Wind stung Hassel's face as Dragonite sped with all haste towards Dragalge's signal. Dragonite had doubled back, gathering the other members of the team as fast as possible. It was times like this that Hassel was grateful for his partner's endurance. Dragonite had been flying almost all day - carrying him no less! – and the Pokémon showed no signs of fatigue. Truly dragon-types were a marvel.
They found Dragalge a close distance to one of Casseroya's islands. The vibrant pink of his head frills made him easy to spot against the deep blue of the lake. As Dragonite descended towards him, Dragalge tilted his head and looked up at the cliffside of the island. Hassel followed his Pokémon's direction and let out a small gasp as he saw the claw marks torn into the stone.
"Just like the ones we saw heading down Glasseado." Hassel said.
"Gooooone." Dragonite whined.
"I agree, this is the right track. I'm a little nervous too, but we need to do this. We will be brave together."
Hassel looked to Dragalge in the water. He could tell by the gleam in his deep eyes that he was eager to fight and see this through. But he also knew that he wouldn't be able to move as swiftly on dry land as he could through the water and Hassel did not want to send his partner into a dangerous battle if he couldn't perform at 100%.
"Dragalge, thank you. You've been a huge help, but I'm going to have to ask you to sit this next part out. I know you want to battle. Just think of the students who will be able to go on their Treasure Hunts safely once this is over. I'm sure they will give you the battle you want."
Dragalge blew out a single bubble from his snout, shimmering purple with the faint trace of toxin. It was his version of a sigh.
"Dragaaal. . . "he said slowly and popped his bubble.
Hassel gave him a small smile and recalled his Pokémon.
"Soon enough, my friend. Return."
A bright, red glow enveloped the Pokémon as he returned to his ball. Dragonite looked over his shoulder at Hassel and made an inquisitive bark. Hassel nodded and pointed to the claw marks. Dragonite flew down so they could examine them and hovered for a moment.
"I think we should carry on on foot. Can I trust you to watch my back?" Hassel said.
"Aaa-Ooo." Dragonite answered with a nod.
They touched down on the island. Hassel climbed off and stretched, keeping his grumblings about being stiff to himself. He never thought he was ever getting too old to be riding around on a Pokémon all day. It was only ever, "I need to stretch and take breaks more" or "maybe it's time I contact the family about getting a proper dragon saddle."
It did not take them long to find the trail made by the mysterious Pokémon. A trampled bush was the first clue, the branches snapped under the weight of it. The leaves cushioned the step, preventing any clear tracks from forming, but tracks were not needed to discern the direction it went. Looking up, branches of nearby trees were damaged as well, either their ends snapped off by the Pokémon's passing or seemingly ripped off intentionally. It was as clear a trail as Hassel could have hoped for. He took out his rotom-phone and took a few quick pictures.
"Rotom, can you please send these photos, our location, and the following message to Larry, please." The Rotom's little face appeared on the screen and bounced up and down in mimicry of a nod before beginning its text to the other Elite Four member. "Larry, we've found a trail towards the mystery Pokémon. Dragonite and I are going to follow it. We'll be as careful as possible, but in case anything happens, here is our location."
A loading bar whizzed across the bottom of the screen and ended with a cheerful beep.
"MESSEGE AND PHOTOZZZZ SUCESSFULLY SENT" the phone chirped.
Dragonite peered over his shoulder at the phone before giving his trainer a side eye and a huff.
"I trust him." Hassel reassured. "I know he doesn't have that same spirit of adventure and he's always terribly busy with his work and always has low energy, but he's as dependable as an Indeedee. Why else would the chairwoman entrust him with so many things? If we need help, he'll be there."
Dragonite shook his head, stood upright, and unfurled his antennae as if to say, "hopefully it won't come to that because I'm keeping watch."
Secure in the thought that Larry would know where he was if anything were to happen to them, Hassel set out. It was not difficult to track the Pokémon. The creature clearly did not care how conspicuous a trail it was leaving. Enough twigs and leaves lined the path that it was easy to imagine that a tree had been lifted and shaken vigorously along the path. Such a thing was not beyond the realm of possibility. Hassel knew that there were more than a handful of fighting-types who were capable of such a feat.
As obvious as the trail was, tracks were few and far between. The fallen leaves had cushioned the steps of the Pokémon, preventing it from making clear impressions in the dirt. It was obvious it had impressive claws though. They had poked right through any cover and stabbed into the ground. Hassel bent down by one of the few clear tracks they had found. It was a large footprint, easily as long as his torso, and showed three slender toes that each ended in small points, indicating where claws had curved down into the dirt. Hassel had thought he had steeled his spirit, but the sight of the track and the knowledge of how close he was to this unknown creature was made several hairs on the back of his neck rise.
But even that was not the most unsettling thing Hassel noticed about the island. It was quiet. There were no cheerful chirps of singing Swablu, no jovial cries from dancing Flamigo flocks, no boisterous croaking from Toxicroak and their Croagunk toadies. Not even the long, loud yawn of a Slowbro could be heard. It was far too quiet for a place that should have been teeming with Pokémon.
Another step and the silence was broken. Hassel had stepped on a stick and snapped it. His heart leapt to his throat as something leapt from hiding. Bursting from the brush with a flash of red, the shadow of a large Pokémon loomed over them both. A rush of wind swirled around Hassel and he had to bring his hands up to cover his eyes to protect them from the suddenly swirling twigs and leaves. The force of the whirlwind sent him stumbling back a pace.
"STAR! STAR! STAAAAR!"
