With the decision made, David and Bagon moved to one of the few open patches of ground nearby — one of the last spots the Bagon hadn't already torn apart with its training.
There was no better way to show strength than a straight Pokémon battle.
The two faced each other from opposite ends of the clearing. The moment they took their positions, something in Bagon's expression shifted. The easy, relaxed look it had worn while eating vanished completely. Its body dropped into a low fighting stance, and its eyes sharpened. Even in its first stage, still far from its final form, Bagon already carried a faint trace of the power it would one day grow into.
David noticed the change and smiled to himself. The more Bagon showed, the better — it only meant the Pokémon he was about to gain was exactly what he'd been hoping for.
He was confident in his team. That hadn't changed.
Before releasing his Pokémon, David took a moment to check the information his Aura had already picked up on Bagon.
**Name: Bagon (Young Overlord)**
**Type: Dragon**
**Gender: ♂**
**Level: 30 (Superior)**
**Ability: Rock Head**
**Potential: Light Red**
**Held Item: None**
**Moves: Dragon Dance, Dragon Rush, Outrage, Twister, Dragon Pulse, Fire Fang, Hydro Pump, Ember, Glare, Bite, Rage, DragonBreath, Flamethrower, Headbutt, Focus Energy, Crunch, Dragon Claw, Scary Face, Zen Headbutt…**
David stared at the readout for a long moment.
*Light Red potential.* Another one that had reached Red-tier before evolving. That alone was remarkable.
But the level was what really stood out. Level 30 — the threshold of evolution — reached entirely through solo training, with no Trainer's guidance. That placed Bagon firmly in the Superior tier.
It was worth keeping in mind that, based on the life energy David had sensed through his Aura, this Bagon was likely only a little over a year old — maybe slightly older than Zorua and the rest of his team, but not by much.
Superior-tier in just over a year, as a wild Pokémon with no Trainer support.
In the Pokémon world, trained Pokémon typically grew far faster than wild ones. The constant battles, structured care, and bond with a Trainer accelerated development in ways that wild life simply couldn't match. For a wild Pokémon to reach Superior-tier at barely a year old — even accounting for the resource-rich environment of the Dragon's Den and the likely influence of powerful elders — was genuinely exceptional.
Its move pool was already deep and varied. There wasn't much left to criticize. After the Dragon Festival, with the right conditions, evolution felt like a certainty.
David finished his assessment as Bagon across from him finished its own preparations. It waved one of its short arms in a slow, deliberate motion — its way of saying *go ahead.*
"Zorua, I choose you."
He tossed a Poké Ball. A red flash lit up the clearing, and the small fox landed lightly on the ground.
"Zorua~"
David hadn't picked Kirlia, who would have had a type advantage over the Dragon-type Bagon. Instead, he'd gone with Zorua — his strongest partner.
Winning through a type matchup wasn't the point here. A Fairy-type might make the battle easier, but that wasn't what David was trying to show. He wanted to win with raw strength. That was the kind of display that would actually mean something to a Pokémon like Bagon.
"Roar~"
Bagon didn't wait. The moment Zorua appeared on the field, it used Scary Face.
It had sized up its opponent in an instant. The small fox was clearly built for speed. Bagon's large, powerful frame gave it tremendous force, but it knew its own weakness — before it evolved and gained its wings, it couldn't match the agility of faster, lighter Pokémon. It had learned that much through its own training.
So it acted immediately to close that gap.
Bagon fixed Zorua with a fierce, heavy glare — and with a body several times the size of a normal Bagon, the effect was hard to ignore. Scary Face landed cleanly, dropping Zorua's Speed.
But at the same moment, David gave a quiet command.
"Zorua — Snowscape."
Intense Ice-type energy gathered in front of the little fox in an instant. The temperature around the clearing dropped sharply, and moments later, thick, heavy snowflakes began drifting down from the sky.
The area wasn't far from the sea. A steady ocean breeze had been rolling in all morning, carrying with it a heavy load of moisture. Under the influence of Snowscape, that damp sea air transformed almost immediately into a biting, frozen wind. For Bagon, a Dragon-type with a natural dislike and weakness to Ice-type energy and cold temperatures, the shift in conditions was punishing.
It was fortunate that Bagon hadn't yet evolved into its Flying secondary type. Had it been a Dragon/Flying-type at this point, the battle might already have been half over before it began.
Zorua, on the other hand, was completely unbothered. As a Hisuian Zorua — descended from a line that had adapted over tens of thousands of years to the frozen lands of the Hisui region — cold weather was simply home ground.
"Icy Wind!"
A grin spread across Zorua's face. With a sharp exhale, a burst of frigid air loaded with ice crystals streamed toward Bagon.
In the Snowscape conditions, Icy Wind hit faster and harder than it normally would. The cold environment amplified its power noticeably, and Bagon, encountering it in these conditions for the first time, had no way to soften the impact.
"Roar!"
Bagon let out a sharp cry as the move connected. It hurt more than expected.
The situation was bad. The cold wasn't just uncomfortable — with Bagon's larger-than-normal body, every movement in this weather cost more energy than it would for a standard Bagon. A few more Icy Winds in these conditions, and it would be down whether it wanted to be or not.
It needed to act now.
Pushing through the lingering sting, Bagon drew in a deep breath and unleashed a torrent of fire from its jaws. The Flamethrower roared forward, meeting the remnants of Icy Wind and burning through them entirely.
Then Bagon did something unexpected. Without stopping the Flamethrower, it began to slowly rotate in place, directing the flames outward in a wide arc.
The heat melted the snow that had gathered on the ground and burned away the Ice-type energy that had been building in the surrounding air. The temperature climbed. Snowflakes still fell from above, but slower now, less dense than before. It wasn't perfect — Bagon still felt the cold — but it was nowhere near as suffocating as those first few moments had been.
"Not bad at all."
David watched with genuine appreciation. Bagon's raw power was obvious. But this — reading the situation, identifying the problem, and finding a way around it mid-battle — that was something harder to teach. It made the prospect of training this Pokémon even more appealing.