This family gathering concluded perfectly, but before returning to the ranch, there was one more thing Naoki needed to do.
He wanted to test the upper limit of a Dynamax Pokémon after eating pumpkin pie and see if there were any changes in the moves of the Dynamax Pokémon.
So, he summoned his Dragonite and once again fed it a piece of pumpkin pie.
The Dragonite understood Naoki's intention. After eating the pumpkin pie, it left the island and flew above the ocean.
Naoki and Koraidon stood on the cliff edge of Dragonite Island, watching Dragonite from afar.
Once it flew about over a hundred meters away, it stopped.
Then, Dragonite's body started to grow visibly.
Three meters, five meters, seven meters… fifteen meters… twenty-five meters… thirty meters…
Finally, it transformed into a massive Dragonite rivaling a Gigantic Dragonite!
Its colossal body was like a towering mountain, hitting the sea with a huge splash, creating a tidal wave like a giant sea beast.
"It seems there's a slight difference compared to a Gigantic Dragonite. Is this the upper limit mentioned in the pumpkin pie description?" Naoki murmured to himself, watching the scene.
After thinking for a moment, he shouted loudly, "Try using a move!"
Dragonite responded with a cry, focusing intently. With a thunderous roar, large storm clouds rolled in from all directions.
Their scope was vast, covering the sky and even overcasting the area on Dragonite Island below it.
Then, a lightning bolt struck, followed by torrential rains engulfing the world in a curtain of rain.
As the storm poured down unexpectedly, Dragonites on Dragonite Island flew up to check what was happening.
Upon seeing the gigantic Dragonite in the sea, they couldn't help showing expressions of shock and confusion.
"Hoo?" How has another gigantic Dragonite appeared?
Even Dragonite was quite shocked.
It's shocked differently than the Dragonites on Dragonite Island because it was surprised by its own astonishing move!
Looking at the cloudy sky, Dragonite couldn't help but recall Naoki's words from before—let the whole world be enveloped in your rain.
Now it had done it!
Dragonite was extremely excited, and Naoki felt an equal thrill in his heart.
"It seems that once Dynamaxed, the Pokémon's moves are also enhanced. I wonder if there's a usage limit; I'll have to let Dragonite try again."
After a brief consideration, he rode Koraidon to fly over to Dragonite's side, prompting Dragonite to stop and test other moves.
Dragonite nodded, then called out to Koraidon, signaling it to take Naoki a bit further away because Dragonite could sense the next move's power would be very terrifying.
Koraidon didn't say much and turned to fly away.
Once they reached a safe distance, Dragonite started to act.
All around it, purple Dragon Type energy gathered as its massive body swirled in the sea, generating a powerful storm that turned into a massive Twister.
The ocean water was drawn into it and turned into a waterspout, connecting the cloudy sky with the ocean, seemingly possessing a power capable of devastation.
"Hoo…" So scary…
The young Dratinis on the island shivered in fright, staring at the scene in terror.
The other Dragonites also looked grim.
Fortunately, Dragonite didn't maintain this waterspout for too long before dispersing it, its eyes full of excitement, then unleashing a third move—Dragon Rage.
Purple Dragon Type energy spewed from its mouth, turning into a massive flame that roared forward.
With a loud explosion, the sea hadn't even calmed before being stirred into tumult once again.
Just then, after completing three moves, Dragonite's body suddenly popped, reverting to its original form in a puff of smoke.
Seeing this, Naoki was slightly taken aback, then pondered, "It seems the Dynamax Pokémon can only use three enhanced moves and will revert after completing them, similar to Dynamax."
Now it could be called a bootleg Dynamax.
At this moment, Dragonite flew back, and Naoki asked, "Can you transform again?"
"Hoo!"
"Shrink down and show me."
Upon hearing this, Dragonite's body swiftly shrunk, eventually becoming small and cute like a Pikachu.
Naoki scanned this small Dragonite up and down and said, "Show me your moves again!"
Dragonite nodded, then began to demonstrate.
Compared to Dynamax, when it shrinks, the moves used by the Pokémon also become very small, but the number of uses increases accordingly.
To verify his theory, Naoki had Dragonite use Thunderbolt consecutively until after the thirty-eighth use, Dragonite returned to its normal form.
Naoki began to summarize, "Growing larger enhances Pokémon moves, but there's only three attempts. After using them up, it'll revert to its original form."
"And it seems that shrinking can help Pokémon conserve energy, allowing for more uses of moves, though with reduced power. If no moves are used, it seems they can maintain their changed size indefinitely."
