Chapter 56: The Queen's Purpose
"This child is a friend I met when I first came to Cherrygrove City to take up my post. There are many Pokémon like this here," Elder Maeve explained, noticing Ryū and Charmander's curiosity.
'Well, that makes sense. Cherrygrove City has a strong floral scent and is located in the south, so it's a natural home for Ledyba,' Ryū nodded to himself. It seemed he would be seeing quite a few of them in this city.
However, he wasn't particularly interested in training a Ledyba. This wasn't to say they had no potential; every single Pokémon in this world had value, and any one of them could be trained to become incredibly powerful. Giovanni's Beedrill and Pryce's Delibird were both famous examples within the elite circle.
Many might not realize it, but both Professor Oak and Giovanni had trained and used Ledyba—not their evolution, Ledian, but Ledyba itself.
So, Ryū's choice wasn't because the Pokémon wasn't worth training; he knew his judgment was far inferior to that of legends like Oak and Giovanni. He just wasn't confident that he and Liz, a new Trainer, could raise a Ledian to that same elite level. As a novice himself, he didn't dare to experiment like the masters did. He would prioritize Pokémon with higher base stats and stronger innate potential.
"Liz, what brings you here this time?" Maeve asked, her tone shifting to business.
"You should be aware of the current situation between the Royal Dragon Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom, correct?"
"Yes," Elder Maeve nodded seriously. She was no ordinary woman; she had faced life-and-death situations many times alongside Liz's grandmother and wasn't frightened by the talk of war.
"Currently, the Earth Kingdom is holding back from an all-out war, maintaining only minor skirmishes with us. I can guess the reason, and it suits my plans perfectly. The new Pokémon training program for our army still needs time to be fully implemented."
"So, how can Cherrygrove City help?" Maeve frowned. She felt that a town of this size couldn't possibly provide significant aid to the front lines. That left only one possibility... they would need to use the sea.
"There have been many voices of dissent against the new King within the Earth Kingdom," Liz explained. "He has delayed the war precisely because he must deal with these internal factions. I want that internal chaos to last a little longer and become a little more intense. It would be best if they consumed a large amount of their strength fighting amongst themselves. At that time, I will seize the initiative and annex the Earth Kingdom in one fell swoop."
"I want to send people to infiltrate their kingdom, to secretly support those causing internal strife and cooperate with them to some extent."
"However, the land route is too difficult. The Earth Kingdom's outposts are strong, but they have few defenses along the sea route, likely because they assume we are like them and have not yet mastered sea travel. I plan to have our forces go by water."
"And when the war finally breaks out," Liz continued, her eyes sharp, "I hope to have a route that allows me to send a portion of our Trainers by sea to set up ambushes behind their lines, cut off their supplies, and besiege their army in the valleys of the Silver Mountain Range."
Liz calmly explained her plan to Elder Maeve, who nodded and listened, occasionally offering her own opinions. She seemed completely unfazed by Liz's strategic demeanor.
Ryū, on the other hand, was deeply stirred. He had never known what Liz did all day in her study, mainly because he couldn't read the language of this world. Now he understood. Liz hadn't been idle; she had been making extensive preparations.
"Charmander, we also need to work hard to become stronger."
"Char! (I understand, Big Brother!)" Charmander replied, though he didn't really understand why. He just knew he had to listen to his Big Brother. Only obedient Pokémon got to fly.
He didn't know what else Liz and Maeve discussed after that, because the two of them went into the bathhouse together. Ryū was no stranger to Liz's body—he had bathed with her all the time when he was a Dratini—but he certainly didn't want to see Elder Maeve's. He pulled Charmander along to get familiar with their new environment.
Time flew by, and soon it was noon. Liz was still in discussion with Maeve; the plan was clearly complex. Ryū and Charmander waited boredly until the rest of the army finally arrived.
When he saw the wronged and pitiful expressions on the two Magikarps' faces, he felt a little awkward.
"...Don't be sad. I'll take you to the sea to level up this afternoon," Ryū said, awkwardly flapping the two fins next to his head. The presence of the two Magikarp was so low, like that of ordinary fish. If they evolved into Gyarados, he definitely wouldn't ignore them.
"Char~" Charmander saw his two little friends for the first time and waved a friendly hello.
"Gurgle gurgle~" x2
The two Magikarps' moods instantly improved, partly because they were distracted by their new friend, but more importantly, because they heard the word 'sea'.
Before being brought home by Ryū, they had lived their entire lives as small-pond fish in the lake on Mt. Silver. They had never even heard the word 'sea' before. Now, though their minds were still blank, their hearts filled with excitement and anticipation. The very genes in their bones grew restless. It was a feeling as if they were born to go to that place.
"Looking forward to it, haha. I'm also looking forward to your new look," Ryū grinned.
These Magikarp were different from him. They were already at a decent level, at least Lv. 15 or higher. Their experience bars weren't as demanding as his, and they only needed to reach around Lv. 20 to evolve. It wouldn't take long at all.
"Char? (What about me, Big Brother?)" Charmander asked, pointing to himself.
"Wait until Liz is free, and she'll take you to battle some Ledyba. She should understand by now that she needs to train you. For now, just stay by her side and protect her."
Ryū couldn't do two things at once. Besides, he had to level up himself—that was his absolute priority. He would only help Liz train her Pokémon on the condition that it didn't delay his own progress.
"Char! (I understand!)" Charmander nodded vigorously, turned, and immediately wiggled his little butt to find Liz.
"Liz is going to be so confused," Ryū thought with a smile. She would definitely be curious as to why Charmander was suddenly following her everywhere. Because her first Pokémon was him—a very unique case—she wouldn't understand that it's normal for Pokémon to stay by their Trainer's side. It was freaks like him who stayed away from their Trainer all day.
In fact... in their current state, he wasn't really Liz's Pokémon at all. They were more like family. Liz and Charmander and Magikarp—they were the real Trainer and Pokémon.