Chapter 674: Wow! So Many Dratini! (Requesting Double Monthly Tickets)

Little one. The Dratini struggled, wriggling its body and rubbing against the shrub branches and leaves to scrape off the thin, transparent "film" covering its surface.

Although a snake-like creature one meter long could hardly be called a little one, judging by the Dratini's appearance alone, it was still very cute.

—This held true even though, when it propped itself up, it could reach Luo Mu's waist.

Seemingly sensing the approach of an unfamiliar aura, the struggling Dratini lifted its small head, revealing its face with white fins on either side and a large, round, white nose.

Those pair of wet, purple eyes were curiously looking at Luo Mu and the others.

There was neither fear nor terror, only the clear curiosity of one innocent to the ways of the world.

It was evident that this Dratini had been well protected.

Realizing that after struggling for so long it had only managed to rub off the skin around its head, the Dratini seemed somewhat discouraged; it looked at Luo Mu with large, watery eyes and let out a soft, sticky "ying ying" cry.

—It seemed to be asking Luo Mu for help, wondering if he could assist it in shedding its skin.

Looking at its appearance, Luo Mu inexplicably recalled the Dragonite Leader's past experiences.

The childhoods of the two could not have been more different.

Compared to the former Dragonite Leader, who had hidden at the bottom of Big Pot Lake, surviving on sunken leftovers and scraping off its daily shed skin bit by bit on its own...

... this Dratini's quality of life was visibly far superior, having the protection of elders during its most vulnerable stage.

Perhaps this is one of the meanings of a clan's existence.

"Don't move around recklessly, okay?"

Exhaling a breath, Luo Mu squatted down helplessly.

The Dratini seemed to understand, directly rubbing its body against Luo Mu's hanging palm.

Luo Mu carefully lifted the edge of the shedding skin that had begun to crack open from the Dratini's head and gently began the process of "peeling."

Although his movements were slightly unfamiliar at first, he quickly got the hang of it.

After all, back when his Dragonite was still a Dratini, Luo Mu had personally helped it clean and peel off its shed skin every single day.

It was just that ever since the Dragonite completed its final evolution and no longer needed to shed skin to grow, Luo Mu's "craftsmanship" had gradually become rusty.

After getting back to it, he quickly mastered the trick again.

"Bo wu~"

The Dragonite, who was holding Victini and Terapagos, also leaned over; those big eyes stared at the Dratini, seemingly filled with some memory and nostalgia.

Even the soft, sticky "ying ying" sounds the Dratini made out of comfort were sounds it had once made itself.

After all, wriggling around to rub it off oneself and having someone manually help peel it off were two completely different experiences.

In the intervals of shedding, Luo Mu also tried touching the Dratini's newly grown "skin."

He carefully felt the cold, slippery sensation at his fingertips; he could clearly perceive the texture of the scales, yet they didn't feel rough against the hand, instead possessing a soft and tender touch just like the Dratini's voice.

Indeed, a Dratini felt best to the touch right after shedding its skin.

A look of nostalgia spread across Luo Mu's face.

Some people might feel that he shouldn't use his own "external force" to help the Dratini shed its skin, arguing that this equates to pulling up seedlings to help them grow, which would cause the Dratini to ultimately become a stunted little dragon.

Whether this claim is merely a rumor can be set aside for now.

At least based on what Luo Mu knew, along with the knowledge he had gained from the Dragon Tamer Clan...

... Dratini mostly shed their skin once a day; the reason being that the life energy within a Dratini's body was expanding, a process that could not be suppressed, causing the Dratini's body size to gradually increase.

Until it approached half the size of a Dragonair, with an average figure of around 1.8 meters in length, it would be ready for evolution at any moment.

Precisely because this was the Dratini's natural growth from the inside out, shedding skin was equivalent to casting off constraints while growing; whether it struggled free on its own or received external help, it would have no effect on the Dratini.

After all, in essence, it had already completed its growth before shedding the skin at that time.

Of course, it could not be denied that during the continuous wriggling, the Dratini's physical constitution did indeed receive a certain degree of exercise.

That would also lead to a loss of stamina and energy, creating a state of weakness similar to that after shedding skin.

Luo Mu clearly remembered that perhaps because his own Dragonite had stayed inside its Pokémon Egg for too long, its speed of shedding skin was slightly faster than the average of once a day.

Under normal circumstances, it could shed once in most of a day, and sometimes it would complete a shed in just half a day.

Perhaps this was also one of the reasons why the Dragonite, as a late bloomer, grew so quickly.

