Pokemon: A New Path

Chapter 159: Echoes from the sea



The scene is both surreal and alarming for Naoki.

Naoki: "???"

Staring at the massive Dragonite on the television screen, its colossal form looming over the sea like Godzilla, Naoki felt utterly baffled.

'What was going on?'

As every seasoned Pokémon fan knows, there is only one giant Dragonite in the Pokémon world, and it appeared just once in the entire anime series.

This iconic Dragonite made its debut during the Masaki Lighthouse arc in the Kanto region. In that episode, Bill used a sound system to mimic the call of a mysterious sea creature, hoping to lure the massive Dragonite closer to the lighthouse, believing it to be a call from a companion. The giant Dragonite, however, left disappointed after realizing it had been deceived, and after a brief destructive outburst, vanished back into the sea, never to be seen again.

But now, this same colossal Dragonite had resurfaced-this time in the Paldea region! 'Was it truly the same Dragonite that once roamed the Kanto seas?'

'If it was, why had it traveled across the world from Kanto to Paldea? What could have driven it to make such a long journey, and why was it causing such an uproar that even the Paldea League and its top champion had to intervene?'

Naoki's head was spinning with questions.

At first, Naoki thought this entire ordeal had nothing to do with him.

But then, as if a lightbulb flicked on in his mind, he jumped up and hurried to the drawer where he kept the postcards sent by Baby Bear and Mew. Grabbing the most recent letter, he looked at the crayon drawings they had sent.

There were clear depictions of a lighthouse, a dragon, the sea, and a giant crab.

'Wait a second!'

Naoki's eyes widened as an unbelievable thought entered his mind.

'Could it be that Baby Bear and Mew were responsible for luring this giant Dragonite all the way to Paldea?'

'Had he misunderstood their letter yesterday?'

'What if they hadn't encountered a regular Dragonite, but the giant Dragonite that had once wandered near the Masaki Lighthouse in Kanto?'

The realization hit Naoki like a ton of bricks.

"This is outrageous..." he muttered.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

'Baby Bear and Mew had actually convinced the giant Dragonite to come all the way to Paldea, and it seemed like it was here to find him and his own Dragonite! But how could he possibly deal with something like this? Would his peaceful ranch be destroyed?'

Naoki felt a gust of wind ruffle his hair, leaving him disheveled and overwhelmed by the sheer absurdity of the situation.

But after taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm himself down. "Maybe it's not looking for me," he reassured himself, trying to rationalize the situation. After all, there was no clear reason why the giant Dragonite would be connected to him.

After pondering for a moment, Naoki decided it was best to wait and see how things unfolded. It would be mortifying if he rushed to the scene only to discover that the Dragonite had nothing to do with him.

With that, Naoki composed himself, finished his breakfast, and then headed over to the salt house to check on the progress.

When Naoki arrived at the salt house, he was taken aback by the incredible transformation it had undergone.

The Dudunsparce, showing a remarkable talent for construction, had completely restructured the area. It had dug through the original floor and cleverly piled up the extra soil to create a cave above ground. Intrigued, Naoki walked into the newly formed passage.

Surprisingly, the passage wasn't as narrow as one might expect. It was wide enough for three people to walk side by side and more than spacious enough to accommodate the Naclstack. As Naoki continued down the path, he marveled at how gently it sloped downward, making it easy to navigate.

After walking for about three minutes, the passage opened up into an enormous underground chamber, leaving Naoki in awe. In just one night, the Dudunsparce had carved out a vast cave! The ceiling was supported by sturdy earth pillars placed evenly throughout the chamber, clearly intended to prevent the ground above from collapsing. Naoki also noticed a small underground lake in one corner of the cave. He wasn't sure if it had always been there or if the Dudunsparce had dug it out.

Naoki couldn't help but be impressed. It was no surprise that this was Kelly's Pokémon-it had created an underground space that could easily house not just five Naclstack but potentially ten more!

As Naoki explored, he eventually found the Dudunsparce sleeping peacefully in a corner. Hearing him approach, the Pokémon stirred and opened its sleepy eyes.

Naoki chuckled, "You're amazing!" he said, clearly impressed by the hard work the Dudunsparce had accomplished.

Naoki placed the prepared food and juice in front of the sleeping Dudunsparce. The Pokémon lazily glanced at the food, then opened its mouth, ate, and returned to its slumber.

Not wanting to disturb it further, Naoki returned to the ranch and began to think. With such a large underground space, perhaps it was time to capture other Pokémon that lived in caves to join the Naclstack. Pokémon like Geodude, Rhyhorn, or even a Claydol could enrich the Pokémon ecosystem of his ranch, satisfying his love for collecting unique creatures.

It was still early in the day, so Naoki proceeded with his chores. Together with Koraidon and the Cyclizar, they milked the Gogoats, moved the full buckets aside, and handed two bottles of milk to Dragonite to deliver to the others. After that, he headed to the beehive, collected half of the sweet honey brewed by Combee, and stored it to make honey lemonade.

In the hot summer, a cold bottle of honey lemonade sounded like the perfect refreshment. By the time all his tasks were done, it was already nine in the morning.

Kelly arrived at the ranch, looking pleased with herself. She seemed to anticipate the success of Dudunsparce's work and asked, "So, do you like it?"

Naoki smiled widely, nodding with satisfaction. "I'm more than satisfied! Your Dudunsparce

is incredible!"

Kelly grinned, "Dudunsparce has been learning architecture with me for seven years. It's a diligent Pokémon."

Naoki's eyes widened. "Seven years? That explains it!"

Kelly responded, "Well, now that the job's done, I'll be taking Dudunsparce back."

Naoki gestured to the cave. "It's still sleeping down there."

Kelly chuckled, understanding completely. She went down into the underground cave and returned with Dudunsparce safely back in its Poké Ball. "I've got more ranches to work on.

Take care, Naoki!"

"See you later!" Naoki waved her off, stretching as she left.

With the morning's work behind him, Naoki decided to have some fun. He couldn't resist

teasing his tsundere Glaceon until it dashed off, flustered, back to its ice cave. Naoki laughed heartily and, to apologize took a large bucket of cream smoothie from the fridge and placed it in the igloo for Glaceon to enjoy later.

After lunch, Naoki's mind drifted back to the news. He turned on the TV to check on the situation with the giant Dragonite, which was still making headlines. The Paldea region seemed intent on broadcasting the giant Dragonite story non-stop in hopes of finding its

companion.

As he watched the broadcast, a thought nagged at him.

'Could the giant Dragonite be looking for him? Or, more specifically, for his Dragonite?'

Naoki's mind raced. If Mew and Baby Bear had led the giant Dragonite to the Paldea region, they might have mistakenly pointed it toward his Dragonite. Baby Bear had only seen one Dragonite-Naoki's milk-delivering Dragonite.

It all started to make sense. The giant Dragonite might have been searching for another Dragonite all along, and Baby Bear's information sent it on this journey across regions.

"If that's the case," Naoki thought, "then I really do need to go. It's not me the giant Dragonite is looking for-it's my Dragonite."