The Dragons' Recognition

Yet when the final Dragon Pokémon stationed there—a Hydreigon with a mountain-like presence and all three heads radiating formidable Dragon's Maw—was narrowly forced into a draw by Armorouge through sheer willpower and clever tactics after a fierce battle, no light of evolution appeared around Armorouge.

Its energy had long since reached its peak, its strength clearly exceeded the standard, its fighting spirit had burned flawlessly through the consecutive battles, and its bond with her trainer had been displayed to the fullest... Why was the light of evolution still silent?

It was not only Yan Yang and Armorouge who were puzzled. Even the Dragon Family elders watching the ceremony showed obvious confusion in their eyes.

In this ancient dragon nest, where dragon vein energy was so abundant and Dragon's Maw surged through the air, any Dragon-type Pokémon with sufficient accumulation should, by all rights, have had a strong chance of breaking through its bottleneck after being tempered in real combat against so many powerful kin and resonating with its bloodline.

What was more, this Armorouge had long surpassed the level ordinarily required for evolution. Every dragon present could sense the depth of her foundation.

The light in Armorouge's eyes dimmed slightly for an instant, but it was not as though she had gained nothing.

Just like after her hard battle with Articuno last time, she could feel some invisible shackles within her seeming to loosen a little more.

It was just... when would this final layer completely shatter?

Agate hurried over. As both a classmate and the one who had introduced him, she softly comforted him. "Don't take it too hard, Yan Yang. Even if your Armorouge doesn't evolve, she's already incredibly strong. Being able to fight one of the strongest guardian dragons in the clan grounds to a draw is