"How do you know that name?" Lance's eyes widened, clearly surprised by the title Aoki uttered.
At this time, Cynthia's family temple in the Sinnoh region had not yet been revealed, and the legends of Dialga and Palkia, related to time and space, had not yet spread.
Therefore, not many people knew about Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, who was associated with these two Pokémon.
Within the current Alliance, there was no detailed information about these three Pokémon.
The Temporal Continent had been discovered for a long time, but its significant connection to these Pokémon was unknown.
Seeing Lance's reaction, Aoki became even more certain of the period he was in.
He must have just learned about Giratina from ancient Dragon Clan texts, or he might already be searching for Giratina's whereabouts, but none of that was important.
What was important was that Aoki had grasped what Lance was most curious about and desired at that moment.
"It seems the young clan leader indeed knows of the Renegade Pokémon's existence," Aoki said with a smile.
"Who exactly are you?! Why do you know the title 'Renegade Pokémon'? You should know that I also…" Lance's vigilance towards Aoki greatly increased.
But Aoki had already seized what Lance most wanted to understand at this moment, so how could he let go? Even if Lance was wary, it was useless unless he didn't want to know about Giratina.
Although it was only a few brief encounters, Aoki could tell that Lance was not a person content with mediocrity, much like Giovanni.
How was he not content with mediocrity?
Some might say, as the young clan leader of the Dragon Clan, the next clan head, how could the leader of such a massive family be ordinary?
But that was precisely the point; Lance's future path could be seen directly from here. His life had been predetermined since birth.
Some people lose at the starting line from the very beginning, while others are born already at the finish line that others aspire to reach.
Lance was unwilling to merely be an ordinary Dragon Clan leader; he didn't want to be like the previous leaders of the Dragon Clan, who, for the entire clan, committed no wrongs but also achieved no memorable merits.
For this status, it was ordinary.
So, when he learned from the family's ancient texts about a Pokémon that surpassed all the Dragon-type Pokémon he currently knew, the tiny spark of ambition within him was born.
As long as he kept adding fuel, one day it would become a raging inferno!
"That's right! With the Dragon Clan's long history, your family's ancient texts should contain information about the Renegade Pokémon, Giratina, but I estimate it won't be much," Aoki said.
"The Renegade Pokémon… Giratina… is that its real name?" Lance murmured.
Aoki watched Lance, who was lost in thought, and did not interrupt him.
"Why are you telling me this?" Lance snapped back to reality, looking at Aoki with a complex expression.
Aoki smiled faintly, "This Pokémon has a great connection with you. Even without me, you would know about it eventually.
And what I want, I already told you frankly from the beginning: I am very curious about your Dragon Clan's Dragon's Den, and I hope you can give me an opportunity to enter and observe it."
Lance looked directly into Aoki's eyes, seeing his undisguised purpose, that purest form of curiosity.
After a slight hesitation, "Taking you into the Dragon's Den is not impossible, but how can I trust someone who suddenly appeared? And… anyone who wants to enter the Dragon's Den must first defeat the Blackthorn Gym!"
Hearing this, Aoki raised an eyebrow slightly, "It is indeed proper to follow the rules. In that case, let me first prove my strength, and then we can discuss the possibility of me entering the Dragon's Den."
Proving strength, of course, required a battle.
Upon hearing about a battle, Lance immediately became interested.
Only then did he remember his purpose for coming here: wasn't it to see how strong Aoki, this person so highly praised by others, truly was?
He hadn't even had a chance to suggest a battle before Aoki had led him astray.
"Excellent! Then let's have a one-on-one battle, a single match to decide the victor." Confidence surged onto Lance's face.
He wouldn't dare to say anything else, but when it came to battling, he truly wasn't afraid of anyone.
Although Dragonite had just said that the opponent's three Pokémon made him feel a considerable threat, Lance wasn't too concerned.
Aoki glanced at the Dragonite standing beside Lance, nodded, and showed no hesitation.
