A dozen or so years ago, when the Paldea League had just been founded, communication technology was nowhere near as advanced as it is today. Even the video phones that are now almost standard in every Pokémon Center and on nearly every street corner were still quite rare.
Apart from traveling great distances in person, the main ways people connected, expressed longing, and communicated were through simple envelopes and the letters inside them. The Paldea Post Office carried that important responsibility.
But as time passed and video phones became widespread, followed by mobile phones that could connect you to the other side of the world with a single call, the post office became an inconspicuous casualty beneath the rolling wheels of progress.
Although post offices never completely vanished from history—Paldea still has them today—the number of people sending letters has inevitably dwindled to a very rare few. Nowadays, those who still communicate by letter are usually people with niche hobbies, elderly seniors, or those sending postcards for the ceremonial feel of New Year's greetings or holidays. The decline of the postal model is an unchangeable fact.
By rough estimate, it was around the time when post offices were closing one after another—and shortly after the passing of its Trainer—that Dragonite Leader finally flew off to settle at Casseroya Lake and live together with the Dratini. Otherwise, even if it had stayed at a post office that hadn't yet closed, no one would have driven it away. Delivering urgent letters that had to reach other regions—or even the other side of the planet—within a strict time limit had always been Dragonite Leader's specialty.
After watching Dragonite Leader's back for a while, Lucas finally stepped forward and walked over to the Pokémon. Noticing his arrival, Politoed was the first to stand up, raising its palm affectionately in greeting. The Poliwhirls, the Garganacl, and the others followed suit. When the Garganacl rose, a little rock salt shook from its body. It might have been a shame for it to fall to the ground, but Lucas had no intention of collecting it. Thanks to the unique purifying effect of this rock salt, even such a small loss was no big deal; in fact, it helped improve the farm's environment.
After greeting each Pokémon one by one, Lucas met Dragonite's gaze and gave a gentle nod. Dragonite instantly understood his intention. It tightened its grip slightly on Dragonite Leader's chubby claws, a wave of nervousness rising in its heart. The pink Dratini, which had poked its head out of the water, looked at Dragonite's expression, then at Lucas's unusually serious face, and realized the moment had arrived.
They had already spoken with the Dratini about their leader's situation quite some time ago. So when the time truly came, they were not caught off guard—only a little worried. What if, after seeing her deceased Trainer, Dragonite Leader became even more lost in the illusions of the past?
The Dratini didn't understand overly complicated things. After simply putting themselves in its position, this concern arose naturally. Whether to maintain the status quo or attempt change was indeed a difficult question.
At that moment, Lucas stopped in front of Dragonite Leader, who was still wearing its mail-carrier hat and shoulder bag, lost in the past.
"Bo-woo?"
Seeing that it was Lucas, Dragonite Leader tilted its head, a kind smile appearing on its face.
Thanks to Lucas's care, along with Dragonite, the Dratini, and the other Pokémon, Dragonite Leader was no longer the same as when it had first been immersed in its own world. It could now respond to the outside world, communicate with the other Pokémon, recognize that Dragonite was its child, and even carry out mail-delivery work on its own.
Therefore, Dragonite held considerable goodwill toward Lucas—the Trainer who had raised its child so well. It was just that the occasional looks Dragonite Leader gave Lucas and Dragonite seemed inexplicably tinged with sadness—a sorrowful gaze unique to an elder who had experienced much.
"Bo-woo Bo-woo"
Dragonite Leader hugged Lucas and, to the person only it could see, tirelessly introduced him once again. Even though the other party didn't respond and simply smiled while looking at it, a satisfied expression still surfaced in Dragonite Leader's eyes.
"..."
Allowing Dragonite Leader to repeat the action, Lucas exchanged a glance with Dragonite and, like the Dratini, began wondering whether their choice was correct. If they really did this, perhaps the happiness Dragonite Leader felt would be completely shattered. If that happened, were the things they were doing truly right?
"I think… it should be the right thing."
Suddenly, a voice both majestic and gentle emerged in Lucas's mind. He subconsciously looked up and saw Calyrex holding the sleeping Cosmog, quietly watching the scene. Its calm voice continued.
"This answer shouldn't come from you or me. Not even Dragonite, as its child, or the Dratini, as its friends, can decide for Dragonite Leader. All you can do is let it meet the person it missed once more through a miracle. In the end, the one who makes the choice is Dragonite Leader itself.
