Every Dragon Tamer stood there, utterly dumbfounded.
"Th-This..."
They subconsciously exchanged glances, their eyes filled with both relief and amazement.
Thankfully, they hadn't had time to place that bet earlier. Otherwise, they would have lost spectacularly.
There weren't many Dragon Tamers in the world, and each clearance token carried hidden identifying marks. As a result, they immediately recognized where the two tokens in Silas's hand had come from.
While marveling at his terrible luck in drawing the two toughest stages, they were even more astonished by his strength.
Subtracting the time it took him to walk between stages, they estimated that Silas had spent less than ten minutes battling in total.
At the same rank of strength, that was nothing short of a complete stomp.
Then again anyone capable of overwhelming Dragon-type Pokémon had to be incredibly powerful.
"Did he use a Elite-level Pokémon?"
Quite a few of them believed that was the only logical conclusion.
Even so, for someone so young to own a Elite-level Pokémon was remarkable.
If they remembered correctly, when they were his age, they had still been struggling just to assemble a full team of six main Pokémon.
Comparisons truly were depressing.
Silence fell over the mountaintop.
Silas blinked as he looked at the Gatekeepers, each wearing a different expression.
To be honest, he had been startled as well.
The moment he saw over a dozen Dragon Tamers gathered together, he had genuinely thought the final trial required him to fight all of them at once.
But after thinking about it, that obviously wasn't possible. Otherwise, everyone would fail.
Even the Dragon Clan wouldn't create such an impossible challenge.
"Um can we begin now?"
He raised a hand.
"Of course. Since you're the first Trainer to clear the first two trials, I'll be conducting your final test."
An elegant middle-aged man stepped forward.
"The third trial is the Trial of the Sky Dragon. My battle partner is this Pokémon. Go, Altaria!"
A Dragon-type Pokémon that looked extremely familiar to Silas appeared overhead.
Its overwhelming aura clearly placed it at the Pseudo-Elite level.
Silas secretly curled his lips.
He had been hoping to see a rarer Dragon-type Pokémon.
Something like Noivern, or even Salamence.
"Let's finish this quick actually, never mind. I'll leave it to you. Go, Togekiss!"
Silas had originally intended to throw one of the Luxury Balls in his hand, but changed his mind at the last second.
Inside, Pidgeot, who had been fully prepared for battle, almost burst out just to smack its unreliable Trainer with one massive wing.
"Toge~"
Togekiss, on the other hand, looked delighted.
Thinking about it, it had been quite a while since it had fought a proper battle.
Beating up random wild Pokémon on the roadside didn't count.
Silas's reasoning was simple.
He wanted to see exactly how much Togekiss had improved, as it had been claiming.
As for losing that wasn't even worth considering.
Traitor to the Dragon-type or not, before Mega Evolution, Altaria was still a Dragon/Flying-type Pokémon.
Meanwhile, Togekiss, which looked like a Normal/Flying-type but was actually a Fairy/Flying-type, was practically born to slay dragons.
Combined with the abilities Serene Grace and Super Luck, Silas genuinely couldn't imagine himself losing.
He wasn't some villain from a fantasy novel.
How could someone possibly lose with a dragon slayer right in front of a dragon?
"He didn't use Pidgeot?"
One Dragon Tamer scratched his head.
He knew Silas and naturally knew that he owned a Elite-level Pidgeot and Blaziken.
As examiners of the Three Dragon Trial, they obviously couldn't use Elite-level Pokémon as the standard.
A peak Pseudo-Elite Dragon-type Pokémon was already the limit.
Silas had simply been unlucky enough to draw two Pseudo-Elite Gatekeepers in the first two rounds.
Normally, the first trial was only guarded by an Advanced-level Pokémon.
As for Trainers below Advance level...
It wasn't that the Dragon Clan looked down on them.
The reality was that even if such Trainers somehow miraculously obtained a qualification to enter the Dragon's Den, they still wouldn't earn the recognition of the Dragon-type Pokémon inside.
In that case, they might as well leave early with a decent consolation reward.
"It doesn't matter. He'll pass anyway. This lets us see his real strength."
Another Dragon Tamer watched the battle with great interest.
He had no desire to watch a Elite-level Pokémon crush a Pseudo-Elite opponent.
This was far more interesting.
The others nodded in agreement.