Pokémon: Dragonite (Dark Blue)
Gender: Male
Level: 81
Type: Dragon + Flying
Ability: Inner Focus
Held Item: Dragon Scale
Egg Moves: Dragon Breath, Dragon Rush, Water Pulse, Dragon Pulse
Basic Moves: Wing Attack, Hurricane, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Roost, Bind, Thunder Wave, Twister, Dragon Rage, Slam, Agility, Dragon Tail, Aqua Tail, Dragon Rush, Safeguard, Dragon Dance, Outrage, Hyper Beam, Hurricane
Learnt Moves: Draco Meteor, Icy Wind, Aqua Tail, Fire Punch, Tailwind, Iron Tail, Thunder Punch, Outrage, Ice Punch
TM Moves: Protect, Dragon Claw, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Hyper Beam, Safeguard, Thunder, Earthquake, Flamethrower, Steel Wing, Stone Edge, Surf
As expected of the next clan leader of the Dragon Clan, his Pokémon's strength had reached Champion level at such a young age!
Aoki's system still contained the data of Lance's Dragonite from their encounter at the summit of Mt. Silver.
Comparing it to the current Dragonite, it was clear that this was the same Pokémon, but this Dragonite was slightly less mature than the one from back then, and neither its potential nor its abilities had reached their peak.
But overall, it was still quite outstanding.
In this era, Pokémon knowledge was not as extensive as it would be twenty years later. Those twenty-plus years were the fastest period of development for the Pokémon Alliance.
At this current time, possessing such a Dragonite, Aoki felt that Lance's strength should be sufficient to serve as an Elite Four member of a region.
No wonder the Elder Council held Lance and Giovanni in such high regard; they were indeed exceptionally talented.
It was undeniable that his opponent would use Dragonite. Aoki looked at the three Pokémon beside him.
All three Pokémon looked eager to battle, but after a moment of thought, Aoki nodded towards Lucario.
Seeing Aoki's gesture, Lucario immediately brightened, leaped forward, and performed a front roll, appearing before Aoki. His fists were clasped together at his chest, and the spikes on the backs of his hands flashed white. A milky-white bone staff, emitting faint glows, appeared in his hand.
Lucario, battle desire surging!
Gardevoir and Venusaur were slightly disappointed to see Aoki choose Lucario to fight, but after a brief moment of disappointment, they still cheered Lucario on.
Aoki also had his own considerations. Among his three Pokémon, Gardevoir, with its Psychic/Fairy typing, clearly had the greatest advantage.
However, the Fairy type had not yet been discovered in this era, and Fairy-type moves were not suitable to be revealed at this time.
So, when choosing between Venusaur and Lucario, Aoki still chose the more agile Lucario. Furthermore, Grass-type was weak to Flying-type, while Lucario's Steel/Fighting typing could perfectly offset the effects of the Flying-type.
"Lucario! This is a recently discovered Pokémon, recorded in the Alliance Pokédex, right?!" Lance looked at the battle-ready Lucario with a solemn expression.
He was confident in himself, but he would never underestimate any opponent.
As a Gym Leader, during Gym battles, he was supposed to send out Pokémon that matched the challenger's strength. Lance's Dragonite rarely appeared in Gym battles.
But clearly, Aoki, standing before Lance now, posed a great threat, so he was going all out from the start!
"As the challenger, you have the first move!" Lance said to Aoki.
Hearing this, Aoki's eyes narrowed, and he grinned, "In that case, I won't hold back. Lucario, Swords Dance!"
"Dragonite! Let's use Dragon Dance!" Lance said in a deep voice.
Lucario and Dragonite's gazes never left each other, but they did not attack. Instead, they followed their trainers' commands.
The two Pokémon performed two completely different dances.
However, as soon as Lucario completed the Swords Dance command, Aoki's eyes lit up. He stopped using verbal commands and instead used telepathy via psychic powers.
Seeing the changes in Aoki and Lucario, Lance remained outwardly calm, but his heart trembled.
"A Psychic!"
Aoki grinned again, offering no reply. But then he saw Lucario, after finishing Swords Dance, push off the ground forcefully with his legs and charge straight towards Dragonite, with several invisible currents of air swirling around his body.
Extreme Speed!
Boom!!!
Lucario's bone staff struck Dragonite squarely. Dragonite gritted his teeth, crossing his arms over his chest, blocking Lucario's unstoppable, thunderous blow!
From Dragonite's clenched jaw, faint wisps of scorching blue-violet aura seeped out through the gaps in his teeth.
