As the morning sunlight bathed the ancient city, Blackthorn City came alive once more.
Countless Trainers filled the streets, every one of them wearing eager expressions.
They all shared the same destination, a nameless lake on the outskirts of Blackthorn City.
Silas and Brock blended into the crowd, attracting very little attention.
"Brother Silas, does that mean we'll finally get to see a Dratini today?"
Paul's voice rang out.
Silas smiled and nodded.
Seemingly by accident, he glanced toward the distance.
Not far away, Reggie was glaring at his younger brother with obvious dissatisfaction.
In just seven short days, Paul had replaced his former idol, his older brother with someone new.
That someone was naturally Silas, the Trainer who had repeatedly crushed Reggie in battle.
"Although I've watched recordings of the Promotion Ceremony before, this is my first time seeing it in person."
Brock looked unusually excited.
The Promotion Ceremony served two primary purposes.
The first was to cleanse the Dragon Fang, a sacred relic passed down through generations of the Blackthorn Dragon Clan, using the lake's water while praying for the prosperity and well-being of all Dragon-type Pokémon.
The second purpose was to elevate a single Dratini chosen from the Dragon's Den.
Normally, that Dratini was the most outstanding member of its generation.
That was exactly why it was called the Promotion Ceremony.
After undergoing the ceremony, the chosen Dratini would experience a tremendous increase in its potential, innate talent, and overall strength through methods outsiders could neither understand nor explain.
The only unfortunate part was that this particular Dratini could never be captured by outsiders.
After all, it represented one of Dragon's Den's future protectors. Neither Blackthorn Gym nor the Dragon Clan would ever allow it to leave.
More importantly, every Dratini selected once every three years was actually considered a future candidate to become one of Dragon's Den's Guardians.
When the previous Guardian Dragonite eventually neared the end of its life, these outstanding successors would inherit its duty, protecting the younger Dragon-type Pokémon living inside Dragon's Den.
That was precisely why the chosen Pokémon was always a Dratini rather than another Dragon-type species.
If something like a Hydreigon were placed in charge. Who knew how chaotic Dragon's Den would become?
Only Dragonite, with its famously gentle temperament and reluctance to anger, was truly suited for the role.
Furthermore, as a powerful pseudo-legendary Pokémon, Dragonite ranked among the strongest Dragon-types, ensuring the proud dragons within Dragon's Den would willingly acknowledge its authority.
"I see..."
Paul listened with wide eyes as Silas explained everything.
Once again, he discovered another reason why Brother Silas seemed far more impressive than his own brother.
His silly older brother certainly wouldn't know this much.
And even if he did, he probably wouldn't bother explaining it.
Not far away, Reggie was grinding his teeth in frustration.
He knew his little brother better than anyone.
Just by looking at Paul's expression, he could tell exactly what the boy was thinking.
Knowledge wasn't something that could be accumulated overnight.
Except for freaks like Silas, whose memory was practically photographic, most Trainers born into ordinary families only reached the peak of their experience around their forties.
By then, however, it was usually too late to begin raising entirely new Pokémon or experimenting with different approaches.
At most, they could pass their accumulated knowledge on to the next generation, hoping their children would achieve greater things than they themselves ever had.
The crowd continued carrying everyone forward.
Once again, Silas's exceptional physical abilities became apparent.
While Reggie had long since been pushed who-knew-where by the crowd, Silas calmly shielded Paul without any difficulty.
Brock didn't require any help.
Although he wasn't nearly as physically monstrous as Silas, he trained regularly himself.
That was the unique tradition of Rock-type Gym Trainers.
After all only someone with an unbreakable body could properly command equally unbreakable Rock-type Pokémon.
That had always been Brock's grandfather's philosophy.
"Roooar—!"
A familiar dragon's cry echoed across the sky.
A golden figure descended rapidly from the distant heavens.
In the blink of an eye, it was already flying above everyone's heads.
"It's Dragonite! It's Gym Leader Clair!"
"Gym Leader Clair, you're so cool!"
"Gym Leader Clair! Please tell Lance that I love him!"
Watching the crowd erupt into cheers, Silas looked utterly speechless.
Is Clair really this popular?
He tilted his head and examined her more carefully.
Well to be fair, Clair's regal appearance really did appeal to a certain type of man.
But the guy shouting about Lance really had terrible timing.
With his excellent eyesight, Silas clearly saw Clair's expression darken the instant she heard that.
Fortunately, she quickly composed herself.
Today was the Promotion Ceremony, held only once every three years.
