Chapter 37: The Most Beautiful Beast
In the capital of the Dragonite Kingdom, many people on the streets saw Will as he flew through the sky.
"Whose beast is that?"
"So pretty, so beautiful."
"It feels a bit divine, like the dragons described in the legends."
"It's so big, it must be very strong."
"Doesn't it look a little familiar? It's like..."
...
Humans are, without a doubt, visual creatures. They often judge a being's goodness or strength based on its appearance. If they encountered a ferocious-looking beast like a Nidoking, Onix, or Rhydon, they would definitely keep their distance at once, even though they knew that any beast appearing in the capital most likely had an owner. These beasts wouldn't harm people without reason, but the people couldn't help their innate fear.
But when faced with a Dragonair of such exceptional beauty, they could only stop and stare in awe.
Will, flying through the sky, paid no mind to what the people below were thinking. He just wanted to fly to the palace as quickly as possible and see the look on Liz's face when she saw him.
In the palace, Hestia, passing through a second-floor corridor, seemed to catch something in her peripheral vision. She turned her head to look out the window.
"Is that... Lord Lan?"
Hestia's expression was one of shock at first, but she quickly calmed down. She was different from the common folk, after all. For the past two months, Hestia had been responsible for feeding Will and waking him up at least half the time. With her familiarity, she could naturally recognize at a glance that this was the evolved Will, not some strange new beast.
Besides, the appearance of a Dratini and a Dragonair wasn't drastically different. The main changes were in size and some physical details, but it was still easy to see that Dragonair was the evolved form of Dratini. If Will had started as a Magikarp or a Feebas, Hestia might not have been able to recognize him.
"Lord Lan has evolved? How beautiful... Oh, right, I must tell Lady Liz at once."
Hestia stared at the soaring Will, a gasp of admiration escaping her lips. But she quickly snapped back to her senses and began to run towards Liz's office.
In the study.
Knock, knock.
"Enter," Liz's gentle voice sounded, and she looked up towards the door.
"Lady Liz, Lord Lan has returned," Hestia said, rushing in, slightly out of breath.
"Hm? Why is he back so early today? Did that child skip school again?" Liz frowned. She remembered that it wasn't time for school to be out yet. This reminded her of an incident a few days ago. Iris had been scolded by her tutor, had run crying to the academy, and had convinced Lan to run away with her. The two little ones had hidden under a stone bridge in the city for a whole day before being found by the royal guard. That day, Liz had given both of them a firm spanking.
"No, my lady! Lord Lan, he's evolved! He flew here!"
"What?!"
Hearing this, Liz shot up from her chair with a whoosh. She casually took off the glasses on her face, tossed them onto the desk, and, lifting the hem of her dress, ran towards the palace exit.
Hestia sighed helplessly and could only start running to catch up. But to her surprise, she found she couldn't keep up with Liz! While she was a little tired, she was at least wearing flat shoes. Liz was wearing heels that were at least eight centimeters high, yet she was running so fast.
Liz rushed out of the palace and immediately looked up at the sky. The noble, elegant figure in the heavens was descending towards her.
"Lan!"
Liz recognized him at a glance. At the same time, an expression of delighted surprise appeared on her face. Her greatest fear was that Lan would become ugly after evolving. But now, it seemed his good looks were still on point. He had simply transitioned from "cute" to "beautiful," and was still utterly captivating.
"Ying! (Liz!)"
Seeing Liz, Will immediately flew towards her. Unfortunately, he could no longer just shove his head into her embrace like he did as a Dratini. The small, round pearl on his forehead had become a cute little horn upon evolution. This horn was quite hard and might hurt Liz. So, he could only land on the ground and let her find an angle to get close without getting poked.
"Lan~ you've changed so much."
Liz walked up to him, tilted her head back, stood on her tiptoes, and wrapped her arms around Will's neck. Will was very tall now. Even with two-thirds of his body coiled on the ground, he still stood nearly three meters high. Liz herself was not short, with a height of over one-point-seven meters, but even on her tiptoes, she couldn't touch the top of his head.
"Is it okay? I'm just a bit bigger," Will said, lowering his body as much as possible so Liz could more easily observe his new form. In his opinion, the difference between a Dragonair and a Dratini wasn't that great.
"Let me get a good look at you."
Liz guided Will's head in front of her, blinking her light red eyes as she carefully examined him. The guards and maids in the palace courtyard couldn't help but focus their gazes on the pair. They couldn't help it. A Dragonair's beauty was just that high. It gave off the illusion of being constantly shrouded in a divine aura. They couldn't stop themselves from looking at him.
If you were to ask which was the most majestic beast in the entire Dragonite Kingdom, they might argue. But if you were to ask which was the most beautiful, they would now all answer, "Lord Lan."
In the entire Kanto and Johto regions, excluding Legendary Pokémon, there was only one that could compare with a Dragonair in terms of "beauty": Ninetales. And for a Vulpix to evolve into a Ninetales, it needed a Fire Stone. It was rare to see a Ninetales in the wild, and the Dragonite Kingdom didn't even know of its existence.
As for Milotic, Gardevoir, Alolan Ninetales, Serperior, and Sylveon... these beasts, whose beauty could rival or even surpass a Dragonair's, were mostly found in other regions. They were rare even in the Era of Leagues' Kanto and Johto, let alone the current Era of Primal Beasts.
Therefore, at this stage in the Dragonite Kingdom, no other beast could compete with Will in the looks department.
"The little white fins on the side of your head have become little wings. Is that how you fly, Lan?"
"Your little nose is gone. What a shame, I loved pinching it."
"So the little bump on your face was just a horn that hadn't grown in yet."
"What's this little blue pearl under your neck? It's cool to the touch. You have two on your tail, too."
...
Liz held Will, touching and looking at him from every angle, endlessly curious. She seemed determined to find every single change in his body. At the same time, her heart couldn't help but feel a sense of bittersweet loss. Although the Dragonair was beautiful, it certainly wasn't as cute as the Dratini had been, which made Liz a little sad. She would never be able to pinch Lan's little nose again.
"Liz, let me take you for a flight~" Will said, happily flicking his tail. He was still giddy from his evolution and wanted to show off his flying ability to Liz.
No sooner said than done. Without another word, Will used his long body to scoop Liz up and coil her onto his back, behind his neck.
"Eh?! Lan, what are you doing?" Liz was startled by his actions. She subconsciously hugged his neck tightly, which was exactly what Will wanted.
The next moment, he shot up into the sky with Liz, heading towards the gray, overcast heavens.
"LADY LIZ!!!"
Hestia's belated scream echoed from below, but it was too late. She could no longer stop him.
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter