The Elite-tier Samence was frozen into an ice sculpture. Dragonite hovered before it, its face sp a goofy, cheerful grin.

  Ihe icy prison, Sameill retained a sliver of sciousness.

  However, uhe weight onite's silly smile, Samence's st shred of will evaporated, and it promptly lost sciousness.

  Julian approached the frozen Samence, delivering a solid kick to the ice sculpture.

  "Boom!"

  The ice sculpture was sent flying.

  "Take that for bstih Hydro Pump!"

  Julian had never beeo let grudges simmer ht.

  "Let's go"

  He said, climbing ontohey were still about 100 kilometers away fron Mountain. As they flew closer, the mountain's majestic figure gradually came into view.

  The peak towered 10,000 meters high, making everything around it seem insignifit in parison.

  Two-thirds of the mountain's height was shrouded in clouds, giving it a mysterious and almost ethereal appearance.

  At Dragonite's speed, the remaining 100 kilometers passed quickly. Along the way, the Dowsing Mae lit up with several red dots, each signaling the presence of signifit treasures.

  However, Julian made no move to iigate. The true treasure of the Dragon's Den y aton Mountain, and the Dragon Pool at the summit was the ultimate prize.

  Arriving at the base on Mountain, the Dowsing Mae dispyed an enormous red dot, c two-thirds of the s.

  The glow of the dot reflected on Julian's face, making him appear slightly flushed.

  This massive red dot undoubtedly represehe Dragon Pool.

  "We'll rest here for the night and start climbing tomorrow"

  Julian said, looking up at the colossal mountain. Standing at its base, he couldn't evehe summit—only endless clouds and mist above.

  Dragonite had fought five battles today. While it hadn't sustained any major injuries, its stamina and energy were undoubtedly depleted.

  The climb up Dragon Mountain would be a critical challenge, and there was o rush. Julian decided to wait until the day to tackle it.

  "Dra~"

  Dragonite nodded lightly, then poio its stomach, wearing an embarrassed smile.

  "Alright, let's eat"

  Julian said, pulling out a box of top-tier Dragon-Type Pokéblocks. Each box cost 1,000 points—a rare indulgence for him, as he usually only bought high-grade blocks.

  The sight of the top-tier blocks made Dragonite's eyes sparkle with excitement. This was a rare treat it only got to enjoy on special occasions, and even then, it was usually just two or three pieces.

  Now, Julian handed over aire box.

  This sudden generosity left Dragonite feeling a bit uneasy.

  Dragonite: 'Is this my st meal?'

  "Hurry up a"

  Julian said, notig Dragonite's suspicious look. It annoyed him slightly.

  That silly creature was defihinking something ridiculous again.

  The Dragon energy around Dragon Mountain was noticeably more trated pared to other pces.

  As a human, Julian couldn't se, but Dragonite could. Here, it felt as though every pore in its body was wide open, tinuously abs the dense Dragon-Type energy surrounding it.

  Paired with the top-tier Dragon-Type Pokéblocks…

  Pop!

  With a surge of energy, Dragonite's level rose from 65 to 66. At the same time, the Dragon-Type Essence Orb within its body was pletely absorbed.

  Gaining a level naturally enhanced Dragonite's strength—a timely boost given the uping challenge on Mountain.

  Julian watched his Dragonite happily dev its food, estimating that it hadn't even realized it had leveled up.

  "Well, that 1,000 points didn't go to waste," he muttered with satisfa.

  ---

  The day, at 8 a.m.

  "Ding!"

  "Daily Task: By 5 p.m. today, reach 5,000 meters on Mountain."

  "Reward: 5,000 points"

  Julian g the task. Climbing to 5,000 meters meant reag roughly half the mountain.

  Tightening the straps on his climbing boots, he looked up at the mountain bathed in the golden rays of the rising sun.

  "Let's gon Mountain awaits."

  "Roar!"

  Dragonite followed closely behind him. Its usual goofy demeanor was still there, but the light in its eyes was different today.

  For Julian, this ersonal challenge and fo was just as signifit. The treasures at the summit were particurly important to it.

  Dragon Mountain's rocks were posed of metamorphic stone, but they were unlike any ordinary metamorphic rocks. These were far harder, likely due to the dense Dragon-Type energy saturating the area.

  Climbing was an exhausting task, draining both stamina and energy. Dragon Mountain articurly treacherous, with many parts g any sembnce of a proper path. Julian had to climb those seanually.

  He couldn't ride Dragoo the summit.

  The challenge on Mountain wasn't just fo was for him too.

  After over an hour, Julian had climbed to about 500 meters.

  At that moment, a Flygon appeared in the sky.

  It was an early Elite-tier Pokémon, and its power didn't seem particurly overwhelming.

  However, Flygon was a native on Mountain, and any Dragon-Type Pokémon that cimed territory here was not to be judged by its level alone.

  The rules of the mountain's challenge were clear: as the trainer climbed, their Pokémon would face off against the Dragon-Types residing on the mountain. Trainers were not allowed to switch out their Pokémon mid-challenge.

  The climb would tiil either the trainer failed to asd further or their Pokémon was defeated by the mountain's Dragon-Types.

  Even if they failed, they could still ehe Dragon Pool. However, the time allowed for soaking in the pool would depend on their bined performance.

  There was orict prerequisite: the trainer had to climb at least 3,000 meters, and their Pokémon had to defeat at least three Dragon-Type Pokémon from the mountain.

  Otherwise, they wouldn't be permitted to ehe Dragon Pool, even in failure.

  Dyn's Samence had reached the Elite tier rgely due to soaking in the Dragon Pool. However, the process of earning that opportunity had been a near-death experience.

  During the climb up Dragon Mountain, Dyn had nearly fallen to his death several times.

  Acc to Dyn, in the history of his family, only two people had ever successfully reached the summit. After their Pokémon soaked in the Dragon Pool, they gained unimaginable bes.

  Those two individuals were also the only Champion-level trainers in the Drake family's history.

  This highlighted just how difficult it was to quer Dragon Mountain.

  Ten mier, the Elite-tier Flygon was defeated by Dragonite. Despite its victory, Dragonite bore three cw marks on its back, left by Flygon's Dragon bsp;attack.

  Dragonite had been injured in its very first battle, and they were still only at 500 meters.

  As the climb tihe strength of the Dragon-Type Pokémon on Mountain would only increase.

  Rumor had it that he summit, there seudo-Champion-tier Dragon-Type Pokémon. If a challenger mao defeat it, their Pokémon would be allowed to soak in the Dragon Pool for aire day.

  Champion-tier Pokémon were known to exist on Mountain as well. It was said that the rules of the challenge had been jointly established by one of these Champion-tier Pokémon and humans.

  It was their presehat ehe rules were upheld.

  Even the Drake family forbade anyone from entering the Dragon Den without abiding by these regutions.

  Of course, if someone had the strength to break the rules, that was a different matter entirely.

  As Julian and Dragonite tiheir ast, far above them at the mountain's summit, a pair of eyes observed their progress.

  Most of the attention, however, was focused onite.