Upon hearing this title, Mort and Nova both let out a surprised "whoa" at the same time.
It could not be helped. In this era, the title "Emperor Dragon Fiend" was known throughout the Norlandia Alliance.
Mort said, "Do the Alliance leaders have water for brains? Why would they send the Champion to a godforsaken place like this?"
Nova thought for a moment before answering his master's question. "Think about it. On our side, we have a long-renowned Ground-type Master, along with the longest-serving and most senior Ground-type Elite Four member currently in office. Out of everyone in the Alliance, the Dragon Emperor is probably the only Champion who can reliably keep our Layered Peaks Gym in check."
Gilbert nodded, agreeing with Nova's reasoning. "The higher-ups probably think the same way. They are worried we will be difficult to deal with, so they are sending the Dragon Emperor, to keep things under control."
Mort snorted coldly. "Others might fear the 'Emperor Dragon Fiend,' but I certainly do not. If negotiations fail and it comes down to a battle, Junior Brother, you already plan to challenge for the Champion title one day. Why would you be afraid of him? I will back you up when the time comes!"
Nova put on a serious expression as well. "Uncle-Master, though I am not very skilled yet, I do have two strong partners at my side: Arno the Nidoking and my Meowscarada. I will do everything I can to support you when the time comes!"
The two of them, one old and one young, worked each other up so well that they were nearly clapping and cheering "Fight! Fight!" right there in the desert.
Gilbert's expression twisted with frustration. He had been wondering why Nova, at such a young age, liked to stir up trouble so much, and now he understood. The boy had learned it from this old troublemaker. Could Mort not teach him anything useful for once?
Mort insisted he was being blamed unfairly. He and Nova had known each other for nearly three years, and in that time he had not really taught the boy any proper skills. At most, he had encouraged Nova to take advantage of the Alliance here and there, such as convincing them to hand over a Purrloin for free. As for stirring up trouble, that talent was entirely the boy's own.
Even though the Alliance had formally announced that the current Champion would be sent, the Champion was, after all, the strongest Trainer stationed at the heart of the Alliance. Any movement on the Champion's part required coordination across many departments.
What was more, the Dragon Emperor was currently serving as the Gym Leader of the Purple Dragon Gym in Purple Gold City, and he had plenty of his own responsibilities to attend to. He could hardly be expected to drop everything and rush thousands of miles into the desert simply because the Alliance asked him to.
For this reason, Gilbert guessed it would take at least three days for the Dragon Emperor to arrive.
That estimate assumed the order reached him without delay and that he set off the moment the Alliance finished its paperwork. If anything else required the Champion's attention, there was no telling whether they would see him even within a week.
It could not be helped. A Champion naturally carried a heavier presence and a far busier schedule than anyone else.
Still, hearing about the Dragon Emperor's situation left Nova deep in thought.
Was it possible that if he himself became Champion one day, he too would be tied down by endless duties, forced to wait three days for paperwork just to step outside?
That thought was almost frightening.
Of course, Nova had not even taken part in the Norlandia Conference yet, so worrying about the burdens of being Champion was getting far ahead of himself.
Even so, the thought left a quiet warning in the back of his mind. If becoming Champion meant carrying as much responsibility as the Dragon Emperor did, then perhaps the title was not worth chasing after all.
There was no need to seek empty glory only to invite real trouble.
Sure enough, nothing happened for the rest of the day. Since Nova could not leave, he sat in the desert with the two older men to pass the time. He grew so bored that he eventually drew a game board in the sand with his finger and played Gomoku with Mort for hours.
Unfortunately, the old man turned out to be a poor game partner. He could not stand losing and tried to cheat whenever he could. Gilbert refused to get involved with the two of them, so with no one else around, Nova had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep playing with Mort.
Fortunately, early the next morning, four Elite Trainers from the Layered Peaks Gym arrived at the oasis.
After Gilbert had repeatedly pressed them through video call, the group had not dared to waste any time. Drawing on what Nova had learned from his earlier trip into the secret realm, they had prepared a batch of exploration supplies.
The four Trainers, all specialists in Flying-type Pokémon, had rushed ahead with the most urgently needed gear. The rest of the supplies were being carried by a specially chartered airship, currently making its way toward Forest City under the escort of more than a dozen Elite Trainers.
Once the airship reached the oasis, the Layered Peaks Gym would begin developing the secret realm right away. Even if the "Emperor Dragon Fiend" had not yet arrived, that would not be enough to stop Gilbert from moving forward.
The three of them, who had been stuck with nothing to do in the desert all day, finally had a real task ahead of them.
Among the supplies the four Elite Trainers had brought, the most important were several dozen Auto-Temperature Windbreakers.
This item was one of this world's remarkable inventions, letting explorers withstand freezing winds in low-temperature environments while wearing nothing more than a single thin outer layer.
Once everyone had geared up, Gilbert decided to enter the secret realm first to scout the area.
Mort and Nova, both thoroughly tired of sitting around, had no interest in more Gomoku and quickly volunteered to join the scouting trip as well.
After all, with four Elite Trainers now guarding the oasis, there was little need to worry about safety.
And so the Layered Peaks Gym's Ancient Secret Realm Expedition Team was officially formed.
Once again came that miserable wave of dizziness and nausea. This time, Meowscarada handled the crossing a little better than before. At least it did not need Nova to hold it up and managed to stand on its own.
Even so, it still looked like it might be sick.
Compared with Meowscarada, the two masters' partner Pokémon were clearly far more used to the feeling of passing through spatial rifts.
That made sense, since following their Trainers into secret realms for exploration was nothing new to them.
Nova's Rotom, on the other hand, being made of pure electric energy, barely reacted to the spatial disturbance from crossing the rift at all. To Rotom, it felt about as ordinary as sending a video call, no different from breathing.
Since this side of the spatial rift opened into a narrow cave, it was not a good space for large Pokémon to move through. Because of this, the two masters chose partner Pokémon with smaller builds for the trip.
Gilbert sent out his main physical attacker, Excadrill, while Mort called on his Sandslash.
Since this was Nova's second time entering the secret realm, he took the lead in guiding the way.
Gilbert and Mort followed behind, discussing the development plan without any particular urgency.
"I think this cave is too narrow. It will make transporting supplies difficult down the road. We should bring in an engineering team to blast a tunnel straight along the path of the spatial rift."
"That way, coming in through the rift, we could reach the lake on the inner side of the mountain directly, and also head straight down the far side of the mountain without needing to climb up first to reach anywhere else."
"That would certainly be convenient, but can the rock here handle that kind of work? According to Nova's map of the terrain, this is a volcano. If we disturb it carelessly and trigger an eruption, this entire entrance will be destroyed."