"Ethan, let's go. What comes next is the Great Dragonite's trial."
Seeing the direction in which the enormous Dragonite had departed, Master Morland quickly mounted his own Dragonite and spoke to Ethan.
Ethan nodded and climbed onto Master Morland's Dragonite as well. The two of them took off, pursuing the giant Dragonite that was swiftly flying ahead.
Boom, boom, boom!
The massive Dragonite's figure advanced through the valley until it gradually approached a large lake.
"DRRAGG!"
With a roar from the Great Dragonite, numerous Pokémon began emerging from the lake.
Among them were Dratinis and Dragonairs—small dragon-type Pokémon—as well as Magikarps and Gyarados, who, though not true dragons, also belonged to the so-called "false dragon family."
Among all those Pokémon, several Seadra and Horsea gathered together, curiously yet fearfully observing the Kingdra beside Ethan.
They could feel it—this Pokémon represented the final form of their own species, the embodiment of their lineage's power, the king of their kind.
"DRRAGG!"
With another deep roar from the giant Dragonite, three of the largest and strongest Seadra swam toward the shore.
"Ethan, the trial has begun," said Master Morland seriously. "All you need to do is have these three Seadra evolve successfully. If you can do that, you'll have passed the trial."
"Alright. Actually, the conditions for a Kingdra's evolution are quite simple."
"First, I need three Dragon Scales, and then a stimulus derived from spatial power..."
Ethan nodded as he explained the evolutionary conditions. Master Morland was stunned.
Dragon Scales?
Could that even be considered an evolutionary item?
Before bringing Ethan to Dragon Valley, Master Morland had researched him.
In addition to having won the tournament for the starting trainer title, Ethan was also known for his thesis, 'A New Direction in Pokémon Evolution.'
That was why Master Morland had tried to deduce Kingdra's evolution method on his own, conducting multiple experiments... all of which had failed.
And now it turned out that the key was the Dragon Scales. Yet those scales weren't even considered evolutionary items—they were simply special scales naturally shed by dragon-type Pokémon.
Apart from containing a faint trace of draconic energy, they had no particular effect.
Master Morland couldn't help but be astonished by the method Ethan described.
It was truly difficult to associate Seadra's evolution with such a trivial item. No one would have ever thought of that.
Now it seemed this special Kingdra evolution was far more complex: beyond energy and spatial stimulation, there had to be another hidden factor involved.
"Dragon Scales, huh..." Master Morland murmured thoughtfully.
He then released his own Gyarados and ordered it to dive to the bottom of the lake.
It didn't take long before Gyarados surfaced again, carrying several gleaming scales in its mouth.
"So many Dragon Scales?" Ethan was surprised by the amount. Then he realized that, given Dragon Valley's countless years of existence, it made sense that so many scales had accumulated over time.
Still, one question lingered: with so many scales available, why had no Seadra ever evolved before?
Without wasting more time, Ethan took the scales and approached the three Seadra, carefully placing one on each of them.
At that moment, the Great Dragonite let out a deep roar, and a beam of seven-colored light descended from the sky, enveloping the three Seadra.
That radiance was the spatial portal of Dragon Valley. The giant Dragonite could open it at will, which astonished Ethan—its power was truly extraordinary.
With both the spatial energy and the Dragon Scales prepared, Ethan silently awaited the evolution process.
Of the three basic conditions for evolution—resource, energy, and strength—the first two were fulfilled. As for strength, Ethan had no doubts: these Seadra were far stronger than his original Kingdra had ever been.
However, several minutes passed... and nothing happened. No surge of energy, no sign of evolution.
"What's going on...?" Ethan frowned.
The massive Dragonite also lowered its head to glance at Ethan, as if asking what was wrong.
"This evolution... isn't guaranteed," Ethan replied, thoughtful.
He tried again with more Seadra, but the result was the same—all failures.
Sweat began to trickle down his forehead. One or two failures could be accepted, but for all of them to fail was far too strange.
"Could there be another hidden requirement for Seadra's evolution?" he muttered, glancing between the Kingdra beside him and the Seadra in the lake.
"Wait... could it be that?"
Suddenly, Ethan seemed to remember something. He looked at the Seadra and asked, "Who is your leader among you?"
The Seadra stirred for a moment, until one—slightly older and more imposing—emerged from the group.
"You try," said Ethan, narrowing his eyes.
If even the leader couldn't evolve, then the problem was truly serious.
The leader Seadra hesitated for a moment, then nodded. It took the Dragon Scale, and when the seven-colored light enveloped it once more—
Booom!
The glow of evolution erupted from its body, which quickly expanded and transformed into a magnificent Kingdra.
"He did it!" Ethan exclaimed in relief.
So Kingdra's evolution wasn't so simple after all. But why had only the leader succeeded?
"Could it be due to the recognition of its peers? Or maybe some kind of emotional bond or affinity?"
"This feels similar to the dominance aura of Totem Pokémon... perhaps it's a kind of emotional energy."
Ethan frowned, recalling what he had observed with Totem Pokémon. In the Secret Kingdom of the Totem Sandslash, for instance, there was never more than one leader Sandslash—which only made sense if that unique emotional energy was the key.
Ethan made a mental note of this observation—he planned to investigate it further later on. It might even contribute something new to the study of Totem Pokémon.
For now, with the evolution of the leader Seadra completed, the trial was considered passed.
"You did it," commented Master Morland, though he frowned. "But it seems the success rate is far too low."
Indeed, out of all the Seadra, only the leader had evolved. While it was known that special evolutions required a certain level of power, the overall result was still surprisingly limited.
(End of chapter)