There was just one problem.

  Though the giant Dragonite and Naoki's Dragonite were both Dragonites, it was uhey were actual panions. After all, they had never ied before, living separate lives like parallel lihat would never intersect.

  The giant Dragonite had e to the Paldea region on impulse. If it discovered that Naoki's Dragonite wasn’t its intended panion, it would probably be disappointed.

  Still, Naoki knew he had to go find out.

  With that deade, it was time to aaoki informed all the Pokémon on the ranch that he would be taking Drago.

  "...We might be back a bit ter, Koraidon, so please take good care of the Cyclizar and everyone else on the ranch while we're gone."

  Naoki chose not t Koraidon along because he didn’t want to draw too much attention. With so maers, the chief champion, a gym leader, the police, and the possibility of being on TV, he preferred to keep things low-key.

  Koraidon looked dejected at the news of bei behind, the bright feathers on its head drooping in disappoi.

  Naoki raised a finger and said, "You’re allowed to sleep in my bed tonight."

  Koraidon’s eyes lit up with excitement, and it let out a joyful cry, "Raao!"

  Naoki chuckled, patting Koraidon's head. "But before that, you’ve got to take care of the ranch."

  Koraidon puffed out its chest with pride and assured him, "Raao!" 'No problem!'

  "Then I’m ting on you," Naoki replied.

  He returo the house, packed his backpack with some emergency recovery food, and prepared for the journey ahead. As he packed, he began to sider what might happehe twonites met.

  The first possibility was that the giant Dragonite wouldn’t reize Naoki’s Dragonite as its panion and would leave in disappoi.

  The sed possibility was that, while it might realize that Naoki’s Dragonite wasn’t the o was searg for, it might still want to befriend it.

  The third possibility was that the giant Dragonite could realize it had been misled and bee angry.

  However, Naoki dismissed the third sario. The way the giant Dragonite had waited patiently by the sea, and its ability to unicate peacefully with humans, suggested it had a geure, not proo violence.

  The first possibility didn’t him too much, but if the sed happened—where the giant Dragonite befriended Naoki’s Dragonite—he had a pn. He would take the giant Dragoonite Isnd.

  Although the giant Dragonite was rare, Naoki didn’t dream of capturing it. His ranch simply wasn’t big enough, and there wasn’t space to aodate such a massive Pokémon. The best solution would be to send it tonite Isnd, surrounded by the sea, where it could live freely. Perhaps it would even bee the isnd’s guardian.

  With thoughts of a potential trip tonite Isnd, Naoki packed plenty of food and fruits into his backpack—gifts he had promised the Dragonite, Dragonair, and Dratini the st time he visited.

  Seeing that everything was ready, Naoki closed the refrigerator door and headed outside.

  Dragonite was already waiting patiently. Naoki climbed onto its bad, after determining the dire of the west coast of Paldea, he instructed Dragoo take off.

  As they asded, the world below became smaller, and a blue light flickered in Dragonite's eyes. Activating its high-speed movement, Dragonite shot forward like a jet pne, rag across the sky.

  ————

  West coast of Paldea.

  Geeta stood on a cliff, gazing at the massive Dragonite h above the distant sea.

  Tulip stood beside her, sharing the same view.

  "Such a gigantion, it's hard to believe something like that exists in this world," Tulip remarked.

  Geeta nodded but quickly added, "The Gar region has giant Pokémon too."

  Tulip quickly reminded her, "Yes, but those Pokémon rely oernal forces like Dynamax energy. Ohey leave Gar, they return to their normal size."

  Geeta shook her head slightly, the chief champion distinguishiweewo. "This Dragonite is different. Its strength isn’t borrowed. The power it dispys is its own."

  The giant Dragonite’s raw strength was beyond the champion level, makia wonder if even she could hold her own against it.

  At that moment, Miss Jenny's voice called out from behind:

  "Chief! The Person that the giant Dragonite has been searg for has arrived!"

  Geeta felt a sense of relief and curiosity. She turo see a young man with bck hair, dressed casually, walking toward her with Miss Jenny.

  Beside him stood a robust Dragos sharp eyes and sturdy build a testament to the exceptional care and training it had received.

  'This person must be an excellent Pokémon breeder,' Geeta thought, impressed by Naoki’s Dragonite.

  While Geeta studied Naoki, he was doing the same, the chief champion.

  'She looks youhan I expected, maybe even youhan when I first saw her during my travels,' he mused.

  Geeta had bee both the chief champion and president of the Pokémon League at such a young age. Truly impressive.