"Dragon Breath!" As soon as Lance's words fell, a scorching breath spewed from Dragonite's mouth, rushing directly towards Lucario's face.
Fortunately, Lucario's speed was fast enough, and he was prepared, performing several agile backflips in quick succession to dodge the attack.
But after Lucario landed from several consecutive backflips, his hands clasped at his waist, and a light blue energy orb shot out between his hands.
Aura Sphere!!
Boom—
This time, Dragonite couldn't react in time, and the attack hit him squarely in the stomach.
Lucario did not become complacent because of a successful attack. He performed another agile side flip, dodging the Dragon Pulse released from Dragonite.
Compared to Lance's Dragonite, Lucario had far more battle experience.
As the eldest son of the Dragon Clan, a rising star among the Alliance's younger generation, and the Gym Leader of the Blackthorn Gym, these identities combined meant that while Lance was strong, his battle experience was not as extensive.
After all, he was someone born into a high position, so he naturally lacked practical combat experience to some extent.
He couldn't be compared to someone like Giovanni, who was born into an organization like Team Rocket and had climbed his way up from the bottom.
And even less so to someone like Aoki, who had endured even more difficult experiences.
Moreover, even if the Dragon Clan had people sparring with Lance every day, could they be stronger than Aoki's Blaziken, Tyranitar, or even Darkrai?
After seeing a certain level of the world, some things no longer seemed as formidable.
At least in Lucario's eyes at this moment, Lance's Dragonite was not that strong.
"Lucario, Ice Bone!" Aoki's voice resonated in Lucario's mind again.
Lucario, after once again skillfully dodging Dragonite's attack with his agile footwork, gripped the bone staff in the middle, and like stripping meat from a bone, pulled it apart from the center outwards.
During the stretching process, a large amount of ice crystals condensed from Lucario's hands, freezing the entire bone staff into an ice-crystal-like bone staff.
Lucario's bone staff was originally an object condensed from his energy. After being covered in a layer of ice, it completely solidified into ice-type energy.
If this club were to fall, Dragonite would surely suffer.
After all, as a Dragon/Flying-type Pokémon, Dragonite is four times weak to Ice-type attacks!
Boom—
With one bone club, Dragonite raised its arms to defend itself, but the moment the attack ended, ice crystals formed on its arm, and in pain, it instinctively closed one eye.
Lance's expression was solemn; the battle had lasted for dozens of rounds, but in just a few short minutes, he found himself at a significant disadvantage.
It was as if his opponent could anticipate every one of his attacks, and at his most vulnerable moments, they would unleash their fiercest assaults.
It felt like… like someone who knew him extremely well, or rather, someone who had a very deep understanding of Dragonite as a Pokémon, able to predict Dragonite's next move based on every subtle muscle twitch.
Lance attributed all of this to the psychic power used by the person standing before him!
For the first time, Lance felt that psychic power was such a useful thing!
In fact, he was only partly correct; Aoki did have some advantage from his psychic abilities, but it wasn't an absolute advantage.
The real main reason, in fact, had to be blamed on Lance's unborn nephew, who would later become Lance.
Who told Aoki that he, to a certain extent, regarded Lance as his imaginary enemy, and studying Lance's strongest Dragonite was a compulsory course for Aoki.
They were all from the Dragon Clan, and although each person's training of Pokémon was different, the Pokémon raised by a family always had some similarities.
And this was also the main reason why Aoki was able to take the initiative step by step when battling the current Lance.
The current Lance and the Lance in Aoki's perception, their strength difference isn't that great, is it?
After being specifically targeted by Aoki, Lance's Dragonite steadily retreated.
Once Aoki controlled the rhythm, it became difficult for Lance's Dragonite to turn the tide.
"Lucario, final Ice Punch!"
Lucario braced its hands on the ground, its legs kicking out like a large windmill, scattering Dragonite's last resistance, and the ice crystals that had gathered on its fist shattered as Dragonite fell to the ground.
Boom—
Dragonite's massive body crashed heavily to the ground, losing its ability to battle, while Lucario only sustained some minor injuries.
Lance looked at Aoki with a complex expression, unsure what to say for a moment.
