"Grandpa, to be honest, we consider ourselves fairly talented young Trainers, so we're very interested in powerful Dragon-type Pokémon.
…So I'd like to ask, are there any official ways to capture Dragon-types in the Village of Dragons?" Sato asked seriously, adding one last spark to the fire.
"Hahaha, of course there are, and it's not really a secret here in Unova. It's just that you outsiders don't know about it."
As the man in charge of guarding the Gym entrance, the old man had encountered plenty of promising young people, so he had a discerning eye. That was why he had the patience to chat with Sato and the others.
This time, without waiting for the five of them to ask further, the old man began explaining on his own.
"The Dragon-types raised in the Village of Dragons are unique to Unova, specifically, the Druddigon line, the Haxorus line, and the most powerful, the Hydreigon line.
…And the difficulty of obtaining these three kinds of Dragon-types varies. Druddigon is the easiest to obtain, so long as you have the strength of a Peak Elite Trainer."
Everyone perked up upon hearing this. 'Peak Elite strength? Didn't that mean almost all of them qualified? No way that could be true.'
"And, if you can donate five million Pokédollars to help cover Druddigon's early-stage training costs, then you can receive a decent one..."
"5 MILLION?! A DONATION?!" Just as the conditions for obtaining Druddigon were spoken aloud, the most outspoken Mark couldn't help but shout.
After all, on the black market in Goldenrod City, a high-potential starter Pokémon only cost around one to two million Pokédollars, and that was only after prices surged due to the discovery of Mega Evolution.
But now, they were saying that a single Druddigon required five million Pokédollars, and you still needed to be a Peak Elite Trainer to qualify.
Oh, and those five million weren't even for buying Druddigon, it was a "donation" to support the Village of Dragons' breeding program for Dragon-types!
Anyone could see that this was just a made-up excuse. In reality, it was just five million to buy a Druddigon.
"Hmph, five million is expensive? That's an extremely rare Dragon-type. An average Trainer could spend 10 years traveling the wild and never see even one Dragon-type Pokémon."
The old man clearly revered Dragon-types and was getting increasingly annoyed with Mark's outbursts. (へ╮)
"Then what about the method for obtaining Haxorus or Deino?" Sato, who had no interest in a non-evolving disgrace of the Dragon-type line, quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.
"The final evolutions definitely won't be given to outsiders like you. But you can try for an Axew, the base form of Haxorus, it's just much harder."
"As for Deino, don't even think about it. People from the Village of Dragons would rather starve than let even one Deino out of their hands."
At this point, the old man seemed to have lost interest. He waved them off and walked back into the Gym without another word, slamming the door shut behind him with a loud bang.
BANG!
The group exchanged glances. Just when things were getting exciting, the old man had cut it off… was he trying to mess with them on purpose?
It was like waiting for new chapters in an ongoing story, and the author suddenly stopped at the best part. Didn't they worry about readers sending threats, yanking their monthly votes, and withholding rewards?
"Forget it, forget it. The old man said the capture methods are well-known throughout Unova. We'll just ask someone else," Mark said casually, clearly laid-back when it came to catching Pokémon.
If it was meant to be his, then it would be his. If it wasn't and he tried to force it… someone would end up dead, either a person or a Pokémon!
"So that means our next destination is the Village of Dragons, huh?" Sato casually steered the conversation.
"Of course! I'm super interested in that five million Pokédollar Druddigon, I want to see just how strong it really is and how it compares to my Ghost babies~" Phoebe said eagerly, eyes blazing with excitement.
"What about the rest of you?"
"Axew is pretty cute. It'd be great if I could catch one," Ryoko said tactfully, clearly agreeing with the plan.
Joseph smiled meaningfully and gave Sato a knowing look.
"We'll follow your lead."
"Alright then! Let's go now~ Destination: Village of Dragons!" Phoebe raised her arms and jumped excitedly.
They'd already spent the whole afternoon shopping, yet she didn't look tired at all. Phoebe was clearly made of tougher stuff.
"It's almost dark. Let's head out tomorrow instead. Tonight's a good chance for everyone to look up info and plan our strategy."
As soon as Joseph said that, Phoebe -who'd just gotten excited- immediately deflated. But she also knew this was the proper pace of a journey.
She was the type of Trainer who liked traveling at night, and often stood out too much because of it.
Since none of them were short on money, they did what they'd done in Castelia City: checked into a luxury hotel without hesitation. They didn't skimp on comfort.
While Opelucid City did have a Pokémon Center, its services weren't connected at all to those in Kanto or Hoenn. Naturally, Sato wasn't going to get any kind of VIP suite there.
And really, if money wasn't an issue, why stay somewhere that felt like a youth hostel?
---
After a blissful night's sleep, the group met in the hotel lobby first thing in the morning, right on time.
They had already pinpointed the location of the Village of Dragons, and the night before, they'd looked up how to catch Axew: by completing a trial given by Wilma.
The nature of the trials varied wildly: sometimes as simple as picking a flower, and sometimes so difficult that even Near-Elite Four -Peak of the Peak Pseudo-Elite Four- Trainers couldn't pass.
So in the end, it came down to how you performed on the spot, whether Wilma liked you, and also… an additional eight million Pokédollars as a "breeding donation".
Compared to the unpredictable trials, the eight million was honestly the easiest part.
As for Deino? Heh, better not even think about it.
It was basically a super hidden quest. No one had ever officially triggered it, and it had only ever been passed around as a rumor.
And as luck would have it, Sato's goal this time wasn't even the nearly-impossible Deino, but rather the already-evolved Zweilous.
Now that he thought about it, even Sato had to admit that in his past life, his luck hadn't been that bad, he'd just started off on the wrong path.
"Then let's head south, onward to the Village of Dragons!" Sato marched ahead confidently, and the other four quickly followed, all silently thinking the same thing: 'Sato's excited again.'
---
Behind the Village of Dragons, in the mountain area, a Zweilous lay bound by six heavy chains around its limbs and both necks. It struggled to lift its heads.
Beneath its black bangs were two pairs of clear, pure eyes… filled with sorrow.
"Zweee~~"
"Zweee~~~"
Two distinct Dragon cries rang out one after the other. The Zweilous stared longingly toward the cave entrance in the distance, full of yearning.