Chapter 42. This fish may be a monster
"Is this good enough?" Under Ryū's supervision, Liz and Ryuuki each completed their actions of feeding the Magikarp.
After only 1 or 2 times, the Magikarp might not feel much towards them yet. But after feeding them a few more times, the Magikarp will start remembering them. For Trainers, the simplicity of a Pokémon like Magikarp is both an advantage and a disadvantage.
The disadvantage is that it's difficult to achieve the process from 0 to 1. Even after defeating and capturing a Magikarp, they might not react for a while to the fact that they have a Trainer. But the advantage is that their affection is easy to increase. Once it reaches 1, the speed of increasing from 1 to 255 will be much faster than other Pokémon.
And the Pokémon whose affection is most difficult to increase are undoubtedly Psychic-type Pokémon. Because most of them are very intelligent, and some Pokémon can even sense human emotions and even inner thoughts.
"Okay, I'll remind you again tonight." Ryū stretched his head out and glanced at the Magikarp in the pond. Neither of the 2 Magikarp reacted when they saw Ryū; they didn't even know that it was Ryū who had knocked them out earlier.
After that, Ryū was not in a hurry to take the 2 Magikarp to level up. The primary task now is to ensure the Magikarp have a decent level of affection towards Liz and the other person. At the very least, it needs to be high enough so that after evolving into Gyarados, the Gyarados will still recognize them as their Trainers and will not actively harm them. If they evolve with too low affection, the Gyarados might not recognize Liz and Ryuuki after evolving and could attack them.
Therefore, Ryū didn't run around for the rest of the day. Instead, he kept Liz by his side, forcing her to play with a big, silly red fish. As for Ryuuki, that girl was quite curious about such a large fish herself and was holding the Magikarp's head, gazing deeply into its small, bean-sized eyes.
"Someone!" Liz didn't quite understand Ryū's behavior. But she felt that given Ryū's intelligence since childhood, he wouldn't do anything useless.
"Queen."
"Go call 2 Scholars to see what's going on with this fish."
"Yes."
Soon, 2 Pokémon Scholars arrived at the Royal Palace backyard. "Queen." x2
"Is there anything special about these 2 fish?" "Hmm... This kind of fish might be a Pokémon." The 2 Scholars exchanged glances, looking troubled, and finally managed to say something.
"Might be?" Confusion appeared in Liz's eyes. What kind of strange statement is this? The difference between a Pokémon and a normal animal is immense; the simplest way is to look at their combat power. What does 'might be' mean?
"This... According to our research, this type of Pokémon is weaker than most Pokémon. Let alone facing other Pokémon, they have almost no fighting power even against ordinary wild animals. They can be called the weakest Pokémon we have ever seen." One Pokémon Scholar scratched his head and could only state their research findings, "However, the vitality and certain characteristics of this Pokémon indeed meet the standard for being a Pokémon."
"..." Ryū listened from the side without speaking. Magikarp are indeed very weak; they can only learn the Tackle move at Lv. 15, and before that, they are weaker than ordinary wild animals. If this were not the case, Magikarp would not be reduced to surviving by eating small fish, shrimp, or even plankton.
"...Why did Aran catch them?" Liz reached out and gently stroked the Ryū beside her, murmuring to herself. Anyway, based on her understanding of Ryū, it was definitely not for reasons like catching them to keep as pets or fattening them up to eat later. But she also genuinely couldn't guess why Ryū had caught 2 useless Pokémon.
"..." The 2 Pokémon Scholars remained silent. Honestly, if even Liz didn't know what Ryū wanted to do, then perhaps no one in this world could guess.
"You'll know later." Ryū stretched out his head and gently nudged the top of Liz's head with his nose.
"Forget it, I'll know later." Liz stood on her tiptoes, looked up, and rubbed her cheek against Ryū's, giving up on thinking. Regardless, she trusted Aran's judgment.
Ryuuki, who was playing nearby, quickly lost interest in the Magikarp after a while. Because the Magikarp did nothing but flop around; it wasn't fun at all. "Aran~" Ryuuki finally threw herself into Ryū's embrace.
"Aran, I need to go back, there are still many things to do." Liz looked up at Ryū. She had stayed here all this time because when she wanted to leave, Ryū would wrap her up with his tail and bring her back. She could tell that Ryū's actions were likely intended to make her interact with the fish, but she genuinely had a lot of things to do.
"..." Ryū tilted his head and thought for a moment. Then, he immediately remembered something.
He flew back to his and Liz's bedroom on his own, moved the large fish tank from the bedroom to the study. Only then did he send Liz and Liz's Magikarp back to the study together.
"...Just think of it as raising fish." Liz looked at the fish tank next to her desk and shook her head helplessly. The Magikarp swam happily in the large fish tank, occasionally stopping to stare at Liz for a while.
Ryū watched this scene from the side and nodded with satisfaction. This way, Liz could stay by the Magikarp's side even while working, so even if Liz did nothing, the Magikarp's affection for her would gradually increase.
However, to speed up this process, Ryū also specifically went to the kitchen and got some fish and shrimp and other aquatic creatures to place next to the desk. When Liz was tired from working, she could get up and feed the Magikarp to relax, and also increase the Magikarp's affection, killing 2 birds with one stone.
'I'm really worrying myself sick over this family.' Ryū shook his head and sighed. He then flew back to the backyard and went to Ryuuki's side.
The Magikarp on Liz's side was sorted out, but the one on Ryuuki's side wasn't yet. Ryuuki usually stayed at her own home, and Ryū couldn't control her. This little girl didn't come to the Royal Palace every day; she might only come 2 or 3 times a week. If this continued, the increase in affection between the Magikarp and Ryuuki would be very slow, perhaps even failing to increase at all.
"It's time to bring out the Charm." Ryū pondered deeply and finally came up with a solution.
Evening. It was time for Ryuuki to go home. "Aunt, Aran, I'll come play again next time." Ryuuki, who had played with Ryū all day, wiped her little face and waved goodbye to Liz and Ryū who were seeing her off.
"Okay, you're welcome anytime." Liz nodded gently.
However, at this moment, Ryū's tail extended and wrapped Ryuuki back. "Ying~" Ryū held Ryuuki in his arms, like a child holding his favorite toy, unwilling to let go.
"Mua~" Seeing Ryū so close, Ryuuki quickly seized the opportunity and gave him a big kiss.
"Aran? Little Qiu should go now, she'll come back in a few days." Liz looked at Ryū strangely. They had parted ways many times before, but Ryū had never acted like this. Liz instinctively sensed something was wrong but couldn't pinpoint it. Most importantly, seeing Ryū and Ryuuki so close, Liz felt a bit uncomfortable, which affected her thinking.
"Ying~" Ryū called out, wrapped Ryuuki up, and returned to the Royal Palace. Then he took Ryuuki into an empty bedroom and tucked her into the blanket.
Liz, who had followed them, finally understood Ryū's intention. "You want Little Qiu to stay here?"
"I want to stay here!" Ryuuki quickly said, grabbing the blanket, with only half her head showing. If she could live in the Royal Palace from now on, she could play with Aran often. Today, she would use Ryū's name to stay in the Royal Palace.
"No! Your parents will worry."
"Ying~"
"Auntie~" Ryū and Ryuuki simultaneously used Charm on Liz.
"This... only for 1 night." Highly effective.