Chapter 43: Liz's Suspicion
Although Iris was now staying at the palace, she did not get to sleep with Will. It wasn't that she didn't want to. In fact, she wanted to very much and even tried using her Cuteness Technique on Liz multiple times. But on this point, Liz did not yield in the slightest.
With the excuse, "If you two are together, will anyone get any sleep?!" she firmly rejected Iris's request, rendering her Cuteness Technique completely ineffective. In the end, Will still slept comfortably nestled with Liz on their new, larger bed.
The next morning, Will woke up early on his own. This time, he was awake even before Liz. After evolving into a Dragonair, his body seemed to no longer require long periods of sleep to promote growth. The sound of Liz's breathing near his ear tickled the feathery wings on his head, and he couldn't help but twitch them.
Flutter, flutter.
That little twitch, however, was enough to wake Liz up.
"Lan? You're up so early today," Liz murmured, opening her eyes groggily. She subconsciously leaned over and gently kissed Will's cheek. This was a habit she had developed when he was still a Dratini. Most of the time, however, Will had been asleep, so he had never known that the first thing Liz did upon waking was give him a good morning kiss.
"Get up. Time to feed the Magikarp," Will said, floating up from the bed and flicking off the covers.
The cold air brushed against Liz's neck, making her shiver.
"Lan~ I want to stay under the covers a little longer," Liz said, hugging herself and trembling on the bed.
Will turned his head and glanced out the window. The sky was just beginning to lighten; the sun wasn't even out yet.
"Alright," Will said, pulling the covers back over Liz. At the same time, he extended his long tail from under the blanket, grabbed the clothes Liz had hung on the side of the bed, and pulled them under the covers to warm them up. It was a trick Will used to do for himself during the winters in his past life.
Returning to the warm bed, Liz immediately hugged him. Will closed his eyes and waited for another half an hour before getting up again. This time, Liz obediently put on the warm clothes and got out of bed. Will then coiled his tail around her and carried her to Iris's bedroom.
Thump.
Will rammed his head into the bedroom door and used his mouth to yank the blankets off the sleeping Iris and onto the floor.
"Nghh!!"
The sudden blast of cold air shocked the sleeping Iris fully awake.
Will dropped Liz onto the bed and then threw Iris's clothes over as well. The meaning was obvious: he wanted Liz to help Iris get dressed. His tail wasn't suited for such delicate work.
Five minutes later, a confused Liz and a still-drowsy Iris were led by Will to feed their respective Magikarp.
"Is Lan trying to get me to bond with this beast?" Liz wondered, watching Will stare at her intently as she fed the Magikarp.
Feeding a Magikarp was a trivial matter that could be left to others. But Will had specifically woken her up and made her do it personally. This action forced Liz to consider his motives.
"Yes," Will nodded. He had to admit, Liz had some rapport with him to be able to guess his objective.
The act of "feeding" is crucial for strengthening the relationship between a Trainer and their Pokémon. Previously, when Liz had arranged for Hestia to feed him, it had been an improper move. It only worked out because Will's soul and consciousness were that of a human. If he had really been a newborn Pokémon whose cognition was not yet fully developed, he would have likely mistaken Hestia for his Trainer and refused to listen to Liz.
The most obvious example was the Pokémon at the academy. If their owners and the scholars gave them an order at the same time, the Pokémon would subconsciously obey the scholar first. This was because from a young age, they spent most of their time with the scholars. Their check-ups, feedings, and training were all done with the scholars, so of course, they would see them as their real Trainers.
"I understand. I'll interact with the Magikarp more from now on," Liz said, finally confirming his intention after seeing him nod. Although she didn't fully understand why, if it was what Will wanted, she would certainly do it.
"You won't regret it," Will said with a slight smile.
Because of their communication barrier, he couldn't explain the full reason why she had to personally raise the Magikarp. But once it evolved into a Gyarados, he was sure that with her intelligence, she would figure it out.
On the other side, Iris wasn't much trouble either. Although the little girl didn't understand and couldn't guess his thoughts, she was obedient. When Will told her to feed the fish, she fed the fish. She even took the initiative to gently stroke the Magikarp's head.
After the feeding was done, Will prepared to head to Mt. Silver again. This time, it wasn't to catch Pokémon, but to train.
"Iris, let's go," Will said, coiling his tail around her and flying into the sky. Of course, he had to bring his personal experience-boost card with him. With the bonus from Iris's Dragon Force, his battles were easier, and he gained more experience.
"Lan! I have flower arranging class today!" Iris protested, patting his tail with her small hands.
"What's the point of flower arranging class? What good is that? It's much better to come with me and fight other Pokémon. It'll broaden your horizons," Will rolled his eyes.
War was on the horizon, and she was still learning flower arranging. Flower arranging couldn't save the Dragonite Kingdom. If Iris followed him, with her cleverness, she should be able to observe and learn something about Pokémon battles. That was the kind of knowledge that would actually be useful in the future.
"Lan! Take me home! Or my mother will spank me!"
"It's fine. She's not spanking me."
Half an hour later, Will arrived at Mt. Silver with a resigned Iris.
"I guess I'll just challenge those 'Alphas'," Will decided. He knew very well what kind of Pokémon he needed to defeat to get a large amount of experience. Besides, in the outer areas of Mt. Silver, only the Alpha Pokémon of the various territories had the ability to fight him.
He battled until noon, at which point he suddenly realized the little girl had a lunch problem. He could eat berries in the wild; it was a habit from his first life. But Iris couldn't. The little girl, who had been pampered and raised in the capital, was not as tough as the Liz from his past life.
"Eating berries for one meal should be fine," Will said, casually picking some Oran and Tangleberries for her.
Iris ate them happily, without any complaints. Although she had a princess's life, she didn't have a princess's spoiled attitude. She was a bit annoying at first, but she's actually a pretty good kid, Will thought, his heart softening a little as he watched her obediently gnaw on the berries. A princess of the great Dragonite Kingdom was now miserably eating berries in a forest with him.
"Lan, I'm a little tired," Iris said after lunch, leaning wearily against Will and closing her eyes.
Being woken up so early, then spending the morning running around a dangerous forest, was a bit much for an eight-year-old girl. The half-hour flight through the sky was particularly grueling. But Iris hadn't complained once from beginning to end and had obediently let him carry her everywhere. It seemed she really was extremely fond of "Lan."
"Then sleep for a while. I'll take you home when you wake up."
Looking at Iris's sleepy face, Will coiled the lower half of his body around her, protecting the little girl so she could nap in peace. He had made a decision.
For the time being, it was better to take Iris back to the Primal Beast Academy to train. The sub-adult Pokémon there could still give him a decent fight for a while. Although the leveling speed might not be as fast as training in Mt. Silver, it would be much easier on Iris. If she got tired or hungry, he could fly her back home in just five minutes, allowing her to enjoy delicious food or sleep comfortably in the palace.
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