Chapter 32. You will be my number one henchman from now on!
The final Twister. Along with a Twister that was 10% stronger than usual, Ryū successfully defeated the Sunkern. This battle was a tough one, as both sides were evenly matched. Sunkern had a slightly higher level, but Ryū had some type advantage and was strengthened by Draco Power. However, although it was a "tough battle," it wasn't actually a particularly exciting fight. At the level of both Ryū and Sunkern, their move pools were quite limited, so they couldn't produce any spectacular duels. In the end, Ryū still sent the Sunkern to the plains to wait for scholars to carry it away.
"Aran! Amazing!" The excited Ryuuki crawled out from the bushes. Of course, Ryū didn't see the look of excitement on Ryuuki's face; he felt it. "I have to thank you for this." This time, Ryū was unusually nice to her, gently tapping the little girl's head with his tail. Seriously, Draco Power is truly powerful. Its boost to Dragon-type Pokémon is really strong, strengthening Ryū's Dragon-type move damage by a full 10%. It's just that Ryū's move pool is shallow right now; he doesn't know many Dragon-type moves, just Twister, otherwise this battle could have ended faster.
"You're injured." Just as Ryuuki was about to come over and hug Ryū, she suddenly stopped. "Hmm... just a small injury." Ryū lowered his head and glanced at his abdomen. It was hit by Sunkern's Razor Leaf just now and suffered some injury, but it wasn't a big problem. After all, Dragon-type Pokémon have a double resistance to Grass-type moves. Eating a couple of berries or applying some potion would make it heal quickly.
"Wait for me here." Ryuuki took a couple of glances, turned around, and ran off, disappearing somewhere. Ryū hadn't planned to chase after her anyway, as his movement speed on land couldn't keep up with hers. However, he did notice something. As Ryuuki left, the strengthening power within him gradually weakened and finally vanished.
A quarter of an hour later, Ryuuki jogged back, panting, holding a small bottle of green ointment in her hand. It looked like an external medicine made from herbs. "I'll apply it for Aran." Ryuuki squeezed out a bit of ointment and then gently applied it to Ryū's injured spot with her delicate index and middle fingers. Her movements were very gentle, even making Ryū feel a bit ticklish.
"That's enough; it would have healed even if you were 2 minutes slower." Ryū wagged his tail, signaling Ryuuki to stop applying the medicine. He knew his own body well; he wasn't badly injured, and it was already mostly healed by now. "Quick, give me the boost! I want to continue battling!" Ryū raised his head and nudged toward Ryuuki.
"What's wrong?" But this time, Ryuuki couldn't understand what he meant. She looked down at herself, not understanding why Aran suddenly nudged her. Did she have some smell on her? "Never mind..." Seeing this, Ryū had no choice but to give up. It seemed Ryuuki couldn't freely control the special power within her; its release just now was completely a coincidence.
He led Ryuuki back into the bushes where she had been crouching, then turned around, ready to choose a target again. "Is Aran going to fight again? Aren't you going to rest?" Ryuuki reached out and grabbed Ryū's tail. "...Don't pull the tip of my tail, it's very sensitive!" Ryū shuddered all over; the feeling was like getting goosebumps. The tip of a Dratini's tail is covered in a large number of nerve endings, just like a human's lips, making it very sensitive. He flicked his tail in response.
"Then be careful." After Ryuuki said this with a worried expression, that mysterious strengthening power appeared within Ryū's body once again. 'Is the key to controlling Draco Power one's mood...' This time, Ryū did notice some clues. When Ryuuki felt worried and hoped for his safety, she would involuntarily activate Draco Power to help Ryū.
However, even if he noticed this, it was of no use. He had no way to tell Ryuuki about this. He couldn't even read the human writing in this world, let alone write it down. The most he could do was guide her a bit, first making Ryuuki aware of this special power within her, and then gradually guiding her to learn how to use this special ability. 'Forget it, I'll think about it later.'
Ryū pondered for a moment and decided to temporarily abandon this idea. Ryuuki wasn't his trainer, and he couldn't see this little girl every day, so there was no need to put in so much effort. It was better to let nature take its course. For the rest of the day, Ryū continued to challenge 3 more Grass-type Pokémon.
However, after challenging the last Pokémon, he discovered something amazing. He had actually leveled up directly! After defeating 4 Pokémon, his level went from Lv. 11 to Lv. 12. This wasn't a game; leveling up wasn't that simple. Ryū had personally experienced this when he was reborn into the Pokémon world and lived as a Pokémon himself. According to his original estimate, he should have had to defeat 6 to 8 Pokémon to level up. If things went smoothly, it would still take 2 days. If things didn't go smoothly, for example, if he was seriously injured in a battle and needed a long time to rest, it could even take 3 or 4 days. But now, this process had been shortened to 1 day.
On the carriage ride home from school, Ryū was completely puzzled. "Could it be... you?" Finally, he had to look at Ryuuki's face. At this moment, the little girl was extremely sleepy, leaning against Ryū and sleeping soundly. It was probably because she had used too much Draco Power today, making her feel more tired and exhausted than usual. Otherwise, an 8- or 9-year-old child should be full of energy. How could she be so sleepy just from watching Pokémon battles during the day?
'It must be Draco Power.' Aside from Draco Power, Ryū couldn't think of any other possibilities. If there was any difference between today and the previous 2 days, it was that Ryuuki had boosted him with Draco Power for the entire day. It was only then that Ryū seemed to remember that on the internet in his previous life, quite a few people had indeed said that Draco Power could accelerate the growth of Dragon-type Pokémon. However, no one could explain how this acceleration worked. Was it a direct or indirect acceleration of growth?
'Indirect, probably...' Ryū still leaned toward the latter. After all, if it were the former, then Draco Power, a power that could originally only be considered T3 or even T4, would jump directly to T1. Directly accelerating the growth of a Dragon-type Pokémon—this kind of power was simply too abnormal. Draco Power accelerating growth, combined with late-blooming Dragon-type Pokémon, was simply incredible. Therefore, Ryū still tended toward the view that Draco Power could increase the experience points Dragon-type Pokémon could gain after battles.
If that was really the case... "From now on, you're my number 1 subordinate! Besides Liz, we 2 are the best in the world!" Ryū affectionately rubbed against the little blue-haired girl leaning on him. With this expression, it was hard to imagine that he had just given the little girl a sour face that morning because his bottle was taken.