While searching for the medicine, Shiro saw Dragapult's information appear before his eyes:
[Name: Dragapult
Type: Ghost/Dragon
Level: 66 (Champion)
Ability: Clear Body
Held Item: None]
Given the dragon's impressive strength, Shiro took out his best healing medicine. It was a universal potion produced by Macro Cosmos. The ingredients were unknown, but it could heal just about any injury a Pokémon had.
The potion came in a small, white bottle. Shiro twisted off the cap and gently pressed the spray nozzle, carefully applying it to the wound on Dragapult's rear. He made sure every part of the injury was covered before placing the bottle back in his backpack.
"Draa~" (Feels good~)
Dragapult let out a satisfied groan and wiggled its butt. A tingling, cool sensation spread over the wound on its back, quickly pushing away the pain. Visibly, the injury was already starting to heal.
"All done," Shiro mumbled as he reached back into his bag. This time, he pulled out a mix of Dragon-type and Ghost-type Pokéblocks, packed them neatly into a small container, and placed it on the grass in front of him.
Dragapult floated over, sniffed a couple of times, then dove in without hesitation.
"Draa! Drag!" (So good! This is amazing!)
With a delighted cry, the Dragon-type grabbed the box in its mouth, tossed it into the air, and opened wide. Every last block dropped straight into its mouth, with not a single one falling out.
"Draaag~" (Tastes even better than the ancestor~)
Dragapult licked its lips with a pleased look. Then, wearing a look of flattery, it floated closer to Shiro, clearly asking for more.
Suddenly, Drakloak darted in and shoved its uncle aside, placing itself protectively between Shiro and Dragapult. It glared at the larger dragon, tail twitching in warning. The little Dreepy on its head looked just as fierce.
Those Pokéblocks were meant for them, not anyone else.
With a snort of disdain, Drakloak muttered, "Draa..." (Some elder you are… no shame at all.)
Dragapult chuckled sheepishly and didn't argue. It simply looked at the cloaked human in front of it with hopeful eyes.
Shiro felt his scalp tingle under that stare.
No matter what, this was still a Champion-level pseudo-legendary dragon. It could easily beat up some weaker legendary Pokémon. Even if Shiro knew it wasn't hostile, being stared at like that was still terrifying. One Dragon Pulse from this thing and he'd probably get vaporized on the spot.
He instinctively took a few steps back but kept his hands moving, pulling out more Pokéblocks and placing them into the box that Dragapult now held between its claws.
"Kloaak..." Drakloak hurriedly floated over and rubbed its head against Shiro's arm, trying to signal him not to give in to the shameless old dragon. But Shiro could only offer a helpless smile in return.
If he didn't give Dragapult more, he had a feeling it would just snatch them by force, and there was no way he could stop that. Might as well hand them over peacefully.
"Dra! Dra!" (Thank you! Thank you!)
Dragapult bobbed its head enthusiastically and cradled the container of Pokéblocks as it floated over to a dragon fang-shaped boulder. It gently set the box down at the stone's base, nestled in the grass.
"Draak…" Drakloak looked on helplessly at its uncle. For the first time, it realized just how poor its own family was—nowhere near as resource-rich as Shiro, who had practically adopted it on the road.
After all, the Dragapult clan stayed confined to their territory, rarely venturing out. They got along well with neighboring Pokémon and never fought for resources.
Shiro deeply sympathized with such disciplined, good-natured Pokémon. If he had the means, he honestly wouldn't mind raising the whole clan, maybe even establishing a breeding center for the Dreepy line here at Lake of Outrage.
But unfortunately, he didn't have that kind of luxury.
Just then, Dragapult returned and began circling around Shiro, expressing its thanks once again.
Drakloak narrowed its eyes and swatted its tail, signaling for its uncle to buzz off.
"Daak!"
With a short cry, it clamped onto Shiro's clothes, gave its tail a little flick, and turned to leave.
Back when it had never tasted three proper meals of Pokéblocks a day, it might have been fine staying. But now that it had, there was no going back. The fond, nostalgic image it once held of its clan shattered completely. It had finally returned home, only to find everyone asleep. Not even a single one had come to greet it.
And the one uncle that did show up had only come to mooch off its food…
It was too much. Too heartbreaking
Without so much as a backward glance, Drakloak shot up into the sky. Only Shiro, turning his head midair, gave a soft call and waved goodbye to the dragon below.
Left alone on the grass, Dragapult stared blankly at the sight, lost in thought. Its mind drifted back to when it was still just a Dreepy. Back then, it had seen that ancestor, also a Drakloak at the time, leave in the exact same way with a human on its back.
Later, once that human passed away, the ancestor returned alone. That elder's power had towered over every other in the clan. To this day, Dragapult had never seen a stronger dragon.
"Draaag…" (You'll probably end up the same way…)
Murmuring to itself, Dragapult drifted back to the dragon fang-shaped boulder where it had left the Pokéblocks, lying down beside it.
As it injected energy into a hollow in the stone, two sleeping Dreepy inside stirred awake. They yawned and stretched lazily before happily diving into the food container at Dragapult's call.
Watching the two younger dragons munch away, Dragapult lay its head down on the grass and closed its eyes. One claw remained pressed against the boulder, feeding energy into it.
A faint, invisible bluish ripple spread outward from the island's center. It quickly reached the Stony Wilderness, Lake Axewell… and then the two other Dragapult still scouring the area for Drakloak.
Upon receiving the signal, both immediately began their return to Lake of Outrage.
"Drrra…"
Dragapult let out a low, sleepy hum as it gazed up at the spotless blue sky above. Deep down, it, too, longed to see the world beyond this lake. That human from earlier didn't seem so bad. Traveling with him might've been nice.
But this den full of young Dreepy and Drakloak still needed someone to protect them.
It couldn't afford to leave.
...
High above Lake of Outrage, Drakloak zipped through the sky with Shiro clenched tightly in its jaws.
Below them, the shimmering lake surface rippled as clusters of deep-blue, round-backed Mantyke burst out of the water in synchronized leaps, like some playful aquatic performance. Along the muddy banks, a few drowsy Chewtle poked their heads out, curiously watching the movement overhead.
BOOM!
From the distant horizon, a thunderous explosion echoed through the sky. Up in the air, Shiro could clearly see a trail of black smoke rising from a mountaintop at the edge of the Stony Wilderness.
He frowned as Drakloak sped toward the lake's edge. In just moments, they arrived at the familiar clearing beside Lake of Outrage.
The familiar traveling merchant, Renji, was still sitting leisurely on a tree stump, lifting his hand in greeting as soon as he saw Shiro.
"Hey~ Got the latest intel. Interested?"
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