"Your Highness Draconis! Your Highness Draconis!"
Anna called out as she ran towards the farmland.
From a distance, she saw Draconis clearing weeds and bushes with a few farmer uncles, using hoes to turn and loosen the soil.
Meanwhile, Draconis's Dratini was by a nearby river, constantly spewing Twister at a rock.
"Your Highness, you don't need to help. You can go back and rest; just leave this to us!"
The farmers couldn't help but advise.
Draconis was of noble birth; how could he do such work?
Draconis shook his head and said, "We must plant the seeds within these two days. It would be terrible if extreme weather like a Blizzard appeared."
Moreover, the entire territory was severely understaffed, with most residents working overtime to cut trees and build houses.
Work like planting crops could only be done by these few old farmers.
One more person meant one more strength.
Draconis was not some delicate little prince.
"But..." The farmer uncles exchanged glances, their expressions complex.
Draconis, however, smiled and said, "I just want to survive with everyone. Whether it's me or each of you, we must all safely make it through this winter. So, at a time like this, there's no need to bother with those formalities."
Hearing these words, their eyes all welled up.
Draconis... He truly was a kind, amiable, and people-loving lord!
"Yes, Your Highness!" The men worked even harder.
It was at this moment that Draconis heard Anna's voice.
"What's wrong, little Anna?" He turned to look at Anna and Zorua running towards him, raising an eyebrow.
"Your Highness Draconis!" Anna said excitedly, "I understand what you wrote on the parchment!"
"Oh?" Draconis stopped his work and asked, "Tell me."
Anna: "Those moves, whether Extrasensory or Fury Swipes, are the names of the powers Zorua possesses!"
Saying this, Anna looked at Zorua and said to it, "Zorua, show His Highness Draconis!"
Zorua let out a melodious cry.
It gathered its strength and used the two moves, "Extrasensory" and "Fury Swipes."
"Your Highness Draconis, is it like this?" Anna asked expectantly.
Seeing this, Draconis was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Anna to instinctively grasp how to command a Pokémon to use moves so quickly.
This girl certainly had talent.
"Well done." Draconis said, "I didn't expect you to understand my meaning in such a short time."
Praised by His Highness! So happy!
The development work on this land had coincidentally come to an end.
Draconis handed the remaining sowing work to the farmers, while he took Anna to the wide river.
"Anna, what do you think of the power of magical beasts?" Draconis asked, stroking the panting Dratini's head.
"The power of magical beasts..." Anna looked at Zorua beside her, a bewildered expression in her eyes.
To the world, magical beasts were terrifying creatures. Their power was immense; some could breathe fire, others could discharge electricity. One wrong move could threaten human lives.
Power... it's scary.
Thinking this, Anna spoke it aloud.
"The power of magical beasts is terrifying!"
"No, Anna." Draconis shook his head and corrected her, "Power itself isn't terrifying. What's terrifying is abusing that power. If we train it—"
"For example, when you and Zorua are Gathering herbs in the forest and accidentally encounter an attack from a wild magical beast, I'm sure in that situation, Zorua would use its power to protect you."
Anna couldn't help but fall into confusion.
"Can the power of magical beasts also be used for protection?" she murmured.
"Exactly. If a human and a magical beast meet, and we use our wisdom and methods to train the magical beast, enhance their power, and make them stronger, then we can work with the magical beast to use this power to protect those we wish to protect," Draconis said.
Hearing these unheard-of words, Anna subconsciously widened her eyes.
Humans training magical beasts... enhancing their power?
"I believe you should have heard similar names," Draconis smiled.
Anna was stunned.
Draconis continued, "Magical beast user, but I prefer to call him a Trainer."
Magical beast user... is someone who can control magical beasts and act with them.
Anna remembered that a few years ago, a Magical Beast User Lord had visited Eindoak.
At that time, the King grandly received him, and his name was known throughout Eindoak.
Magical Beast User Aaron, from a distant land, bore the title "Aura Emissary."
"I hope more people like you will realize that not all magical beasts are terrifying—using your and Zorua's power."
As Anna stared, Draconis spoke again:
"Anna, would you be willing to become my disciple? I will teach you how to become a Trainer, how to train Zorua, and become stronger with it."
Anna was stunned, her face filled with disbelief.
Draconis... Anna suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but ask:
"In that case, will I be able to protect the people I want to protect?"
"Of course." Draconis nodded, "Perhaps when terrifying magical beasts invade the territory, it will depend on your and Zorua's power to protect everyone."
"Your Highness..." Anna sniffled, her eyes red, and nodded, "I will!"
Draconis smiled, "Still calling me Your Highness?"
Anna quickly reacted and corrected herself, "Teacher!"
Draconis then nodded in satisfaction.
He looked at Anna and noticed some changes in her profile.
