It turned out that during the internal conflict on Dragon Island back then, Dragonite's only remaining descendant bloodline was lost in the chaos. Dragonite suspected that the child had wandered outside of Dragon Island, so she wanted to ask the three outsiders—Yuga and his companions—for help in finding them.
After hearing Dragonite's request, the three of them exchanged glances, and Steven spoke with a troubled expression:
"This world is so vast—asking us to search for a Pokémon that has been lost for hundreds of years… how could we possibly find it? Besides, that child…"
Steven didn't finish his sentence, but everyone present knew what he was going to say—that child might not have even survived the internal conflict back then.
How could Dragonite not know this as well? But that was, after all, her only bloodline remaining in the world, her sole continuation of lineage. She always held on to the faintest possibility that the child was still living well somewhere in this world.
The closer she came to death, the more Dragonite longed for that child to still be alive.
"Ahh…" Dragonite let out a deep sigh. "That child had great talent—perhaps they are living in some corner of this world…"
"But even if it's alive, finding it would be as hard as reaching the heavens! How could we possibly know which one is your descendant?" Robert couldn't help but say.
"I have already thought of a solution to that problem," Dragonite said after a brief silence.
"Old Ancestor…" Shaya wanted to speak but stopped herself. She only saw the Old Ancestor gently shake her head toward her. Shaya had no choice but to close her mouth, though her eyes had already turned red.
Then Yuga saw the Old Ancestor slowly open her mouth, and from within floated out a golden sphere of light the size of a fist.
"This…" Yuga widened his eyes in shock, feeling the vast, surging energy radiating from within the golden light sphere. He said in disbelief, "This is… your… Dragon Pearl?"
Yuga had seen a Dragon Pearl before—it was a rare and precious special object that only Dragon-type Pokémon who had reached a certain level of power could condense.
Although Dragonite's body was now frail and aged beyond measure, the Dragon Pearl within her body had instead grown ever stronger. She simply no longer had the strength to draw upon its power.
The three of them never expected Dragonite to spit out her own Dragon Pearl.
Once the Dragon Pearl left her body, Dragonite's aura became even weaker. The scales that had still been half golden instantly faded entirely into a pallid color, looking utterly lifeless.
"Old Ancestor!" At this sight, Shaya cried out in grief, large tears falling in heavy drops.
Under the gaze of Yuga and the others, the golden sphere of light split into three, slowly floating before them and landing in their hands, becoming three equally sized small golden pearls.
"Huff… huff…" Without the Dragon Pearl, even speaking became exhausting for Dragonite. After panting for a long while, she finally continued: "When you… encounter… encounter that child or… or that child's descendants… the Dragon Pearl in your hands will give you a signal…"
"Whether or not you can… find… find that child, the Dragon Pearl in your hands will count as… my payment to you."
Yuga looked at Dragonite with a complex expression and said, "For a wish that might never be fulfilled, is this really worth it for you?"
Dragonite lightly shook her head. "I am about to die… what is there to weigh as worth or not worth? It is only to fulfill one last wish… That is better than leaving this world with regret…"
Hearing this, the three of them said no more, but instead gave a solemn promise: "Rest assured—we will try to find them for you."
Dragonite nodded and then said, "If you truly do find that child, please bring them back to Dragon Island once… to pay respects to me…"
Dragonite knew that she would not live to see the day that child returned, so she could only say it this way.
After giving what was essentially her final instructions to Yuga and his companions, Dragonite turned to Shaya and said: "Shaya… have you thought about the future?"
"Future?" Shaya asked hoarsely, choking back her emotions.
Dragonite nodded. "I mean, after I die."
Shaya threw herself forward and wrapped her arms around Dragonite's head, saying, "I'll just stay with Old Ancestor forever."
Hearing this, Dragonite let out a deep sigh. "You'd be better off going outside to take a look at the world…"
Aside from the lost descendant, the one Dragonite worried about the most was Shaya.
Shaya had been picked up by Dragonite from outside after she lost her own descendant. Because of transference of affection, Dragonite had placed the same love and care she had for that lost child onto Shaya—and in the blink of an eye, hundreds of years had passed.
After living together for centuries, Dragonite had long since come to treat Shaya as her own child. Now that she was about to leave this world, it was inevitable she would think about Shaya's future.
