They had come to the Safari Zone for camping, so there was no rush — they spent several leisurely days there, taking their time.
A Trainer's journey was a journey, after all. It wasn't some mission with a hard deadline attached to it.
Yes, there was the regional tournament to think about eventually.
But the time limit on that was actually quite generous. If things ever started to feel truly urgent, they could just hop on a Flying-type Pokémon and blitz through the remaining Gyms at full speed.
These past few days had felt like time preserved in amber — warm and luminous, carrying the clean scent of grass and leaves, and a sense of easy, carefree happiness.
The adorable little Dratini had more or less become the group's mascot.
Its innocent, guileless nature surpassed even the Pidgey and Magikarp that Ash had first encountered at the very start of his journey.
…Although, that might also have something to do with how slowly it was maturing.
…This little one's mind really was that of a young child.
Dratini continued to gaze at the world with those wide, guileless purple eyes, filled with nothing but unconditional trust toward everything around it. That faint wariness it had shown at the very beginning had long since been forgotten.
…If its mother Dragonair could see this, one could only wonder whether she'd feel emotionally drained — or simply give up hope entirely.
But that wasn't the important thing. After all, none of the three had any ill intentions toward the little creature.
Everyone ate what they wanted to eat, drank what they wanted to drink, and played as much as they wanted to play.
And the reserve was vast enough to let all manner of Pokémon live freely within it — yet its boundaries were not so far as to be unreachable.
Right now.
Ash was lying chest-down across Pidgeot's broad, solid back.
Powerful gusts of wind howled past his ears, sending his hair streaming back behind him.
Cradled in Ash's arms was a Dratini that was equal parts thrilled and terrified.
The little one's cool, smooth skin pressed against his arms.
"Pidgeot—!" Pidgeot let out a high, piercing cry that rang clear across the sky.
Its massive wings beat with powerful, rhythmic strokes, commanding the wind, reveling in the joy of soaring through the heavens with its Trainer.
For a bird Pokémon, nothing was more exhilarating than carrying the Trainer it had chosen on its back and giving itself over entirely to speed.
Pidgeot: The sky is the highest form of freedom.
Though — "Urr… urr-lu…" At first, the weightlessness and the roar of the wind at high speed made Dratini flinch with fear. It buried its head in the crook of Ash's arm and let out tiny, anxious whimpers.
But very quickly, the curiosity that was in its very nature overcame its fear.
Dratini carefully poked its head out and gazed at the forest, the winding rivers, and the grasslands spread below like a green velvet carpet, all rushing past beneath them — and its big eyes slowly filled with wonder.
Dratini: So fast!
"Waaah—urr-lu!" it finally cried out, unable to hold it in any longer, its voice trembling with sheer, disbelieving excitement.
Dratini had indeed flown before, carried by its mother Dragonair.
But when Dragonair carried Dratini through the sky, she never pushed anything close to this kind of speed.
Are you kidding? Not a chance!
Ash felt the little one's mood shift in his arms and smiled, raising his voice over the rush of wind:
"How about it — isn't the sky amazing?"
He freed one hand and gently stroked the small white nub at the top of Dratini's head.
"When you grow a little more and evolve into Dragonair, you'll be able to take to the sky on your own!"
"Even without wings, you can fly freely wherever you want!"
Ash went on, painting a picture of that breathtaking future:
"And when you finally evolve all the way into Dragonite, you'll be even faster!"
"Legend has it that a truly powerful Dragonite can circle our entire planet in just sixteen hours!"
He wasn't sure exactly what the circumference of this world's planet was, but legends were made to set the imagination soaring.
Ash rattled off various figures — phrases like "twice the speed of sound" and "supersonic flight" — leaving Dratini staring at him with wide, blinking eyes, completely lost.
The little one clearly had no idea what "Mach" or "the speed of sound" actually meant — but it could feel, from the light dancing in its Trainer's eyes and the certainty in his voice, that something vast and free and wonderful was being described.
Dratini tilted its head upward, gazing at Ash's profile outlined by sunlight and wind, and the purple of its eyes filled with a shimmering, yearning light.
Pidgeot wasn't flying at full power right now. Its top speed was enough to break the sound barrier.
Supposedly, some exceptionally gifted Pidgeot could cruise at a terrifying speed of Mach 2.
Their vision, honed through countless hours of flight, could clearly lock onto a Magikarp swimming in water from an altitude of over a thousand meters.
This was also precisely why many Flying-type Pokémon struggled to fully express their power in a standard Gym battle — where was there ever a sky vast enough to let them fly at will?
The cramped arena of a Gym match was, for a bird Pokémon, simply too small. Far too small.
Accelerate even slightly, and you'd already overshot.
Even if the airspace above the Gym were left unrestricted… it would still be all too easy to accidentally fly off somewhere into the distance without meaning to.
