"Alright, you two quickly take your Poké Balls and capture them," Yuga said to Steven and Robert.
This was something they had discussed beforehand—Latios's leader and Latias were to be given to Steven and Robert as compensation for the Dragon Pearl having been absorbed by the Charizard's unborn offspring.
"Actually, you don't need to do this," Robert said with a frown. A legendary Pokémon was just far too precious; even if a level 100 Pokémon's Dragon Pearl was rare, it couldn't compare to a legendary Pokémon. "Although the Dragon Pearl was given to us by the old ancestor, I didn't actually do anything to help. Now that the Dragon Pearl has been absorbed by the her descendant, I feel that…"
Before Robert could finish speaking, Yuga interrupted him: "If you're going to fuss over something like that, are you still my friend or not?"
Robert said helplessly, "Alright then."
For legendary Pokémon captured through unnatural means, ordinary Poké Balls obviously couldn't hold them. Steven took out two Master Balls and handed one of them to Robert.
Although the production of Master Balls had long been officially banned by the League, many people still kept them as collectibles—especially those with status and wealth like Steven.
After all, who didn't dream of capturing a legendary Pokémon? For a genius Trainer like Steven, of course he did; so whenever he went on an adventure, he would always carry a Master Ball with him. And now, here it was finally being put to use.
This time, Robert did not refuse again. He took the Poké Ball and threw it toward Latias, while Steven threw his at the Latios leader.
The two Pokémon had completely lost the ability to battle, so the capture went very smoothly. Once everything was done, the four of them quietly returned to Dragon Island before sunrise, without anyone knowing.
The next day, Yuga and the others got up as usual, trained, and then wandered around the island, just like any other day. But the news of the Latios leader and Latias's disappearance quickly spread across the island.
One day, two days, three days passed, yet there was no word at all about the Latios leader and Latias. This made not only the Latios and Latias group anxious, but also threw the entire Dragon Island into a state of panic.
The Latios leader was currently the most powerful Pokémon on Dragon Island, yet it had vanished along with its wife without a trace. Who wouldn't be afraid?
Today it was the Latios leader and his wife who disappeared; who knew if tomorrow it might be themselves?
Finally, the island's Pokémon began to turn their suspicious gazes toward Yuga and the others.
Dragon Island had been peaceful for hundreds of years, and the only change recently was the arrival of Yuga and his companions. This made them the biggest suspects in the disappearance of the Latios leader and his wife.
One early morning, just as Yuga and the others had woken up, they found their wooden hut surrounded by Dragon-type Pokémon. Leading them were members of the Latios and Latias group, along with the Kommo-o.
Yuga already guessed why they had come, but he still kept a calm face and feigned puzzlement as he asked, "You've come here to…?"
Kommo-o took a step forward and began speaking directly to Yuga. The fact that Yuga could communicate with Pokémon was no secret on the island.
"Human, our Dragon Island's soon-to-be new generation leader and his wife Latias disappeared a few days ago."
Yuga nodded and said, "I know a little about that. What's wrong? Have you found them?" As he spoke, he even put on a look of genuine concern.
"These past few days we've been under the care of the Latios leader. Now that it has suddenly disappeared, we feel very upset," Yuga said with great sincerity.
Kommo-o was a good-natured Pokémon. It shook its head and said in a gentle tone, "No…" and then silently thought to itself: Could it really not have been them?
Yuga's expression truly did not look like he was faking it.
"Then you all…" Yuga suddenly pretended to have realized something, "You… suspect us?" Yuga suddenly changed his expression, making himself look as if he had become angry from being suspected.
At the same time, Steven and Robert, who were standing behind him, also changed their expressions upon hearing Yuga's words—it could be said they were very quick on the uptake.
At this moment, the Dragon-type Pokémon behind Kommo-o began to shout.
"If it's not you, then who?"
"Exactly, exactly! Our Dragon Island has lived in peace for so many years, and the moment you arrive, something happens!"
"Hand over the Latios leader and Latias immediately, or we won't be polite!"
…
The rising and falling cries of the Dragon-type Pokémon made Yuga and the other two's heads pound with pain.
Just then, Shaya pushed her way out from the crowd of Pokémon and shouted loudly, "It's impossible that they did it! I've been with them this whole time these past few days—they simply didn't have the time! Besides, the Latios leader is so powerful…"
Shaya's words did indeed quiet the noisy Dragon-type Pokémon for a brief moment, but then another Pokémon shouted, "You're in league with them! You've been so close to them these days, maybe you've been plotting this all along!"