Whether it's a farewell that mends regrets with the departed, or continuing to live unwilling to accept reality and clinging to the past—at least an answer can be reached."
As an existence whose lifespan was so long that it could no longer remember exactly how much time had passed, Calyrex had witnessed countless partings caused by the difference between Pokémon and human lifespans. At first it might have wanted to change things, but now it believed that if Tapu Fini's mist truly possessed that miraculous effect, the answer should be left for them to reach on their own.
Listening to Calyrex's words, Lucas raised his head within Dragonite Leader's soft embrace and met its kind, honest gaze. He asked softly, "Do you want to see your Trainer one more time?"
Under Calyrex's silent assistance, the words sank deep into Dragonite Leader's heart. Its power to heal the mind could not resolve knots like Dragonite Leader's, but helping it maintain a moment of clarity and allowing it to give the answer itself was still possible.
All the "self-deception" that had maintained Dragonite Leader's sanity collapsed like snapped threads. The false facade it had built for self-protection and the memories it had been unwilling to recall receded and surged like a tide. At some point its eyes were filled only with an indelible, heavy sorrow. It clung to Lucas almost like a drowning person grasping at straws and asked in a trembling voice:
"Bo-woo?" Can I really see her one more time?
Strictly speaking, Dragonite Leader had not been a Pokémon partner raised and nurtured by humans from the beginning. As a parentless Dratini, it had cautiously lived in the perilous waters of Casseroya Lake. Because of its weakness in the early stages, it mostly stayed hidden at the bottom of the lake, growing by relying on scraps that sank down. Occasional extra meals were a matter of sheer luck.
Through daily shedding of its skin and its own caution, the Dratini finally evolved into a Dragonair. After becoming a Dragonair, it barely gained the power to protect itself. At the very least, it no longer had to worry about being driven away by other aquatic wild Pokémon over territory with nowhere to retreat.
After living like this for some time, the Dragonair inexplicably felt a strange emotion. It took a long time to understand that this was called loneliness. Watching aquatic Pokémon that moved together with their kin, the solitary Dragonair suddenly longed for companions of its own.
So it began exploring Casseroya Lake, hoping to find others of its kind. But before it could, it accidentally intruded into the territory of a bad-tempered Gyarados and was attacked without warning. How could the Dragonair be a match for the Gyarados that had long dominated the lake? It was chased all over Casseroya Lake and, in the end, could only burst through the surface with injuries and fly into the sky.
It thought the Gyarados probably wouldn't be able to catch up now. But to the Dragonair's surprise, the Gyarados didn't use wings or spread feather-like wings like its own—it simply flew above the lake surface through thin air. Even though the other party stayed at low altitude, the startled Dragonair suffered even heavier injuries and could only fly shakily away from the Casseroya Lake area, seeking a shelter where it could slowly lick its wounds and heal.
The Dragonair had clearly overestimated its own stamina. After leaving Casseroya Lake, it flew only a short while before its strength gave out and it fell to the ground in a daze.
When it woke again, it found itself in a warm environment. A girl with two braided pigtails, dressed as a mail carrier, was looking at it with a face full of worry. Even though the Dragonair at that time didn't know what a mail carrier was, during its recovery it gradually understood through the girl's murmured words.
The girl called herself Ria. Although she was currently working as a mail carrier to earn money, her future goal was to become a powerful Trainer and make her hometown proud. The wild-grown Dragonair didn't quite understand what a Trainer was, but it could see Ria's concern for it, as well as the expression on her face as she struggled while holding a slip of paper covered in a long string of black numbers before finally gritting her teeth and accepting it.
The Dragonair realized that Ria had probably paid something very important to her in order to treat it. Looking at the smile the girl always showed it, the Dragonair realized that what it had been seeking seemed to be right before its eyes.
On the day it was discharged, the Dragonair decided not to leave but to live together with Ria. It became Ria's Pokémon.
The Dragonair began accompanying Ria at her post-office job, saving up what seemed to be called "travel funds." Ria seemed to have spent all the "travel funds" she had saved to treat it. Feeling somewhat guilty, the Dragonair could only work hard to accompany her.
It was also from the mouths of some people at the post office that the Dragonair learned how Ria—who lived in town—had saved it. At that time, she had received a delivery task and ridden the post office's transport Pokémon—a Cyclizar—to a small town near Casseroya Lake. That was how she had happened to encounter the injured Dragonair. Although many people said it was just a coincidence, the Dragonair believed this must have been fate.
