"Follow me. Let me invite all of you to our home.", said the champion-ranked Gallade.
Axel was surprised by the offer but since the leader sounded genuine, all of them agreed.
All of them followed the champion rank Pokemon and other Pokemons. Axel had expected a pocket space but such was not the case. The place looked magical. There was a huge waterfall coming from the right side. The place was covered in green grass, beautiful rocks, and trees.
Axel could not believe that he was the owner of this place. The place was really beautiful. It was already night when they came here but the moonlight made the place bright.
Axel could see that this was the home of Ralts line Pokemons. There were a lot of Pokemons. Some of them were gathering food, some of them were playing with each other and some of them were getting ready to sleep.
When they came inside, all of them got alert by seeing these humans. The scouting party assured them that they were not being invaded. After that, all of them went their own ways.
However, the baby Pokemons were curious about humans. So, some of the Ralts came near them to see what they were. Axel instantly recognized the troublesome Ralts that had caused all this. That particular Ralts was hiding among one of its friends.
"So, can you tell me who the leader really is?", asked Axel.
"I am sorry but you will have to find that out by yourself. We strictly follow the leader and the leader didn't specify to tell the name.", said the leader of the group.
Axel was half expecting the answer to no. So, he was not worried about it. He just wanted to meet this mysterious leader in its actual form. Since these Pokemons were calling it a leader, it would not be human. It could only be a Pokemon.
"I also invited you in for a different reason.", said the leader Gallade.
"Oh, what is the other reason?"
Even though Kizaru was the strongest of the team, Gallade was treating Axel as the leader of the human group. This showed how much it respects this so-called leader who lived in the middle of this forest.
"First, I would have to tell you the history of this island. Actually, there were 2 leaders on this island. The current leader was one of them and they were the king and queen of this island. However, something happened and one of the leaders disappeared."
"How did it disappear?"
"I don't know and even if I know, I will not tell you about it. You can ask the leader if you are so curious."
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"To warn you. You see, when there were 2 leaders, the whole island was in their control but when one of the leaders disappeared, the current leader could not control all the Pokemons on the island. Some of them were die-hard supporters of the leader that had disappeared and some of them felt that the current leader could not protect all of them.
So, the influence of the current leader gradually decreased to the point where now the leader only controls this part of the island.
In this part of the island, there are only 2 types of Pokemons, psychic types and dragon types.
The psychic types are fiercely loyal to the current leader and since the current leader had said to us to talk to you, they would not interfere with you in any way. On the contrary, they might even help you.
But the dragon types were fiercely loyal to the past leader who had disappeared. They would not cause harm to the current leader but if you were to meet with them, then you will encounter some problems."
"I have a confusion.", said Axel.
"Yes, what is it?"
"If the dragon-type Pokemons are so fiercely loyal to the past leader, then why are they here protecting the current leader? It doesn't make any sense."
"The relationship between the 2 leaders was very close. They were almost inseparable. In the past, the past leader who had disappeared had told the dragon-type Pokemons to protect the current leader if something happened to him. The dragon-type Pokemons made that promise and dragon-type Pokemons never break their promise.
So, they are now forced to protect the current leader but that doesn't mean that they would be hospitable to you."
The group became serious after hearing about it. Dragon-type Pokemons were very strong and if they had to fight with a herd of them, then they might just go back.
"Are these dragon-type Pokemons as strong as you?", asked Axel hoping that the answer would be no.
"Some of them are and they are very territorial. So, if you were to touch their territory by mistake then you will have to face them and I don't think you have what it takes to face them.", said Gallade.
Before Axel was only 80% sure that it was Latias but now he was 99% sure that it was Latias. Latias and Latios were called eon Pokemons and both of them were dragon/psychic type Pokemons. They were legendary Pokemons.
One of them must have a psychic core and another must have a dragon core. That might be the reason why the psychic-type and dragon-type Pokemons were loyal to them. It was just a hypothesis but Axel was very sure about it.
"Kizaru, what are we going to do about these dragon-type Pokemons? They might be very hard to deal with.", said Axel.
Kizaru then looked at the leader Gallade and asked, "Can you map out the territories where they live? If you could do that we can avoid those territories."
"Yes, I can do that but even if you are successful in avoiding dragon-type Pokemon territories, you will have to enter at least 1 dragon-type territory to reach the leader."
"Whose territory is that?"
"The territory of Salamence.", replied Gallade.
