Chapter 49: Taking the Queen for a Stroll
On the morning of the third day, Will and Liz set off for Jubilance Town with a large entourage. The two Magikarp were brought along as well.
Iris, however, could only watch them leave with teary eyes, held firmly in place by her mother's iron grip.
Will was also helpless in this matter. He had originally wanted to bring Iris along. After all, on this trip to Jubilance Town, there was a high probability that the two high-level Magikarp would evolve into Gyarados. What would it look like if their Trainer, Iris, wasn't present for such a moment? When she finally saw the Gyarados, with its completely changed appearance and personality, would she be so scared that she'd faint on the spot?
But there was nothing to be done. Iris's mother would not allow her to leave the capital. It was understandable. This was the Era of Primal Beasts, and a time of continuous conflict between the Dragonite Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Land. A major war could break out at any moment; the risks were great. Naturally, Iris's mother was not comfortable letting her precious daughter travel too far from her side.
The road to Jubilance Town was long. The distance between two towns in reality was completely different from how it was portrayed in the anime, where you could arrive after just a few days of walking.
Because of his size, Will couldn't fit into a normal carriage. And since this was a sudden plan, there was no time to prepare a larger carriage that could accommodate him. Will himself didn't mind. He was a Pokémon, after all; his stamina was far greater than that of ordinary horses. By the time the horses needed to rest, he would probably have only just broken a sweat.
But Liz didn't think that way. She stubbornly insisted on staying with Will. So, a helpless Hestia had to quickly find a large, flatbed wagon used for transporting supplies and have it urgently modified. The end result was a strange vehicle. It resembled a large tricycle from the human world, only its power source was three horses instead of a motor.
In a low-lying area.
"Liz, how much longer until we get there?" Will asked, letting out a bored yawn as he lay on the soft, flat platform. He looked at Liz, who was leaning against him and reading a book.
"Don't be anxious, Lan. It'll be quick. We'll probably be there in just a week," Liz replied, having roughly understood his meaning.
She, for one, was cherishing this leisurely time. Her days in the capital were tedious and busy; she had long grown tired of handling official duties from morning to night. She even occasionally thought about just handing her position over to someone else. On top of that, watching Will and Iris go out to play together every day made her incredibly envious. She would sometimes even worry that the bond between the two little ones would eventually surpass the bond she had with him.
Now, she had a legitimate excuse to slack off, and she had Will by her side. She was very happy.
"A week?! Good heavens, I'm going to be bored to death."
Will's eyes widened, and his body went even more limp. He hadn't expected this. In the anime, the distance between two towns always seemed so short; Ash and his friends would arrive after just a few days on foot. But reality was not like that at all. It had already been three days since they had left the capital, yet Liz was telling him they still had another week to go. And this was by carriage, not on foot. It was a difference not just in speed, but in endurance.
To take ten days to get from the capital to Jubilance Town... the gap between the anime and reality was just too great.
Based on his memory of the Johto map, the Dragonite Kingdom's capital was located in the middle-right of the region, near the future Violet City, but on the plains further east, closer to the Mt. Silver range. Jubilance Town was on the coast directly south of the capital, a place that would one day become Cherrygrove City.
Am I really going to just sleep this whole week away? With this thought, Will closed his eyes and dozed off for a while. But that short nap somehow lasted until evening.
Will opened his eyes when he felt the carriage stop. They were now in a forest—not a mountain forest, but one on the plains. This was the type of forest that appeared more often in the anime, with trees that were not very tall, only about three or four meters.
The biggest difference between this forest and the one on Mt. Silver was that it was not as dangerous. The forest on Mt. Silver was fraught with peril. The Pokémon there were ferocious, and the competition between them was fierce. After all, it was a limited space with a high density of Pokémon. But this forest was the opposite. Although it was large, the number of Pokémon was small. The density was at least ten times lower than in the Mt. Silver forest. And the inhabitants were mostly herbivorous Pokémon with weak aggressive and territorial instincts.
This was why the caravan had chosen to stop here. At this moment, the team was setting up camp. People were gathering firewood, while the Beast-Callers and their Pokémon patrolled the perimeter.
After several days of boredom, Will couldn't stand lying around any longer. He wasn't a dopey Magikarp that could stare blankly for days without feeling bored.
I'll ask Liz to go for a walk, he thought, getting up from the wagon and looking at her.
"Hm? Do you want to go for a walk with me, Lan?" Liz understood him at once. One could only say that the rapport and bond between a Trainer and their Pokémon was truly a mysterious thing. From not understanding his actions at all, Liz could now, with just a single glance, instantly perceive his intentions as if they were psychically linked.
"Yes, let's go."
"Okay."
Liz stood up and spoke to a nearby guard. The guard immediately prepared to summon some Beast-Callers to protect her, but she refused. After Liz promised she wouldn't go far and would make a loud noise at the first sign of danger, the guards reluctantly agreed to let her go for a walk alone with Will.
This was mainly because they were familiar with this road and had passed through this forest several times. If this had been the forest on Mt. Silver, they would not have let her go, even if she had argued until she was blue in the face. Even a direct order from the Queen wouldn't have worked. In the Dragonite Kingdom, the Queen's personal safety always superseded the Queen's commands.
"Hehe, let's go~"
Seeing Liz return, Will immediately coiled his tail around her and dashed into the dark forest. He moved so quickly that many of the guards didn't even have time to react. Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was eloping with the Queen.
Five minutes later, Will and Liz were in a spot where the patrol members were completely out of sight.
Under a certain tree, they leaned against the trunk, quietly enjoying the tranquility of the forest at night. The forests of the Pokémon world were different from those on Earth. In this world, fireflies were everywhere, especially in the woods. Will swept his tail through a nearby bush, and a large cloud of them flew out.
The moonlight shone through the canopy, and these small insects did their best to emit their own unique light. The interweaving of faint yellow and pale white light illuminated the once-dim forest, giving it a hazy glow.
The nearby treetops would rustle from time to time; there were probably little creatures hiding behind the leaves, curiously peeking at the goings-on outside. The sound of flapping wings came from above. Looking up, he saw a cheerful little Hoothoot perched on a branch. And from further away, a wondrous song would occasionally drift over; it was likely a newborn Igglybuff, practicing its fledgling song.
"It's so beautiful," Liz said, tilting her head to rest on Will's tail, which was draped over her shoulder.
Together, they quietly admired the beautiful scenery of a forest night, a sight unique to the Pokémon world.
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