Draconis had some impressions of Victini.
When he was young, he often played hide-and-seek with Victini in the castle of the Sword of the Earth.
Before they departed for their fief, Victini even made a special trip to see them off.
Draconis quietly pondered the matters of the Unova region.
To be honest, he was very anxious.
From the current perspective, this war in the Unova region is simply unavoidable.
He did not want to entrust his life's safety to others, nor did he want to see his hard-earned territory destroyed by war.
But with their current strength, they simply couldn't intervene in this war... Draconis closed his eyes and slowly exhaled a turbid breath.
"Still not enough population..."
If the territory had enough population, he could slowly develop a whole army of Trainers to protect the territory.
There was also the third god of the Unova region, Kyurem, formed from the body of the divine dragon.
If Draconis remembered correctly, Kyurem's location was in the Giant Chasm near Lacunosa Town.
If he could capture Kyurem, or gain its recognition, then they would have the power to contend with Zekrom and Reshiram.
But they were currently trapped in this place by the Blizzard, and coupled with his current weakness, gaining Kyurem's recognition would be as difficult as ascending to heaven.
"Regarding this matter, I'm afraid we'll have to proceed slowly and strategically."
Draconis looked at the swirling heavy snow outside the window and murmured in his heart.
*
Around the territory, the Knights Order, led by Ryan, patrolled the outer perimeter of the territory in two shifts, as usual, to protect its safety.
After several encounters with magical beasts these past few days, Ryan's impression of these creatures had greatly changed.
Both His Highness Draconis and little Anna had proven that magical beasts could coexist peacefully with humans.
More importantly, humans could also command magical beasts to fight.
The power of magical beasts was well-known.
If such magical beasts could cooperate with humans and obey human commands... Ryan's eyes showed a fervent expression.
He had seen little Anna command the small magical beast named Zorua to use its power multiple times.
How wonderful it would be if he also had such an obedient magical beast by his side!
Of course, not a harmless-looking magical beast like Zorua.
What Ryan wanted to conquer was a humanoid magical beast full of muscles, with four arms, and possessing immense power!
Ryan had seen such a magical beast when he was in the royal city.
Even a boulder three times a person's height could be easily lifted by that magical beast.
Ryan couldn't help but start fantasizing.
He envisioned himself fighting alongside that incredibly strong magical beast, achieving countless merits, with His Highness Draconis personally sending them numerous rewards and bestowing upon him the title of Honorary Knight.
In his fantasy, he was half-buried in gold and silver treasures, which made the real Ryan grin uncontrollably.
And just then, a voice suddenly interrupted his fantasy.
"Lord Ryan! I found a strange place in the forest on the other side of the territory!" A young knight rushed to report, his voice full of excitement.
"What's the situation?" Ryan asked.
The young knight excitedly replied, "It's a hot spring!"
Hot spring?!
How could there be a hot spring here? After all, there were no volcanoes nearby.
Ryan was stunned, but seeing the young knight's excited expression, he didn't think it was fake.
Seeing this, he decisively said, "Take me to see it!"
"Yes, Lord Ryan!"
The two left the territory and headed south, Ryan observed the surrounding environment and found that it was completely opposite to the direction they had previously set out to investigate.
The two passed through a forest, and after a short while, they saw several steaming springs in a clearing.
Heavy snow fell slowly, and as far as the eye could see, the entire forest was covered in white snow.
But around those few springs, there was no trace of snow, as if it had been evaporated by the hot steam.
Ryan walked closer and examined it carefully, and sure enough, the moment he approached, he immediately felt a warm current washing over him.
He reached out and touched it; the water was hot.
It really was a hot spring!
Ryan's eyes widened, he had to report this to His Highness Draconis immediately!
But just then, the young knight beside him suddenly showed a terrified expression.
He pointed to one of the hot springs and said in extreme fear, "L-Lord! There are magical beasts!"
Ryan looked in the direction he was pointing and, sure enough, saw several figures of magical beasts on the water's surface.
One was a yellow-bodied magical beast that looked silly and was shaped like a combination of a duck and a kappa.
There was also a small magical beast with a blue spherical body and large round ears.
They were soaking in the hot spring in twos and threes, looking utterly content.
Some of the magical beasts even noticed their arrival, but they only watched from a distance and did not leave the hot spring.
"Report this to His Highness Draconis immediately!" Ryan said.
Half an hour later.
Draconis looked at Ryan in front of him and couldn't help but be slightly stunned.
"Are you saying there's a hot spring in this forest?"
Impossible, right? From his observations, there were no volcanic landforms nearby, so how could there be a hot spring?
But Ryan said with great certainty, "That's right! We saw it with our own eyes, and there are several magical beasts bathing in the water!"
Seeing this, Draconis pondered for a moment, then said, "Take me to see it."
"Yes!"
The group set off from the territory, and after passing through a forest, Draconis indeed saw several steaming springs in that forest clearing.
Some wild Pokémon were gathered there in twos and threes, soaking in the hot spring.
Draconis scanned them, silently reciting their names in his heart.
Psyduck, Marill, Buizel, Ducklett, Simisear... There really is a hot spring?
Draconis was very surprised.
"Woo?"
The Dratini beside him seemed to be attracted by this scene.
The Dratini leaped up, and with a splash, it landed precisely in the hot spring, happily swimming around.
"Woo!"
The surrounding wild Pokémon seemed to be quite used to this sight.
There was even a bolder Buizel that slowly swam forward, approaching the Dratini to observe it curiously.
"Quack quack?"
While Draconis was in a daze, two more Psyduck ran over, looking at him, Ryan, and the others with their silly eyes.
"His Highness Draconis, these magical beasts don't seem to intend to attack us..." Ryan couldn't help but say.
The young knight beside him also looked at the scene with great surprise.
"Hmm, these magical beasts are types that are relatively easy to get along with humans," Draconis nodded and said.
Relatively easy to get along with humans?
Hearing this, Ryan immediately perked up his ears.