"Pidgeot!"
The moment Pidgeot heard Silas's command, it immediately calmed itself.
After taking a normal Tail attack from Dragapult head-on, it rapidly flapped its wings, using the impact to create distance.
Dragapult didn't pursue.
Instead, it took the opportunity to catch its breath and recover some of its stamina.
Its opponent's close-range combat ability had clearly exceeded its expectations.
Before absorbing the Sacred Fire, although Pidgeot possessed an excellent physique thanks to its powerful chest muscles and exceptional perception thanks to its Keen Eye Ability, its close-combat skills were still nothing extraordinary due to its body structure.
That was a common weakness shared by most bird Pokémon.
Unlike Charizard or Dragonite, they didn't have massive fists for melee combat.
The instant they attacked with their wings or talons, they would inevitably lose their balance for a brief moment.
Against powerful opponents, that opening would never go unpunished.
Dragapult, on the other hand, looked slender, but its close-range combat ability was far from weak.
Its long tail and massive head could generate tremendous force when swung.
Yet during the previous clash, not only had Pidgeot avoided falling behind, it had actually suppressed Dragapult.
"It's the wind, Looks like the environment is giving it a slight advantage."
Leaning on her cane, the Dragon Elder quickly discovered the reason.
Pidgeot's superior close-combat ability compared to others of its species was certainly one factor.
Its razor-sharp talons had obviously received specialized training.
More importantly, however, the battlefield was beside the sea. And where there was a coastline, there was usually wind.
For a Pidgeot that excelled at manipulating and even merging with the wind, using it to eliminate the imbalance caused by attacking wasn't especially difficult.
That said, accomplishing such a feat was incredibly demanding.
Otherwise, bird Pokémon would have long become the dominant choice in competitive battles instead of being used mainly as flying mounts.
The aerial battle continued.
After widening the gap, Pidgeot immediately gathered Flying-type energy around both wings.
Dozens of gleaming Air Slashes shot toward Dragapult like icy blades.
Watching the incoming attack, Dragapult remained perfectly calm.
It began twisting its body with strange yet elegant movements.
Its aura steadily intensified.
A mysterious dance from the distant land of Paldea.
Also known as Dragon Dance.
For most Dragon-type Pokémon, it was one of their most important moves.
Not only did it boost Attack and Speed, but it also allowed them to evade incoming attacks.
As Dragapult danced, the vast majority of the Air Slashes narrowly missed its body by mere inches.
Only a handful struck home.
Compared to the boost granted by Dragon Dance, those minor injuries were insignificant.
Bathed in moonlight, Dragapult suddenly stopped dancing.
Its tail flicked.
Like Pidgeot moments earlier, its entire body vanished from Silas's sight.
Without needing a command, Pidgeot abandoned its assault and immediately accelerated with Agility once again.
Hidden beneath the darkness, only repeated sonic booms echoed through the sky.
Neither Pokémon could be seen.
Silas gradually frowned.
At the moment, Pidgeot was undeniably faster than Dragapult.
Even after Agility wore off, Pidgeot would still be quicker, despite Dragon Dance's enhancement.
The problem was stamina.
Dragon-types were famous for possessing incredible endurance.
Pidgeot's stamina far surpassed others of its kind. But this wasn't a contest against another bird Pokémon.
If things continued this way, Pidgeot would almost certainly collapse first.
Once its stamina was exhausted, the outcome would be obvious.
That wasn't the result Silas wanted.
"I have to limit its movements."
His mind raced.
"Double Team, then use Roost."
Silas's voice echoed across the empty beach.
While flying, Pidgeot glanced toward a point behind it.
It could sense exactly where its opponent was.
Its wingbeats accelerated once more.
In the blink of an eye, the already slower Dragapult fell even farther behind.
Dragapult remained completely unconcerned.
How many times could Pidgeot burst forward like this?
Every acceleration consumed an enormous amount of stamina.
To Dragapult, it was a meaningless waste of energy.
The next instant, Pidgeot reappeared high in the sky.
"Pidgeot!"
It spread its enormous wings.
Dozens of identical Pidgeots instantly filled the heavens.
The already dim night became even harder to see through.
Before Dragapult could close the distance, every Pidgeot folded its wings and dived toward the ground.
"Roar!"
A sharp gleam flashed through Dragapult's narrow eyes.
After circling once, it charged straight toward one particular Pidgeot.
It seemed completely unaffected by Double Team.
"Perfect."
Silas smiled.
"Use Feather Dance!"
With the cover provided by Double Team, countless feathers drifted across the beach, obscuring everything.
"ROAR!"
Being a Ghost-type, Dragapult paid no attention to such interference.
It flew straight toward the Pidgeot whose life force it clearly sensed.
