Chapter 26. Problem Children in Kindergarten
"There's actually a kindergarten?!" Ryū was shocked. He was located in the northernmost plain of the capital town of the Royal Dragon Kingdom. In this place, there was a school specifically built for Pokémon in their juvenile stage and those who had just recently left the juvenile stage.
When he first arrived here, Ryū was extremely shocked. He hadn't expected that at a time when the human education system hadn't even been established, the Pokémon education system had already begun attempts and made progress. However, after attending class for a day, Ryū realized something was wrong. This was less of a Pokémon Academy and more of a pet academy.
The Pokémon scholars here didn't teach these young Pokémon about combat or knowledge. Instead, they taught them how to eat politely, walk gracefully, and where to relieve themselves.
"..." Ryū himself lay under a cool tree, sighing as he watched a Meowth strolling leisurely on the lawn ahead. He already understood what was going on. The Pokémon that could come to this academy to receive an education were all Pokémon belonging to nobles.
As nobles, they naturally had to learn noble etiquette, and even Pokémon were no exception. This was a good sign, but also a bad sign.
The bad sign was that it was delaying the Pokémon's rapid growth period. This golden growth stage, having just left the juvenile period, was being used to learn such useless things. One must know that this was the Pokémon Era, not the Alliance Era.
In the Alliance Era, let alone learning etiquette, it wouldn't matter even if they just ate, drank, and slept all day. But in the Pokémon Era, wasn't doing this just courting death? When enemies attacked, could this etiquette save these nobles?
However, the reason it was a good sign was because it also proved that these nobles were starting to treat their Pokémon as members of their families, rather than just mere tools. Would those nobles make their horses learn etiquette? They would not, because they were just tools for transportation. These nobles would only send their own children to etiquette academies or hire private tutors.
At the same time, this kindergarten was also a research and observation institute for Pokémon scholars. They would silently observe the different habits of different Pokémon nearby, using this for recording and research.
"No way! This is completely neglecting proper duties! I don't want to keep being a Dratini!" Ryū angrily got up and looked at the 30 to 40 young Pokémon on this grassland. He didn't want to live a life of shedding his skin twice a day, 365 days a year. He wanted to evolve quickly!
"Let me help you all get on the right track." A wicked smile appeared on Ryū's face. He glanced around and found that there were very few larger Pokémon on this grassland. His 2.5-meter body length could be said to be at the very top. This was probably because most people still didn't dare to approach and raise Pokémon that were huge in their first stage.
"Let's start with... you." Ryū's gaze finally settled on a Shuckle. This Shuckle was only 0.6 meters tall, which had already reached the average height in the Alliance Era. But in this Pokémon Era, it was either stunted or definitely hadn't left the juvenile stage yet.
In any case, Ryū could guarantee that he wouldn't lose against this Shuckle.
"Shuck?" Shuckle was startled to see such a long snake approaching him and immediately withdrew his head and limbs completely into his shell.
[Withdraw into Shell]
A skill Shuckle was born with, which could increase his physical defense.
"Moo!" Ryū didn't care about any of this. With a swing of his tail, the Twister skill was released. A silver-white whirlwind rose from the ground and swept toward Shuckle.
"Shuckle~" Shuckle was hit by this move, and his eyes immediately turned into circles.
"Hmm, as expected, he's a baby." Ryū nodded, looking at the Shuckle that was instantly defeated. He was only level 5, and this Twister move didn't have much power at all. The entire whirlwind was only about a meter high, practically a newborn Twister.
Yet, Shuckle was still instantly defeated. There was only one possibility, and that was that this Shuckle was still in his juvenile stage, which made him so weak. Otherwise, with a Shuckle's abnormal base stat distribution, it would be quite difficult to knock him out!
'Too bad, I can't see the experience bar. I don't know if fighting babies gives experience. I'll try a few more.' Ryū opened his panel and glanced at it; there was no change at all. So, he started looking around, selecting new targets.
But things obviously wouldn't go as smoothly as he thought. Because of his actions just now, the Pokémon scholars and other Pokémon on the plain had already noticed Ryū.
"Lord Aran! Look what you've done?!" Scholar A quickly rushed over to check on Shuckle's condition. Finding that he had only temporarily fainted, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and then stood up to scold Ryū.
"Stop! Lord Aran is not like other Pokémon!" Another Scholar B nearby pulled him back while vigilantly staring at Ryū, afraid that he might suddenly become violent.
And with that reminder, Scholar A also immediately reacted. These nobles' Pokémon were hatched from eggs and lived beside their masters from a young age; they didn't possess much wildness. But Ryū was a wild Pokémon brought back from the wild by Her Majesty the Queen.
Ryū glanced at them, then walked away directly, returning to lie under the tree to continue pretending to be a well-behaved child.
"Phew... It seems Lord Aran has no intention of attacking us."
"Perhaps, he just had a conflict with this turtle Pokémon?"
"I don't know, let's take him back and give him a full diagnosis first."
"Okay."
Seeing that Ryū was lying there motionless, the two scholars breathed a sigh of relief, then picked up Shuckle and left.
After the two left, Ryū smiled and got up. This time, his gaze was fixed on a Teddiursa, 0.5 meters tall, undoubtedly still in its juvenile stage. In 1 minute, the wicked Ryū knocked out the originally finger-sucking, adorable Teddiursa.
"While those two haven't come back yet, I'll keep fighting. I'll try to level up two or three levels today." Ryū forcefully 'stood' up, raised his head and looked around, checking if there was anyone nearby.
After confirming there was no one, he began to bully these babies extensively.
"Ah Da!"
"Hoo Ya Hey!"
"Ooh Yi Ya!"
...
Evening. When Scholar A and Scholar B returned to this small plain, they felt as if the sky had fallen.
Teddiursa sat in place, wailing loudly, his eyes almost swollen from crying. Houndour had a big bump on his head, barking loudly at Ryū, who was dozing under a distant tree.
Besides that, there was a large pile of Pokémon lying askew on the ground who hadn't woken up yet, including Rattata, Weedle, Bellsprout, Sandshrew, Meowth... It could be said that every Pokémon was either lying on the ground or injured.
"My goodness! What happened?!"
"What on earth happened here?! Who can tell me!"
The two scholars collapsed, holding their heads, looking at the mess on the ground. Shuckle shivered behind them, looking at the large snake under the tree. That large snake seemed to sense his gaze and even opened his eyes and gave him a 'kind' smile.
Shuckle's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright. The awakened Pokémon saw the two Pokémon scholars approaching and quickly ran over to complain. Although the two scholars couldn't understand what they were saying, through their gazes and actions, they could tell that the cause of all this was the seemingly well-behaved and cute Dratini under the tree.
"Lord Aran..."
"Without a doubt, he's a problem child..."