"Here, these are good for healing." Aoki smiled, tossing a few potions to Lance.
Lance subconsciously took the special recovery potions made by Aoki, but he didn't immediately use them on Dragonite; instead, he pulled out several special sprays from his own pocket, which were exclusive items of the Dragon Clan.
Seeing Lance's actions, Aoki smiled indifferently.
He knew that Lance certainly didn't trust him yet.
Moreover, the young and spirited Lance, who hadn't even lost to Giovanni, had lost to someone who seemed to be around his age, so his mood was probably not very good.
But Aoki didn't mind; he just quietly watched Lance heal his Dragonite and then recall it into its Poké Ball.
Lance was right in front of him now, and there was no one else around; what kind of trouble could Lance possibly stir up in his hands now?
Standing up, Lance just quietly looked at Aoki, not saying a word.
Aoki had a faint smile on his lips, meeting Lance's gaze.
"Phew—tell me, why do you want to enter the Dragon's Den? You know, it's impossible to just bring someone of unknown origin into the Dragon's Den. Even if I allowed it, you wouldn't pass the guardian elder's test." After a long while, Lance finally spoke.
"Are you perhaps surprised by the advantage and initiative that a Psychic's special abilities can provide in combat? I can make you a Psychic!" Aoki didn't answer Lance's question; instead, he said something completely unrelated.
Hearing this, Lance was stunned and pointed at himself in disbelief, "Me… do I also have the qualifications to become a Psychic?"
Aoki grinned, shrugging noncommittally.
Lance fell silent again.
Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon! Psychic!
These two conditions, for Lance, were more or less tempting.
But he couldn't let someone whose identity he didn't even know enter the Dragon Clan's most secret and important Dragon's Den just because of these two conditions. As the young patriarch of the Dragon Clan, he still regarded the Dragon Clan as more important than anything else at this moment.
"Never mind, to show my sincerity, I'll let you experience it first."
As he spoke, the vast amount of psychic power invisibly overflowing around Aoki's body seemed like a long, slender yet incredibly tough ribbon, directly binding Lance.
Round after round, as if Lance was a silkworm pupa in a cocoon.
"What are you doing?!" Lance stared at Aoki with wide eyes, not knowing what he was about to do.
He just felt himself being restrained by an invisible force, and he knew without thinking that it was psychic power.
But Lance hadn't expected this person to dare to restrain him with psychic power. He was, after all, the young patriarch of the Dragon Clan. Even if some powerful underground organizations were given free rein, they wouldn't dare lay a hand on him; the wrath of the Dragon Clan was not something anyone could bear.
The Dragon Clan's long-standing heritage was not something anyone could easily see through.
Moreover, while Psychics in the Pokémon world are not numerous, their numbers are not small compared to the other two abilities. As the heir to the Dragon Clan, how could Lance be completely unable to resist?
Seeing Lance about to resist, Aoki shrugged and said, "Don't rush, I won't do anything to you. I just want to show you something, and it's also a bit of an advance payment for you."
As he spoke, Aoki raised his right hand and placed it on Lance's forehead.
Instantly, Lance felt his vision go black, and a series of images, like a continuous television broadcast, appeared in his mind.
"This is what you're curious about, Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon!" Aoki's ethereal voice appeared in Lance's ear, sounding somewhat magical.
Indeed, upon seeing the images before him, Lance stopped struggling.
Seeing Lance no longer resist, Aoki smiled even more brightly.
The psychic power extended into Lance's mind, and with the ability of his current psychic seed, as long as the other party didn't excessively resist, it could be successfully planted.
But very quickly, the smile on Aoki's face gradually faded, and his eyes narrowed.
"Hmph—" Lance grunted.
"As expected of the heir to the Dragon Clan!"
After silently sighing in his heart, Aoki abandoned his original plan and instead adopted a relatively more peaceful approach.
Originally, Aoki had intended to directly plant a forced psychic seed in Lance's mind, just like the psychic seeds in the minds of Brad and Catherine.
But after Aoki tried it, he gave up, because Lance's willpower was much stronger than he had imagined.
If he forcibly planted it, it was very likely that Lance would directly become an idiot, or a vegetable.
