Chapter 63: The Little Green Chicken
During the days Will and the others were on their way back to the capital, an interesting thing happened to Iris.
One afternoon, a bored Iris was wandering alone in her family's backyard "mini-ranch." This small ranch had been built by her father for her to play in. It was like a small zoo, with chicks, puppies, lambs, and the like.
"Sigh... when are Lan and the others coming back?" Iris sighed, listlessly scattering millet on the ground. A flock of chicks followed behind her, pecking at the feed. Before, she had found this quite amusing. But after spending time with Will, she found that these ordinary little animals weren't that fun anymore. Compared to Will, they just weren't very intelligent. They did the same things every day, and she could always predict their behavior.
"I'm so jealous of Auntie. I want my own beast too," Iris sighed again, squatting down dejectedly.
She didn't know that the Magikarp she had been raising was, in fact, a beast. Her Karp was just too dumb, even more useless than a useless fish. In Iris's heart, a beast didn't have to be as smart as Will, but it should at least have some magical quality. Her Magikarp had none.
"Ouch!!!"
Just as Iris was staring blankly at the ground, she felt a sharp pain on her slippered foot. It felt like she had been pecked by a chick. Annoyed, she turned to see which little chick was asking for a hot bath.
The next second, she froze on the spot. Before her was a round, blank-faced... little chicken?
Iris didn't know it, but this little chicken was called a Natu, and its classification was the "Tiny Bird Pokémon."
"A little green chicken," Iris blinked, looking down at the Natu. This Natu was only 0.15 meters tall, no different in size from the surrounding chicks and even smaller than the Pokédex value. In the Era of Leagues, a Pokémon of this height would be considered malnourished. In this Era of Primal Beasts, it was without a doubt a newborn baby. Even a malnourished beast in this era wouldn't be smaller than the Pokédex standard.
"..."
The Natu didn't speak, just quietly tilted its head back to stare at Iris. Its gaze was vacant. Iris couldn't even see her own reflection in its large eyes. She wasn't even sure if it was looking at her or at something else entirely.
"Where did you come from, little chicken?" Iris asked, squatting down to look at the Natu curiously. She remembered very clearly that there were no green chicks in her backyard. Besides, this one's eyes were so big, and its body was so round; it was completely different from a normal chick. It definitely wasn't from the same brood.
"..."
Seeing Iris squat down, the Natu hopped back a couple of times to create some distance. Then it just stood there again, silently staring.
"You're a strange little chicken. Here, have some," Iris smiled, tossing the remaining millet in her hand to the Natu's feet.
"..."
The Natu immediately lowered its head and pecked at the food. It was clearly very hungry. Iris quietly watched it finish the millet, then run over to a puppy's bowl and drink all the goat milk inside.
"Woof woof!!"
The puppy, Uma, which had been lying in its doghouse, saw that its milk was gone and ran out angrily, barking at the Natu.
"..."
The Natu was frightened and flapped its tiny wings, hopping behind Iris to hide. Although the expression on its face was still unreadable, its panicked actions revealed its fear. It didn't understand that it had eaten someone else's food. In its eyes, the milk was just sitting there, so it must have been something no one wanted. It was just eating trash.
"Alright, alright, Uma. I'll get you some more," Iris said, squatting down to pat the puppy's head. Then, she took the opportunity to scoop up the Natu that was hiding behind her.
"Ooh... so soft, and so light." Iris gently stroked the Natu's body.
From the outside, a Natu looks like a smooth rubber ball, but it actually has very soft and delicate feathers, like the yellow down of a chick before it grows its adult plumage.
"..."
The Natu fluttered in her arms a couple of times. Seeing that struggling was useless, it gave up and chose to nestle obediently in her embrace.
"You're a beast, aren't you," Iris said, confirming her suspicion after a moment.
Having seen so many strange Pokémon with Will, Iris could now tell if something was a Pokémon even without any formal knowledge. Moreover, she had even learned to judge whether a beast was dangerous and whether she could try to approach it just by observing its eyes and behavior. The Natu belonged to the category that was safe to approach.
"..."
The Natu was unresponsive. It didn't understand the concept of a "beast." It could only sense that this strange creature in front of it meant it no harm.
Natu is a Flying/Psychic-type Pokémon, and the vast majority of Psychic-types have a keen perception of the emotions of other living things. They can distinguish between goodwill and malice. A Pokémon like Ralts can even perceive a person's emotions and whether their heart is pure.
Although many people fantasize about taking a Gardevoir, the final evolution of Ralts, as their wife, those who actually try with such thoughts are doomed to fail. In the anime, you can see that the many Ralts only appear near children and the elderly, like the one that befriended Max in the Hoenn region. It was precisely because Max's heart was pure and he genuinely liked the Ralts that it was willing to interact with him and become his friend.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you can stay with me. I'll raise you to be big and strong, as big as Lan!"
"..."
"You don't know who Lan is, do you? He's my good friend. I'll introduce you to him when he gets back!"
Iris held the Natu, telling it many, many things that it couldn't understand.
"..."
The Natu stared blankly at the person before it, then bobbed its body up and down in a nod. Although it didn't really understand what this creature was saying, it could feel its emotions. This upright ape seemed to like it a lot. The Natu found this feeling very nice; it made it feel safe, so it decided to stay by this person's side.
"Yay! Then we're friends from now on."
"..."
"I have to give you a name. You look a little naturally dopey, so how about I call you Nattie? Hehe, that's a good name, right?"
Iris happily hugged Nattie and spun around in her small world. And as she spun, Nattie felt the gentle breeze and subconsciously flapped its tiny wings. For the first time, it experienced the feeling of "flying."
It was a good feeling. It wanted Iris to experience it too.
~~~
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