Chapter 28. That year, Lv. 7, standing like a minion
The new Pokémon Academy's training ground was much larger than the previous one. The Pokémon were also significantly bigger. At this moment, Ryū stood trembling in the center of the training ground. A circle of other Pokémon curiously sniffed him, their new companion.
They were a 3-meter-tall Nidoking, a 3-meter-tall Machop, a 15-meter-long, 9-meter-tall Onix, a 3.5-meter Ursaring, and a 2.5-meter Donphan. Ryū cautiously greeted them. His eyes darted around, searching for a Pokémon scholar.
'I am the Queen's personal beloved pet; shouldn't there be 10 or 8 people guarding me?' Ryū felt a sudden panic, seeing no one on the training ground. 'These big guys won't beat me up, will they?' He was stared at by these large Pokémon, cold sweat pouring down his body. The oppressive feeling from them was no joke. The physique of these Pokémon in the Pokémon Era was truly exaggerated, completely more than double the Pokédex values.
He would never forget this day: that year, Lv. 7, in the Royal Dragon Kingdom, at the Pokémon Academy, he stood like a nobody. Speaking of which, Ryū was still very curious about one of them. 'How did this guy successfully evolve?' He looked at the Nidoking surrounding him.
Nidorino evolves into Nidoking with a Moon Stone. He was sure the Pokémon scholars didn't know this evolution condition. It had only been a little over 20 years since humans began utilizing the power of Pokémon, and they might not even have grasped the concept of types yet. So, how did this Nidoking evolve? Ryū didn't believe these people would dare to directly capture a wild Nidoking. It was highly likely this Pokémon accidentally obtained a Moon Stone and evolved, but he didn't know if its owner was aware of this.
Ryū stood rooted to the spot for a while. Seeing that he didn't react, the big Pokémon left without much interest. They weren't interested in such a small baby. 'Phew...' Ryū let out a sigh of relief. It was truly tormenting.
Unbeknownst to him, 2 Pokémon scholars were hiding in the grass not far away, secretly observing the situation. "Lord Aran is quite well-behaved, isn't he? I think he was scared, ahaha." The 2 scholars were constantly paying attention to Ryū's situation. They wouldn't dare let the Queen's beloved get hurt at the Pokémon Academy. They didn't want to lose their heads, after all.
After that, Ryū had a peaceful day. Until evening, he hid in a small lake in a corner of the Pokémon Academy, quietly poking his head out to look around. He finally figured out what this academy was all about after spending the day there. This Pokémon Academy was completely different from the previous kindergarten. That kindergarten was just a daycare, teaching the Pokémon cubs some etiquette.
But this Pokémon Academy was genuinely focused on improving the combat power of Pokémon, cultivating them as reserve soldiers for the battlefield. The Pokémon scholars in this academy would organize these Pokémon for battles. Not just simple 1-on-1 battles, but also 3-on-3, 5-on-5, or even larger team battles. They weren't worried about these Pokémon getting carried away in battle for 2 main reasons.
The first reason was that most Pokémon who just arrived would undergo a period of "military training." The main purpose was to make them understand strict obedience, stop fighting immediately upon hearing a whistle, and face hunger or even beatings if they disobeyed orders. This "military training" would last for over half a year, until the Pokémon had the whistle sound etched into their bones. Such training wasn't cruel in the context of human military training, but Ryū knew that in the Alliance Era, Pokémon were cherished as family.
He almost forgot that in the eyes of most people in this era, he wasn't a 'Pokémon' but a 'Magical Beast.' No matter how high his status or good his treatment was, he was still just a 'Magical Beast.' The past 2 days with Liz had been so good that he had almost forgotten this reality.
Another layer of assurance was the presence of even stronger "regular army" Pokémon accompanying the scholars. Every Pokémon scholar had an adult Pokémon by their side that was high-leveled and had experienced battlefield combat. These Pokémon were powerful, emotionally stable, and fully capable of suppressing the semi-adult reserve forces at the academy.
"I won't go to that military training; it's a pure waste of time," Ryū decided. "I'll find some suitable opponents to fight instead." His gaze swept around. He had discovered that the academy wasn't entirely made up of semi-adult Pokémon undergoing war training. There were also some young and adolescent Pokémon. Most of the young Pokémon had entered their second stage, with levels fluctuating between Lv. 20 and Lv. 30. He was definitely not their opponent.
But there was still a chance to fight the adolescent Pokémon. Most of these adolescent Pokémon were in their first stage, with levels between Lv. 10 and Lv. 20. Although he was only Lv. 7, his physique was relatively large, and he understood type matchups, so it wasn't impossible to fight. After all, the Pokémon in this academy all fought based on instinct. The humans of this era didn't understand the concept of skills yet, and would only issue broad commands like "Flamethrower," "Discharge," "Attack," and "Defense."
But Ryū was quite familiar with these skills. He could even determine what kind of skill the opponent used by observing their actions, and then counter it specifically. "Alright, let's do this." Ryū nodded subtly in the water. He was already starting to get a bit of the feeling of surviving in the wild from his first life. This feeling made the Pokémon genes within him slightly excited.
"Let's prioritize finding Water, Fire, Grass, and Electric-type Pokémon as opponents. I can also utilize terrain advantage." Ryū turned his head and looked at the small lake he was in. He recalled the adolescent Pokémon he saw today. Soon, he had a few rough targets in mind. Pokémon with 2 of these 4 types combined on 1 body were hard to find, but there were many Pokémon with just 1 of these types.
After making up his mind, he quietly submerged into the water. He would rest today, soothe his little heart, and start his journey of conquering the academy tomorrow. Ryū waited until Liz personally came to pick him up in the evening. On the way home by carriage after school, Liz held Ryū and gently kissed him a few times.
"I heard from the teacher in the academy that you behaved very well today. Aran is great~"
"Heh heh, I hope you can still say that tomorrow." Ryū grinned. In his mind, the scene of Liz being visited by a Pokémon scholar tomorrow had already appeared.