Chapter 44: Challenging the Academy Boss
Evening. Under the combined effect of Ryū and Ryuuki's Charm, Liz finally agreed to their request for Ryuuki to stay in the Royal Palace permanently. If Liz hadn't personally stepped forward to speak, Ryuuki's mother would definitely not have agreed to let her stay in the Royal Palace all the time.
Having received her old mother's approval, Ryuuki was so excited that she didn't sleep at all that night. Unfortunately, she slept soundly all day the next day. Since he didn't need to worry about Ryuuki's condition, Ryū took the opportunity to go to Mt. Silver alone the next day. He explored the middle area slightly, confirming the terrain and Pokémon distribution, and also selected his next target Pokémon to catch.
Half a month quietly passed. Without being actively taken into battle, the two Magikarp naturally couldn't evolve. They might not even have gained a single level. But what was comforting was that the intelligence of the two Magikarp didn't seem to have regressed to the level of the future Alliance Era. They only took 3 or 4 days to remember Liz and Ryuuki. When they came to feed them, the two Magikarp would even swim up to greet them.
On the 10th day, they could even listen to the two women's commands and perform some simple actions. This was very comforting to Ryū. If it weren't for the Magikarp, Ryū wouldn't have used Charm on Liz to keep Ryuuki in the Royal Palace.
Noon. "Aran! Aran! Wake up quickly!" Ryuuki scurried in on her little legs into Liz's bedroom, then suddenly pounced towards Ryū, who was curled up on the bed.
"So noisy." Ryū opened his eyes helplessly. Ever since Ryuuki started living in the Royal Palace, Ryū's afternoon naps were never slept until he naturally woke up. But this was also good; it prevented him from slacking off.
"Let's go, to the Pokémon Academy. This afternoon we should fight that big dinosaur with flowers on its neck!" Ryuuki excitedly shook Ryū's head.
"Why are you more excited than me?" Ryū got up. Ryuuki's arms were still wrapped around his head and hadn't let go, so she was suspended in mid-air. But the little girl wasn't afraid of hurting herself. Three months had already made Ryuuki completely trust Ryū. This trust was quite blind, the kind of unconditional trust a child has in their parents. Its degree was no weaker than Liz, who had been sleeping in the same bed with him.
'Meganium, not easy to fight.' Ryū used his tail to roll Ryuuki off himself, then flew out the window. The big dinosaur Ryuuki mentioned referred to the Johto Region's Grass-type starter, Meganium. That was a Meganium that was 4 meters tall and quite vibrant in color. In the Alliance Era, it would be a Pokémon that people would praise as 'well-trained' upon seeing it.
Perhaps because its biological characteristics leaned more towards plants, the Pokémon Scholars achieved quite good results when training her using methods for cultivating plants. This Meganium was currently the most powerful Pokémon student in the Pokémon Academy. Ryū estimated her level might be close to Lv. 40. And his current level was only Lv. 32, a significant gap, which is why he felt it wouldn't be easy to fight.
'If I don't fight today, I might not have a chance later. That guy is probably about to become a formal soldier.' Ryū quickly flew to the Pokémon Academy lawn with Ryuuki. At the same time, he immediately spotted the Meganium in the sky.
"Aran! There! Let's go fight her!" Ryuuki's excited voice came from his tail. Meanwhile, the Dragon Power boost suddenly appeared on Ryū. Ryū descended to the ground with Liz, placed the little one on the grass nearby, and then approached the Meganium who was staring at him not far away.
At the same time, more and more onlookers and Pokémon began to gather.
"Meg~ [Fight?]" Meganium had clearly guessed Ryū's intention. Ryū had already fought everyone in the entire Pokémon Academy; only she remained undefeated by Ryū. It could be said that she was the strongest among the reserve Pokémon in the Pokémon Academy, the boss. It was precisely because of this that so many Pokémon ran over to watch.
Once Ryū defeated Meganium, then Ryū would be the new boss, and the entire academy would be his territory from now on, with only other Pokémon challenging him. If any new Pokémon were to defy Ryū in the future, he wouldn't even need to act himself; the other Pokémon would naturally teach the newcomers a good lesson.
"Mm." Ryū nodded, already thinking about his battle strategy. The level difference between him and Meganium was too large, so he had to grasp the only advantage he had—type advantage. He possessed the Ice-type move Icy Wind, which was super effective against Grass-type Pokémon, and his own Dragon-type had double resistance against Meganium's Grass-type moves.
"Meg!" Although Meganium was a female Pokémon, she had quite a fiery temper.
[Razor Leaf]
After confirming Ryū's intention, she immediately shrugged the petals on her neck, and spinning leaves shot towards Ryū's direction. Ryū pushed off forcefully with his lower body, using his tail to push against the grass beneath his feet, leveraging the force to spring himself into the air and narrowly dodge the attack. Being large wasn't always a good thing. Because the hit area also increased. If his speed hadn't been agile enough, he probably would have been hit by this move.
[Glare]
Ryū's two aquamarine eyes emitted an invisible wave. In the game, this move could lower the target Pokémon's defense by making them feel intimidated. But in reality, this move wasn't that effective. Sometimes, against those naive Pokémon or overly bold Pokémon, this move was completely useless. Glare couldn't make them feel scared at all. For example, the two clumsy Magikarp in the Royal Palace could completely ignore his Glare move.
"Meg." Meganium trembled all over from Ryū's gaze, feeling a little scared inside.
'It worked.' Ryū noticed this and grinned.
[Agility]
He seized the opportunity to increase his speed and quickly approached Meganium's location.
[Hone Claws]
Only Ryū himself knew how useful the move inherited from the first life's Beedrill was in reality. In the game, it wasn't used often because it wasted a turn. Although its effect was weakened in reality, changing from a guaranteed critical hit to increasing the critical hit rate, there was no concept of 'turns' in reality! Just like now, as long as his proficiency was high enough, Ryū could even use this move while moving.
"Meg!" Meganium couldn't just sit there and wait.
[Petal Blizzard]
Flowers bloomed, countless pink flowers gathered from Grass-type energy condensed out of thin air, forming a spinning miniature Twister that shot towards Ryū.
[Twister]
Ryū had no choice but to stop; he swung his tail forward forcefully, and a blue and white Twister was quickly used. At the same time, he quickly adjusted his position and circled around from above. The level difference was too great; his Twister couldn't cancel out Meganium's Petal Blizzard. Ryū did this only to slow down the approaching Petal Blizzard to buy himself time to dodge.
On the other side, Meganium's gaze was still focused on the collision point of the two moves; she didn't even notice that Ryū was approaching from above.
'The disadvantage of not having a Trainer to command is still too obvious.'
Ryū grinned, and ice-blue light gathered in his mouth.
[Icy Wind]