Chapter 56: Liz's Plan
"This child was one I met when I was first assigned to Jubilance Town. The town is full of beasts like this," Elder Barb explained, seeing that both Will and Blaze were curious about the Ledyba.
Well, that makes sense. Jubilance Town is fragrant with flowers and located in the south; it would certainly attract Ledyba, Will nodded. It seemed he would be seeing quite a few of them in this town. However, he had no interest in them and didn't plan on capturing one to train.
This wasn't to say that Ledyba had no value. Any Pokémon in this world had its value, and any species could be trained to be incredibly powerful. Sakaki's Beedrill and Pryce's Delibird were both famous within the community. Many people might not remember, but both Professor Oak and Sakaki had trained and used a Ledyba—yes, a Ledyba, not its evolution, Ledian.
Therefore, Will's decision not to train a Ledyba wasn't because it wasn't worth it; he knew his own judgment was far from that of Professor Oak or Boss Sakaki. He simply wasn't confident that he could guide Liz to raise a Pokémon like Ledian to that legendary level. As a novice trainer himself who also had to guide the rookie Liz, Will didn't dare to emulate the reckless strategies of the masters. He would still prioritize Pokémon with higher base stats and stronger innate potential.
"Liz, what business brings you here this time?"
"You should be aware of the current situation between the Dragonite Kingdom and the Kingdom of the Land, right?"
"I am," Elder Barb nodded grimly. She was no ordinary old woman; she had been through life-and-death situations with Liz's grandmother and was not afraid of the mere mention of war.
"For now, the Kingdom of the Land does not wish to launch a full-scale war and is only maintaining friction with our country. I can guess the reason, and it suits my plans. The army is implementing a new beast training program, and we still need some time for it to take effect."
"So, how can Jubilance Town help?" Elder Barb asked with a frown. She felt that with its current scale, Jubilance Town couldn't provide much help on a direct battlefield. That left only one possibility... the sea route.
"There are many voices of discontent against the new king within the Kingdom of the Land. The Land King is delaying the war precisely because he needs to deal with these people. I want to make their internal strife last a little longer, and become a little more intense."
"Ideally, they will exhaust a large amount of their national strength on this civil war. At that time, I will take the initiative and conquer them in one fell swoop."
"I want to send people to infiltrate the Kingdom of the Land, secretly give those rebels some support, and cooperate with them to some extent."
"But the land routes are difficult. The Kingdom of the Land has very thorough patrols. However, they are not guarding the sea routes, likely because they think that, like them, we have not yet ventured into the ocean. I plan to send our people by sea."
"And when the war does break out, I want a route that will allow me to dispatch a portion of our Beast-Callers to circle around by sea, set up ambushes along their line of march and in their rear, cut off their supplies, and encircle and annihilate their army in the valleys of the Mt. Silver range."
...
Liz calmly explained her plan to Elder Barb, who listened with a composed expression, nodding and occasionally offering her own opinions. It seemed she was not at all surprised by Liz's demeanor.
Will, on the other hand, was deeply shaken. He had never known what Liz was doing, holed up in her study all day, mainly because he couldn't read the written language of this world. Now he understood. Liz hadn't been idle at all; she had made many preparations during this time.
"Blaze, we have to get stronger too."
"Char-char! (I know, Big Bro!)"
Blaze didn't understand why they had to get stronger, but he had to listen to what his Big Bro said. Only by being obedient could he learn to fly.
He didn't know what else Liz and Elder Barb discussed after that, because the two of them went to the bathhouse together. Will was no longer a stranger to Liz's body—he had bathed with her all the time when he was a Dratini. However, he had no desire to see Elder Barb's torso, so he dragged Blaze off to get familiar with their new environment.
Time flew by, and soon it was noon. Liz had been in discussion with Elder Barb the whole time; the plan was apparently very complex, with many unstable factors to consider. Will and Blaze waited boredly until the army caravan finally arrived.
When he saw the pitiful, wronged expressions on the two Magikarps' faces, he felt a little embarrassed.
"...Don't be sad. This afternoon, I'll take you to the ocean to level up," Will said, awkwardly flapping the feathery wings on his head.
The two Magikarp were just too inconspicuous, like ordinary carp. If they had already evolved into Gyarados, he certainly wouldn't have forgotten about them.
"Char-char~" Blaze waved a hand, greeting his two new companions for the first time.
"Glub-glub~" x2
The two Magikarp's moods instantly brightened. Part of it was being distracted by their new friend, but more importantly, it was because they had heard the word "ocean." Before being taken home by Will, they had only ever lived in that small lake on Mt. Silver; they were country fish. They had never even heard the word "ocean" before. But today, upon hearing it, although their minds were still blank, their hearts were filled with an inexplicable excitement and anticipation. The very genes in their bodies stirred at the word, as if it were the place they were always meant to be.
"Look forward to it, haha. I'm also looking forward to seeing your new forms," Will grinned at the two Magikarp.
They were different from him. Their levels were already quite high, at least 15 or more. Their experience curve wasn't as ridiculous as his was now, and they only needed to reach around Lv. 20 to evolve. So, it wouldn't take long to get them there.
"Char? (What about me, Big Bro?)" Blaze gestured to himself.
"You wait until Liz has time to take you to fight the Ledyba. She should understand by now that she needs to train you. When there's nothing else going on, you stick by her side and protect her," Will said. He couldn't be in two places at once. Besides, he had his own leveling to do; that was his top priority, bar none. Only when his own training plan was not interrupted would he help Liz train these other Pokémon.
"Char-char! (I get it!)" Blaze nodded vigorously, then turned and immediately waddled off to find Liz.
"Liz is probably going to be very confused," Will couldn't help but smile as he watched Blaze leave.
Liz would surely be curious as to why her new Pokémon was suddenly sticking so close to her. Because she had never raised a Pokémon before—her first being the very unconventional him—she wouldn't understand that for a Pokémon to stay by its Trainer's side was the norm. A weirdo like him, who was always running off, was the exception.
In fact, in his current state, he wasn't really Liz's Pokémon at all. Their relationship was more like that of family and friends. Liz and her Pokémon—Blaze and the Magikarp—that was the true relationship of a Trainer and her Pokémon.
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