Under such circumstances, if it were made to wriggle and shed its skin again, the dual loss of stamina and energy would lead to shortened training time, and in more extreme cases, there might be no opportunity for training at all.

Which plan was worth considering was obvious at a glance.

"Alright, that should be about enough," Luo Mu said in a low voice.

Accompanied by a decompressing sound from the tip of the Dratini's tail, the final thin film detached from its tail tip, becoming a relatively complete shed skin.

Looking at this shed skin, Luo Mu's face was full of sighs.

The skin shed by a Dratini was a goal pursued by most luxury brands; boots made from tanned shed skin were sought after by thousands, making them a veritable super-high-grade commodity.

A large portion of Lance's family funding likely came from this source, and Luo Mu's travel funds in the past were also scraped together this way.

Looking again at the road he had just walked, the casually piled shed skins made one's heart burn with desire.

However, it was fortunate that the giant Dragonite's thick fog provided protection; otherwise, this "Treasure Island" would absolutely be pursued by some greedy hyenas.

"Speaking of which, it's been nearly a year since Hunter J was locked up in prison; should I find an opportunity to go mock... uh, visit her and see if she has been reformed?"

While Luo Mu's mind wandered with random thoughts, it didn't stop him from squatting down, holding the shed skin, and waving it in front of the Dratini, which looked extremely comfortable and seemed to have grown slightly larger.

"Can I have this?"

"Mi ying?"

The Dratini tilted its head, not understanding why this friendly two-legged beast wanted its shed skin.

Clearly, they were everywhere.

However, since this was the first time it had felt such comfort while shedding, the Dratini, whose affection for Luo Mu had greatly increased, nodded gently, indicating that Luo Mu could do whatever he wanted with the shed skin.

"Hehe, then I won't stand on ceremony."

Luo Mu turned around and placed the Dratini's shed skin into a wooden box he took out from his backpack; this was the fruit of his labor, and having received the owner's permission, naturally, it would be foolish not to take it.

As for the shed skins littering the ground, though saying this feels like a waste of treasure, skins that aren't fresh and properly preserved immediately will yield boots of poor quality.

Having been exposed to every element of nature, some parts have weathered, others have dried and cracked, and still others have lost their former flexibility.

Otherwise, how could Luo Mu, who would even scrape up a handful of dirt just to reach White Silver Mountain, possibly turn a blind eye to those shed skins?

Helping the Dratini shed its skin was merely a simple task; just as Luo Mu was about to bid farewell to it as it affectionately rubbed against his pant leg and continue forward to explore this Dragonite Island—

Accompanied by the rustling sound of leaves being pushed aside, two figures appeared within the field of vision of him and the Dragonites.

They were two Dragonair.

The Dratini turned its head to look, then immediately excitedly "wriggled" over toward them.

Seeing its reaction, Luo Mu roughly guessed the identities of these two Dragonair.

—Most likely, they were the Dratini's parents.

Sure enough.

After the Dratini approached, the two Dragonair first affectionately bumped heads with it, then carefully looked it up and down with concern.

Upon discovering that the scales on its body looked as brand-new as if they had just rolled off the production line, a hint of relief clearly flashed in their eyes.

It seemed the Dratini's molting had successfully concluded.

"Druu~"

After confirming the Dratini's condition, the two Dragonair turned their gaze toward Luo Mu and the others, vocalizing a greeting.

"Boo-ruu~"

Thanks to its three godmothers, the Dragonite, which waved its claws, was quite friendly toward Dragonair and was the first to respond to them.

"Hello there."

Luo Mu also raised his hand to return the greeting.

The two Dragonair exchanged glances; they were not surprised by Luo Mu's presence and even nodded to him.

After all, this human had been personally brought back by the Guardian Deity, the giant Dragonite, so he certainly wasn't any sort of bad person.

The fellow Dragonite by his side, in whom the Guardian Deity placed great hopes and wished to see participate in the clan chief election, served as further proof of this.

Therefore, even seeing the Dratini staying by Luo Mu's side, they felt not the slightest bit nervous.

Nor would they, like some overprotective Pokémon, launch an attack without asking questions first.

The two Dragonair slithered over to the Dragonite's side and, looking at this outsider of their own kind, issued a very friendly invitation.

"Druu~" (Want to come take a look at our settlement on the island~)

"Boo-ruu?" (Settlement?)

The Dragonite blinked its eyes, then immediately turned an inquiring gaze toward Luo Mu.

