Slateport City

As for how Dian had persuaded Aggron to travel with him, it was actually quite simple. Aggron respected Doublade, who had beaten it into submission, and was willing to come along to hone its skills so it could win a rematch someday.

Of course, Dian had his own reason for bringing Aggron along. Although it was a Steel- and Rock-type Pokémon, it was exceptionally skilled at Fighting-type moves.

That made it the perfect teacher for Larvitar, who could start learning some simple fighting techniques from it.

This Aggron really was unusual. The sheer number of Fighting-type moves it knew was downright abnormal. But after reading Nurse Joy Lisa's examination report, Dian discovered that it bore traces of an attack from an extremely powerful Zap Cannon, and that the injuries were far from recent.

Dian immediately connected this to the unexpected incident he had encountered in that cave in Johto: the sly, treacherous Nosepass and the powerful Pokémon fighting it out of sight.

This Aggron might well have been that Pokémon. When he tentatively took out a photograph of Nosepass, Aggron's eyes instantly began to turn red, further confirming his suspicions.

Dian pieced together a possible explanation. Belia had probably stumbled upon an easy catch after coming out. The absence of Nosepass likely meant it had won. Of course, he still had no idea that Nosepass had already evolved into Probopass.

But Belia had been busy with other matters afterward and had no time to win Aggron over. After all, he had only caught it by chance, so earning its loyalty would hardly be easy. Besides, with his sights constantly set on the Silver Sword of Royal Authority, he probably had little interest in Aggron.

So, although he had kept it with him, he had never paid it any attention. Only