  Geeta stepped forward and introduced herself, "Hello, I’m Geeta, president of the Paldea League."

  Naoki nodded politely, replying, "o meet you. I’m Naoki, just a rancher."

  'Rancher?' Geeta was slightly taken aback. She had sidered many possibilities for Naoki's occupation but hadn’t expected this simple and straightforward answer.

  It seemed so modest, yet the powerful Drago his side suggested that Naoki was anything but ordinary.

  Though she had her thoughts, she kept them to herself and shifted the versation to business.

  "You’re familiar with the giant Dragonite, right? you help it leave the Paldea region?"

  Naoki hesitated but nodded. "I give it a try."

  That was all Geeta o hear. She gave a slight nod and signaled for Tulip to release Gardevoir. Turning back to Naoki, she added, "This Gardevoir unicate telepathically. It help you ect with the giant Dragonite."

  She paused for a moment before asking, "Do you need anything else from us?"

  Naoki shook his head. "No, this should be enough."

  As Naoki eyed Gardevoir, he could tell that its ability was ielepathy—a rare skill that allookémon to sense human thoughts and vey its own without speaking.

  "Then I’ll leave it to you," Geeta said, watg Naoki fidently mount Dragonite aoward the sea. She couldn't help but admire his bravery.

  Even she had felt intimidated when she first entered the colossal Dragonite.

  But Naoki’s heart wasn’t nearly as steady as he appeared. Staring at the enormous Dragonite, he whispered, "It’s too big." It looked like something straight out of a Godzil Movie!

  Dragooo, was stunned. "Ouch!"

  It never imagihat a Dragonite could be so massive.

  Sensing the tension, Naoki looked down and asked softly, "Are you scared?"

  Dragonite gnced back at him, still in shock. "Ouch."

  Gardevoir calmly followed behind them, maintaining its telepathik.

  As they approached the giant Dragohe massive creature finally noticed them. At first, it seemed surprised, but soon its expression turned puzzled.

  It gazed at Naoki’s Dragonite, seemingly fused. 'Why had its kin bee so small?'

  The giant Dragonite couldn't its head around this. It had slept beh the sea for what felt like ay, only to awaken in a world that had drastically ged.

  All its panions and kin were gone.

  The giant Dragonite had searched for so long but had always e up empty-handed.

  "Roar?" it let out a puzzled sound, its massive eyes blinking in fusion.

  Gardevoir, standing beside Naoki and Dragonite, calmly trahe query: "It asked, 'Why did you bee so small?'"

  Dragonite, feeling fused and unsure, could only respond with a soft, "Ouch." It didn’t reize this enormous Drago all.

  The giant Dragonite, notig the ck of response, blis huge eyes even more rapidly, perplexed by the situation.

  Sensing the moment, Naoki cleared his throat and decided to address the matter: "Hey, did Mew and Baby Bear ask you to e here?"

  The giant Dragonite's pupils shifted slightly as it focused on Naoki, seeming the names. Memories of those small figures, Mew and Teddiursa, fshed in its mind. It nodded slowly a out a deep, resonating "Roar."

  Gardevoir transted, "Yes."

  Naoki carefully observed the massive Drago seemed to have mistaken his Dragonite for a long-lost panion but was clearly w why it had shrunk in size.

  "Could it be that the a Dragonite were all this rge?" Naoki pohe thought made him wonder about the evolution and history onite species. His mind raced, and he was faced with two choices:

  Oion was to reveal the truth to the giant Dragonite and say, "Sir, times have ged! This is no lohe world you remember. The Dragonite here are much smaller now."

  The sed option was to deceive the giant Dragonite gently, trying to make it accept modern Dragonite as its panion.

  After a moment of thought, Naoki cautiously asked, "Have you noticed any differeween this Dragonite and yourself?"

  The giant Dragonite leaned in, Naoki's Dragonite closely. After a few seds, it let out another "Roar."

  Gardevoir transted, "It's exactly the same. It's a Dragonite."

  Naoki sighed internally. It seemed the giant Dragonite was vinced enough. Rather than leaving this a creature to wahe seas aimlessly, it was better to offer it a pce of belonging.

  He finally spoke up, "There are other Dragonites in this world. I take you to them, and you live with them. How does that sound?"

  The giant Dragonite's eyes brighte this proposal.

  "Roar?" it asked eagerly.

  Gardevoir transted, "Are there really other Dragonites?"

  Naoki nodded, smiling at the giant Dragonite. "Yes, there are many others."

  The giant Dragonite, overjoyed like a child, let out aed "Roar!" Its eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, and this time, Naoki didn’t need Gardevoir to transte. He uood perfectly.