"How could you possibly stay with me forever…" Dragonite said helplessly. "It would be so much better for you to go out and see the world. Dragon Island shouldn't keep you trapped… and I shouldn't…"
Shaya's lifespan, while long, was not eternal like AZ's—there would eventually be a day when her life came to an end. If she spent it all guarding Dragon Island, wouldn't that be such a pity?
"I don't care, I just want to stay with you…" Shaya said stubbornly, almost like throwing a tantrum.
After a while, seeing that Dragonite was already exhausted, Yuga and the others left the lake under Shaya's guidance.
On the way, Shaya spoke to the three of them with solemnity: "I'm entrusting Old Ancestor's matter to you!"
The three of them replied, "Since we've accepted the payment, we will of course do our best."
"Thank you…" Shaya said sadly.
After returning from the other side of the mountain, Yuga and the others were about to head back to the cabin when the Latios leader suddenly appeared in front of them.
The sudden, ghost-like appearance of the Latios leader startled them, and then they heard it ask, "Shaya took you to the other side of the island?"
The three of them did not hide anything and nodded honestly.
"Then… you saw Old Ancestor?"
When mentioning Old Ancestor, the Latios leader's tone became unsteady, as if lacking confidence.
Back then, the one who had most strongly opposed taking out the group's treasure to save Dragonite had been the Latios leader.
However, it never felt that it had done anything wrong—birth, aging, sickness, and death were the natural laws. Why should they have to use their group's treasure to help Dragonite?
The reason its tone lacked confidence when speaking of Dragonite was because of another matter—one that no one but itself knew. But whenever it thought of it, it felt a slight twinge of regret.
Yuga nodded and said, "We saw her."
"How is Old Ancestor?" the Latios leader immediately asked, its tone showing a hint of urgency.
It had not seen Old Ancestor for many years. The Dragon-type Pokémon on the other side of Dragon Island, because they resented its role in provoking the internal conflict back then, refused to let it visit Old Ancestor.
In the Latios leader's heart there was both guilt toward Old Ancestor and a faint hope that she would die sooner.
It was ambitious—always wishing to rule the entire Dragon Island—but as long as Old Ancestor was alive, it could not make a move against the other Dragon-type Pokémon on the island.
Old Ancestor had contributed far too much to Dragon Island. If it had not been for her, Dragon Island would already have been taken by the invading human empire back then. Because of this, all the Dragon-type Pokémon on the island respected Old Ancestor greatly—and the members of the Latios and Latias group were no exception.
They could accept Old Ancestor's natural death, but they would absolutely not accept her dying at the hands of one of their own. So even though now Old Ancestor was no longer the opponent of many Pokémon on the island—including the Latios leader itself—the Latios leader still would not attack.
In truth, deep in its heart, the Latios leader also greatly admired Old Ancestor, but that small amount of admiration was far from enough to erase its ambition.
Shaya would often lead other Dragon-type Pokémon to attack the territory of the Latios and Latias. Everyone clearly had the ability to make sure she never returned once she came, but they had never struck to kill—that was entirely for the sake of Old Ancestor's face.
Conflicts between the two sides of the island happened from time to time, but they had never escalated to the point of no return, and that too was because Old Ancestor was still around.
As long as Old Ancestor was alive, the Latios leader could not act rashly.
"Old Ancestor is doing well." Yuga had originally intended to tell the truth, but when the words reached his lips, they changed.
Only, the very next day, he was slapped in the face by reality.
At dawn the next morning, Yuga and the other two had just woken up and were doing morning exercises outside the wooden cabin when they suddenly heard the soft whispers of birds not far away. When Yuga finally made out what the birds were talking about, his expression changed drastically.
Seeing his expression, Robert asked, "What's wrong?"
Yuga said with a grave expression, "Old Ancestor has passed away…"
Upon hearing this, Robert's and Steven's expressions also changed.
"Should we go and take a look?" Steven asked.
"Of course we should go, but let's first see how this side reacts," Robert said, his words carrying a deeper meaning.
Sure enough, not long after, the three of them saw a large group of Latios and Latias swooping noisily across the sky in the distance. Yuga's own Latios and Latias were among them, and following behind them were many other Pokémon.
The direction they were flying toward was precisely the other side of the island.
Once all the Latios and Latias had flown far enough away, Yuga and the others mounted their Flying-type Pokémon and quietly followed.
Soon they discovered that the Latios and Latias had been stopped outside the mountain range—a group of Dragon-type Pokémon were blocking their path, and Shaya was pointing at the Latios leader, cursing furiously.
"Don't think I don't know what you're scheming! Turn back right now—we will not let you pass!" Shaya said.
