The conversation with Clair was a pleasure.
After all, they were both seasoned Dragon Tamers with plenty to talk about. Trading tips on raising dragon Pokémon alone could have kept them talking all afternoon.
During their conversation, Baimu learned that her Dragonair was the one Team Rocket had nearly kidnapped during Ash's travels through Johto in the Original Series.
It had grown a great deal over the years.
But it had to be older than Hydreigon, didn't it?
"What level is it now?" Baimu asked curiously.
Clair said, "Level fifty-four. I think it'll become a Dragonite before long, don't you?"
Her face shone with pride.
She already had a Dragonite, but that one had been the previous Gym Leader's partner Pokémon, which she had inherited.
Dratini, on the other hand, was a Pokémon she had raised from childhood. The bond felt different.
Level fifty-four?
If he remembered correctly, Dragonair evolved at level fifty-five.
Baimu nodded to himself. It really wouldn't be long.
Then he reflected that Clair's training pace was actually very fast.
He had needed his unfair advantage to reach level ninety in three years. At the normal pace he had estimated, he would barely have reached level seventy at best.
As for how Ash had managed to reach level eighty in a year...
Ask Arceus.
In any case, Clair was clearly among Johto's strongest Gym Leaders.
Perhaps only Chuck and Pryce could match her.
Interestingly, like her cousin Lance, she also had a Shiny Pokémon on her team.
Druddigon.
Its orange head and green body made it look remarkably like an unripe dragon fruit.
Baimu remembered that Clair had caught it in the Decolora Islands, when the anime was in Pokémon the Series: Black & White, the Unova arc.
That had brought Iris and Clair together, laying the