The speed of sound is 340 meters per second.
If a Flying-type Pokémon broke the sound barrier… it could travel a kilometer away in just three seconds.
How enormous would an arena have to be to let them fight at full capacity?
Combat between Flying-types was a contest of speed.
Breaking the sound barrier wasn't even close to their limit.
One times the speed of sound, two times, three times — the numbers just kept climbing higher.
…Just thinking about it for a moment made the hair on the back of your neck stand up.
Ash thought back to Giovanni's Beedrill and its terrifying Quick Attack from before — once speed reached a certain threshold, it truly became something to be feared.
But that was getting a bit off-track.
They were still flying.
Ash's gaze drifted idly toward a mass of white cumulus clouds in the distance.
His Aura sense picked up clearly on what was hidden there — a gentle yet powerful presence, quietly watching them.
It was Dragonair.
She was Dratini's mother.
She had kept her distance the entire time, like a silent guardian — worried for her child's safety, yet hesitant, unwilling to come any closer.
Ash couldn't fully understand all the complicated feelings in this mother's heart, but he respected the distance she had chosen to keep, and made no move to disturb the quiet behind that cloud.
After soaring freely through the sky and gazing down upon the earth below, Pidgeot began to descend, gliding back in the direction of camp.
There was only so much time for carefree play — it wasn't as though they could just stay up in the air forever, was it?
Having fun was important. But so was knowing when to stop.
Back at camp.
Brock and Misty had already started packing up.
Onix used its heavy tail to carefully nudge aside the stones pinning down the tent. Brock folded the waterproof tarp with practiced efficiency.
Misty was calling her Water-type Pokémon back one by one.
Starmie and Staryu spun as they were recalled, sending tiny droplets of water spinning outward.
Horsea lingered at the water's edge, reluctant to leave.
Even Psyduck — the one who normally spent its days clutching its head in a daze — seemed to sense the mood of departure. Unusually, it didn't fall into one of its blank stupors, and was instead trying to help by picking up a small water canteen in its beak.
…Though it was doing a rather clumsy job of it, and seemed to be causing more trouble than it helped.
…That chubby duck's body structure simply wasn't built for that sort of thing.
Pidgeot landed smoothly at the edge of camp and folded its wings.
Ash hopped lightly off, still holding Dratini.
…He had, technically, been slacking off to go play while everyone else was busy packing up. That was a bit ridiculous, when you thought about it.
So.
Pikachu: Pika-pi!
Misdreavus: Mweh-mweh!
The two little ones both looked distinctly displeased.
Pikachu: You flew all the way up into the sky to play — and you didn't take me along?!
Misdreavus: …Wuuu… you've changed! You don't love me anymore!
Ash turned his head away with an awkward laugh: "Ha ha ha ha…"
When you didn't know what to say, just grin. Face everything with a smile.
"Did you have fun, little one?" Misty laughed, stepping forward and reaching out to tickle Dratini under the chin.
Dratini's eyes went half-closed with contentment, letting out a soft "urr-lu-lu" sound.
Brock finished packing the last piece of luggage and straightened up. "We should get going, Ash… We've stayed here a good while now."
Their schedule wasn't urgent, exactly — but they weren't the type to linger in one place too long, either.
They were traveling, after all.
Misty nodded, glancing at Dratini, her voice warm but edged with just a touch of reluctance: "Goodbye, little one… grow up well, okay?"
Dratini was a remarkably rare Pokémon.
But none of them had any intention of catching it and taking it along.
It wasn't simply the practical consideration that Dratini's development cycle was too long.
If that were the only reason, taking it along would still be fine — you could always train it later.
The real reason was that all three of them had noticed Dratini's mother — Dragonair — watching from a distance the entire time.
Dragonair might have had some thought of entrusting her child to a Trainer.
But Dragonair herself would absolutely not be able to bear the parting.
Given that, there was no need to push things. They'd leave it all to fate.
Some things are written in the stars.
And besides — the Ash of today was no longer the Ash from when he first set out.
The Ash who had just left home had genuinely needed to think about the baseline quality of his Pokémon, and so he'd been selective about potential. But for the Ash of today, Individual Values no longer mattered.
As long as there were no physical disabilities, that was enough.
Personality, temperament, and compatibility — those were the first factors to consider now.
And while the little Pokémon here in the zone had decent compatibility, their temperaments were immature and they had no taste for battle.
Ash crouched down and gently set Dratini on the grass at the water's edge, giving its smooth little head a sincere, careful pat.
Cool to the touch.
"This is as far as we go, little one."
Ash's voice was gentle. "The journey outside — it's still too soon for you."
He knew clearly that not every Pokémon was suited to being caught and taken onto a road full of unknowns and challenges.