Gradually, however, as the battle continued, their expressions became increasingly speechless.
"Togekiss, Air Slash."
Silas calmly called out the move's name for what felt like the hundredth time.
Across the field, the refined middle-aged man looked like he was on the verge of breaking down.
Seriously?
Is that the only move you know?
Can we have an actual Pokémon battle for once?
His eyes were filled with despair.
To be fair, it wasn't really his fault.
Anyone forced to face a Togekiss that flinched its opponent nearly every single turn would feel the same.
Thanks to Super Luck, the already ridiculously high chance of flinching seemed to activate without fail.
Aside from managing to use Round once at the very beginning, Altaria hadn't even been able to move another step.
"What kind of ridiculous odds are these?"
The spectators couldn't help complaining.
Even with Serene Grace, Air Slash only had a 60% chance to cause flinching.
Landing five successful flinches in a row was only about a 7% probability.
Yet this Togekiss had succeeded far more than five consecutive times.
It was already well into the double digits.
This was the first time any of them had ever witnessed such an absurd battle.
It was truly eye-opening.
Even more infuriating, Air Slash occasionally landed critical hits, dealing tremendous damage.
Altaria's condition visibly worsened with every passing moment.
Its Trainer couldn't do a thing about it.
This had nothing to do with strength.
Nothing to do with type matchups.
It was simply because Air Slash kept triggering flinching over and over again.
Silas remained perfectly calm.
Was this strange?
As his Pokémon, wasn't having this much luck perfectly normal?
Just then, Altaria finally managed to take a small step forward.
For the first time, it didn't flinch.
The refined Dragon Tamer's face lit up as he prepared to issue an order. Only for Altaria to immediately freeze again, wearing the same dazed, hesitant expression.
He nearly coughed up blood.
Even Silas twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Seriously? Did you have to mess with his emotions like that?
"Togekiss, use Fairy Wind."
He made up his mind.
Rather than slowly wearing Altaria down through flinching, he'd simply rely on type advantage.
His opponent visibly relaxed.
At least this way, they could finally fight back and preserve a little dignity.
"Altaria, use Dragon—"
Before he could finish his command, what happened next completely shattered him.
The instant the pink Fairy Wind enveloped Altaria, it flinched again.
"That's the effect of King's Rock."
Everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
Seriously even after the flinch chance dropped from 60% to 20%, it still activated?
A true lucky prodigy really didn't have to follow the rules.
Even Silas hadn't expected things to turn out like this.
"That's enough. I surrender. You've passed."
The refined Dragon Tamer immediately recalled Altaria.
On one hand, Altaria's condition had already fallen to its limit and stood no chance against a fresh Togekiss.
On the other hand battling like this was simply too depressing.
That helpless feeling of having strength but never getting to use it was unbelievably frustrating.
"Togekiss! To-ge-kiss!"
Togekiss happily floated over to Silas, looking completely smug as it asked for praise.
Crushing the opponent? It could do that too.
Silas rubbed his temples.
Sometimes, having too much luck wasn't necessarily a good thing.
During that entire battle, he hadn't even been able to tell where Togekiss had improved.
At most, its Air Slash had become even more refined, and its Fairy-type energy had clearly grown stronger.
Or perhaps, for Togekiss, becoming even luckier was its greatest improvement.
The refined middle-aged Dragon Tamer walked over and tossed Silas a red token.
The three differently colored tokens fit together perfectly, forming a Rising Dragon Badge.
"If you're not in a hurry, you can wait here," he said. "Once everyone has finished, Clair will take you all to the next stage of the Dragon Ascension Ceremony."
Silas nodded and quietly walked to one side to wait.
After all, it wasn't like he had any other choice.
Togekiss floated after him with an unhappy expression.
"To-ge-kiss! To-ge-kiss!"
Hey! You still haven't praised me! Look how amazing I was!
"You beat an Altaria and you're already getting cocky?" Silas smacked the crest on its head. "How about I let you handle Cynthia's Garchomp next time?"
"To-ge To-ge..."
Togekiss frantically shook its head.
Forget it. That's better left to Boss Pidgeot or Boss Blaziken.
Or if not them let Serperior or Ampharos do it.
Hovering above Silas's head, Togekiss flailed its little arms nonstop, desperately trying to get its point across.
"The last time I prepared Moomoo Milk for Vulpix, three bottles went missing."
