"Fwee~"
Dragonair gazed at Xia Chi with clear eyes and gave an ethereal, melodious cry.
Through their Aura link, Xia Chi understood what it meant.
[I'm here to negotiate with you on behalf of all the Pokémon in this lake.]
Seeing Dragonair's unusually earnest, even slightly solemn expression and tone, Xia Chi almost burst out laughing.
That contrast was just too adorable.
But he quickly suppressed his amusement and responded to this "diplomatic overture" with equal seriousness.
Intrigued, Xia Chi crouched down to meet Dragonair's eyes in the water. "Negotiate? Now that's something new. What would you like to discuss?"
He paused, then asked curiously, "And how did you know to come to me?"
Dragonair raised its little head and answered confidently, "Fwee!"
[Because I know you're the owner of this island, in the human sense.]
A flicker of surprise crossed Xia Chi's eyes.
This Dragonair was not only quite powerful, but far more intelligent than the average Pokémon.
After a moment's thought, Xia Chi had a pretty good idea why-
Through prolonged observation of human activity on the island, along with the energy fluctuations from Groudon creating land, Dragonair had deduced Xia Chi's status as the "island owner."
"All right."
Xia Chi nodded, set aside the last trace of his playful attitude, and said seriously, "Then, esteemed Dragonair, representative of the lake, please tell me what you're asking for."
It was going this smoothly?
A trace of incredulous surprise flashed through Dragonair's lake-clear eyes.
After all, the terrifying power displayed by that crimson behemoth, an embodiment of the earth itself that the human before it had "summoned"...
Had left an indelible impression on Dragonair and every other Pokémon on the island, even now.
By any reasonable deduction, Xia Chi was an exceptionally powerful Trainer.
Only the heavy responsibility of