  "Alright then, e with me," Naoki said. "I’ll take you to meet them!"

  The giant Dragonite, eager to follow, started to prepare for the journey. Naoki turo Gardevoir and tha for the assistance. Gardevave a soft nod auro Tulip on the shore.

  "Let's head tonite Isnd and introduce it to the others," Naoki said to his Dragonite.

  "Oooo!" Dragonite responded enthusiastically, leading the way. The giant Dragourned, following closely behind them, slowly leaving the Padia region.

  From the sheeta and the others watched the se unfold, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. The immediate crisis was over, and they could rex for now.

  ———

  As they flew further from the Paldea region, the nd behind them gradually faded into the distand disappeared from view. Naoki rode his Dragonite high in the sky, while the massive Dragonite swam below, its shadow f a huge silhouette uhe surface of the water.

  Naoki thought that if anyone saw a se like this se in his previous world, they would probably start spreading rumors about seeing a sea monster by m.

  "Could it be that a Dragonites lived in the sea?" Naoki wondered aloud, picturing a grand image of a group of enormous Dragonites, resembling giant sea creatures, building an uer pace.

  The idea fasated him. He looked at the tiny wings on the giant Dragonite and couldn’t help but think how difficult it must be for such a rge creature to fly.

  Even bolder thoughts popped into his mind. 'Maybe a Dragonite weren’t Flying and Dragon-type at all. What if they were Water and Dragon-type instead?'

  "Now Groudon has pany," Naoki thought, watg the twonites move swiftly. Whether they were swimming or flying, both were incredibly agile, showg the versatility of the species.

  After what felt like a long time, a familiar isnd appeared on the horizon. As they approached, the Dragonites on the isnd sensed something unusual. They flew into the air, sing the skies.

  Seeing Naoki riding his usual Dragohey rexed. But their relief was short-lived as a massive figure burst from the o with a spray of water, dreng everything like a sudden downpour.

  The Dragonites on the isnd froze in awe and fear. Their wide-eyed expressions showed their disbelief.

  'What a huge Dragonite!'

  For the giant Dragonite, seeing so many of its kind in one pce filled it with immense joy. It stood proudly at the isnd's edge, watg over the entire ndscape, tent with the presence of its newfound kin.

  Naoki and Dragonite nded o the tral ke, where the grass remained lush and vibrant. Tiny yellow wildflowers dotted the area, their blooms signaling the arrival of summer.

  From the ke, a few young Dratini and Dragonair peeked out shyly, trembling as they gazed up at the massive Drago above them.

  Naoki noticed their nervousness and spoke to his Dragonite. "Go tell everyohat the giant Dragonite won’t harm them. It just wants to live here with them."

  On their journey, Naoki had shared the story of the giant Dragonite's loneliness and its search for panions. Uanding this, Dragonite nodded and soared into the sky, gathering the other adult Dragonites. It expihe situation as Naoki had instructed, assuring them the giant Dragonite was harmless.

  Meanwhile, Naoki walked to the ke, trying to calm the frightened young Pokémon. "It’s okay, don’t be scared. It’s friendly!"

  As he spoke, he opened his backpad tur upside dowing a mountain of snacks—bread, Poffins, pudding, and berries—spill onto the ground.

  The Dratini and Dragonair couldn't resist the tempting pile and cautiously approached. Seeing this, Naoki grinned and picked up a familiar Dragonair.

  "Do you remember me?" he asked with a smile.

  The Dragonair twisted happily, letting out a cheerful "Woo~."

  Naoki chuckled, scratg its . "Last time, I promised t food, didn’t I? Well, here it is. Enjoy it with everyone!"

  He fed a sweet Poffin to the delighted Dragonair, who devoured it quickly and nuzzled Naoki’s face affeately. The other Dratini and Dragonair joined in, surrounding Naoki in a joyful crowd.

  Naoki felt like the happiest person in the world, surrounded by the excited little dragons. He tinued feeding them, his heart full of warmth.

  Soon, the adult Dragonites also nded nearby. After hearing about the giant Dragonite's jourhey wore sympathetic expressions.

  'Alone on the vast sea, searg for panions, calling out at night. How sad.'

  One of the more outgoing Dragoook to the air and yelled up at the giant Dragonite, "Stay here! You’re one of us now. We’re your panions!"

  The giant Dragonite was deeply moved, its eyes welling up with tears of joy. Half of its enormous body floated out of the sea, and it extes arms in a huggiure, embrag the isnd as though it were the most precious treasure it had ever found.