She wasn't about to let thoughts of her idiot cousin ruin her mood.
Pulling out a loudspeaker from seemingly nowhere, she called out,
"First of all—!"
She deliberately dragged out her words.
The Trainers surrounding the lake immediately fell silent.
"Welcome, everyone, to this year's Promotion Ceremony. As the Gym Leader of Blackthorn Gym and the host representing the Dragon Clan, I sincerely thank you all for attending."
Clair lowered her head, scanning the crowd.
She recognized quite a few familiar faces.
The lake itself wasn't particularly large, and only a limited number of people could gather around it.
Most of those present were capable Trainers who had already left an impression on her.
"However, there are still a few things that must be said."
She flicked the whip in her right hand.
Crack!
The sound exploded through the air.
"I will not tolerate anyone attempting to disrupt today's ceremony.
Anyone who does so will immediately become an enemy of every resident of Blackthorn City and the entire Dragon Clan, and they will be expelled from our territory.
Should the consequences prove serious enough, Officer Jenny will personally invite that Trainer in for questioning."
Clair's tone remained calm throughout.
Yet not a single Trainer present dared ignore her warning.
The hostility of the Dragon Clan was not something anyone wished to experience.
Leaving everything else aside.
Imagine running into someone like Lance while traveling in the wilderness after making an enemy of them.
That would be an absolute nightmare.
Besides, with the Rising Dragon Ceremony about to begin, nobody wanted to risk being expelled before the real event even started.
Not even those harboring ulterior motives.
In truth, most incidents throughout previous Rising Dragon Ceremonies had never occurred during the Promotion Ceremony itself.
Only two important things appeared during this event:
The Dragon Fang and one exceptionally talented Dratini.
The Dragon Fang remained almost constantly in Clair's hands.
Anyone hoping to steal it would first have to defeat the Blackthorn Gym Leader herself.
Not to mention the hidden Dragon Tamers guarding the area from the shadows.
Rather than wasting time attempting something so foolish, most criminals would rather focus on infiltrating Dragon's Den, where far greater rewards awaited.
As for the Dratini, that was an even worse idea.
Someone had tried targeting it once before.
The result had been utterly disastrous.
At the time, a Dragonite descended from the heavens like a falling meteor, shrouded in the overwhelming might of Dragon Rush.
Had members of the Dragon Clan not intervened at the last second.
The attacker wouldn't even have left ashes behind.
Ever since that incident, visiting Trainers finally realized something.
The parents of the Dratini chosen for the Promotion Ceremony also attended the ceremony.
Since every selected Dratini possessed extraordinary talent, its parents were naturally far from ordinary.
A Dragonair generally evolved into Dragonite at around Level 55.
In other words, every one of those Dragonite was, at the very least, at the peak of the Elite level.
Combined with the naturally overwhelming strength of Dragon-type Pokémon, they were opponents no Trainer below Champion level should ever provoke.
Furthermore, very few Dragonite remained permanently stuck at the peak of the Elite tier.
With talent like that, breaking through to Champion level was usually only a matter of time.
Simply put anyone foolish enough to target that Dratini would have to deal with its two parents, both almost certainly Elite Four-level Dragonite.
And those Dragonite certainly wouldn't care about human laws.
They only knew one thing:
Their child was in danger.
And then...
Fortunately, every generation's representative of the Dragon Clan possessed the ability to calm enraged Dragon-type Pokémon. Otherwise, the fate of those foolish enough to provoke them would have been far worse.
If it had only been two Elite Four-level Dragonite, it might still have been manageable.
The real problem was that no one knew exactly how powerful the parents would be.
Among the seven or eight recorded attempts to abduct the chosen Dratini, the strongest Dragonite to appear possessed Champion-level strength.
According to the Dragon Clan's later explanation, that Dragonite was one of Dragon's Den's ancestral elders.
No one could understand how a Dragonite that old was still capable of producing offspring.
On that occasion, even the ceremony's host hadn't reacted in time to stop the enraged Champion-level Dragonite.
Every Trainer silently stood where they were.
Without another word, Clair reached into the pouch at her waist and took out a weathered, ancient fang.
An overwhelming sense of age seemed to radiate from it.
"The Dragon Fang of inheritance..."
Silas's face was filled with curiosity.
Unlike the Dragon Fang he possessed, this one, passed down through countless generations looked ancient and worn.
A stone altar slowly rose from beneath the lake's surface.
Clair clasped the Dragon Fang between her hands and held it before her chest before closing her eyes and quietly reciting an ancient prayer.