Togekiss immediately stiffened.
"The time before that, three drinks and snacks disappeared from my room."
Togekiss subconsciously gulped.
"And before that, a few small claw marks mysteriously appeared on my bed."
Whoosh!
A flash of red light.
Without a second thought, Togekiss pressed the button on its Poké Ball and voluntarily returned to it.
Silas chuckled.
Hah. Thought I couldn't deal with you?
As he recalled Togekiss's battle, a faint blue glow occasionally flickered in his eyes.
Because Silas an outsider was present, the Dragon Tamers couldn't openly chat among themselves. Instead, they stood in place, waiting for the remaining challengers.
About twenty minutes later, Masato, dressed in a black robe, finally appeared.
His gaze swept across the area.
When he noticed Silas, his eyes narrowed beneath the hood before silently shifting toward the Dragon Tamers serving as examiners.
"I'll be your opponent," one of the Dragon Tamers stepped forward after noticing the two tokens hanging from Msato's robe.
"Go, Charizard!"
The Pokémon he chose made several people want to complain.
Still, it was understandable.
Their ace Pokémon were all Dragons, and all of them had long surpassed the pseudo-Elite level.
They couldn't exactly send out Elite-level dragons to bully challengers.
"You're up Gengar."
Masato spoke quietly.
A dark purple Gengar suddenly emerged before everyone.
"Interesting."
Silas, who had been lost in thought, glanced over with a hint of surprise before lowering his head again.
In his eyes, Masato wasn't standing there alone.
Around him floated an entire Ghost family.
Gastly — Normal-level
Gastly — Normal-level
Haunter — Advance-level
Gengar — Advance-level
Gengar — Pseudo-Elite
Gengar — Elite-level
More than a dozen members of the Gastly evolutionary line surrounded him, some hidden within the air itself, others lurking inside the shadows.
Their strengths spanned several different tiers.
Silas couldn't help wondering how Masato endured the constant life-draining nature of so many Ghost-types.
Perhaps it simply came down to individual constitution.
After all, the Pokémon world was vast.
There really were people who weren't bothered by Ghost-type Pokémon absorbing their life force.
What intrigued Silas more was something else.
When Matsumoto Matsushita called out "Gengar," how did they decide which Gengar would battle?
They were all named Gengar, yet the one that stepped forward against Charizard was specifically the pseudo-Elite one.
Interesting.
That was Silas's evaluation.
Still, he generally wasn't interested in Ghost-types.
Definitely not because he was afraid of them.
Dark, eerie Ghost-type energy continuously clashed against the explosive flames of the Fire type atop the mountain.
Their battle created far more commotion than Silas's earlier matches.
While Masato fought, more challengers gradually completed the first two trials and arrived at the summit in small groups.
The Dragon Tamers each took charge of their assigned battles.
Silas also stopped analyzing Togekiss and began observing every challenger.
After all, any one of them could become his opponent in the next stage.
That's right.
After the Three Dragon Trial, assuming nothing unexpected happened, the next phase would be the tournament to determine the top ten.
Silas sincerely hoped that not too many challengers would pass.
Better yet, only ten.
That way, he could obtain his first Dragon-type Pokémon much sooner.
Unfortunately reality had other plans.
The Three Dragon Trial was difficult, but not difficult enough to stop so many talented Trainers.
By the time the sun stood high overhead and every battle had concluded, 43 Trainers had successfully cleared all three trials.
The previously absent Clair once again appeared riding her Dragonite.
Silas immediately noticed that Dragonite wasn't in particularly good condition.
Clair herself also bore several signs of recent combat.
He understood.
She had probably spent the past while giving certain people a rather unfriendly welcome.
"Congratulations to all Trainers who passed the trials.
"I will now lead you to the next battlefield.
"As for those who failed, don't be discouraged. The Dragon Ascension Ceremony will welcome you again in three years.
"You may also exchange your first and second trial tokens for rewards at the Blackthorn Gym."
Clair's voice carried a stern, almost chilling authority.
"Please follow me."
She dismounted Dragonite and began walking toward the opposite end of the canyon.
Silas stretched lazily.
After waiting around for so long, even he was getting tired.
Sure enough moving around felt much better.
Thinking about the traditional format of the Dragon Ascension Ceremony's next stage, a smile slowly spread across his face.
...
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