Pokémon, but cultural invasion.

"This is Dragon Island. To the north lies the frigid land, and to the south is the quartz plateau on the mainland, which is also my hometown."

The camera pans across the island's wooden houses built against the mountainside, where torches cast faint glows that illuminate fishing nets drying in the sun, and flocks of sheep roost on the grass.

"We fish and hunt here, and enjoy the stunning sunsets; the only problem is the pests..."

The music style suddenly changed, becoming fast and intense, with fluctuating tones that kept the audience on the edge of their seats.

"In most places, the pests are things like rats and caterpillars, but here..."

A sheep, leisurely munching on grass on the meadow, was snatched up by a fleeting dark shadow and lifted into the night sky.

The tranquil night was quickly filled with the frantic hooves of sheep and the loud shouts of people.

The boy, who was awakened, was thin and had short reddish-brown hair.

He pushed open the door, and a three-headed dragon was swooping down from the sky, chasing after the scattered flock of sheep.

Noticing the commotion, one of the dragon heads looked towards the camera and spewed flames.

The boy quickly closed the door, shutting out the dazzling flames and scorching heat. Leaning against the door with lingering fear, he muttered to himself, "It's a dragon!"

"We fight against dragons and defend our homeland."

The fully armed islanders skillfully used various wooden tools to fight against the dragons in the sky.

The boy hid in the blacksmith's shop. He was much thinner and weaker than his peers, and he watched with envy as they remained active in this nighttime defense battle.

"Stop looking, go sharpen your sword."

The blacksmith tossed him a sword, which the boy caught with a heavy hand and began to polish on the roller.

"My name is Hiccup, and one day I will go out and fight dragons."

"Because here, defeating the dragon is everything."

The scene shifts to a chaotic battlefield, where the boy keeps muttering to himself, "Defeating an ultrasonic larva will get everyone's attention."

"Red-faced dragons are tough to deal with. If I can capture one, I'm sure I can find a girlfriend."

"As for the three-headed dragon, it is a powerful dragon, and with three heads, it is three times more difficult to deal with."

"And then there are the Salamence; only the bravest tribal warriors dare to fight them."

Hiccup was sharpening the blade when he heard a strange, piercing shriek.

"But the highest honor is that of a dragon that no one has ever seen; we call it the Night Fury."

The shriek made even the bravest warriors shout, "It's a Night Fury! Get down!"

The dragon's energy, flashing in the night sky, struck the tower, and the defenses that people were so proud of collapsed in flames.

Hiccup leaned against the window, staring wide-eyed at the night sky, where something seemed to be moving.

"This dragon never steals food, never shows itself, and never fails."

"No one has ever defeated the Night Fury, which is why I want to be the first."

He discarded his sharpened sword and pushed his homemade netting device into the night sky, which was stained red by the firelight.

The audience members occasionally let out suppressed laughter.

Ranking Pokémon by melee difficulty, from Ultrasonic Larva to Salamence, it's hard for the trainers present not to laugh.

In reality, how could anyone possibly fight a Dragon-type Pokémon head-on?

Compared to Izumi's previous two films, this protagonist appears naive and simple in both age and motivation.

Defeating the dragon was actually for attracting attention and finding a girlfriend; pursuing the strongest dragon was also for pure honor.

It's hard to imagine that this was taken by Izumi Kijima, who has a penchant for portraying disillusioned young people and颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a sense of listlessness, decadence, or despair) middle-aged men.

If I had to describe it, it has a youthful spirit rarely seen in Izumi Kijima's films.

Chapter 158 The Gears of Fate Begin to Turn

Under the night sky, Hiccup's net launcher, pushed out by his little wooden cart, brought laughter to the audience.

According to his description, the Night Fury is a more difficult creature to deal with than the Salamence.

Hiccup actually tried to catch the other with a net! Come on, what powerful Pokémon can be caught by a net? This thing can only catch Caterpie at best.

But the boy on screen looked focused.

Under the vast, starry night sky, you can hear the roars of flying dragons.

He gripped the launcher with both hands, his eyes searching for a target in the night sky, almost praying as he whispered, "Give me a dragon to shoot!"

Their naivety and innocence are somewhat endearing.

Hiccup looked up intently. He saw it: a passing shadow blocked the stars, and the stars outlined the shape of a dragon.

The scope followed the dragon's movement, and seizing the opportunity, he released the bowstring as if taking a gamble. The enormous recoil flung the boy away.

The dragon-catching net, with stones tied to both ends, spun rapidly into the night sky.

Hiccup couldn't see what was happening under the night sky, but he heard heavy crashes and the mournful howls of dragons.

I could vaguely see a shadow falling towards the other side of the mountain.

"Yay! I won!"

"I hit the dragon, did anyone see it?"

Hiccup raised his hands in celebration, overjoyed at the start of the game.

Unfortunately, only one three-headed dragon with ill intentions peeked out from behind the audience.

"Ow~"

Hiccup screamed in terror as it was chased by the three-headed dragon, the firelight casting long shadows of the two.

"Ugh."

His father, Chief Stuik, who was binding the captured dragon, let out a helpless and heavy sigh.

"Watch out, don't let the dragon get away."

Stuyk was incredibly strong and saved his reckless son, but the aftershocks of the battle burned through the fire stakes, and the falling brazier burned the ropes binding the dragon to ashes.