The Dragonair accompanied Ria as they delivered letters through wind and rain. According to Ria, a thin letter often carried someone's longing. As mail carriers, they had to deliver it properly to the destination and into the recipient's hands.
Thus, the first month passed. After receiving her salary, Ria gave the Dragonair a shoulder bag. This meant the handless Dragonair no longer had to coil letters with its tail. The Dragonair loved the gift Ria had given it. Even if it meant getting rained on itself, it would carefully protect the bag with its feather-like wings.
In the first year after meeting Ria, the Dragonair excitedly asked her whether the money saved over a year was enough to start the "journey" of a Trainer. Ria sighed and said that even with careful saving, after deducting food, clothing, housing, and travel, there was still very little money left by the end of the year. At least in this era, that amount was far from enough for traveling.
Ria mentioned to the Dragonair that in other regions there existed massive organizations called Pokémon Leagues. Under the management of the Pokémon Leagues, those regions developed in an orderly manner. Anyone who wanted to become a Trainer could receive their own starter Pokémon from the League. Travel expenses were greatly reduced thanks to League subsidies, and there were Pokémon Centers along the way that offered free lodging and medical care. Successfully challenging Gyms also came with incentive bonuses from the League, greatly easing the financial pressure on Trainers.
Unlike the current Paldea region, where only children from wealthy families could enroll in the largest academy. A year earlier, when she had picked up the Dragonair, the medical fees alone for treating it had exhausted all the savings Ria—as an orphan—had accumulated over several years.
"If only Paldea could establish its own Pokémon League too… that would be wonderful."
Ria would occasionally murmur such words beside the Dragonair.
Unknowingly, time flew by. It was only much later that the Dragonair—or rather, Dragonite—learned that a large part of the reason Ria couldn't save up travel funds was because she had been buying expensive, high-quality food to maintain the energy intake needed for her own growth.
As time passed, the Dragonair welcomed its own evolution. By then, Ria was already in her mid-forties. She had long let go of her obsession with becoming a Trainer and traveling, and instead lived a steady life together with Dragonite. Thanks to Dragonite, she became the post office's ace delivery person. Her income rose steadily, and she even saved enough money to buy a small home for herself and Dragonite in a town near Casseroya Lake.
Time continued to flow, and Ria reached the age of sixty. Ria had no intention of marrying or having children. She said she simply hadn't met the right person. But to Dragonite, which had lived in human society for a long time and understood many things, Ria had done it for its sake. Ria knew it craved affection, so she didn't want other things to distract her attention. She hadn't even raised any other Pokémon.
Because of her age, Ria could no longer work at the post office. To maintain the family's income, Dragonite chose to work there alone. Reluctantly, Ria—who had originally not wanted to agree—could only consent. Dragonite received another gift from Ria: a mail-carrier hat with a red top and black brim.
During its days working alone as a mail carrier, Dragonite experienced many interesting things. For example, a girl around the same age as Ria back then asked for its help to take a little boy to the distant Kanto region to deliver a letter. Dragonite still remembered how sweet the cake was at that boy's father's birthday party.
On the way delivering letters, Dragonite would occasionally circle around Casseroya Lake. By now it no longer feared most of the wild Pokémon in the lake. Even the Gyarados that had once chased it had been found and given a good beating by Dragonite.
Until one day.
Dragonite was making its usual circle near Casseroya Lake, planning to return soon to the nearby town to help the now-elderly Ria, when its sharp eyesight spotted a small pink snake on the lake surface, looking lost and helpless. Although the color was different, Dragonite was certain—it was one of its own kind.
Perhaps reminded of its former self, Dragonite hesitated for a few seconds before choosing to rescue the pink Dratini that had been driven onto the lake surface. Afterward, sensing something faintly, Dragonite did not bring the Dratini back to the home it shared with Ria. Instead, it settled with the pink Dratini on a small island in the middle of Casseroya Lake.
After that, Dragonite successively rescued two more Dratini and formed a small family on the lake island. They were all female and got along very pleasantly with one another. Dragonite also took on the responsibility of being the leader of the three Dratini. From time to time, it would bring extra food bought with its wages to give them treats.
Time flowed slowly like this. In the eightieth year after Dragonite met Ria—when Ria was ninety years old—autumn arrived.
…