It wasn't a secret on the island that Shaya and the Latios leader didn't get along.
Shaya couldn't understand what that Pokémon had said, but Yuga, as if he had been insulted, shouted: "You're talking nonsense!"
It had to be said, Yuga's acting was top-notch. Steven and Robert, standing behind him, suddenly felt like the friend they had known for so many years was fake, and that today's version—possessed by an acting king—was the real one.
With his face flushed red as if from anger, Yuga looked at the still-silent Kommo-o and suddenly asked, "What is it you want to do?"
Kommo-o mumbled a few words before finally saying directly, "We want to search you!"
The fact that humans could put Pokémon into Poké Balls was something the island's Pokémon had fully understood during Yuga's stay on Dragon Island, so they felt their suspicion was reasonable.
If the Latios leader and Latias had really been captured by humans, then they must have been confined inside Poké Balls and hidden somewhere on their person or nearby.
"Search us?" Upon hearing this, Yuga acted as if he had been gravely insulted. "Don't you go too far!"
Steven and Robert also stood by Yuga's side, sharing in his indignation.
Shaya stood in front of the three of them, spreading her arms to protect them, and said, "You want to search them? They are my friends, and they've even been guests of the old ancestor—you cannot do this!"
Hearing the word "old ancestor" made some of the Dragon-type Pokémon start to waver, but the members of the Latios and Latias group would have none of it and insisted on conducting a search.
Although there were occasional disagreements among the members of the Latios and Latias group, overall they were extremely united. Now that their leader had gone missing, they became fully united against outsiders.
Yuga and the others did not want to fall out completely with the Pokémon of Dragon Island—after all, there were only three of them. If things really came to a fight, they couldn't possibly win. Not only were there still ten legendary Pokémon on the island, there were also countless high-level Dragon-type Pokémon.
In the end, under the pressure of the Dragon-type Pokémon, the three of them "humiliatedly" agreed to be searched. Their wooden hut was turned upside down, and even the spatial backpacks Yuga and the others carried were shaken out completely.
However, the Dragon-type Pokémon found nothing.
Of course they couldn't find anything—Steven and Robert had long known about Yuga's mysterious space, so from the very start, they had entrusted Yuga with the Poké Balls containing the Latios leader and his wife.
Finding nothing, the crowd of Dragon-type Pokémon were dumbfounded, their former arrogance gone. Even the most aggressive among them now pulled in their horns.
"I already told you it wasn't us… you've gone too far, wuwuwu…" Yuga even let fall tears of humiliation.
Steven: "…"
Robert: "…"
Actually, it wasn't necessary to go this far…
Suddenly, Yuga abruptly lifted his head and pulled Steven and Robert along, saying, "Let's go, we'll leave Dragon Island right now. Since this place is so unwelcome to us, what are we staying here for!"
What he really meant was: We've stayed here long enough, the mission is complete, it's time to go!
Steven and Robert both understood Yuga's underlying message and quickly put on humiliated expressions to echo, "Exactly, let's go!"
Saying this, the three of them went into the wooden hut to pack their things. Shaya gave the Dragon-type Pokémon a fierce glare, then turned and followed the three of them into the hut.
The moment they entered, Shaya—who had still been wearing an angry expression just now—was suddenly all smiles and gave the three of them a big thumbs-up.
Shaya was very curious about where the three of them had hidden the Latios leader and his wife. When she had heard earlier that the Dragon-type Pokémon wanted to search them, she had been scared out of her wits.
"You all…"
Just as Shaya was about to speak, Yuga pointed outside, hinting that the walls had ears. Shaya could only nod and stop asking, then immediately began loudly cursing those rowdy Dragon-type Pokémon inside the hut.
Most of the Dragon-type Pokémon were still very upright in character. The main reason they had come this time was because a few of the Dragon-types had stirred up trouble. Now that no Pokémon had been found and hearing Shaya's scolding, they all began to look restless.
However, without Kommo-o's signal, none of them left.
Although Kommo-o had a good temper, it was no fool. It still felt like something was off, so it didn't object to Yuga and the others leaving Dragon Island—instead, it stayed behind to keep an eye on them.