As dawn broke, the dragons used their claws to pull the ropes and nets, scooping up the fat sheep, and flapped their wings to return home laden with their spoils.

Hiccup stood awkwardly and helplessly in the middle of the crowd.

He pointed in the direction the dragons had left: "Well, but I hit one of the Night Furies."

Before he could finish speaking, the stubborn little hiccup was grabbed by the back of his collar and locked up by his father.

A series of suppressed laughs rippled through the audience.

Hiccup and Izumi were two extremes in terms of their protagonists: young, naive, stubborn, and full of fantasies.

Adding to that, his face is strikingly similar to A-du's, and it becomes even funnier.

"Roar roar roar~"

Even the planet chuckled in a low, inhuman laugh, but it wasn't a burp; it was the laughter of a victorious horde of dragons.

For Giratina, who was used to seeing peaceful coexistence between humans and Pokémon, it preferred the scenes on screen where the two sides fought to the death.

Arceus hopes to see humans and Pokémon live in harmony, but Giratina says it's boring and that bloodshed is preferable.

To be honest, it's quite amusing to see humans, favored by Arceus, suffer setbacks on screen.

It seems the director did some good things. If he could promote the "anti-Arceus" ideology more, Giratina might even consider letting bygones be bygones.

However, what happened next made Huo Xing's face darken again.

The camera follows the movement of Dragon Island, showing the lush green forests, the silvery ocean currents that circle the island, and the azure sea.

Hiccup marked the map he had drawn with crosses, searching for traces in the direction where the dragon had fallen that night.

Just as he was about to give up, he noticed a large tree with a vertical crack and a deep ravine created by something hitting the ground.

Carefully advancing along the deep ditch, the scene before Hiccup made him hold his breath.

A black dragon, bound by a rope net, lay in the woods not far away, its fate unknown.

He frantically pulled out a dagger, his heart pounding as he thought about what he was about to do.

Upon getting closer and seeing the black dragon in its entirety, Hiccup muttered in disbelief, "I...I really did it!"

"Now all the problems are solved, that's fantastic!"

He stretched out his foot and stepped on the black dragon's forepaw, proudly proclaiming like a warrior from the tribe, "I shot down this powerful monster!"

"Roar!"

With a deep, thunderous roar, the dragon's forepaws twitched, startling Hiccup so much that it stumbled back a few steps.

Her pale green, vertical pupils, devoid of any emotion, opened and met his gaze.

Hiccup's breathing became noticeably deeper and faster, and his hands, gripping the dagger, trembled slightly as he pointed it at the black dragon.

After taking a few deep breaths, he said, "I will kill you, evil dragon, and offer you to my father."

"I am a dragon hunter, I am a Dragon Islander!"

Hiccup kept repeating the words, almost as if trying to hypnotize himself, but everyone could see his tension.

The residents of Dragon Village stared wide-eyed. Although the movie was called "How to Train Your Dragon," everyone knew that nothing bad would happen.

However, the preceding struggle between humans and dragons, the long-standing traditions, and the narrative rhythm and atmosphere still kept the audience on the edge of their seats.

Giratina, meanwhile, shook its head, eagerly anticipating Hiccup's move.

Humans and Pokémon killing each other is so anti-Arceus that it makes the dragons very happy.

...

Hiccup met the eyes that were staring at him, the cold glint of the dagger flashing in them.

He raised his hands, and the dragon let out a resigned growl, closed its eyes, and fell to the ground with its head drooping.

Gritting his teeth, Hiccup growled in frustration; he simply couldn't bring himself to harm a living creature that was watching him.

It was both regret for his own cowardice and regret for the missed opportunity to become famous.

The dagger did not harm it, but instead began to cut the thick ropes binding the dragon.

Night Fury's vertical pupils snapped open, and the instant it broke free of its restraints, it pounced on any human who approached it.

Sharp claws pressed against Hiccup's fragile neck.

The camera zooms in on the Night Fury's menacing face, while heavy breathing emanates from the speakers.

A few seconds later, the claws loosened, and the Night Fury let out a defiant roar at the humans beneath it before stumbling and flying away.

Its flight ability seemed to have encountered a serious problem, and it plunged headfirst into the valley ahead.

Hiccup, still shaken, stood up, but his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

The star outside the screen let out a low growl of dissatisfaction.

"Roar!"

Boring! So incredibly boring!

Giratina was extremely dissatisfied; how could humans be so cowardly?

The reactions of other viewers were also hard to describe. It was the first time they had seen a protagonist paralyzed on the ground by fear of a Pokémon, even though it was a completely new species.

High emotional intelligence: He's such an immature teenager.

Low emotional intelligence: You'll never be a qualified trainer in this lifetime.

The next day, Hiccup, pondering why the dragon hadn't attacked him, went to the valley where he had last seen the dragon.

The valley is bathed in sunlight, with vines winding through it, and below lies a crystal-clear lake.

The roar of the Night Fury echoed through the valley.

He watched as the Night Fury attempted to fly, trying to use both hands and feet to escape the valley, but failed repeatedly.

"Why don't you fly away?"

Hiccup took out paper and pen and sketched out a draft of the Night Fury, discovering a clue at its tail.