Opening its jaws, it unleashed a stream of bluish-purple Dragon Breath.
The Pidgeot on the ground seemed just a fraction too slow.
Only when the attack was about to hit did it barely manage to raise its Steel Wing-coated wings in defense.
A satisfied look appeared in Dragapult's eyes.
It believed the battle was over.
Excited by the imminent victory, it completely ignored the fact that Feather Dance had sharply reduced its Attack.
After all it was about to win.
"Pidgeot!"
The struck Pidgeot let out a cry of agony.
Then, to Dragapult's astonishment, it burst into bubbles and vanished into thin air.
"Huh?"
Dragapult froze.
What just happened?
It was certain that had been the real Pidgeot.
It had sensed genuine life energy.
It had even reacted to defend itself.
But that disappearing act.
"Pidgeot!"
"One more time!"
"Sky Attack!"
"Pidgeot!!"
Wrapped in dazzling light, Pidgeot released a piercing cry.
It crashed into Dragapult from an incredibly tricky angle behind its right side.
Still distracted by what had just happened, Dragapult was caught completely off guard by the overwhelming impact.
"ROOOAR!!"
Unable to help itself, it let out a pained roar.
Boom!
Its body slammed heavily into the sandy ground.
The roar came to an abrupt halt.
Breathing heavily, Pidgeot struggled to flap its wings as it climbed back into the air, watching Dragapult below.
Substitute, Feather Dance, and Sky Attack.
Even after recovering with Roost, its stamina had nearly reached its limit.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
"What a beautiful strategy."
The Dragon Elder applauded with genuine admiration.
"You first mixed Substitute among the Double Team clones to lure Dragapult into attacking it."
"Then you used the energy fluctuations and presence of Feather Dance to conceal both Sky Attack's charging phase and Pidgeot's true location."
"And finally, you landed the decisive blow."
"Most Trainers and Pokémon would already be considered excellent if they could accomplish the first step."
"As for the second, even the vast majority of Elite Trainers couldn't guarantee they'd pull it off."
"As expected the younger generation really is something."
"I'm getting old."
Her voice carried a hint of nostalgia.
Silas smiled sheepishly.
"Not at all. This was all thanks to Pidgeot's own hard work."
"Hahaha! What a sly little fellow."
The Dragon Elder naturally didn't take Silas's words at face value.
A Pokémon's effort was certainly important, but the Trainer who devised the training methods and battle strategies was the true core behind everything.
Otherwise, why were there no wild Elite Four-level or even Champion-level Pokémon capable of executing tactics like these?
The more she looked at Silas, the more pleased she became.
"No wonder that child Lance thinks so highly of you. He certainly has good judgment! Hahaha!"
As for the result.
In the Dragon Elder's eyes, the battle had already been decided the instant Feather Dance was used.
Although Roost temporarily caused Pidgeot to lose its Flying type and become a Normal-type Pokémon, preventing Sky Attack from receiving the Same-Type Attack Bonus (STAB).
People often forgot one thing.
Before that Dragapult had already endured one Sky Attack.
Combined with all the accumulated damage it had taken throughout the battle, even a Dragonite of the same level couldn't guarantee staying conscious.
Much less a Dragapult, whose strengths leaned more toward offense than defense.
Sure enough as the dust settled, Dragapult lay on the ground with spirals in its eyes.
"Pidgeot!"
High above, Pidgeot let out an excited cry.
Despite usually acting lazy, its desire to defeat powerful opponents and become stronger was no less than any other Pokémon.
Otherwise, Blaziken's strength would have surpassed it long ago.
"You've worked hard. Come back and get some rest."
A moment later, Silas recalled Pidgeot into its Luxury Ball.
A win was a win, but Pidgeot's condition wasn't much better than its opponent's.
If it kept forcing itself to fly, it might literally collapse from exhaustion midair.
That would truly become a disgrace for a bird Pokémon.
"Dragaa..."
The leader Dragapult slithered over to Silas and affectionately licked his face with its long tongue.
It seemed he had finally earned the complete recognition of this powerful Pokémon.
"Woooo—"
The Dragapult leader turned around and let out a long howl toward its clan.
At its call, every Dreepy left the tops of their parents' heads and floated over.
Even the slightly restless Drakloaks restrained themselves under the leader's authority.
One after another, the neatly lined-up Dreepy formed a long train-like line.
Their tiny eyes stared curiously at Silas.
"Please wait a moment. I just remembered something."
Patting his forehead, Silas apologized to the Dragon Elder before tossing another Poké Ball.
"Gallade, come on out."
"Gallade?"
Gallade appeared beside the shore and looked at its Trainer in confusion.
"Well you're a Psychic-type Pokémon."