It was worried that Yuga and the others might use their departure as an opportunity to quietly take the Latios leader and his wife off Dragon Island. By then, once they had the vast ocean ahead of them, recovering the Latios couple would be no easy matter.
So when Yuga and the others finished packing and came out of the wooden hut, Kommo-o kept its eyes fixed on them.
Yuga noticed Kommo-o's gaze and understood instantly. He then shook out all of his luggage.
"Look, look… We didn't take anything we shouldn't have. Take a good look so you won't wrongly accuse us later!"
Steven and Robert followed his example.
Seeing that there was indeed nothing extra in Yuga and the others' luggage, Kommo-o finally signaled for the Dragon-type Pokémon to clear the path and let the three of them leave.
Only after Yuga and the others left did the Dragon-type Pokémon gradually disperse.
Shaya stood in front of the wooden hut, watching the three of them grow smaller in the distance. Suddenly, she thought of something, called over her Hydreigon, mounted it, and flew toward home.
A few Dragon-type Pokémon had been secretly following Yuga and the others. When they saw that the three of them truly left Dragon Island without looking back, they turned around and went back to report.
After flying over the sea for a while, Steven asked, "Are those few Pokémon still following us?"
Yuga shook his head. "They've gone back."
Steven patted his chest and said, "That's good."
Then the three of them began chatting and laughing as they flew, the topic most often brought up being Yuga's superb acting skills.
No one knew how long they had been flying when they finally left the range of Dragon Island. They then switched their flying mounts for water-riding mounts and began traveling over the vast ocean.
At that moment, they suddenly heard someone calling them from behind. Turning their heads, they saw a white wave surging toward them.
When the white wave got closer, the three of them finally saw clearly that it was actually a gigantic Wailord, and standing on top of Wailord's head was none other than Shaya.
When she caught up with Yuga and the others, Shaya looked down at them from above and said, "Why were you running so fast? I almost couldn't catch up."
Yuga asked curiously, "Why did you come?"
Shaya smiled and said, "To leave Dragon Island together with you, of course."
The three of them were all surprised when they heard this. When the ancestor had passed away, Shaya had cried her eyes out, snot and tears everywhere, saying she would stay on Dragon Island forever to keep the ancestor company. How was it that in the blink of an eye, she now wanted to leave?
Seeing their expressions, Shaya knew what they were thinking. She let out a deep sigh and said, "Now everyone on Dragon Island no longer welcomes me, so I think I'd better listen to the ancestor's advice and go see the outside world."
Although the Latios leader had disappeared, the unification of Dragon Island was already inevitable. On top of that, some of the Dragon-type Pokémon had begun targeting Shaya because of her identity as a human. So Shaya had thought for a long time and finally made the decision she had now.
After hearing Shaya's words, Yuga and the other two fell silent. Seeing this, Shaya lifted her smile again and said, "Come on over onto Popo's back, let's leave together. Popo's back is way more comfortable than your mounts."
Popo was the Wailord's name. It was Shaya's good friend, and Shaya had specially gone to find Popo to help send them away.
This time leaving Dragon Island, Shaya only brought Milotic, Primarina, and Hydreigon with her. Only these three Pokémon, who were closest to her, were willing to leave together with her.
At the moment, the three Pokémon were lying on Popo's back. Popo's back was very broad, enough to hold several more large Pokémon without any problem.
Unlike Yuga, Shaya couldn't communicate with Pokémon, so even though she had lived on Dragon Island for a long time, the only ones she was truly close to were a few particular Pokémon and the ancestor who could converse with her.
"Alright, then we'll take advantage of your generosity!"
Yuga and the others did not stand on ceremony. They each put away their own water-riding mounts and then climbed up onto the Wailord's back.
Wailord's broad back was indeed much more comfortable than their own mounts—spacious and steady. With it here, Yuga and the others' journey ahead would surely be much more pleasant.
Seeing that Shaya's three Pokémon did not have Poké Balls, which would make it inconvenient to move around in the outside world, Yuga gave her three Poké Balls as a gift.
Shaya accepted them gladly.
Once everything was ready, Shaya stood atop Popo's head, pointed forward, and shouted, "Popo, let's set off!"
After shouting, she looked back over her shoulder. In truth, Dragon Island could no longer be seen from here, yet she still couldn't help herself.
As if she had finally made up her mind, Shaya took a deep breath, and for the first time, she felt a hint of anticipation for the human world she was about to enter.