This is quite similar to the principle behind the Poke Ball, which also utilizes the tendency of wild Pokémon to shrink and hide when extremely weakened.
"That's enough. Let's leave it at that for now!"
Naoki had grasped the basics and turned around to relay his conclusion to the giant Dragonite.
The giant Dragonite blinked its eyes.
Naoki added, "Unless absolutely necessary, try not to make a move. If you use up your three chances, you might not be able to return to this form again."
Since the pumpkin pie couldn't be preserved for long, once consumed, it was gone. Besides, he couldn't guarantee that he could grow another size-changing pumpkin next time.
"Roar." The giant Dragonite nodded and kept this in mind.
"Alright then, let's call it a day. It's getting dark; we should head home," Naoki smiled as he looked at the big fellow in front of him, instinctively wanting to reach out and pat its head like he did with other Pokémon.
In response to his gesture, the giant Dragonite's gaze shifted to his restless hand.
Naoki stopped his hand in mid-air, awkwardly retracting it and silently cursed his habits for getting him in trouble.
Feigning as if nothing happened, he turned to bid farewell to the giant Dragonite and then found the Pokémon that were playing with the Dratini and Dragonair.
"Time to head home. We'll come back and play next time!"
Cyclizar, Pawmo, Alcremie, and Glaceon reluctantly bade farewell to the Dragonair and Dratini on the island, then turned back to Naoki.
Naoki then recalled each of them back into their Poke Balls one by one.
In an instant, only Koraidon and Dragonite remained outside.
Dragonite was engrossed in answering questions from the other Dragonites on Dragonite Island, basking in their astonished and admiring gazes, wearing a proud expression.
Naoki figured they must be discussing the matter of gigantification.
He chuckled to himself, then turned to find his backpack on a patch of grass. Slinging it over his shoulder, Naoki mounted Koraidon, and shouted to Dragonite, "Let's go, Dragonite, we're heading home!"
"Rawr~"
Dragonite responded enthusiastically, rushing over to give Naoki a hug in front of the other Dragonites, then obediently followed behind Koraidon, taking off into the sky.
"Bye-bye, see you next time!"
Naoki waved cheerfully to the group of wild Dragonites.
As Dragonite Island slowly disappeared from view, Naoki pondered why the Dratini and Dragonair, with whom he was quite familiar, hadn't come to see him off today.
Earlier, he hadn't seen them by the lake. He wondered if they had gone somewhere in the wild to pick berries or had dived into the lake to sleep.
Previously, they had always said goodbye reluctantly. Their sudden absence left Naoki feeling a little disappointed.
However, he didn't dwell on it.
Koraidon's speed was impressive, taking just about an hour to return to the ranch.
They landed in the ranch, and Naoki scanned around, seeing the Gogoat lounging leisurely on the grass, which assured him that nothing major had happened on the ranch.
Naoki felt relieved and released his Pokémon from their Poke Balls, letting them play on their own.
He casually tossed his backpack onto the bed, thinking of grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, when he suddenly heard Allen's voice.
Seeing this, Naoki grabbed a bottle of juice and, while sipping, walked outside.
He hadn't noticed that the backpack he'd placed on the bed moved slightly.
The zipper was pulled open by a tail, and then heads of various sizes peeked out, curiously surveying the unfamiliar surroundings.
In the ranch.
Allen handed Naoki a letter, looking quite excited:
"Hey Naoki, have you heard? The fishing tournament is about to begin!"
Naoki raised an eyebrow, "Fishing tournament?"
Allen nodded, "That's right, it's on the 20th of this month, at Lake Verity on the east side of the town."
He nudged Naoki with his shoulder, "I heard from Zack that you're really good at fishing! A few months ago, he took a lot of fish from you, so maybe this time you could get a good ranking!"
Naoki: "..." Could he say those fish were actually caught by Koraidon?
Allen continued on his own, "I heard the first place winner can get a collector's edition fishing rod! They say it's a rod that can even catch a Pokémon like Gyarados!"
Naoki thought to himself, so what? He had seen a rod that could catch a Kyogre!
"Is this letter about the fishing tournament?" he asked.
Allen shook his head, "No, Mayor Thomas said he'll notify you about the fishing tournament separately. This is about the fireworks celebration."
Naoki was a bit surprised, "Fireworks celebration? So soon!"
Allen: "Indeed, it's on the beach in Porto Marinada Town at the end of this month, May 31st. I won't go into details; it's all in the letter. It's a very lively festival with countless fireworks blooming in the night sky simultaneously. It's quite a spectacular sight! Be sure to bring your Pokémon to enjoy it thoroughly!"