The Dratini before him had a mind as pure as a blank page. All it wanted was companionship and play — it couldn't truly grasp what "Trainer" or "adventure" even meant.
Taking a child like this into battle would be far too cruel.
For a Trainer, the Pokémon best suited to battle were those with a warlike, even a touch ferocious, temperament — the type that lived for the fight.
…The prime example being Gyarados.
Thick-skinned, tough as nails, and absolutely battle-hungry. The type that never stayed down for long.
The type for whom being angry at their Trainer for losing a battle was simply not a concept that existed.
Gyarados: Fight! Fight! Fight!
Gyarados: Battles are the best!
And Ash would never allow a confused, innocent little creature that needed to be sheltered to be thrown into the cruelty of battle before its time.
Some things you simply don't do — full stop.
Even when Ash had first caught Pidgey… his thinking at the time had been to let Pidgey stay up in the air as a lookout.
And just then.
A fine, silken rain began to fall quietly from the sky.
The soft drizzle soaked silently into the grass and the water's surface, carrying with it the fresh scent of earth and green things.
The sunlight hadn't fully retreated yet.
Through the refraction of the mist and water droplets, a faint yet strikingly clear rainbow arched dreamlike over the riverbank, wreathed in the halo of drifting rain.
Within that shimmering curtain of rainbow light, an elegant, slender blue dragon-shape appeared.
Dragonair finally stopped hiding.
She emerged from behind the clouds, her long body winding through the air like a flowing jewel.
Dragonair gazed at the three of them for a long, quiet moment. Her expression was complex — it held gratitude, a sense of quiet relief, and just a trace of an unease she tried to keep from showing.
…She really had been watching to make sure her child wouldn't be taken away.
…If her child had been taken by someone, she could have forced herself to accept it.
…Though, thinking of it that way now, it still felt unbearably harsh.
Of course, she'd had that thought at all only because Ash's group seemed genuinely reliable.
Kaiser had received a secret letter from Koga, and Dragonair had come to know its contents.
She hadn't picked just any Trainer to potentially entrust her child to.
Then Dragonair lowered her head and slipped silently into the glittering, rippling river water, leaving only a ring of slowly spreading ripples across the surface.
…She was still a little too embarrassed to face Ash and the others directly.
…Dragonair was shy.
Dratini stood at the water's edge.
It looked to the left at the three humans preparing to leave. Then it looked anxiously to the right at the spot where its mother had disappeared beneath the water.
Its big eyes filled rapidly with tears that rolled around in their sockets, threatening to spill over at any moment.
Dratini let out tiny, tearful whimpers, its little tail patting the damp grass in restless distress.
Ash, Misty, and Brock exchanged a look and a smile — and though they felt the pull of it themselves, they turned back to Dratini and gave it one firm, heartfelt wave.
"Goodbye!"
"Listen to your mom, okay!"
"Take care!"
With that, the three turned around, shouldered their packs, and set off down the path they had come from.
"Urr—! Urr-lu—!!"
From behind them came Dratini's tearful, increasingly frantic cries — full of the bewilderment and panic of being left behind.
Children always wanted someone to play with.
And goodbyes always carried this kind of quiet melancholy… a hollow feeling, like something had been quietly lifted from your chest.
Just then.
Splash — a sound of water, and Dragonair rose again from the river.
She wrapped her long, slender neck gently around her anxious, fretful child.
Dragonair lowered her head and nuzzled Dratini's damp little head, again and again, tenderly.
The scene seemed to say, without words: Don't be afraid. Mama's right here… We won't be separated.
In truth, over these past several days, Dragonair had been hiding up in the clouds, and her heart had gone through its own fierce inner struggle.
It wasn't as though she hadn't considered it — letting her extraordinarily gifted child follow this remarkable Trainer and go see a wider world.
But that maternal love, innate and bone-deep, and that bond of blood she could not bear to sever — in the end, they won out.
Dragonair could not bring herself to let go so easily.
And the respect that Ash and the others had shown — for Dratini's own wishes and for the stage of growth it was in — had, in turn, helped her firm up her own resolve.
Let the child stay at her side, and pass through this long, carefree season of childhood in peace.
Dratini and Dragonair had long lifespans.
They had time enough — there was no need to rush the child out onto a storm-battered road.
…Besides, with Kaiser's connection still in place, the worst case was just waiting until the child grew up before passing it on.
Just as Trainers chose their Pokémon, it was equally natural for powerful Pokémon to choose the right Trainer for their offspring.
This world was not purely a human world.
This world was not purely a Pokémon world, either.
This world belonged to humans and Pokémon together.
Whether human or Pokémon, everyone had the right to choose.
After saying goodbye to Dratini and Dragonair.
The three of them made their way toward Kaiser's small cabin — the one that served as both his home and his office.
