Chapter 31. Genius Ryuuki
After waking up, Ryū immediately threw away the feeding bottle. No matter how Hestia coaxed him, or even called Liz to feed him, he wouldn't drink a single drop. If it was something belonging to someone else, he wouldn't mind using it. But if it was originally his, and now someone else had used it, he felt it was dirty and didn't want it anymore. Helpless, Hestia could only get a new feeding bottle for Ryū. Only then did he reluctantly have a breakfast milk. Because of this incident, his impression of and attitude toward Ryuuki worsened. She was simply a mischievous child.
At the Pokémon Academy, Ryū said, "Aran, where are you going? Don't follow me." Ryuuki had been following him since she opened her eyes that morning. If she could still hold him now, she would definitely be clinging to him. He wasn't particularly bothered by her following him. Although she was a bit mischievous, when he thought about how much she liked him and how discerning she was, he naturally became a little more patient. But if this girl followed him, the Pokémon scholars accompanying and protecting her would also follow. How could he carry out his 'hunt' like this?
"Don't follow me." He didn't know what Ryuuki was thinking, but she suddenly turned around and said something to the 2 Pokémon scholars behind her. Ryū didn't think she understood what he said. Whether a Pokémon and a trainer can communicate isn't just about the feelings of 1 party. It requires mutual affection and trust between both parties. It's about the bond. Putting aside how much Ryuuki liked him, Ryū didn't particularly like this emotionless mischievous child anyway.
Draco Power should not possess the ability to allow an Awakened to understand the language of Dragon-type Pokémon. Therefore, Ryuuki at this moment should simply not have wanted those 2 scholars to follow her.
"This..." one of the scholars looked troubled. "Go," the other scholar said, pulling him and pointing to the Pidgeot beside him. So the troubled scholar followed him and left. However, although the 2 scholars left, that Pidgeot stayed, always circling high in the sky, observing below and protecting Ryuuki.
"Okay, they're gone. Aran, you didn't want them to follow, right?"
"?!" Ryū's eyes suddenly widened, and he turned to stare at Ryuuki. He didn't understand why she could understand his inner thoughts. 'Could it be that this girl is a Psychic?!' Ryū was surprised and suspicious, and it was also a test. If Ryuuki was really a Psychic, she would hear what he said in his heart and would respond.
"I guessed right? I saw you kept leading me around randomly, so you probably didn't want people following, right?" Ryuuki said expressionlessly. She then came to Ryū's side, squatted down, and hugged his head, rubbing against it. "I heard from father that Aran goes around fighting other Pokémon in the school and is a very energetic little guy."
'This little girl is actually quite smart.' This was something Ryū hadn't expected. He really couldn't tell from that expressionless face that Ryuuki was a smart child. "Is Aran going to fight other Pokémon next? Can I watch from the side?"
"...Then follow me." Ryū frowned and pondered for a second or 2, choosing to compromise. His choice wasn't important because no matter whether he agreed or not, Ryuuki would definitely follow him. As for the Pidgeot in the sky, that wasn't a big problem. He felt that the Pidgeot shouldn't interfere with battles between Pokémon.
[In this academy, only Pokémon that have entered their sub-adult stage can participate in battle training.] This rule is only known to human scholars. The Pidgeot couldn't distinguish this kind of rule. In the Pidgeot's eyes, battles should be relatively normal in this Pokémon Academy. Ryū led Ryuuki all the way to his territory, the location of the small lake.
"You come with me and hide here. Don't move around." Ryū hooked Ryuuki's skirt with his tail. He then placed the little girl behind the bushes not far from the lake. "...Aran, you have to be careful." Ryuuki was also clever and could probably guess the meaning of Ryū's action. Before Ryū left, she hugged him, kissed his nose hard, and sincerely wished him well.
It was at this moment that Ryū suddenly felt that the energy in his body seemed to become a little more active. The feeling was like... 'I was buffed?! This child unintentionally used Draco Power on me?' Ryū looked at the little girl, who was within reach, feeling shocked. He didn't detect anything unusual on her face. She seemed completely unaware that she had just used the special power within her body. She seemed to be simply wishing Ryū safety and peace.
'To be able to use Draco Power at the age of 8, this little girl is a genius. Could it be that Liz is not the protagonist, but this child is?' Ryū was in a trance for a moment, but he shook his head and turned to leave. This kind of thing wasn't worth him specifically researching. Instead of spending that effort, he might as well take advantage of the current buff and quickly fight 2 Pokémon to accumulate experience.
Ryuuki obediently squatted behind the bushes and watched. She watched Ryū leave temporarily and then bring back a yellow Pokémon with a seedling growing on its head, hopping and bouncing. Ryuuki didn't know that Pokémon was called Sunkern. "Quite cute, but still a little bit less than Aran." Ryuuki, squatting behind the bushes, mumbled.
Outside, Ryū didn't resort to dirty tricks anymore. The reason he played dirty before, using sudden sneak attacks, was because his level was too low and he was too far behind these Pokémon. Without such methods, he had no chance of winning. But now, his level was not much different from these Pokémon, and he had the added benefit of Draco Power, so there was no need to use such methods. He was like this in his previous life. When facing enemies he couldn't defeat, he would gain experience by ganging up on them. When facing enemies he might be able to defeat, he would fight alone to take all the experience for himself. There was another reason. He suspected that victories achieved through such methods would yield less experience than those obtained through a fair 1-on-1 duel. It was probably similar to the experience split when ganging up in his previous life.
"Want to battle me?" Ryū looked at the Sunkern beside him and issued a challenge. When facing wild Pokémon that didn't understand the rules, you could just start fighting directly. But the Pokémon Academy was different; it had specific rules, just like the Alliance Era. If you didn't follow the rules, you would be ostracized. Just like the Fire-type Pokémon that Ryū had beaten a few days ago, they were now very resistant to him. Let alone a battle invitation. Just Ryū getting a little closer, those Pokémon would bare their teeth and try to scare him away.
In order not to end up in a situation where he couldn't find opponents in the future, Ryū decided to properly issue challenges from now on, engage in fair and just battles, beat these Pokémon into submission, and then repeatedly harvest them like leeks. Upon hearing this, the Sunkern's expression became serious, and she nodded. She accepted Ryū's challenge.