"We only want to go and see Old Ancestor. We have no other intentions," the Latios leader replied with a gentle expression.
"The moment something happens to Old Ancestor, you all show up, and you still claim you have no other intentions? You've clearly been watching our side all along!"
The moment Shaya said this, the Dragon-type Pokémon around her all glared angrily at the Latios and Latias.
This made the Latios and Latias extremely anxious. Putting aside the Latios leader, the other Latios and Latias truly and sincerely wanted to pay their respects to Old Ancestor. Seeing that Shaya still refused to give way, some of the Latios and Latias were about to lose their tempers.
In the end, it was a Kommo-o who stepped forward and made the decision to allow the Latios and Latias to go and accompany Old Ancestor on her final journey. Today was the day Old Ancestor had passed away, and Kommo-o did not want things to turn too ugly.
This Kommo-o was also a highly respected figure within Dragon Island. His words were ones that everyone had to heed—even Shaya ultimately compromised.
Thus, Yuga and the other two followed a large group of Pokémon to the lakeshore, where they saw the already-deceased Old Ancestor.
Old Ancestor had already come out of the lake. She lay quietly on the shore, beneath her was a wooden plank covered with many broad, lush green leaves. Although the scales covering her body had already decayed, they had been carefully cleaned by the Dragon-type Pokémon until they were spotless.
Old Ancestor's expression was peaceful; she appeared to have accepted the arrival of death with great calmness.
All of the Dragon-type Pokémon surrounded Old Ancestor, kneeling on the ground, from time to time letting out low, mournful cries. Even among the Latios and Latias in the sky, a sorrowful atmosphere spread. Some of them even shed tears.
Most of the Latios and Latias had lived longer than the ordinary Dragon-type Pokémon on Dragon Island. They had also witnessed Old Ancestor's days of glory. Now, looking at Old Ancestor's remains, they felt nothing but pain and guilt.
Some were even reflecting on whether their past actions—when they had sided with the leader in opposing the use of their group's treasure to aid Old Ancestor—had been right or wrong.
No one knew how long the silent mourning lasted, but eventually, under Shaya's lead, the Dragon-type Pokémon began to sing the Song of Mourning. Waves of dragon roars drifted into the distance, drifting beyond Dragon Island, drifting toward the vast and faraway ocean.
After the Song of Mourning ended, four Dragonites flew out from the group of Pokémon, lifting the wooden plank beneath Old Ancestor and carrying her into the air.
The Dragon-type Pokémon then rose together—those who could fly took to the air, those who could not fly walked, and those who could not even walk were carried or borne on the backs of their companions. They followed behind the four Dragonites, escorting Old Ancestor to the tomb where the forebears of Dragon Island were buried.
After Old Ancestor was buried, the Dragon-type Pokémon gathered outside the tomb for a long time, unwilling to leave. Especially Shaya—her expression was blank the entire time, and only after all the other Pokémon had left did she begin to wail in grief.
Unknowingly, the sky had already grown dark. Shaya still sat outside the tomb, unwilling to leave, when Yuga and the others came out.
The three first bowed respectfully toward Old Ancestor's tomb, then consoled Shaya, saying, "Please restrain your grief and accept the change."
Shaya cried for a while, gradually quieting down, sitting there in a daze as if she did not even see Yuga and the other two.
Yuga and his companions knew that she was grieving, so they did not disturb her and simply stood quietly nearby.
Without realizing it, the sky became completely dark. Shaya suddenly stood up, her voice hoarse as she said to Yuga and the others, "Come with me, Old Ancestor left something for me to pass on to you."
Yuga and the other two looked at each other, puzzled in their hearts, not understanding what Old Ancestor had asked Shaya to pass on to them, so they silently followed behind her.
At night, Dragon Island seemed especially quiet. Perhaps because Old Ancestor had just passed away, the hearts of the island's Pokémon were heavy, so along the way, Yuga and his companions did not see a single Pokémon.
They followed Shaya to her residence—a very exquisitely built wooden house. Outside the wooden house, a Milotic and a Primarina were waiting expectantly; they were the very same two Pokémon that had been by Shaya's side when Yuga and the others had first arrived on Dragon Island.
Seeing Shaya return, the Milotic and Primarina immediately swam to her side, rubbing their heads against her as if to comfort her.
Sure enough, a faint smile appeared on Shaya's face, and then she beckoned to Yuga and the others, saying, "Come inside with me."