[Commoners Name: Anna]
[Age: 10 years old]
[Profession: Trainer]
[Special Ability: None]
[Loyalty: 100 (Max 100)]
[Life History: In the 138th year of the Kingdom's calendar, Anna was born.]
[In the 148th year of the Kingdom's calendar, Anna and her mother followed Draconis to the fiefdom.]
[In the 148th year of the Kingdom's calendar, Anna became a Trainer.]
Her profession changed from unemployed to Trainer...
"Starting tomorrow, I will formally impart Trainer knowledge to you." Saying this, Draconis looked at Zorua again: "Anna, I hope you can get along well with Zorua."
"Yes, I will!" Anna nodded vigorously.
*
"Good. Once Anna and Zorua have a certain level of combat strength, they can be sent out to explore those unknown areas," Draconis murmured.
Places where Berries can be Gathered, types of wild Pokémon inhabiting nearby, and so on.
His strength alone was not enough, and Dratini's Growth required time. Anna and Zorua's appearance happened to fill this gap.
After dinner, Dratini, who had trained all day, curled up under the covers and fell asleep early.
Draconis sat at the table, listening to Alfred report on the day's work.
"Your Highness Draconis, the fourth wooden house has been completed! The progress is very smooth. If all goes well, everyone in the territory will have a place to live before the end of the month!"
"Well done." Draconis looked around and, not seeing Snover, couldn't help but ask, "Where are the Snovers?"
Alfred: "They seem to have been invited back to a child's tent as guests."
Draconis: "..."
It seemed the children accepted Snover faster than he had imagined.
"Oh, by the way, Your Highness Draconis, the Gathering team just returned, and two people want to see you," Alfred said.
"Oh? Who is it? Let them in!" Draconis was a little surprised.
Alfred nodded and soon brought in two women dressed as farmwives from outside.
The two first bowed somewhat cautiously, then handed the baskets beside them to Alfred.
Alfred brought the baskets to Draconis.
One of the farmwives said, "Your Highness Draconis, we found this amazing Berry outside today!"
Draconis looked down and saw a yellow, pear-like Berry in the basket.
This is... a Sitrus Berry?
"We picked these Berries the day we arrived, and we thought it would take many days for them to Grow back, but when we went to look today, the tree was already full of Berries again!" one farmwife said excitedly.
This way, they could collect even more food!
Hearing this, Draconis was not too surprised.
After all, tree Berries are such magical Berries, and the wild areas of the Pokémon world are filled with them. Wild Pokémon rely on these Berries as food to live.
These abundant resources are a gift from nature.
"Thank you for your hard work! Also, don't throw away the seeds after eating these Berries. Next spring, they can be planted to build an orchard," Draconis said.
"Yes!"
Sitrus Berries, good stuff. They can serve as both food and restore a Pokémon's stamina.
Draconis was quite pleased. With the existence of Sitrus Berries, their chances of surviving the winter would significantly increase.
Truly the amazing Pokémon world!
It's likely that the utopian scenes maintained in the anime rely on these magical tree Berries.
Because most Pokémon can use tree Berries as food.
The two farmwives left.
Draconis glanced at the sky outside and then said:
"Alfred, it's getting late. You should go rest too!"
"Yes!"
After Alfred left, Draconis took a Sitrus Berry to the bedside and placed it in front of Dratini's big nose.
The sleeping Dratini's nose twitched.
Soon, it opened its big, watery eyes and looked at Draconis.
"Want to try it?" Draconis asked, shaking the Sitrus Berry.
"Woo..."
Dratini yawned, then immediately fell back asleep, looking pitiful.
Dratini was truly exhausted today.
The Dragon-type energy in its body was completely depleted, and it couldn't muster any more strength. Now, it just wanted to sleep soundly.
Draconis found such a Dratini adorable.
But recalling Dratini's efforts that afternoon, Draconis couldn't help but sigh.
Alas, how wonderful if they were in modern times.
Then he wouldn't have to worry about so many things, and Dratini wouldn't have to train hard in the freezing cold. He could prepare delicious Poffins and Energy Cubes for Dratini, letting it enjoy them to its heart's content.
It's just a pity this was ancient times, thousands of years ago... Draconis sighed silently in his heart.
He took off his clothes, got into bed, and extended his arm, letting the cold-sensitive Dratini hide in his embrace to sleep, using his body temperature to warm it, making sure it slept as warmly as possible.
"Sleep!" Draconis whispered.
"Woo~"
Dratini snuggled against Draconis's warm chest, instantly feeling incredibly cozy, and couldn't help but let out a comfortable Growl in its drowsiness.
Draconis couldn't help but chuckle, thinking Dratini was just like a child.
But then he reconsidered, Dratini was only just over a year old, so wasn't it indeed a "child"?
Making a child train in the freezing cold... Thinking this, Draconis felt even more guilty.