Drakloak soared through the dark sky, yet vengeance was the last thing on its mind.
Right now, something far more urgent demanded its attention.
Perched atop its head, Dreepy lay weak and unresponsive. Ever since they had crashed into that light-blue barrier, Dreepy had been in bad shape—far worse than Drakloak had initially realized.
No matter how many times Drakloak called out, Dreepy remained motionless, its small body limp and cold.
Dreepy was a very weak Pokémon, only at Beginner-level strength. In their attempt to capture Drakloak, the Macro Cosmos hunters had deployed a containment device powered by Elite-level ice-type energy.
For Drakloak, a Pokémon of the same level, the collision had been painful but bearable. Dreepy, however, had suffered immensely—most of its body had been frozen solid, pushing it to the brink of death.
At first, while trapped inside the device, Drakloak had been too panicked to grasp the severity of the situation. But now, after escaping, it enveloped Dreepy in dragon-type energy, only to realize how dire things truly were.
"Draaaak!"
In this unfamiliar, eerie space, Drakloak couldn't find the way back to the Lake of Outrage for a while. Even after emerging outside of the Dynamax den, it was still at the western shore of Lake Axewell, which made a quick return to the Lake of Outrage to treat Dreepy impossible.
The only option left for Drakloak was to seek help from humans.
It had heard from its elders that humans could be both good and bad, but it was hard for Drakloak to discern who would be willing to help it.
Coming back inside the Dynamax zone and desperately scanning the area from the air, Drakloak noticed that most of the people near the hillside were those dressed in gray uniforms. They were the ones responsible for this mess, so seeking help from them was out of the question.
The ruined forest held no sign of human life, and aside from those on the hillside, there was barely anyone else around.
In fact, almost all the trainers in the area had gathered near the Gigantamax Machamp, hoping to get a share of the spoils.
Under normal circumstances, the most valuable thing in a Dynamax zone was the Pokémon responsible for the phenomenon.
These Pokémon contained massive amounts of Dynamax energy, enough to generate hundreds of watts with ease. And watts were hard currency in the Wild Area, a precious resource that Macro Cosmos always purchased at high prices.
As for the wild Drakloak in the sky, the trainers knew better than to pick a fight with a pseudo-legendary of that caliber. Most were too wary to even think of approaching it.
But then—
Drakloak's senses locked onto a lone human standing at the edge of the Dynamax zone. He was distancing himself from the others, seemingly preparing to leave.
This human looked weak compared to the others and kept his distance from the crowd. More importantly, Drakloak could sense a faint dragon-type presence on him.
In this human-dominated space, that presence sparked an instinctive, almost blind trust in Drakloak.
And so, it dove.
...
"Coorv!"
A sharp cry rang out as Corvisquire flared its wings, immediately shifting into a defensive stance.
It had experienced the overwhelming presence of an Elite-level Salamence as a Rookidee once before—and now, Shiro was right behind it.
Suppressing the instinct to flee, Corvisquire spread its wings wider, warning the approaching Drakloak to back off.
"Gasss!"
Gastly also burst out of its Poké Ball, hiding behind Corvisquire and opening its mouth wide, trying to look menacing.
Shiro, a bit stunned, stopped in his tracks. He knew he couldn't outrun an Elite-level pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
"Corvisquire! Gastly! Stand down!"
At his command, the two Pokémon hesitated before backing off.
His gaze shifted to Drakloak, who was circling him at high speed, moving with an urgent restlessness.
Seeing that Shiro wasn't frightened and didn't show any signs of aggression, Drakloak floated closer and lowered its head, revealing the Dreepy resting on top.
Shiro furrowed his brow and closely observed the seemingly lifeless Dreepy. It was barely moving, its body faintly shimmering with an eerie blue glow.
'Is it injured?'
His mind raced, recalling the Macro Cosmos hunting team's capture device. It had been infused with ice-type energy.
At this point in time, fairy-types had yet to be discovered, leaving ice as the one element dragons truly feared.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Shiro's hands were already moving. He pulled off his backpack and rummaged through it, retrieving a high quality healing spray.
Buzz...
He sprayed it over Dreepy's frozen body and waited until the shimmering ice-blue glow completely faded before putting the bottle away.
Next, he took out several dragon-type Pokéblocks, crushed them into fine pieces, and gently fed them to Dreepy.
It was a good thing he had taken these from the Pokémon shop in Hammerlocke.
"Dreee…"
A faint sound escaped from Dreepy as its body slowly regained color. The lingering frost-like shimmer faded away.
"Phew..."
Shiro wiped the light sweat from his forehead. Seeing that Drakloak was still hovering silently at a low altitude, he took out a box of Pokéblocks and handed it over, saying.
"It's all good now."
"Draaak!"
Dragapult suddenly straightened up, shaking its head. When it heard the faint response from the Dreepy on its head, it eagerly opened its mouth and sucked up the entire box of Pokéblocks in one go.
"Draaa!"
Its narrow eyes squinted in delight.
Having grown up in the Lake of Outrage, this was the first time Drakloak had tasted something so delicious.
Shiro nodded slightly and slowly reached out his hand, gently touching Drakloak's body.
Its semi-transparent, bluish-green form was cool to the touch—a sensation unique to ghost-types.
Noticing that Drakloak didn't resist, Shiro asked, "How did you find me?"
"Draaakloooak!"
Drakloak did a quick spin before pointing its arrow-shaped head toward Shiro's backpack.
Shiro paused, suddenly remembering the dragon scale that had been gathering dust inside.
That scale—so easily obtained—was the reason people had been after him, ultimately leading him to the Wild Area. The Dragon Taming Clan might not have cared about losing a single scale, but for Shiro, it had turned his entire life upside down.
"This thing?" He pulled out the Dragon Scale, holding it up for Drakloak to see.
"Draaa!"
Drakloak nodded repeatedly, its tail swaying as it pointed at the scale, then at itself and the Dreepy on its head.
Shiro understood immediately.
"You want it?"
"Draaak!"
"Dreee!"
The now-recovered Dreepy and Drakloak nodded in unison.
Shiro fell silent. He was considering how to make the most of this dragon scale.
Drakloak was a Pokémon that never abandoned its Dreepy, fighting alongside them until they were strong enough to evolve on their own. It was so protective that if it ever found itself without a Dreepy, it would frantically search for a replacement, even placing other Pokémon on its head.
If that was the case...
"Drakloak, would you be willing to come with me?"
"Draaa..."
Drakloak immediately floated backward, shaking its head.
They had only just met. Even though Shiro had saved Dreepy and given it good food, Drakloak still needed to return to Lake of Outrage. The older Dragapults there would definitely be worried about them.
And there was no way Drakloak would allow itself to be separated from Dreepy.
"Then... what if I give you this dragon scale, and you stay with me for a while? Just two years. That's barely any time at all for you." Shiro continued to persuade it.
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