Without needing to call Moltres out of its Poké Ball to translate, Luo Mu could roughly understand what the Dragonite's gaze meant.

Most likely, the Dragonair had issued an invitation to the Dragonite; this was exactly the trope from the anime plot.

"Just follow your own instinct."

Luo Mu gave a response that left the decision entirely up to the Dragonite.

"Boo-ruu!"

The Dragonite's eyes lit up; it turned its head, nodded to the Dragonair, and accepted the invitation.

Today was the first time it had seen so many of its own kind, so it was indeed curious about their settlement.

Was it like the Great Pot Lake where its godmothers once lived, that ecological hodgepodge stew?

Led by the two Dragonair, Luo Mu's party of "people" advanced toward the interior of the forest.

Probably because the distance wasn't too far, they had no particular intention of flying.

At this moment, the little Dratini had already climbed onto Luo Mu; like a scarf, it coiled around him several times and settled there.

Had it been any other serpentine creature, Luo Mu would have long since suffocated and died violently.

Fortunately, the little Dratini merely enjoyed trying novel sensations and coiled loosely with great moderation.

After walking for about ten-plus minutes, suddenly, a scent drifted through the air into his nostrils, causing Luo Mu's nose wings to twitch a few times.

"... A water source?"

He murmured as if talking to himself.

Moreover, this was no ordinary water source.

—It was fresh water.

Luo Mu could still distinguish between the salty, fishy odor belonging to seawater and the unique, faint scent belonging to fresh water.

Pushing aside a layer of bushes, the view suddenly opened up.

Luo Mu's gaze swept forward.

Before his eyes lay an extremely spacious open area; instead of dense trees, there stood a massive fresh water lake.

On the grasslands near the lake, Dragonite and Dragonair were scattered about, huddling together to bask in the sun.

Within the lake itself, many Dratini, rarely seen in the outside world, swam about playing and frolicking, unleashing their youthful nature.

In terms of numbers, they far exceeded the Dragonite and Dragonair gathered on the beach.

"Good heavens... If Lance were to see this scene, his Dao heart would probably shatter."

Images floated into his mind of when he visited the Blackthorn Clan's ancestral home in Blackthorn City, recalling how Lance and Clair had proudly introduced the dozens or even hundreds of Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite raised by the Blackthorn Clan.

Luo Mu murmured as he spoke.

"Bago?"

Hearing Luo Mu call out, Terapagos tilted its little head over in confusion.

"Sorry, I wasn't calling you."

Stroking its little head, Luo Mu offered an comforting explanation.

At the same time.

Their arrival also caught the attention of the Dragonites and Dragonairs resting leisurely here.

Several wild Dragonites came trotting over and beckoned to Luo Mu's Dragonite with a crook of their fingers.

—This was an invitation to spar.

They wanted to see what qualified Luo Mu's Dragonite to be recommended by the Guardian, the giant Dragonite, and gain the right to compete for the position of clan leader.

Although Dragonites were generally gentle and honest Pokémon, the creed of strength above all still prevailed among them.

—Only a leader possessing sufficient strength could lead them in guarding their own "utopia."

The Dragonite rejected the wild Dragonites' challenge.

For rather than participating in the selection to become the leader of the Dragonite clan, it preferred to stay by Luo Mu's side.

It had been raised personally by Luo Mu; it could not imagine a life without him, nor would it stay here for that reason.

Not to mention that Luo Mu himself had verbally refused the Dragonite clan chief; the Dragonite had not the slightest interest in contending for the chieftainship.

Even though they were eager to fight the Dragonite, the wild Dragonites were not so unreasonable as to forcibly demand battle.

After exchanging glances, they scattered like birds and beasts.

Perhaps because they had been given the cold shoulder, no other Dragonites or Dragonairs obstructed Luo Mu's group during the rest of their tour.

They smoothly crossed the grassland and arrived at the lakeside.

The little Dratini also happily jumped into the lake water to play with its companions.

Through observation, Luo Mu discovered that this lake was likely where the Dragonites and Dragonairs usually cared for the young of their clan.

After all, although they did not possess the Water type, both Dratini and Dragonair were Pokémon more accustomed to an aquatic habitat.

Even after evolving into Dragonite, this instinct would not change.

While observing the ecology of the Dratini and Dragonairs in the lake, Luo Mu sat on the grass, leisurely enjoying the breeze brushing his face and the tranquil time, passing half an hour in this manner.

It was not until a loud boom and an explosion sounded in the distance that his drowsy consciousness was dragged back to reality.

(End of Chapter)