They couldn't very well leave with the Safari Balls and fishing rods they'd been lent, so they had to return the equipment.
When Kaiser — that perpetually stern-faced warden — saw them handing back an almost entirely unused set of Safari Balls, it was the first time any of them had seen undisguised surprise cross his face.
"You… didn't use a single one?"
Kaiser asked in his rough, blunt voice, his gaze sweeping back and forth across their three young faces.
There were certainly Trainers who left the Safari Zone without catching any Pokémon they were happy with.
But not using a single ball was extremely rare.
After all…
If you're not here to catch Pokémon, what exactly did you come for?
Don't tell me you were actually just sightseeing?
As it turned out, the three of them really had been exactly that.
After all, they needed to pass this way to reach Cinnabar Island.
Ash nodded calmly and laid the equipment neatly on the cabinet by the door:
"The Pokémon here all look happy. Content."
"They don't need us to take them away to find happiness."
Thinking about that little Dratini…
If Dratini hadn't had its mother.
Taking it along wouldn't have been out of the question.
But taking an innocent child away from its mother — that was just too cruel.
Different types of Pokémon had different growth cycles.
Some Pokémon had very short childhoods.
Others had very long ones.
"That's right," Misty added, a genuine smile on her face, "seeing them living so freely — that made us happy enough."
Brock nodded with a quiet smile as well: "Forcing a catch was never our style. The meeting, and the time we shared together — that itself was the most precious part of any journey."
Kaiser stood with his arms crossed, listening in silence.
Those always-sharp eyes of his narrowed slightly, and he took another long look at these three young people.
For a moment, he said nothing.
Then, at last, he let out a single non-committal grunt through his nose — but the habitual frost that had always sat deep in his gaze seemed to thaw, just a little.
"Hmph… not bad, for a bunch of brats. You've got some sense about you." Kaiser turned away, as though he had nothing more to say.
And it seemed like that was all there would be to it.
But just as the three said their goodbyes and turned to step back onto the path they'd come from, Kaiser's gruff voice came from behind them:
"Hey! Catch!"
Three objects sailed through the air toward them.
Ash, Brock, and Misty each reached out on instinct and caught one.
They opened their palms.
Safari Balls — three of them, intact, the distinctive green-and-white halves unmarked.
"Take them as a souvenir!" Kaiser still had his back to them, his voice as gruff as ever.
But if you listened closely, you could just make out a softness there that hadn't been present before. "If you're ever… in the area again, you're welcome to come back and visit."
He didn't linger after that. Kaiser turned and walked straight back into the cabin, and the door shut behind him with a solid thunk.
Goodbyes were goodbyes. Be decisive about it.
No dragging it out.
Ash tightened his grip on the Safari Ball in his hand — that unique camouflage pattern, cool to the touch — and the corner of his mouth slowly curved into a warm smile.
…That guy, Kaiser…
Ash looked back one final time at the Safari Zone.
Then he said:
"Let's go, Misty, Brock."
Kaiser had been so decisive about it — so Ash wasn't about to drag his feet, either.
Everything going forward would be settled with strength.
Besides…
Who was to say that one day Kaiser might not come looking for them on his own, Dratini in tow? After all, out here in the middle of nowhere, finding a reliable Trainer wasn't easy.
The Dratini–Dragonair–Dragonite line wasn't really suited for the Fuchsia Gym, either.
In fact, of the three — Ash, Brock, and Misty — Brock wasn't suited for them either.
Brock was a better fit for, and had a greater affinity with, Rock-type and Ground-type Pokémon… he wouldn't go catching too many Pokémon of entirely different types.
So it came down to Ash or Misty — one of the two.
Considering the typing — Dragonite was Dragon plus Flying.
When you thought about it that way, Ash was definitely the better fit.
Ash: Wait, I have Pikachu, Pidgeot, Gyarados, Misdreavus, Charizard — and that one can't even fly!
But the specifics could wait until later.
After all, if the little one grew up and still had no taste for battle… then it'd make a perfectly fine ordinary companion.
Not every Pokémon enjoyed fighting, and a worthy Trainer never tried to change a Pokémon's fundamental nature.
In this world, there were those who lived for battle — and those who had no interest in seeking it out.
Everyone had a different personality and their own ideas about how to live.
Everyone had the right to determine their own fate.
A Trainer who was always trying to reshape a Pokémon's personality… well, their ceiling as a Trainer was probably never going to be very high. That kind of thinking showed too much self-centeredness and too little capacity for mutual understanding.
…Though, what the future held wasn't something anyone could predict. After all, even Sabrina's Future Sight didn't have a very high accuracy rate.
…In the end, personality and temperament could change with experience. Time had a way of reshaping things.
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan ;)🔥👻
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