Chapter 296: Refusing to Nurse, Starting with Me
On this matter.
Will would never compromise.
This was no joke!
Slurp.
Wolf Mom glared, sticking out her tongue and giving his head a forceful lick.
This lick made Will stumble; clearly, she was a bit emotional.
But.
"I refuse!"
Will shook his head vigorously, making his stance clear.
He crawled out of the nest and bolted.
Will felt like he was flying!
"With my speed, escaping the pack is a piece of c—"
Fwump.
Just as he lifted his leg, he felt the scruff of his neck being grabbed.
The next second, he was back in the grass nest.
"...Forgot, I'm a puppy now."
Will looked back.
Wolf Mom was eyeing him hungrily.
"Right, I have the Sea Crown. I can fly! I can fly to a human city, find a random family, and mooch off them until I grow up."
Will suddenly had a brainwave.
Then he jumped!
Thud.
He face-planted.
"The Sea Crown... requires Water-type energy to activate?!"
Will's eyes were full of shock.
In his last life, when he obtained the Sea Crown, he was already at the Champion level.
Plus, his main type was Water.
From Lv. 1 to Lv. 80, as a Piplup/Empoleon, he had been cultivating Water-type energy, so the amount of Water energy in his body when he got the Sea Crown could be described as "oceanic."
Because of this.
When Will used the power of the Sea Crown to fly, he didn't notice the consumption of his Water energy at all.
So Will only realized now that flying with the Sea Crown consumed Water-type energy.
But now, he was just born.
He only had Fighting-type energy from his original typing and the most basic Normal-type energy in his body.
He couldn't fly at all!
If he didn't specifically cultivate Water-type energy in the future, he might never be able to fly with the Sea Crown again in this life.
"Awooo?"
Wolf Mom tilted her head, looking at her puppy with a hint of worry in her eyes.
She felt her baby wasn't quite normal.
Or...
Was his species just like this?
Wolf Mom looked up, recalling her husband.
Aloof and dashing, full of majesty and coldness, every move exuding a calm demeanor.
Realizing he couldn't escape.
Will simply lay flat.
No matter how Wolf Mom prodded him with her snout, he refused to nurse.
He looked like he was ready to starve himself to death.
Finally, Wolf Mom had no choice.
She looked up and howled.
Forty or fifty Mightyena in the pack immediately rushed out in all directions.
They split into four or five groups, hunting in teams of 10.
This was a racial trait of Mightyena.
They basically hunted in groups of 10.
Will took this opportunity to stretch his neck and look.
Okay.
Wolf Mom was still lying in the nest.
That was just great.
He continued to lie flat.
From that glance just now.
The scale of this Mightyena pack was quite large.
There were at least sixty Mightyena, with a dozen or so staying behind to guard the home.
Although there weren't many Poochyena, there were still a dozen or so.
In total.
The pack size definitely exceeded eighty.
In the wild.
It was very difficult for any Pokémon group to reach the number 80.
Even Beedrill swarms found it hard.
Since coming to the Pokémon world, the only time Will had seen this was with the Gligar clan on Gligar Island.
But Gligar Island had a natural geographical advantage.
It was an isolated island with abundant food, cut off from the world. The Gligar clan had no competitive enemies there; they just needed to survive and reproduce.
Under such circumstances.
A large population was inevitable.
But the Mightyena clan definitely couldn't live on an isolated island.
Isolated islands might have rich vegetation and plenty of berries.
But Mightyena were primarily carnivorous.
Although they were omnivores, you couldn't expect a pack of wolf/dog Pokémon to survive on berries. Eating berries all the time would make them depressed sooner or later.
This forest must be on a continent.
To develop a pack to this extent on a continent...
Will turned to look at Wolf Mom.
He estimated his Wolf Mom was at least Gym Leader level, most likely Elite Four level.
Reaching Elite Four level in the hands of a trainer wasn't difficult.
Even a mediocre and lazy person.
Could raise one or two Elite Four-level Pokémon in a lifetime.
But wild Pokémon rarely reached this level.
Because they didn't have a stable and safe living environment, no one urged them to battle and get stronger every day, and they wouldn't get help from a Pokémon Center after getting injured.
So.
Wolf Mom was special.
After a while.
The wolves returned.
Carrying all sorts of things in their mouths.
Common pheasants and hares were the most numerous.
There were also some unknown bird Pokémon eggs, bug Pokémon carcasses...
Clearly.
These were all brought for the Young Master to eat.
This treatment.
Was obviously quite high.
However, he wouldn't eat most of these things.
Under the gaze of Wolf Mom and the pack, Will ate some berries.
This greatly disappointed the pack.