As she did so, the altar began to emit an unusual glow.
The light became brighter and brighter until the spectators instinctively narrowed their eyes.
"Dragon of the Sky, Dragon of the Earth, Dragon of the Water.
Grant peace to all dragons.
Grant smiles to all dragons.
Grant happiness to all dragons."
Clair's clear voice echoed across the lake.
With the prayer complete, she gently placed the Dragon Fang upon the altar before scooping up crystal-clear lake water with both hands and slowly pouring it over the ancient fang.
Bathed in the pure water, the old Dragon Fang gradually regained its original brilliance.
Golden light burst forth from within it.
A radiant dragon formed entirely from golden light shot toward the heavens.
Tiny specks of starlight drifted down from the sky as the dragon dissolved into countless shimmering fragments.
"Mii..."
A serpentine Pokémon covered in pale blue scales emerged from the water beside the altar.
"It's a Dratini!"
Paul exclaimed excitedly beside Silas.
The Pokémon had violet eyes, a small white bump on its forehead, white fin-like ears on either side of its head, and a large round white nose.
Before evolving into Dragonite, Dratini possessed an elegant, slender body.
Silas, however, was still lost in thought.
That dragon made of light...
If I wasn't mistaken was that Rayquaza...?
It had only appeared for a brief instant.
Only after the dragon reached the highest point in the sky and scattered into countless stars did its silhouette briefly resemble Rayquaza.
Before that, everyone could only make out the rough outline of a long, serpentine dragon.
"So that's why the Dragon Elder has a Rayquaza statue on top of her staff." Silas thought to himself.
Looks like the Dragon Clan has much deeper ties to the people of Meteor Falls than I imagined.
If the Dragon of the Sky referred to Rayquaza.
Then who were the Dragon of the Earth and the Dragon of the Water?
The Dragon of the Earth wasn't difficult to guess.
Complete Forme Zygarde certainly deserved that title.
But the Dragon of the Water. Could it be Palkia, the Spatial Pokémon?
Honestly, Silas felt Lugia was far more famous in that regard than Palkia.
Then again, Lugia was already revered as the Guardian of the Seas.
Giving it yet another title as the Dragon of Water felt a little excessive.
Of course...
No one besides Silas cared about the meaning behind the prayer.
Much less the true appearance of the Dragon of Light.
Everyone's attention was fixed on the Dratini in the middle of the lake.
As starlight descended from the Dragon of Light, the Dratini's body became enveloped in the white glow of Evolution.
Its life energy surged violently.
Its long blue skin continuously peeled away, floating across the lake's surface.
Quite a few Trainers' eyes lit up with greed.
Because of the tremendous energy flowing through its body, a Dratini shed its skin almost once every day.
Leather goods crafted from those discarded skins, boots, handbags, and similar items were considered luxury products sought after by collectors everywhere.
And this particular skin had been shed during Dratini's evolution into Dragonair.
Its value was beyond measure.
Yet no one dared move.
Those who wanted it lacked the courage.
Those with the strength to take it simply didn't care.
After all only someone powerful enough to steal it in front of the Dragon Clan could obtain it.
And people of that caliber had little interest in something like Dragonair skin.
"Krrr~"
A cry sounding far closer to a dragon's roar emerged from within the light of evolution.
A Pokémon even longer and more elegant than Dratini appeared before everyone's eyes.
Its body was covered in sapphire-blue scales, while its underside was creamy white.
It possessed bright black eyes, a small white horn on its forehead, delicate wing-like ears on either side of its head, and three crystal-blue orbs, one beneath its neck and two near the tip of its tail.
Those crystal orbs contained mysterious weather-controlling powers.
Whenever Dragonair released its aura, the surrounding weather would change completely.
Since ancient times, farmers had worshipped Dragonair as a bringer of favorable weather.
"Krrr..."
Dragonair cried once more.
The wing-like fins beside its head expanded slightly as its long serpentine body gracefully rose into the air.
The somewhat gloomy sky immediately became bright and clear.
"Next, all Trainers who have received qualification notices, please follow me."
Without paying further attention to Dragonair, Clair mounted her Dragonite and flew toward the distance.
It was obvious she was intentionally keeping her speed under control.
Silas and Brock exchanged glances before immediately throwing their Poké Balls.
"Pidgeot, I'm counting on you."
"Aerodactyl, sorry to trouble you again."
The two Pokémon carried their respective Trainers into the air, following closely behind Clair and her Dragonite.
Many other qualified Trainers did the same.
...
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