If that really happened, Aoki estimated that he would not only change history, but also very likely be hunted down by the Dragon Clan in this era.
Although with his current strength, he was not afraid of the Dragon Clan's pursuit, even if there were a few old guys in their family, they probably wouldn't reach the Champion level.
As long as they didn't reach the Champion level, the threat to Aoki was not great.
But in that case, the Dragon's Den would most likely be inaccessible.
And Aoki truly needed Lance alive; at least if he was alive, someone would be there to help him weaken Giratina's power.
So Aoki could only settle for the next best thing, planting a type of psychic seed deep within Lance's mind, similar to the one he had once planted in Lysandre's mind. It wasn't about forced control, but rather to make him gradually develop a certain degree of goodwill or trust towards himself.
After doing this, Aoki's psychic power surged again, directly impacting a certain part of Lance's brain!
Boom—
"Ah!!!" Lance, who had been immersed in the images Aoki displayed, suddenly cried out, and all the images before him vanished. He clutched his head, looking as if he was in great pain.
His vision returned to the previous scene. Lance looked at the smiling Aoki, "You!… What did you do to me?!"
Aoki spread his hands, "Didn't I say? I wanted to show you my sincerity first.
Now, you've seen the appearance and basic information of Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, and I've also helped you awaken your psychic power! Is that sincere enough?!
As expected of the young patriarch of the Dragon Clan, to have such excellent psychic talent!"
Aoki had helped several Psychics awaken their powers, but no matter who it was, their psychic talent was more outstanding than his, which was quite something.
Hearing this, Lance stared blankly at his hands, looking incredulous, "You mean… I've also become a Psychic? I can also use psychic power?
But why do I not feel anything right now?"
Thinking about how he had been in excruciating pain for half an hour when he awakened his psychic power, and even Catherine had been dizzy for a while when she awakened hers, yet this Lance only had a headache for a moment and was fine. It was truly something else.
Indeed, no matter what it is, there are always differences between people, right from birth.
Just as there are differences in aptitude among Pokémon from birth.
Upon hearing Lance's question, Aoki stepped forward and, under his puzzled gaze, directly touched his forehead with his index finger, his psychic power extending into Lance's body along his finger.
"This is psychic power, do you feel it? However, you've just awakened, so it's normal for your psychic power to be weak and difficult to perceive. And you can't really call yourself a Psychic yet; only when your psychic power reaches the level of a beginner Psychic can you refer to yourself as one." After demonstrating, Aoki looked at Lance, awaiting his reply.
After Aoki's recent demonstration, Lance finally perceived the faint energy in his mind.
But how does one train psychic power, how does one use it?
Just as Lance was about to ask, he saw Aoki's smiling face.
Knowing Aoki's meaning, he had already shown enough sincerity, and now it was Lance's turn to show his own sincerity.
Currently, Lance's mind was in turmoil. On one side was a realm he had never encountered, and in this realm, he saw the possibility of breaking through the shackles of his current identity, whether it was Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, or becoming a Psychic.
But these two things, Aoki had only given him a taste, merely a beginning.
On the other side were the Dragon Clan's rules, the Dragon Clan's honor, the Dragon Clan's responsibilities, and so on…
These were all things the Dragon Clan required him to bear while enjoying their preferential treatment, and they were also his greatest shackles at the moment.
As Lance hesitated, he looked at Aoki again. For some reason, his aversion to Aoki wasn't as strong anymore.
Perhaps it was because Aoki had shown him his "sincerity" in advance.
However, Lance still had his final insistence, "Tell me your identity."
Aoki looked at Lance's murderous expression and knew that this was his bottom line and his final obsession. If he couldn't let go of this obsession, even an auxiliary-type psychic ability would be useless, and it might even cause a strong backlash.
After a moment of hesitation, Aoki said, "I know you're curious why I know so much, and why you haven't heard any information about me in the current Alliance.
That's because I'm not from the same era as you, or rather, I'm not from this era.
Through some accidents and special methods, I appeared here, but I will return soon. Even if you take me into the Dragon's Den, it won't have any impact on your Dragon Clan."
It sounded absurd, but Lance, looking at Aoki's sincere eyes, could feel that the person opposite him was not lying.
This was a very absurd feeling, but precisely because of this, what Aoki said might be true.