This was going to be a problem. Salamence was one of the most powerful dragon-type Pokemons out there and it was also a pseudo-legendary Pokemon.
"Is there a champion rank Pokemon among them?", asked Axel.
"Yes, there is. That Salamence is very old but she is very powerful too."
"Can you personally help us with that Salamence?", asked Axel.
"I am sorry but I cannot do it. The relationship between the dragon-type Pokemons and Psychic-type Pokemons is already very weak. If I were to personally stand beside you, then it would be completely broken. I cannot do that.", said Gallade.
Gallade was right and it had its own problems. The group could not force it to do anything. It had already helped them enough by giving them information about the situation of Axel's land.
Now, the group would have to think about what to do about it. Gallade said that they could stay the night but they would have to move out in the morning. Axel thanked Gallade and the other Pokemons for their hospitality.
###
"How are we going to deal with these bunch of Salamence now? Do you have any idea?", asked Axel.
The humans had made a circle and in the center was a bonfire. It was really chilly at night here. Axel was already wearing this warm jacket.
"If we were to head-on fight with them, we are going to lose for sure. Even if by some miracle we could beat all those Salamence including their leader, there is a high chance that other dragon-type Pokemon could also attack us.
So, fighting against them is a no-no.", said Kizaru.
"Salamence like other dragon-type Pokemons cares about their pride and arrogance. Since their birth rate is very low as they are dragon-type Pokemons, they also care about their kin very much and can do anything for them.
Besides, they are also very powerful and like to show off their power to assert dominance.", said Kizaru.
"OK, you have listed some general things about them. What do you hope to achieve from it?", asked Frank.
"We have to somehow find a loophole in it and then present it to them. If we are successful on it, then they might let us pass.", said Kizaru.
As they were thinking of a solution, Axel came up with a brilliant idea.
"Hey, I might have a way but it might be a bit risky....."
Axel started to tell his plan. His plan was very simple but since it was so simple, it might actually work.
The group also decided to have some backup plans if the current plan failed. They planned everything for the whole night.
###
The next day,
"Hey Frank, do you want to catch that Ralts? You have been looking at it for quite some time.", asked Jin.
This was the same Ralts that got everyone into trouble but it must be noted that it had a great talent and it was already so strong at such a young age.
"Yes, I would really like that Ralts but I don't think that its parents are going to agree to give them to me.", said Frank with a low voice.
This was also true. Axel and Frank talked to the leader about it and it straight out refused. It didn't give them any reason and just said that it didn't want to do it.
Finally Frank asked, "If I somehow prove that I am a good trainer, then would you let Ralts come with me?"
After hearing such an offer, the leader talked to its parents and seemed to agree to it.
"But how are you going to prove it to us?", asked Gallade.
"I will reach to your leader and fight with one of their Pokemons. If I win against them, then you will have to agree to it.", said Frank.
"Ok, you have got yourself a deal."
After talking with Gallade and the parents of Ralts, they continued their journey.
The journey was going to take around 10 days. The place was very big and Serena was in the middle of this dense forest.
"I just don't understand why this leader would not come to us to talk. Why do we have to go there ourselves?", complained Jin full of anger and frustration.
They had asked this question to Gallade and its reply had made Jin furious.
It basically said that due to some reason which could to be revealed, the leader of the forest could not come here to meet with them.
"So, we don't know who the leader is and now for some unknown reason, that leader could not come to us too? Axel, is this leader thinking of sacrificing us so that it could move around the island once again?", asked Jin
A lot of things were going over the heads of Jin and others. This leader was way too mysterious for its own good. Kizaru could see that the motivation of the whole group was down. So, he said,
"We should not worry about any of it. If something were to happen, the psychic Pokemons would do their job and we would be safe. So, let's follow our original plan.
Let's avoid the paths of the dragon-type Pokemons. We will be reaching the home of Salamence after 7 days. So, we must be prepared."
"If it going to take only 10 days, why don't we slow down a bit? If you don't have any problem with it?", asked Axel.
"Yes, I don't have any problem. I would actually like to go a bit slow.", said Kizaru.
One of the reasons why Axel was asking to go slow was to train himself and his Pokemons. He also had to concentrate on his young Pokemons. After this, island, he was planning to challenge another gym and get another gym bade.
Some of these Pokemons were already in rare rank and some of them might even reach elemental rank after a month or two. This was basically due to Axel's talent called 'Elemental Overgrowth.'