Chapter 33: War Begins
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed since Will started at the Primal Beast Academy. He had now fully adapted to his identity and daily life as a Dratini. His movements in the water were incredibly fast, swifter than most ordinary Water-type Pokémon.
Of course, that was only the smallest of the changes. The larger ones were clearly visible on his status screen.
[Dratini]
Potential: Blue
Level: 25
Type: Dragon
Ability: Shed Skin
Height: 3.7m
Weight: 7kg
Moves: Focus Energy (Inherited), Wrap, Leer, Twister, Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Agility, Slam
The one thing Will was unsatisfied with was his leveling speed. He had underestimated the difficulty of raising a Dragon-type Pokémon. With each level, the experience required seemed to nearly double; it was absurd.
Over the past month, for about seven or eight days, Will had brought Iris with him while he trained, using the little girl's Dragon Force to enhance his power and accelerate his growth. Yet even with that boost, his level had only just reached 25. The closer he got to the Lv. 30 threshold, the more anxious he became, unable to calm down.
His molting speed was becoming more and more frequent. He was now molting five times every two days, which annoyed him to no end. He just wanted to hurry up and evolve into a Dragonair. Not only would he gain the ability to fly, but the frequency of his molting would also drop significantly. Life would become much more comfortable then.
Aside from his leveling speed, Will was very satisfied with everything else. His height and weight, in particular, had already exceeded the Pokédex values by more than double, which was a sign of healthy development. Of course, it was because he was too healthy and his diet was too nutritious that his molting frequency had increased so dramatically.
Arriving at the Primal Beast Academy again, Will wriggled his long body across the plains. Times had changed. Many of the Pokémon he had beaten up before now came over to greet him. These were the ones he had defeated in fair fights, and they respected his strength, holding no grudges. But they could not become his followers. Because they were not of the same species, they could not feel a true sense of admiration and recognition for a stronger being from another clan.
As for his territory, it was still the same small lake in the corner. The larger lakes on the plains were occupied by several sub-adult Pokémon above Lv. 30, and he couldn't beat them yet. For now, among the Pokémon below Lv. 30 at the academy, basically none were his match. He had become the undisputed top dog of the juvenile group.
However, likely because of his size, the scholars at the academy had already classified him as part of the "adolescent group." In terms of level, he did qualify. But in terms of the Dragonite line's growth stages, he was still a bona fide member of the juvenile group. Only after evolving into a Dragonair would he be an adolescent.
But he knew this, and the beast scholars did not. Will was the first Dratini they had ever seen. They naturally wouldn't know that he was still in his first stage.
And Will felt this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. This misunderstanding allowed him to enter the sub-adult group's roster earlier, letting him fight more suitable and stronger Pokémon to gain more experience.
He guessed that many people, seeing his massive size but lack of evolution, were beginning to suspect that he was a Pokémon with no evolved form. Many were probably starting to feel sorry for Liz. They believed that a Pokémon with no evolution was one with limited potential and wouldn't be very strong in the future.
However, Liz and Iris paid no mind to these rumors. In fact, they would be thrilled if Will had no evolved form. They had seen other cute Pokémon evolve into forms that were difficult to describe. If Will were to become ugly after evolving, they would rather he stay in his current form forever. Liz had even had a dream about Will evolving, which she personally referred to as a nightmare. And as Will grew larger and larger, she often felt a sense of anxiety about this.
It was inevitable. But Will would certainly not stop his path to power just for the sake of looks. If this were the Era of Leagues, he might consider it. But this was the Era of Primal Beasts. Just because the war hadn't arrived yet didn't mean it wouldn't. As the Queen's Pokémon, being too weak would be a disgrace. He had a lot to consider.
Besides, many Pokémon traded their looks for strength. The Dragonite line was already quite good in that regard. Dratini was maxed out on cuteness. Dragonair was a little less cute but looked more beautiful and elegant, even a bit divine. As for Dragonite... it was goofy and cute. Its looks couldn't be called bad either.
"Starting today, I'll challenge the sub-adult Pokémon. I'll test the waters with some of the weaker ones first."
It was another unremarkable day of battle. He was starting to get tired of this daily routine of fighting. If he could, he hoped his next life would be in the Era of Leagues, where he could live a life of lazy relaxation.
...
Returning to the palace in the evening, Will noticed that Liz wasn't at the door to greet him as usual. He sensed that something might have happened. He shook off Hestia, who was about to take him to dinner, and went to the main office by himself.
CRASH!
He rammed the office door open. The moment he entered, he saw Liz frowning, a heavy, irresolvable sorrow on her face.
"Lan, you're back."
Liz knew it was Will without even looking up. In the entire palace, only Will and an angry Hestia would open a door like that. Seeing her precious Lan return, Liz's expression softened slightly.
"What's wrong? You look like you just ate a bitter melon," Will said, slithering over to Liz's side. He wound his way up her long legs, wrapping most of his body around her, and finally poked his head out from beside her neck to look at the desk.
On the desk was a letter. It didn't have many words, but unfortunately, Will couldn't recognize a single one. He didn't know if it was because the script of this era was ancient or if the Pokémon world had its own unique writing system, but he couldn't understand it at all. It wasn't just that it wasn't Chinese; it wasn't any language he had ever seen on Earth.
"It's nothing. You don't need to know, Lan."
Liz could understand Will's intent. She couldn't understand his specific words, but she could now somehow sense the meaning behind them. Liz didn't know why, but the beast scholars had told her it meant her bond and affection with Lan had grown deeper.
"What do you mean I don't need to know? Tell me right now."
Annoyed, Will widened his eyes and tickled Liz's stomach with his tail.
"Ahahaha, stop! I can't take it! I'll tell you," Liz laughed, swatting at his tail. She looked at the letter on the desk, her expression growing complicated.
"Last month, our people from the Dragonite Kingdom and people from the Kingdom of the Land met in a valley. They had a conflict over a field of wild medicinal herbs."
"I didn't pay it much mind at first. I didn't think we'd have any further dealings with this Kingdom of the Land."
"But I was wrong. The new king of the Land Kingdom is very ambitious. He wants to cross the Mt. Silver range and conquer the entire Dragonite Kingdom. He has repeatedly sent small teams to infiltrate our territory and gather intelligence."
"War... is probably about to begin."
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