Finally, under Wolf Mom's increasingly stern gaze, Will braced himself and drank two raw eggs.
Only then did she compromise.
Her puppy being a picky eater was just something she had to accept.
After the meal.
Will wandered around the vicinity.
Generally.
As long as he didn't run out of Wolf Mom's sight, she wouldn't bother him.
But once he ran a bit too far, she would call someone to carry him back.
This was completely unnecessary.
As long as they didn't force him to nurse, Will had no intention of leaving this safe place.
He didn't even know which era he was living in yet.
Although judging by the size of these Mightyena and Poochyena, it should be a peaceful era.
But it could also be the transition era between magical beasts and the League.
Wild Pokémon in this era still retained their ferocity, but their physiques had degenerated. It was still dangerous for Will.
Three days passed.
"Doesn't seem to be Hoenn..."
Will frowned.
Although he couldn't run far, he could still see some issues.
First.
He was probably in a mountain range.
How to put it...
The Mightyena clan probably lived on a plateau at the top of a mountain, similar to the area where the Dragonite clan lived back then.
But.
When Will walked to the edge of this plateau and looked around, all he saw in every direction were other mountains.
Second.
Looking out from the mountaintop, on the mountainsides and in the sky.
Pokémon from Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh were the most common, with Sinnoh Pokémon being the most numerous.
There were Hoenn Pokémon too.
But very few.
This made Will realize he might not be in Hoenn, but on the border of Sinnoh, Kanto, and Johto.
More precisely...
It should be Mt. Silver.
The mountain range he and Meowscarada spent two years walking out of back then.
No wonder his Wolf Mom could find a Lucario husband.
Finally.
And a relatively important point.
Will found that his Wolf Mom's living habits were different from other Mightyena.
To be more blunt.
His Wolf Mom used to be a trainer's Pokémon.
But later, the trainer passed away.
Or Wolf Mom was released.
Now Wolf Mom had returned to natural life and joined this Mightyena pack.
Relying on her strong power, she became the pack leader and led the pack to expand and multiply.
These were all Will's guesses.
But he felt his guesses were probably pretty accurate.
A hundred and thirty years of living wasn't for nothing.
This afternoon.
Will lay bored on Wolf Mom's back, taking a nap.
Although his goal was clear now.
That would have to wait until he passed his infancy.
The most important thing for him right now was to eat well, sleep well, and lay a good foundation during his infancy.
If asked why.
It's because the economic base determines the superstructure.
"Woof!"
At this moment, a tug came from his tail.
Will didn't even bother to lift his head; a casual flick of his tail shook off the force.
Poochyena were cute.
But Will was too lazy to play with them.
These puppies had terrifying amounts of energy; an old man like him couldn't handle the torment.
His advantage in this life was decent; at least the starting difficulty wasn't high.
But to level up fastest...
He might have to follow a trainer.
However.
Will wasn't in a hurry for such things, nor would he force it.
He had plenty of time and lifespan; everything could be taken slowly.
As long as his ultimate goal was achieved, that was enough.
Thinking this.
Will rolled over.
And rolled off Wolf Mom's back.
Wolf Mom nudged him up with her head, then looked at the other puppies in the pack.
Meaning she wanted him to go play with the Poochyena.
Will refused.
He rolled his eyes and asked Wolf Mom about her past.
"Awooo..."
Wolf Mom was stunned.
This was the first time anyone had asked her about this.
Then she smiled and told Will about her past.
Wolf Mom was born decades ago, right here on this land.
Mt. Silver was vast.
The number of Pokémon within was countless, with a wide variety of species.
So even though Mightyena and Poochyena were Hoenn Pokémon.
Individual packs could occasionally be seen in Mt. Silver.
Wolf Mom was born into a small Mightyena pack back then.
There were only seven or eight Mightyena in the pack, living on a mountainside in the northernmost part of Mt. Silver, near a human city.
At that time, the young Wolf Mom was playful and ran down the mountain alone, getting caught by a young boy.
She traveled north and south with that boy, challenged many trainers, and participated in countless major competitions.
Later.
The boy became an old man.
He brought Wolf Mom back to the foot of the mountain where he first met her, then went up the mountain specifically to find a Mightyena pack.
And chased her into that pack.
But Wolf Mom wasn't angry.
Because she knew the boy didn't really want to abandon her.
He just didn't have many years left to live.
He didn't want Wolf Mom to see him die, nor did he want Wolf Mom to live alone after his death.
However.
Wolf Mom was indeed very sad at the time.
The rest of the story was simple.
Relying on her Gym Leader-level strength, Wolf Mom led the pack all the way to the center of Mt. Silver.
Finally occupying this mountaintop with abundant resources and a mild environment.
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