The harsh cry was immediately recognizable as that of a Staraptor. Hassel peeked his eyes open and could see the bird Pokémon beating its dark wings before them. Then, as quickly as it had begun, it ended. With three more powerful pumps of its wings, the Staraptor climbed and flew off. From the corner of his eye, Hasel saw Dragonite intently watching the other Pokemon's retreat. The tip of his horn had a faint blue glow. It was a comfort to Hassel to know his friend had been ready to launch into a Dragon Rush if Staraptor had attacked him. A puff of indigo smoke rose from Dragonite's nostrils as he exhaled the energy he was building up.
"You're on edge too, friend?" Hassel asked as he gave Dragonite a reassuring pet on the shoulder.
Dragonite didn't say anything and kept his eyes on the skies a little longer. He did however, reach up and give Hassel's hand two return pats with his paw. Hassel chuckled at the gesture, his own heart still buzzing with adrenaline, and tried to calm himself as well. But his relief was cut off by a crashing sound. They both turned in the direction of the sound. It was close.
"Ragooone-huff!" Drgonite snorted as if to say "I don't think that one's a Staraptor" and took a protective step before his trainer.
"I agree, caution is wise. I will take care not to step on anything else. Let's go."
They move forward as inconspicuously as an art teacher and 7' tall golden dragon could have been expected to in a forested area. It was a display any Thievul would have rolled its eyes at. Dragonite hunched lower and did his best to keep two steps before his trainer. If anything were to attack him, he would rather have the attack strike his sturdy scales rather than Hassel's comparatively squishy self. Hassel kept his word and didn't step on anything else but even if he did, he was not sure that the mystery Pokémon would have been able to hear them.
The initial crash was followed by snapping sounds and the rustle of shaking leaves. It sounded as though the toppled tree was being dismantled. Hassel focused his attention forward and blinked in surprise. Was that a purple he saw through the branches? Dragonite saw it too. They slowed their steps further and continued their approach. When they were a Steelix's length away, they stopped, and Hassel tried to make sense of what he was looking at.
It was not any Pokémon he knew. It was massive! He understood how Anna could have mistaken it for a Tyrantrum at a distance, but up close he realized that it was even bigger than those ancient Pokémon. It was similarly bipedal in its build, though that was where the similarities ended. Its legs were longer and leaner than the Tyrantrum's but looked no less powerful. Its three toes were more dexterous, and Hassel could see them wrapped around the trunk of the fallen tree, gripping it as the Pokémon methodically ripped branch after branch off. With each tear and toss to the side, the Pokémon's great violet mane shook and rippled.
From the back, much of the Pokémon was covered by it. At this distance, Hassel couldn't tell if this Pokémon's man was made of feathers like those on the shaggier parts of Mandibuzz or if it had feathers, fur, and scales. Blue feathers the color of the midday sky on a sunny day, covered most of the Pokémon's body. Where the feathers ended, shining white scales continued. The line between feathers and scales created a zig-zag pattern down one of the Pokémon's stranger features. It had two tails! As wide and diverse as the Pokémon world was, there were very few that sprouted multiple tails. They undulated in a curious way. Their wave-like motion and how they spread to either side of the Pokémon reminded Hassel of a wake made by ships.
"This is it." Hassel thought. "This is the mystery Pokémon. Wow. What is it? It really does look a dragon-type. Anna said it knows fire-type moves too. But look at those colors. Does it have a secondary type? Flying? It has feathers, but not every flying-type has feathers and not every feathered Pokémon is flying-type. Water? It's blue. But that could also mean ice-type, but then again, if that were the case, why did it leave the mountain? That's a better habitat for most ice-types. No, it's probably water-type. I think Larry was onto something with how its feathers are shaped and how it deliberately made its way here to the lake. Water and dragon with fire-typed moves. That's quite the combination."
"Are you prepared?" Hassel whispered to Dragonite.
Dragonite gave a quick nod in response. Hassel sighed, cleared his mind for a final moment, and then let it begin whirling to think of the best opening move.
"It's a dragon-type so opening with a dragon-type move would be most effective. For Dragonite that would mean Dragon Rush but that's such a reckless move it could miss and then he would be wide open for a follow-up attack. Maybe someone else could land a more reliable attack? Ah, but the sound of a pokéball opening would absolutely alert it and we would lose any element of surprise. It has to be Dragonite. Earthquake would be a good opening move. Of course, this is all assuming that this thing is aggressive. Anna's report and Abomasnow's wounds suggest that, but attacking it outright isn't exactly the best way to go about studying a new species. First things first then, I should probably take a photo of it."
He reached for his rotom-phone and opened the photo app. As his attention shifted to trying to get as much of the Pokémon centered and in frame as possible, he didn't notice that it had stopped stripping the branches from the tree. Dragonite noticed tough and grew tense. His wings were ready to rush him into motion at a moment's notice because he heard something his trainer did not. It was sniffing the air.
Then in a fluid motion, the mysterious dragon reared up and spun around. Golden eyes stared down at Hassel and the smaller dragon. They were filled with a wild, primal light. Only when the slit like pupils dilated did Hassel realize that the sclera was the golden portion of the eye and the iris was the fiery red, not the pupil. More striking than its eyes was the crest that sprouted from the center of the Pokémon's head. It was an odd, oblong, hexagonal shape, with two additional prongs protruding from the sturdy plate on its forehead. The horn was an even more intense shade of blue and had a shine reminiscent of crystal.
At the sight, Hassel gaped. One Pokémon immediately came to his mind, and he gasped its name.
"Suicune."
As if to refute the claims, the mysterious Pokémon opened its jagged jaw.
"RrooOOOOAAAaaaoor!"
The scarlet glow of fire began to well in its maw.