Chapter 23. Another branch of the Dragon Tamer Clan
'Speaking of which, those people just now called this child a Princess?' Ryū looked at the emotionless blue-haired loli in front of him, feeling only strangeness in his heart.
What kind of person could bear the title of Princess? That would naturally be the daughter of the King of a kingdom. But the current Queen of the Royal Dragon Kingdom is Liz, and Liz has never been married, let alone given birth to offspring. So where did the name Princess come from?
"My name is Ryuuki."
"..."
'Does this child always speak so abruptly?' Ryū looked at Ryuuki and froze for a moment.
Pokémon and unfamiliar humans already have a language barrier, and this child is also emotionless, so how could he communicate? Ryū simply decided not to bother with the little girl anymore, turned around, flicked his tail, and swam into the depths of the small pond to soak quietly.
"I'll take a nap. The sun in this Johto Region is quite nice..." Feeling the sunlight hitting his body through the water, Ryū felt a little sleepy. He yawned and closed his eyes.
In his dream, he felt as if he was being held again.
'It must be Liz... Forget it, I'll keep sleeping.' Ryū was too lazy to even open his eyes. Whether it was Liz or not wasn't important; anyway, no one in this Royal Palace would hurt him.
It was only the second day since he reincarnated as a Dratini, and he didn't even know how many times he had been held. Liz, Hestia, those Pokémon scholars, and even Poliwhirl at the beginning...
The body of a young Dratini is simply too weak, and its movement on land is as slow as a snail. People can basically hold him whenever they want, and he has almost no ability to resist. It was a good thing Liz brought him back; otherwise, he couldn't even imagine living in the wild.
As evening approached, Liz, who had been busy all day, came to the Royal Palace's backyard and couldn't help but freeze when she saw the two little ones.
The emotionless girl with light blue hair was holding the light blue Pokémon cub, lying on the soft lawn in the dim yellow sunlight, snuggling and napping.
"How long have they been sleeping..." Liz walked closer and squatted down to look. Her niece's drool was already all over Aran's face.
"Hestia."
"My Lady."
"Take Ryuuki back inside." Liz took Ryū from her niece's arms.
"Yes." Hestia nodded, leaned over, and picked up the still-sleeping Ryuuki, walking towards the Royal Palace.
"Hmm?" Ryū was woken up by Liz's actions and opened his eyes groggily. The next moment, he was put into the pond and swished around, just like swishing mutton.
"???"
Ryū was completely awake after being swished, looking at Liz with a bewildered expression.
"Hmm, much cleaner." Liz looked at Ryū's little face and nodded with satisfaction. She didn't want her Aran to be stained with other people's traces, not even her usually favored niece.
The Queen's perspective wouldn't be narrow in such matters.
"Let's go, it's time for the evening party. Let everyone get to know you."
"What party? For me?" Ryū tilted his head and looked at Liz curiously. He didn't expect Liz to even specially arrange a welcome party for him.
Liz held Ryū and returned to a certain hall on the first floor of the Royal Palace. This place was specially used for holding dances, evening parties, and other gatherings.
However, Liz hadn't used this place for a very long time. It was basically used by other members of the Dragon Tamer Clan. She was only responsible for attending, showing her face, and giving face.
As soon as he entered the hall, Ryū felt at least 70 or 80 gazes converging on him.
"A family gathering," Ryū thought. He looked around and saw only red hair and blue hair. It was at this moment that Ryū guessed the identity of the emotionless loli named Ryuuki he had seen in the afternoon.
He didn't know how many branches the Dragon Tamer Clan had in the past, but in the future, only two branches remained. One branch had fiery red hair, represented by Lance, the Champion of Kanto and Johto.
The other branch had sky-blue hair, represented by Clair, the Gym Leader of the Blackthorn City Gym in the Johto Region. The two had different relationships in different versions, having been both cousins and cousins.
Presumably, that Ryuuki was a member of the latter branch, and she should not be an ordinary family member. She was probably a direct descendant of this latter branch, which is why she deserved the title of Princess.
"Hello, uncles, aunts, younger brothers, and sisters, long time no see." Liz, holding Ryū, came to the front of the hall and spoke first. What she said was indeed true; she hadn't seen these family members for a long time.
Because Liz usually lived in the Royal Palace, but other members of the Dragon Tamer Clan were not. They could live in other towns of the Royal Dragon Kingdom, even live next to the Royal Palace, but they could not live with the Queen in the Royal Palace, nor could they demand that the Queen do anything for them based on their relationship as elders or relatives.
Ryuuki appearing in the Royal Palace was just because her home was nearby, and she often came to visit. So normally, Liz rarely met these family members.
"I haven't seen Liz in two years. Two years later, there hasn't been much change."
"Speaking of which, Liz is at an age where she should be married. I think Uncle Xia's eldest son is quite good."
"Is Liz finally planning to start raising her Pokémon? Although it's a bit late, it shouldn't be a big problem."
...
The people of the Dragon Tamer Clan below were chattering, and the hall was like a vegetable market. To those who didn't understand, the Dragon Tamer Clan, as royalty, should be superior and arrogant. But in reality, the opposite was true.
The Dragon Tamer Clan would be proud of Liz's achievements and would fight for her, but this would not affect their original way of life. Everyone still farmed when they should, herded Pokémon when they should, and earned money to support their families on weekdays, with little difference from the ordinary residents of the Royal Dragon Kingdom.
And this was also one of the results of Liz not using her status to provide convenience for these family members. She didn't want the Dragon Tamer Clan to be too conspicuous in the Royal Dragon Kingdom. Being out of place with the citizens of this kingdom would not end well.
The overlord of the neighboring Kanto Region, which was initially called the Silph Kingdom 10 years ago. Ten years later, it has been renamed the Earth Kingdom, and the king has also changed from its previous ruler to Giovanni, a former commoner from the lower class. This is already a very clear example to learn from.
"Ahem, I have gathered all the family members today, and I believe everyone knows the reason. This is the child I have decided to raise. His name is Aran."
Liz cleared her throat, then held the Ryū in her arms high above her head. At this moment, Ryū shone brightly under the ceiling lights, and everyone from the Dragon Tamer Clan looked up at this little thing.
"Mew? (Am I King Simba?)" Ryū wiggled his little dangling tail, scanning the crowd below. It was also at this time that he found some people below looked surprisingly pleasing to the eye, making him feel some natural goodwill towards them in his heart.
Ryū was suddenly startled when he noticed the change in his heart.
'Dragon Tamer Power!'
He was sure his feeling was not wrong. There are certainly other special abilities that can make Pokémon have a good feeling out of thin air besides Dragon Tamer Power.
But appearing in such large numbers at the same time, and all of them members of the Dragon Tamer Clan, he couldn't think of a second possibility other than 'Dragon Tamer Power'.