"I was worried you might not be comfortable living alongside a Ghost-type Pokémon, so I wanted to ask first."
Silas scratched his head awkwardly.
He should have confirmed this earlier, but the series of pleasant surprises had made him forget.
Judging from Gallade's reactions inside its Poké Ball, Silas doubted there would be any problem.
Still it was better to ask.
Internal conflicts within a team were every Trainer's headache.
Gallade shook its head.
"It's fine."
"I don't sense any evil from them."
"If anything, the aura they give off feels much closer to Dragon-type Pokémon."
"That's good."
Silas nodded in relief.
The Dragon Elder smiled.
"The dislike Psychic-type Pokémon have toward Dark-type and Ghost-type Pokémon isn't caused by their powers."
"It's because of their hearts."
"Pokémon blessed with powerful psychic abilities instinctively avoid hearts filled with malice. Justice-oriented Pokémon like Gallade are especially sensitive to that."
"But Dragapult and its family possess no evil intentions."
"Nor do they feed on life energy."
"So you don't need to worry."
She completely understood Silas's concern.
In fact, rather than finding it strange, she felt it perfectly matched the answer Silas had once given her at the Blackthorn Gym.
"Dree..."
The Dreepy all cried out in confusion.
Silas smiled.
"So would you like to stay and watch?"
"Or return to your Poké Ball and continue resting?"
"I'll stay."
Gallade nodded.
"I'd like to meet our newest teammate as soon as possible."
After all according to what Silas had previously told all of his partners...
Once he officially owned twelve Pokémon the maximum number he intended to maintain, he wouldn't train any additional partners for quite some time.
Unless every member of his team had reached the level he expected.
Otherwise he simply didn't have enough time or energy to properly care for so many companions.
The other eight Poké Balls at his waist shook simultaneously.
Their occupants clearly agreed with Gallade.
"You all stay put."
"Don't scare them."
"You can get acquainted after we return."
Silas said helplessly.
The Pokémon inside thought about it and realized he had a point.
Even so, they continued watching the Dreepy curiously through their Poké Balls.
"These are all the Dreepy hatchlings currently in the colony."
The Dragon Elder offered another explanation as Silas prepared to choose.
"Because of their exceptionally long lifespan, they don't have a strong desire to reproduce."
"Usually, only a few hatchlings are born every several years."
Silas nodded in understanding.
"Zero."
He silently called out in his mind.
His gaze swept across the group.
Even while the battle had been taking place, Zero had never stopped analyzing.
Aside from a handful of individuals whose development wasn't complete, nearly every Dreepy's potential had already been displayed.
Elite... Elite.. Elite...
Almost every hatchling possessed Elite -level potential.
While some Dragon-type Pokémon did have mediocre aptitude.
Those unable to reach their final evolution were relatively rare.
For a species like Dreepy, it's extraordinarily high evolution levels naturally established an exceptionally high minimum potential.
The Dragon Elder watched Silas with a pleased smile.
In her eyes, he wasn't choosing based on potential.
He was carefully selecting the partner best suited for himself.
That misunderstanding made her even more satisfied.
Unfortunately it was a complete misunderstanding.
Meanwhile, Silas himself was frowning.
To his surprise, there wasn't a single Dreepy with Champion-level potential.
Not even many with Elite Four potential.
Nor did he believe the Dragon Elder had deceived him.
Perhaps, the leader simply hadn't produced any offspring yet, just as she had mentioned earlier.
"A Elite Four is already incredible."
"Champion potential isn't something you run into every day."
Silas comforted himself.
One Champion-potential Gible Egg.
And one Elite Four-Potential Dreepy.
The rewards from this trip had already exceeded all expectations.
He couldn't reasonably ask for more.
Still, he couldn't help feeling just a tiny bit disappointed.
Putting those thoughts aside, he extended his hand toward one outgoing Dreepy with Elite-Four potential.
"So then little one would you like to become my partner?"
"Dree!"
The chosen Dreepy froze for a moment.
Then its eyes curved happily as it nodded enthusiastically.
"Dree~"
It flew over to Silas and happily licked his face over and over with its tiny tongue.
"Hahaha! That tickles!"
Silas instinctively pulled his neck back while laughing.
Taking a prepared Luxury Ball from his backpack, he smiled warmly.
"In that case..."
"I choose you."
The Luxury Ball traced a perfect arc through the air before gently striking Dreepy.
A crimson beam instantly enveloped its body.
The opened Luxury Ball slowly closed.
Moments later.
Click.
The sound signifying a successful capture echoed softly.
Without offering even the slightest resistance.
Dreepy officially became Silas's partner.
"Congratulations."
The Dragon Elder smiled with heartfelt satisfaction.
..
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