Chapter 58: How On Earth Did You Recognize Me?!
Liz was in the middle of a strategy discussion with Elder Maeve when a soldier burst in, announcing that three giant Pokémon had rushed into the city but had not caused any casualties.
"Giant?"
The first thing Liz thought of was her Alan. Ryū's body was 9 meters long, and even when coiled on the ground, he stood more than 3 meters tall. But when she heard there were 'three' of them, she second-guessed herself.
"Take me to them."
"I'll go too," Elder Maeve said, getting up to follow.
"Huo ha, huo ha~"
Charmander walked closely by Liz's leg, his small hand gripping the hem of her skirt as he looked around vigilantly. Anyone who dared to approach Liz would have to face his world-destroying flames!
Elder Maeve and Liz quickly arrived at the scene, guided by the soldier. Their expressions immediately became strange. Charmander, too, dropped the skirt hem in a daze.
Ryū stood there calmly, observing the group of Trainers surrounding them. Beside him, two enormous, irritable-looking blue Pokémon glared ferociously at the soldiers, looking extremely agitated.
"Lord Alan has brought back strange Pokémon again."
"Yeah, the previous ones were one thing, but these two are just too much."
"They look ferocious and untamable! They absolutely cannot be allowed near Queen Liz."
"What should we do? Should we attack?"
"No! Lord Alan is still there! If he gets hurt, the Queen will be furious. You didn't see her expression that day..."
The surrounding Trainers were in an uproar. They had just arrived in Cherrygrove City and hadn't even had a proper rest before being thrown into another tense situation. The two Gyarados were so large that their oppressive presence made the soldiers feel like they were completely outmatched.
"Finally, they're here. If they were any slower, these two might have gone berserk," Ryū thought, breathing a slight sigh of relief when he saw Liz appear.
When Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, the structure of its brain cells reorganizes, causing its personality to become violent. With so many people and Pokémon showing hostility, the two Gyarados were naturally getting angry. If Ryū hadn't been there, they might have already caused massive destruction.
Of course, the real point was that Ryū was afraid the two Gyarados would be defeated by the Trainers. They looked intimidating, but their actual combat power wasn't that high yet.
In the human world, two men of the same size and weight might be evenly matched in a collision. But in the Pokémon world, a Lv. 40 Pikachu, standing 0.4 meters tall and weighing 6 kilograms, could easily defeat a Lv. 20 Gyarados, which was 13 meters long and weighed 470 kilograms, if they both used Tackle.
This was a magical world that emphasized levels, types, moves, and abilities. Height and weight were not useless, but their impact was relatively small.
"Alan?" Liz said, pushing past the guards and walking straight toward him.
"Queen Liz..." a guard started, trying to stop her, but was silenced by a fierce roar from Charmander and quickly pulled his hand back.
"It's okay," Liz waved her hand. She trusted that Alan wouldn't bring dangerous Pokémon into the city, let alone near her.
Besides, these two Pokémon felt strange to her. They didn't feel... dangerous. It was a contradictory feeling. Her eyes told her these two massive creatures were a threat, but her intuition told her they meant no harm and that she could approach.
"Hmm?" Liz tilted her head. She wasn't sure if it was an illusion, but she could have sworn she saw a hint of affection in the eyes of the one to Ryū's left.
"Well? Take a good look. Do you recognize them?" Ryū asked, extending his tail to pat the Gyarados beside him.
"Roar..."
Liz's Gyarados tried its best to lower its massive head, bringing it closer to her. Liz was still a bit intimidated by the ferocious face and gaping mouth, but seeing that Ryū was calm, she bravely reached out and stroked its head to show friendliness.
"You don't recognize it, huh? Gyarados, show Liz your best trick. The move you always used to do in front of her."
Ryū could tell from her expression that she hadn't figured it out, so he let Gyarados take the lead. After evolving, a Gyarados's intelligence increases dramatically. It could now understand more complex language.
"Roar!" Gyarados nodded.
Then, under everyone's bewildered gaze, it lay down on the ground and began to flop around vigorously, twisting its massive body.
Slap, slap, slap.
Its huge tail wildly slapped the ground, kicking up gusts of wind and dust, like a fish out of water.
Ryū: ...
Liz: ...
Charmander: ...
Everyone else: ...
They all stared at the Gyarados's bizarre actions, which looked like a sudden epileptic seizure.
"Little Carp?!" Liz's eyes widened as she watched the Gyarados on the ground relentlessly using Splash. She raised a hand to cover her open mouth in shock.
"Holy crap, how did you even recognize that?!" Ryū looked at Liz in disbelief. The Gyarados's performance was completely abstract, yet she had somehow recognized it.
"What?! That's that red fish?"
"Didn't the researcher say that was a useless Pokémon?"
"That thing evolved into this?!"
"Queen Liz must have known all along! Just like with Lord Alan, she's the most insightful Pokémon expert in the world!"
"I will never question the choices of Queen Liz and Lord Alan again!"
After learning the true identity of the two Gyarados, the Trainers lowered their weapons and soothed their Pokémon.
"Huo ha?!" Charmander, after snapping out of his shock, looked at his two companions in amazement. He couldn't believe they had become so tall and mighty after just one afternoon.
"Huo ha..." Charmander looked at the two giant Gyarados enviously, then ran to Ryū and patted his leg anxiously.
"Don't worry," Ryū reassured him. "If you're obedient, you'll get bigger and bigger, and one day you'll even fly!"
"Huo ha!" Charmander nodded vigorously and patted his chest with confidence.
Nearby, Liz was observing her Gyarados's impressive new form.
"Roar~" Gyarados squinted its eyes and smiled, letting Liz observe. If a stranger stared like that, it would have sent them flying with a tail whip long ago, but it was okay for Liz. It even stretched out its body so she could get a better look.
"Roar..." The other Gyarados, belonging to Ryuuki, could only watch this scene enviously. It turned its head to look north, in the direction of the Royal Capital.
"We'll be going back in a few days," Ryū said to it. "Then you can see Ryuuki."
"Roar..." The Gyarados nodded, though it still didn't seem to be in a very good mood.