"Phew—"
So that's how it is.
Aoki was slightly surprised that Lance had such a high acceptance level.
However, Aoki didn't know that the information Lance had imagined in his mind was very different from what he had said.
In Lance's mind, if someone wasn't from this era, then it was very likely that Aoki came from a certain period in the past, after all, the legend of Giratina, if traced back, was from a very distant past.
With so many miraculous things in the Pokémon world, time travel didn't seem to be something particularly difficult to accept.
There were only two time periods, past and future, and it was not wrong to subconsciously assume it was the past.
A strange misunderstanding thus arose.
"Since that's the case, I'll take you into the Dragon's Den!" After speaking, Lance summoned a Charizard and directly rushed towards the direction of the Dragon's Den.
Aoki nodded, put away Lucario and Venusaur, nodded to Gardevoir, and with psychic power enveloping them, relied on Teleport to chase after Lance.
They reappeared by the lake next to the Blackthorn Gym, looking at a dark cave in the distant mountain wall.
Last time he came, Aoki was stopped just by getting close, but this time, with Lance, the young master of the Dragon Clan, leading the way, no one came forward to stop them.
The two passed over the lake without hindrance, and even at the entrance of the Dragon's Den, they faced no obstacles.
Sensing Aoki's confusion, Lance explained, "The Dragon's Den is divided into outer and inner caves. Although there are guards before entering the Dragon's Den, these people won't stop us when they see me. The real test is when entering the inner cave.
At that time, an elder will be guarding there. If he sees anything unusual, not only will you be in trouble, but even I might be in danger of being confined.
So why do you think I insisted on you revealing your identity before letting you in?
If you are someone hostile to our Dragon Clan, even with my lead and guarantee, you won't be able to enter.
Moreover, the elder guarding the Dragon's Den is the true final power of our Dragon Clan, and his strength is beyond mine.
If you have any purpose or ulterior motives now, I advise you to leave now; it's still not too late."
Lance gave Aoki a final warning, or rather, a reminder.
Aoki shrugged, noncommittal.
Having come this far, was he really going to turn back? If this so-called elder was really that strong, Aoki felt he had enough confidence and ability to escape.
Seeing that Aoki had no intention of retreating, Lance no longer tried to persuade him.
After entering the Dragon's Den, Lance, familiar with the terrain, wound through the complex caves, quickly leading Aoki through the so-called outer cave.
Aoki felt that even with his psychic abilities, navigating this winding terrain would require a lot of effort, let alone for ordinary people.
The Dragon Clan's vigilance was quite good.
Soon, the two arrived at another cave entrance.
"Inside is the last passage, and the elder is guarding it here…"
Before Lance could finish his sentence, Aoki directly stepped inside.
Seeing Aoki's decisiveness, Lance no longer tried to persuade him.
He didn't realize that he and Aoki had only known each other for less than a day, and had even been at odds before, yet now he was unconsciously considering things from Aoki's perspective.
More or less, the psychic ability seed in his mind still had some influence on him.
"Ah Qian, you brat are here again." An old man dressed in white appeared when the two were halfway through.
He was an old man with completely white hair.
However, when the old man saw Aoki beside Lance, he frowned, "This is…?"
"Elder, this is my… friend. I want to bring him into the Dragon's Den," Lance stepped forward and explained.
"Elder," Aoki also called out very humbly.
Hearing Lance's words, the elder's expression hardened, "Enter the Dragon's Den?! Ah Qian, although you are now the Gym Leader of Blackthorn Gym, according to our Dragon Clan's rules, you do indeed have the right to bring people into the true Dragon's Den, but! You must know the responsibility you bear!!!"
The elder's words clearly carried a heavy tone.
"Elder, Ah Qian is no longer that child from before. He knows what he is doing. Everything can proceed according to the rules!" Lance said respectfully.
"Since that's the case, then I'll have to trouble your friend to take a small test." Saying that, the elder took out a fist-sized stone from his sleeve.
"Please have your friend hold this Dragon-Testing Stone for one minute," the elder continued.
Lance looked at Aoki; this was what he had mentioned as the final test.
Aoki nodded and, without hesitation, grasped the milky white stone. It felt slightly warm, like a top-grade jade.
