Blackthorn City.
Dragon's Den, Fifth Cavern, Dragon Ascension Cave.
This was the highest-level cavern the Dragon Clan could open to outsiders.
Though it was open to outsiders, only a select few could enter the Fifth Cavern. One had to defeat the Gym Leader and earn the Dragon Clan's recognition.
It was said that the last person outside the Dragon Clan to enter the Fifth Cavern had been one of Xia Yan's teachers, Professor Oak, Yukinari Oak!
According to Lance's Grandfather, Professor Oak's Dragonite had completed its final transformation within the Fifth Cavern, the Dragon Ascension Cave.
The Blackthorn Gym's badge was called the Dragon Ascension Badge, showing just how important the Dragon Ascension Cave was to both Dragon's Den and the Dragon Clan.
And as Lance's close friend and a young man favored by Lance's Grandfather, Xia Yan naturally received the chance to enter the Dragon Ascension Cave.
Today.
It was his twentieth day in the Dragon Ascension Cave.
The countdown to his departure had entered its final stretch.
But it had to be said that the Dragon Clan's foundations were truly astounding.
A thousand-year inheritance, coupled with the naturally blessed treasure land that was Dragon's Den.
Xia Yan felt that as long as the Dragon Clan knew how to protect itself, even if the Pokémon League fell and a new ruler took power, the Dragon Clan would still survive quite well.
History proved it, too.
Over the thousands of years, how many rulers had Kanto and Johto Region changed? Yet the Dragon Clan still stood tall, and its influence continued to expand.
Once Lance became one of Kanto's Elite Four, and even Johto Region's Champion, the Dragon Clan's prestige and status would likely reach their peak.
Even now.
Within the Kanto League, many Dragon Clan members held important positions