The next day, after handling various affairs within his territory, Draconis immediately took Dratini and Servine to the wilderness for combat training.
This time, he chose Raticate, the evolved form of Rattata, as the opponent for his two Pokémon.
Raticate, which resembles a large rat, often walks on two legs, has mostly yellowish-brown fur, and its most prominent feature is its rapidly growing incisors, which are also Raticate's primary means of attack and foraging.
Although its appearance seems harmless, Raticate's personality is far more ferocious than it looks.
Within a few rounds, Dratini and Servine had several clearly visible injuries on their bodies.
Raticate were appearing in large numbers on this grassland.
As soon as Draconis defeated one, others would swarm him.
Draconis systematically directed his two Pokémon to cooperate, but it was clear that Servine's strong self-esteem made it believe it didn't need Dratini's intervention.
It slid forward alone, close to the ground, using Vine Whip and Magical Leaf to protect the weaker Dratini behind him.
While effective against the Raticate pack, the result was also obvious: he sustained many unnecessary injuries.
Meanwhile, Dratini remained almost unscathed while Servine fought multiple opponents.
Although the Raticate pack was successfully repelled in the end, the injuries Servine sustained far exceeded Draconis's expectations.
Draconis: "—"
Perhaps this was Servine's only flaw?
A young Snivy was fine, just a little tsundere, but once it evolved into Servine, its self-esteem would become very high.
It was well-known in future research circles that a newly evolved Servine would need a lot of time to cooperate with other Pokémon.
Looking at the proud Servine, Draconis said nothing.
Instead, he turned to find some stronger wild Pokémon.
It was a group of wild Bouffalant living on the grassland, numbering about twenty, and the leading ones were all muscular with shiny fur, exuding a noticeable sense of power just by looking at them.
Draconis used some special methods to lure three of the Bouffalant from the main group.
Looking at the Bouffalant charging fiercely towards them, Servine and Dratini immediately prepared for battle.
Two Vine Whip extended, and Servine tried to block the Bouffalant's headbutt attack, but the immense power directly pulled the Vine Whip away.
"Snivy?"
Servine was slightly startled.
But before it could react, two other Bouffalant followed closely.
Just at this critical moment, with Draconis's command, a strong current surged from Dratini's body.
Yellow electricity enveloped the two Bouffalant, almost instantly paralyzing them.
"Don't be stunned, Servine, Grass Knot!" Draconis commanded in a deep voice.
Servine immediately reacted, placing a hand on the ground, mobilizing the Grass-type energy from the earth, and creating tough, intertwined green grass around the feet of the two Bouffalant.
The Bouffalant, just recovering from paralysis, were about to charge again, but the next second, they tripped and fell to the ground.
Their massive bodies crashed heavily, and expressions of pain appeared on their faces.
As expected, with the cooperation of the two Pokémon and Draconis's command, these three wild Bouffalant quickly lost their ability to battle.
Draconis first treated the three Bouffalant, then compensated them with a few Berries, and finally watched them run off before turning to look at his two Pokémon.
"Servine, did you feel it?"
Draconis asked, feeding Potion to both Pokémon.
Servine paused slightly: "Snivy?"
"In that battle just now, do you know what would have happened if Dratini hadn't used Thunder Wave to help you control those two Bouffalant?"
Hearing this, Servine fell silent.
With the Bouffalant's strength, if they had collided with him, he would probably have been sent flying immediately.
Looking at Servine's expression, Draconis was a little worried that he would overthink, so he organized his words for a moment before slowly saying:
"Actually, I mean to say that you don't need to take all the responsibility on yourself. Perhaps before you met me, you always lived alone, so you were used to fighting by yourself."
"But now you are no longer alone. You have me, and you have Dratini. We are all your partners and teammates, and can even be said to be your closest family."
"I know you think Dratini is very weak now, not as good as you, so you naturally protect him behind you and face the enemy alone."
Dratini, beside him, also looked at Servine with his wet eyes.
"Woo~"
"Snivy—"
"But, Servine, it can't always be like this. The strength of one Pokémon is far less than that of two Pokémon."
"So, can you trust us more?"
Servine stared blankly at Draconis.
After a long while, it turned away.
"Snivy."
Seeing this, Draconis knew that Servine had agreed.
He would slowly try to cooperate with Dratini.
"Alright, then let's continue training!"
In the subsequent training, Draconis found that Servine indeed began to try to change.
He no longer fought alone but cooperated with Dratini in attacking.
Although Dratini was still very weak, the Thunder Wave and Dragon Tail he mastered were two excellent control skills.
After a day of intensive training, both little ones grew a lot.
After dinner, Draconis took them, Larvesta, and the Minccino to the forest hot spring in the forest for a bath.
Many wild Pokémon still gathered here, and although they were of different species, they seemed to have reached some kind of consensus in this forest hot spring: they only bathed and did not attack each other.
The steaming hot spring water continuously wafted mist, and wisps of cooking smoke rose from the distant territory.
Dratini leisurely swam slowly on the water, and Servine also closed his eyes, quietly enjoying this peaceful moment.
The warm hot spring water helped them relieve their fatigue.
Larvesta disliked water; he honestly stayed on a rock by the shore, dozing off, because water would wet the down on his body.
In contrast, the Minccino had fewer concerns; they splashed into the hot spring like dumplings, thoroughly cleaning their fluffy tails with water.
Anyway, Draconis would help them dry off afterward!
Draconis, meanwhile, closed his eyes and rested, quietly enjoying this rare moment of relaxation with his Pokémon.
He was not worried about encountering danger because there were also Knights Order personnel patrolling nearby.
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