"So our real stage shouldn't be here."
As he said this, Thomas shrugged and turned his gaze toward Ethan, who was on the field.
At that moment, he couldn't help but recall the battle he had once had with him. That Tyranitar of his had been practically unsolvable, completely suppressing the rainy weather of his Goodra.
But that was not the most important thing.
What was truly shocking was the final battle: that Vibrava had used that terrifying sandstorm attack and, almost without suffering any damage, defeated Kevin's Hydreigon, which had activated the move Outrage for the second time.
That battle left all the trainers present stunned. Even now, whenever Thomas looked at Ethan, he felt something strange inside.
The scene of that overwhelming power that seemed capable of destroying everything in seconds was deeply engraved in his mind. Every time he saw Ethan again, that battle resurfaced in his head.
Moreover, he had also seen the battle between the Rhyperior on the field and that Sandslash. Especially the terrifying Rollout move of that Sandslash, which already seemed to have vaguely reached the threshold of the Quasi-Elite level, making him feel somewhat powerless.
Comparing the strength of that Sandslash with his own Pokémon, he realized that he wasn't even sure he could defeat it reliably, let alone Ethan's other Pokémon.
"Thomas, long time no see," Ethan greeted in the League's common language.
"Yes, it's been quite a while."
Thomas smiled as well. After the tournament in Dragon Valley, the two had discussed the use of weather moves together, so they were already quite familiar with each other.
Immediately afterward, Ethan stepped down from the battlefield and began chatting with Thomas.
"Eh... it seems they really do know each other."
"Wait! Why are the two of them leaving?"
The surrounding students watched in confusion as the two walked away.
This time no one tried to stop Ethan.
After Arthur had been defeated twice in a row and Thomas refused to battle, among the students of Harvard Pokémon University there was no one left capable of fighting him.
Now they even regretted having stopped that "monster" on the stage earlier. If they had let him leave from the beginning, none of this would have happened.
"This is too embarrassing..."
"The best university in the world was swept away by a student from another university!"
At that moment, someone threw out that taunt, and the atmosphere fell silent.
"It was only an exchange battle!"
"The real stage is the World Championship!"
Some students began shouting, filled with determination, determined to recover their honor at the world championship.
...
Meanwhile...
Ethan and Thomas had already left the battlefield.
"Were you looking for me for something?" Ethan asked when they arrived at a quiet meadow.
Then he suddenly took out the seven-colored pendant he wore on his chest.
That pendant was the key to entering Dragon Valley, and at that moment it emitted a faint glow.
Earlier he had felt the pendant shining, which was why he stepped down from the stage and followed Thomas there.
"Yes. There's just a mission from Dragon Valley. I received information that you had arrived, so I came to find you," Thomas nodded. His appearance there was not a coincidence, nor had he come to watch the battle: he had come specifically for Ethan.
"A mission from Dragon Valley?"
"Did a Dragon-type Pokémon appear?"
Ethan's heart stirred slightly. As a dragon messenger, one of his responsibilities was to help Dragon Valley with missions like that.
"Exactly. According to Dragon Valley's detection systems, a Secret Kingdom with a large concentration of Dragon-type energy has appeared in the outer sea."
"The mission is for us to go there and relocate the Pokémon from that place to Dragon Valley."
Dragon Valley, as a super-large Secret Kingdom, possessed its own system to detect massive concentrations of Dragon-type energy in different parts of the world.
"A Secret Kingdom with strong Dragon-type energy..."
Ethan nodded. As a dragon messenger, he had no reason to refuse.
Exploring a Secret Kingdom was always very valuable. They might even find something interesting.
Soon the two reached an agreement and began discussing the details of the mission.
In total, five dragon messengers would participate. Besides Ethan and Thomas, there would be three other companions of Thomas, all trainers whose strength was very close to the Quasi-Elite level.
A team of five dragon messengers of that level made the exploration practically safe.
Finally, they agreed to begin the mission three days later, before the start of the World Championship.
...
During the following three days, the World Pokémon University Exchange continued.
However, ever since Ethan had practically swept through Harvard Pokémon University that night, the way the other universities looked at Ironvale City Pokémon University completely changed.
No one saw it anymore as an ordinary university participating for the first time. But secretly, all the universities were preparing with all their strength, determined to regain their honor at the world championship.
Seeing this, Ethan simply smiled.
He had been worried about what would happen to his university if he left to carry out the dragon messenger mission.
Now it seemed that even without him there, there would be no problems.
It was a pleasant surprise.
...
Three days later.
Ethan left the university and arrived at the beach of San Francisco.
"San Francisco... If I remember correctly, Hawaii is in this direction."
He looked at the distant sea, then at the map in his hand.
The entire area of the ocean was marked with red danger signs.
"The depths of the Pacific Ocean? This mission seems interesting."
While he was thinking, several dragon roars echoed in the sky.
Thomas appeared riding a Dragonite, and behind him flew two Salamence and another Dragonite.
Obviously, the other three were the dragon messengers who would participate in the mission.
"Ethan, let me introduce you. These three are the other dragon messengers for this mission."
After introducing themselves to each other, the five decided to depart immediately.
The method was simple: cross the ocean riding their Pokémon.
Although it was dangerous, all of them had strength close to the Quasi-Elite level, so they had enough confidence.
Moreover, although it wasn't said explicitly, it was also a test. Exploring Secret Kingdoms was dangerous; if someone couldn't even cross the ocean riding their Pokémon, it would be better for them to withdraw before becoming a burden.
"Crossing the ocean... no problem. Come out, Vibrava."
Ethan smiled and released his Pokémon.
"Viiibbrraa!"
Vibrava flew happily beside him.
"Vibrava?"
The other three looked at each other in surprise.
As dragon messengers, they knew all Dragon-type Pokémon well. And they knew that Vibrava had the weakness of not being able to fly long distances.
Seeing Ethan use it as a mount seemed strange to them. But in the next moment, they seemed to remember something and looked at Thomas in surprise.
"That's right," he said with a shrug. "Ethan is the champion of this generation's Dragon Messenger Battle. And that Vibrava is the one that defeated Kevin's Hydreigon."
As a witness of that final battle, he was still impressed even now.
That Vibrava might not be the strongest among Dragon-type Pokémon, but it was probably the strongest Vibrava in the world.
Only one question remained: Why had it still not evolved into Flygon?
(End of chapter)