Chapter 43: Liz's Guess
Although Ryuuki stayed, she didn't sleep with Ryū. It wasn't that Ryuuki didn't want to; in fact, she really wanted to and even used Charm on Liz many times. But on this point, Liz didn't give in at all.
Using the reason, "If you two are together, will you still sleep at night?!", she sternly refused Ryuuki, making her Charm completely ineffective. In the end, Ryū still slept comfortably intertwined with Liz on the newly changed large bed.
The next morning, Ryū still woke up early on his own. This time, he woke up earlier than Liz. After evolving into Dragonair, his body seemed not to need long periods of sleep to promote growth. Liz's breathing by his ear tickled his feathers, making him unable to resist shaking them.
Flap, flap.
However, with just that shake, his feathers fanned Liz awake. "Aran? You're up so early today." Liz opened her eyes groggily, then subconsciously moved closer and lightly kissed Ryū's cheek. This was a habit she had developed since Ryū was still a Dratini. It's just that most of the time, Ryū was asleep, so he had no idea that the first thing Liz did after waking up was give him a good morning kiss.
"Get up, let's go feed the Magikarp," Ryū floated up from the bed and lifted the quilt.
The cold air brushed past Liz's neck, making her shiver uncontrollably. "Aran~ I want to stay warm for a bit longer." Liz hugged herself in bed, trembling.
Ryū turned his head to look out the window. The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the sun hadn't even come out yet. "Alright." Ryū pulled the quilt back over Liz. At the same time, he stretched his long tail out of the quilt and pulled Liz's clothes, which were hanging by the bed, into the quilt to warm them up.
If the clothes were warmed in the quilt for a while, they would be warm, and Liz wouldn't feel too cold when she put them on. Ryū used to do this when he got up in the winter.
He returned to the quilt. Liz immediately hugged him. Ryū narrowed his eyes and waited for about another half an hour before getting up again. This time, Liz obediently put on her warm clothes and got up. She was then wrapped by Ryū's tail and taken to Ryuuki's bedroom.
Thump.
Ryū crashed into the bedroom headfirst and used his mouth to pull the quilt covering Ryuuki onto the floor. "Ugh!!" Ryuuki, who was sleeping, felt the sudden attack of cold wind and instantly became alert. Ryū threw Liz onto the bed and then threw Ryuuki's clothes over as well. The meaning was clear: he wanted Liz to help Ryuuki get dressed. His tail couldn't do such delicate work.
Five minutes later, the bewildered Liz and the still-confused Ryuuki were taken by Ryū to feed Magikarp one by one.
"Is Aran trying to make me bond with this Pokémon?" During the feeding process, Liz saw Ryū watching thoughtfully from the side. Small tasks like feeding Magikarp could be left to others. But Ryū insisted on waking her up and having her feed it personally. This action made Liz consider this direction.
"Yes." Ryū nodded. He could only say that it was indeed Liz; she had some tacit understanding with him and could guess his purpose. The act of 'feeding' is an important behavior that promotes a good relationship between a Trainer and their Pokémon. It was a somewhat inappropriate move for Liz to have Hestia feed Ryū in the past. It was only because Ryū's soul and consciousness were human, so there was no problem.
If he were truly a young Pokémon who had just been born and whose cognition had not fully developed, then he would be very likely to mistake Hestia for his Trainer and thus not listen to what Liz said. To give the most obvious example, the Pokémon at the Pokémon Academy. If their Trainers and the Pokémon Scholars at the academy gave orders at the same time, these Pokémon would definitely subconsciously prioritize executing the Pokémon Scholars' orders.
Because from a young age, they spent most of their time throughout the day with those Pokémon Scholars. Whether it was inspections, feeding, or training, it was all done with the Pokémon Scholars, so of course they would consider those scholars as their Trainers.
"I understand, I will interact with Magikarp more in the future," Seeing Ryū nod, Liz finally confirmed his idea. Although she couldn't quite understand, since it was what Ryū wanted, she would definitely do it.
"You won't regret it," Ryū smiled with pursed lips. Due to the inconvenience of communication, he couldn't explain the reason why Liz had to personally raise Magikarp. However, when Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, with Liz's intelligence, she will likely figure it out.
And Ryuuki on the other side wasn't too much trouble either. Although the little girl didn't understand and couldn't guess Ryū's thoughts, she was obedient. If Ryū told her to feed it, she would feed it, and even actively reach out to pet Magikarp's head.
After finishing the feeding, Ryū prepared to go to Mt. Silver again. However, this time it wasn't to catch Pokémon but to level up. "Xiao Qiu, let's go," Ryū extended his tail to wrap around Ryuuki, and then flew towards the sky. Of course, he had to bring his experience bonus card when leveling up.
With Ryuuki's Dragon Power bonus, battles were easier, and he gained more experience.
"Aran! I have a flower arrangement class today!" Ryuuki reached out her small hand and patted Ryū's tail.
"What flower arrangement class? What's the use of that? It's more practical to fight other Pokémon with me, and it can also broaden your horizons," Ryū rolled his eyes. War was almost upon them, and she was still learning flower arrangement. Learning flower arrangement couldn't save the Royal Dragon Kingdom.
By having Ryuuki follow him, with the little girl's cleverness, she should be able to observe and learn some knowledge about Pokémon battles. These were the things that would be truly useful in the future.
"Aran! Take me home quickly! Otherwise, Mom will spank my butt!"
"It's fine, it's not me getting spanked."
Half an hour later, Ryū brought the resigned Ryuuki back to Mt. Silver. "Let's just challenge those 'Heads' to a one-on-one battle." Ryū knew very well what kind of Pokémon he needed to defeat to gain a large amount of experience points. Moreover, in the outer area of Mt. Silver, only the Head Pokémon of each territory had the ability to fight him.
He fought all the way until noon. Ryū suddenly realized that the little girl was facing the problem of lunch. He could eat berries in the wild, which had become a habit in his first life. But Ryuuki couldn't. A little girl who had grown up spoiled in the Royal Capital since childhood was not as tough as Liz was in his previous life.
"Eating a meal of berries occasionally should be fine." Ryū casually picked some Oran Berries and Leppa Berries for Ryuuki. Ryuuki ate happily, without any complaints. Although the little girl had the fate of a Princess, she didn't have the "Princess disease." Although she was a bit annoying at first, she seemed like a pretty good girl now.
Ryū couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted watching Ryuuki obediently gnawing on berries. The dignified little Princess of the Royal Dragon Kingdom was tragically following him and gnawing on berries in the forest.
"Aran, I'm a little tired." After lunch, Ryuuki leaned tiredly against Ryū and closed her eyes. Being woken up early in the morning and then following Ryū through the dangerous forest was still a bit much for an 8-year-old girl. Especially the process of being wrapped by Ryū and flying in the sky for half an hour, which was the most difficult.
But Ryuuki didn't complain at all from beginning to end and always obediently let him wrap her and run around. It seemed she really liked "Aran."
"Then sleep for a while. I'll take you home when you wake up." Ryū looked at Ryuuki's sleepy face, curled his lower body around her to protect the little girl, allowing her to take a peaceful nap. He decided. For the time being, he would train with Ryuuki at the Pokémon Academy.
The sub-adult Pokémon in the Pokémon Academy could still fight him for a short period of time. Although the improvement speed might not be as fast as training in Mt. Silver, it would make things much easier for Ryuuki. If the little girl was tired or hungry, Ryū could take her home in just 5 minutes, allowing her to comfortably enjoy delicious food or sleep in the Royal Palace.