"Oh?" Draconis raised an eyebrow, looking at Cleveland with some surprise. "What is it?"
Cleveland said in a deep voice, "Your Highness, I encountered two very special magical beasts on the snowy mountain!"
When mentioning the mysterious creature that had guided him, Cleveland's face was filled with longing and yearning.
"...At that time, just when I thought I was going to die, it appeared."
"I don't know if it was a magical beast. It had beautiful blue feathers, and its wings sparkled like sunlit ice crystals. When it appeared, the snowflakes in mid-air froze."
"It saved me and showed me the way off the snowy mountain…"
If he could, Cleveland really wanted to see it again.
Hearing Cleveland's description, a question mark couldn't help but appear above Draconis's head.
Hmm? This description... Could it be the legendary Pokémon Articuno?
As far as he knew, Pokémon like Articuno lived year-round on mountain peaks and other isolated places on snowy mountains, and they guarded those snowy mountains.
It was said that if a traveler accidentally strayed into a snowy mountain, got lost, and faced mortal danger, Articuno would appear before them, point them in the right direction, and lead humans to safety.
"I didn't expect Articuno to be living on that snowy mountain, and from the looks of it, it seems to be guarding it," Draconis thought.
This was indeed surprising news.
"I understand." Draconis kept this matter in mind.
"Also, after leaving the guidance of that mysterious creature, I encountered another very special magical beast…"
Cleveland recalled the events of that time as he spoke:
"At that time, I was so hungry I had no strength left. That magical beast… uh, it was like Santa Claus, carrying a white package in its hand, and it appeared before me. It took out two fruits from inside and gave them to me."
"Thanks to those two fruits, I had the strength to continue on and meet the search and rescue team."
Santa Claus? A magical beast carrying a white package?
Hearing these two descriptions, the image of a Pokémon instantly appeared in Draconis's mind.
Delibird!
Pokémon like Delibird are very special; they store food in their package-shaped tails and spend all day carrying food back to their nests via their tails.
These Pokémon have a very special habit.
They actively share the food they find with humans and Pokémon.
In that distant future, the Pokédex related to Delibird clearly recorded such information.
[If someone is stranded in the mountains, Delibird will share some of its food to help them. Many people who were in danger on snowy mountains have been saved by Delibird's food.]
Hearing Cleveland's words, Ryan and Christina also couldn't help but show curious expressions.
"There's such a magical beast?"
"Your Highness Draconis, do you know what kind of magical beast that was?" Christina couldn't help but ask.
Draconis replied, "If I'm not mistaken, the name of that magical beast should be Delibird."
"Delibird?" The three were slightly stunned.
"Yes." Draconis nodded and continued, "Some books in the Royal Library record such magical beasts. They have the habit of sharing food with other creatures and will actively give food to humans and magical beasts lost in snowy mountains."
"Wow!" Christina exclaimed, "How amazing!"
"Delibird…" Cleveland murmured the name, silently committing it to memory.
If he ever encountered this magical beast again, he would have to thank it properly.
"Alright, that's all for today!" Draconis looked at the three and said, "You three have worked hard. Now, take a good rest for a while and heal your injuries!"
"Yes!"
Ryan and the other two successively excused themselves.
Old Butler Alfred, who had listened to the entire conversation, couldn't help but sigh with emotion:
"I didn't expect such magical beasts to exist in this world… I never had the opportunity to learn about these things in the Royal City before."
"I also only realized after coming out that this world is much larger than I imagined, and our Eindoak Kingdom is just a tiny corner of it. I heard that there are many countries and many lands overseas. I really want to see them with my own eyes!" Draconis couldn't help but yearn in his heart.
The World Tree in the Kanto region.
Mt. Silver in the Johto region.
The culture of the Meteor Falls people in the Hoenn region.
The creation myths of the Sinnoh region.
Mega Evolution in the Kalos region.
The Sword and Shield heroes of the Galar region.
And the Paradox Pokémon of the Paldea region… Seeing Draconis in this state, Alfred couldn't help but say, "Your Highness is still young; you will surely have the opportunity in the future."
"That will probably be a very, very long time from now," Draconis couldn't help but sigh.
They were currently facing a very serious survival crisis and couldn't spare the mental energy to think about those things.
Draconis could only turn his gaze to the Dratini beside him and poked its large nose with his hand.
"Dratini, you need to grow up quickly, okay? That way, we can go see the outside world together."
"Woo!" Dratini perked up, its small face full of earnestness. It wanted to grow up quickly!
Dragonite, the final evolution of Dratini, possesses incredibly exaggerated speed.
It is said that Dragonite can fly around the Earth in just 16 hours.
At that time, he would leave the territory to Alfred to manage, and he and Dratini would secretly sneak off to other regions to play.
Seeing His Highness in such a state, Alfred couldn't help but chuckle.
Alas, ultimately, His Highness was just a sixteen-year-old child.
His Highness could have lived a happy life in the Royal City, but now he was forced to grow up, forced to lead everyone in a difficult struggle for survival here.
However, this current situation might also be good news for His Highness!
Before they left, the situation in the Royal City had already begun to stir.
Who knew when the First Prince and Second Prince would start a war to contend for the throne.
Since ancient times, the victors become kings and the defeated become outlaws; His Highness's situation in the Royal City would only become more and more dangerous.
Alas! The Old Butler looked at His Highness, who was playing with Dratini, and couldn't help but sigh, hoping that day would never come!
"Phew! No more thinking about that; important matters first!"
Draconis straightened up again and opened the book Christina had just brought.
The first page recorded Shuckle.
Turning to the next page, a small bird Pokémon with fluffy, cotton-cloud-like wings appeared.
Christina had made the following annotation below it.
[Bold, not afraid of people, will land on people's shoulders and heads, its feathers feel as fluffy and soft as cotton.]
"This is…" The name of this Pokémon appeared in Draconis's mind.
Swablu, normally a Normal/Flying-type Pokémon, but after evolving into Altaria, it becomes a Dragon/Flying-type Pokémon.
Because its appearance doesn't resemble a dragon at all, and after Mega Evolution, its type changes to Fairy, which is super effective against Dragon, Altaria is often called the "Dragon Traitor."
However… the first thing Draconis thought of when he saw this Pokémon was not its strength, but that its fluffy, soft feathers might be used to make mattresses and pillows, which would surely be very comfortable to sleep on.