward the wooden cabin where Yuga had lived. Inside, everything was neatly arranged and full—there were all kinds of supplies, and even the pots, bowls, and utensils were still there.
There was even a pot on a stone stove that was still steaming.
The Latios leader brought Latias inside the cabin and said, "See, they're not here either. They really did leave you behind."
The Latios leader was indeed quite clever. It knew how to sow discord. However, due to its lack of interaction with humans, it didn't understand human living habits. So, naturally, it made some low-level mistakes that Pokémon wouldn't normally think of.
If Yuga and the others had really left on their own, how could they have left behind so many personal belongings?
Latios understood, and so did Latias. The two of them tacitly chose not to expose the Latios leader, instead putting on an expression of disappointment.
The Latios leader thought its scheme to sow discord had succeeded. Suppressing the joy in its heart, it pretended to comfort the sibling pair and said:
"You don't need to be sad. Although that human betrayed you, you still have us, your kin. We will treat you as real family. Just stay here on Dragon Island."
Seeing that the two siblings still looked deeply saddened, the Latios leader suddenly said: "Come, I'll take you to see something good. You'll definitely like it!"
In order to keep the siblings, the Latios leader decided to pay a big price.
On the other side, Yuga and the other two were following Shaya as they flew forward. They didn't know how long they had been flying when a mountain appeared in front of them. The mountain wasn't very tall, but it covered a vast area, practically stretching across the entire Dragon Island.
Above the mountain, Dragon-type Pokémon flew about in the air—Dragonite, Altaria, Noivern, Hydreigon, Flygon, Dragapult...
Upon seeing this scene, only then did Yuga and the others understand why this place was called Dragon Island.
"Once we pass this mountain, we'll be there!" Shaya turned her head and shouted loudly at the three of them.
Because Shaya was leading them, Yuga and the others weren't blocked by the Dragon-type Pokémon. They flew smoothly over the mountain range and reached the other side of Dragon Island.
The other side of Dragon Island was completely different from the area where the Latios and Latias lived.
The half of Dragon Island where Latios and Latias lived had a complex environment, with forests, valleys, grasslands, and all kinds of varied scenery. But the side Yuga and the others had now arrived at was an endless prairie.
This vast grassland was home to a variety of Dragon-type Pokémon: running on the ground were Druddigon, Haxorus, Tyrantrum, Goodra, Baxcalibur... flying in the sky were Dragapult, Hydreigon, Noivern... swimming in the water were Kingdra, Dragalge...
All the common Dragon-type Pokémon that Yuga and the others could name were here. It had to be said—this scene was truly breathtaking.
Seeing that there was only shock, not greed, in the eyes of Yuga and the others, Shaya nodded in satisfaction.
Although Dragon Island had been isolated from the world for many years, it wasn't like no one had ever set their sights on it.
A long, long time ago, a human empire had once invaded Dragon Island, but ultimately failed. Since then, Dragon Island had completely cut off contact with the outside world.
Of course, all this was information Shaya had heard from the older generation on Dragon Island. She hadn't experienced it herself.
Although Shaya had lived a very long time, much of the history of Dragon Island still felt distant to her.
The three of them continued to fly forward under Shaya's lead. Along the way, they saw many different Dragon-type Pokémon, until they finally stopped in front of a small round lake.
"Ancestor! Ancestor!"
Shaya called out a few times toward the lake's surface. Soon, ripples began to spread across the water, and a round head emerged from beneath the surface.
It was a Dragonite.
However, this Dragonite did not look to be in good condition. Its eyes were cloudy, and half of its originally yellow scales had begun to turn pale white.
The Dragonite slowly swam to the lakeside. Its eyes turned slightly, as if it had to exert great effort just to open them.
"These... are the humans you mentioned?"
This Dragonite, surprisingly, could also use telepathy just like the Latios leader.
"Yes, it's them," Shaya replied.
Yuga activated his Insight skill to look at the Dragonite in front of him.
...
[ Dragonite (Elderly and Nearing the End) ]
Type: Dragon, Flying
Ability: Multiscale
Gender: Female
Potential: Purple
Level: 82
Moves: Thunder Wave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Agility, Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, Hyper Beam, Wing Attack, Hurricane, Thunder Punch, Roost, Brick Break, Dragon Pulse, Extreme Speed, Draco Meteor, Focus Punch, Superpower, Outrage, Iron Tail, Tailwind, Surf, Steel Wing, Double Team, Dragon Claw, Rest.
...
Feeling the aged and decaying aura emanating from Dragonite's body, Yuga suspected that this was once a level 100 Pokémon. However, its current level had nearly fallen out of the Champion class range, and it might not even be able to defeat a young Champion level Pokémon in a real battle.