Anyway, he had no intention of harming the Dragon Clan, and his relationship with Lance was actually quite good.
Slowly, the temperature of the jade in his hand grew higher and higher, and its color changed from the original milky white to a faint blush, and this blush became increasingly red.
Seeing the change in the Dragon-Testing Stone, Lance and the Dragon Clan Elder both had strange, even incredible, expressions.
The two subconsciously exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes. The difference was that Lance quickly composed himself, while the surprise in the elder's eyes became increasingly evident.
"Enough, young friend, you may enter the Dragon's Den." Saying that, the elder took the Dragon-Testing Stone from Aoki's hand, feeling that the temperature of the stone was indeed quite strong.
Then Lance led Aoki, who was still confused about the situation, into the Dragon's Den, while the elder completely ignored the two of them.
"By the way, what exactly was the purpose of that stone? Why did both of your expressions look so strange?" Aoki couldn't help but ask.
Lance stopped, looked directly into Aoki's eyes, watched silently for a while, and finally couldn't discern anything, then smiled helplessly, "That's the Dragon-Testing Stone. It's said that our Dragon Clan's ancestors, when the Dragon Clan was first founded, asked a certain legendary Pokémon with special abilities to help create this stone. It might be a legendary Pokémon or a mythical Pokémon.
Its function is singular but very effective: to test whether a person will be harmful to our Dragon Clan in the future.
If they are harmful, the stone becomes very cold, but if they are beneficial, it becomes very hot.
When you held the stone just now, you saw the change yourself!"
The stone became scorching hot, even turning red. Was there any need to say what that represented?
"Although this stone doesn't seem to have much use, it has never been wrong since the Dragon Clan appeared, so…" Lance gave Aoki a knowing look.
Aoki truly understood now and was also a little surprised.
"So, are you related to our Dragon Clan or not?" Lance now genuinely had no reservations about Aoki.
But Aoki didn't give him a clear answer, merely pondering in his heart.
He remembered when his teacher, Dragon-type Elite Four Drake, brought him into the Dragon's Domain and told him that the Dragon's Den of the Dragon Clan was actually closely related to the Dragon's Domain, and could even be considered a branch of the Dragonite family within the Dragon's Domain.
He wondered if the heating of the Dragon-Testing Stone today was related to the Dragon's Domain.
As for Lance, Aoki admitted that he had no ill intentions towards Lance, but also not much intention to help him. He wondered how this Dragon-Testing Stone actually conducted its test.
In any case, he had truly entered the Dragon Clan's Dragon's Den now!
Feeling the increasingly dense Dragon-type energy around him, it could indeed rival the Dragon's Domain.
However, the Dragon's Domain was vast, while this Dragon's Den could at most be considered a miniature version.
"One last reminder, don't be fooled by the quiet and peaceful appearance of the Dragon's Den. There are still a few very powerful Dragon-type Pokémon here, stronger than my Dragonite. So if you encounter these Dragon-type Pokémon, don't provoke them, and don't hesitate, just run.
Generally, if you don't actively provoke them, they won't chase you."
After a slight pause, Lance continued, "Also, if you want to catch Dragon-type Pokémon here, especially the Dragon-type young ones, it's best to do so with the consent of their parents, otherwise it could cause unnecessary trouble.
Finally, do not forcibly try to catch Dragon-type Pokémon that show clear signs of resistance!!!"
Aoki nodded, indicating that he understood.
Seeing Lance's hesitant expression, he smiled slightly and touched his forehead again.
Everything he wanted to know was contained in that touch.
By now, Aoki had sent information about Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, as well as some cultivation and usage methods for psychic abilities, into Lance's mind.
And to ensure he had enough time to explore the Dragon's Den alone, Aoki had specifically increased the amount of information.
However, among this information was the psychic ability usage methods he had once obtained from the people of the cult.
Suddenly, Aoki shivered.
He seemed to finally understand why Celebi would make him travel through time to this time, this place.
Aoki had originally thought his purpose was the Dragon's Den, but now he suddenly felt it was… for Lance?
Psychic awakening, Giratina, the Renegade Pokémon, and even some special usage methods and techniques for psychic abilities…
Was all of this just a coincidence?