Although level 100 Pokémon have long lifespans, they are not immortal—they too will eventually die of old age. This Dragonite before them must have lived through countless years.
Dragonite struggled to lift her eyelids, seemingly trying to get a clearer look at Yuga and the others, but she was simply too old. Her vision had become so clouded and blurred that she could only see indistinct shadows before finally giving up and closing her eyes once more. She sighed and said:
"It's been so long since I last saw a human…"
Her tone even carried a trace of nostalgic emotion.
Although a few Pokémon hunters had previously made their way onto Dragon Island, they had never been qualified to meet Dragonite.
"Ancestor…" Shaya couldn't help but choke up, then turned to Yuga and the others and said, "The Ancestor is dying…"
Yuga, Steven, Robert: Yeah, we can tell.
At this point, Shaya angrily said, "If it weren't for Latios standing by and doing nothing, the Ancestor wouldn't have ended up like this!"
Shaya was the only human on Dragon Island. She had been picked up by the Ancestor many years ago and raised single-handedly. Their bond was truly extraordinary.
Shaya was a person with special abilities. She had lived for several centuries. The reason she had been able to maintain her appearance unchanged for all those hundreds of years was because the Ancestor had sought out rare and precious herbs and minerals for her to consume.
"Shaya, don't say such things anymore. Life, aging, sickness, and death are the natural laws of the world. They are not to blame," the Ancestor said to Shaya in response, with a tone full of disapproval.
"But…" Shaya still wanted to say more, but was stopped by a look from the Ancestor.
Then the Ancestor turned toward Yuga and the others and said, "I suppose you're all wondering why I summoned you here."
The three nodded.
The Ancestor sighed, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "You must be able to tell that I don't have much time left. The reason I asked you to come is actually because I'd like to ask you for a favor."
In fact, if Dragonite hadn't learned from Shaya's words that the three humans had once helped her, she wouldn't have even thought to ask for help from the three people in front of her.
After all, so much time had passed…
Looking at the dying Dragonite, the three of them—Yuga, Steven, and Robert—truly couldn't bear to turn away, so they said, "Please, go ahead. If it's something we can help with, we'll do our best."
It turned out that a long, long time ago, there was once an internal conflict on Dragon Island, and the reason behind it was directly related to Dragonite.
At that time, Dragon Island wasn't like it is now. The ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon and the Latios and Latias clans hadn't yet split the land by the mountain range. Back then, the actual ruler of Dragon Island was the very same Dragonite before them now.
Dragonite had lived through endless ages, always guarding Dragon Island—but even she would inevitably grow old one day.
As Dragonite grew weaker day by day, the Dragon-type Pokémon on the island proposed that the Latios and Latias clan should offer up their treasure to help extend Dragonite's life.
That's right—the Latios and Latias clan possessed a special treasure that could help Dragonite.
Of course, the Latios and Latias clan were unwilling—the treasure was so precious that they themselves could hardly bear to use it!
Naturally, the Latios leader's refusal to hand over the treasure was also driven by personal ambition. He wanted to wait until Dragonite passed away, so that he could ascend to the position of ruler of Dragon Island.
The treasure belonged to the Latios and Latias group; whether they chose to offer it or not was their freedom. Dragonite had a generous heart and didn't insist, which was also the reason she asked Shaya not to harbor resentment.
But while Dragonite could let it go, the other Dragon-type Pokémon on the island couldn't. Thus, a battle between the ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon and the legendary Pokémon broke out.
At the time, Dragonite was already too old and feeble. Her power had declined to the point where she couldn't stop the internal conflict, so she could only watch helplessly as the once peaceful and harmonious Dragon Island fell into chaos.
The ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon were large in number, while Latios and Latias had strong individual combat abilities. The battle between both sides was fierce and evenly matched.
In the end, neither side gained the upper hand. As a result, Dragon Island was split in two by the mountain range—one side for the ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon, and the other for the Latios and Latias group—and a deep-seated grudge was formed between them.
Before this civil war, Dragon Island was home to only Dragon-type Pokémon; no other types lived there. But after the conflict, the Latios and Latias group, in order to bolster their combat strength, recruited and welcomed various other Pokémon species into their territory.
This was the reason why Yuga and his companions had seen no Dragon-type Pokémon in the territory of Latios and Latias, but instead saw all kinds of other Pokémon.
Hundreds of years had passed, yet the relationship between the two sides had never thawed. Conflicts still occurred from time to time, although everyone kept their actions restrained and avoided lethal force.
After hearing all this, Yuga, Steven, and Robert originally thought that Dragonite wanted them to help restore the peace of the past to Dragon Island—or to assist her in surpassing the limits of her lifespan!
But the truth wasn't like that at all. The aged and dying Dragonite had long since come to terms with both her own fate and the island's turmoil. Now, there remained only one single regret in her heart.