Chapter 21: Shedding Skin, Growing Stronger
The next day, Will opened his eyes and glanced out the window. The sky was just beginning to show the hazy light of dawn. He closed his eyes, intending to sleep a little longer, but a feeling of discomfort not only kept him awake but gradually made him more alert.
He felt dehydrated. Not thirsty, but like his skin was dehydrated. Will felt as if his entire body was being squeezed, like he was wearing a wetsuit that was a size too small. The discomfort made him roll and squirm on the bed, constantly rubbing his body against the sheets and blankets to find some relief.
"Lan~ you're awake?" Liz, sleeping beside him, was seemingly disturbed by the commotion. She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes and looking out the window. "It's not light out yet. Can we sleep a little longer?"
But Will, bundled up in the blankets, didn't clearly hear what Liz was saying. He only felt that as he wriggled, his body gradually became more comfortable. The feeling was like peeling off that tight wetsuit, bit by bit. His skin could finally breathe the fresh air, which felt much better, though it was still a little dry.
"Lan? What's wrong with you?" Liz looked at the constantly shifting and trembling blankets and pulled them back for a look.
What she saw gave her a fright. From her perspective, Will's body was covered in numerous white, translucent, thin films. Some had already fallen off onto the sheets, while others were still stuck to his body. This sight shocked Liz wide awake. She immediately scooped Will up and, barefoot and still in her pajamas, ran outside.
About five minutes later, Will was lying on an operating table at the Primal Beast Research Institute, surrounded by a group of people who looked like doctors, all intensely discussing his condition.
"According to my examination, Lord Lan's body is fine. He's quite healthy." Finally, a relatively young doctor stepped forward to give his conclusion. Although this doctor looked young, when it came to the study of Pokémon, he had the most experience among them all. He had been studying the health and habits of the tribe's beasts long before the founding of the Dragonite Kingdom. In the future, he would be known as a Pokémon Professor.
"Then what is all this?" Liz asked, pointing to the white flakes on Will's body.
I'm just molting. Instead of spending your time studying me over there, you could at least help me pull this skin off. It's so itchy, Will thought, glancing speechlessly at the group. The operating table was smooth and slippery, offering no friction. Even if he squirmed, it would be hard to rub the shed skin off and would only make him more uncomfortable. He decided it was better to just lie still. Besides, he was getting tired.
A Dratini grows by repeatedly shedding its skin. They molt at a frequency of almost once a day, and their bodies gradually get longer in the process. The reason for the repeated molting is that the life energy within their bodies is constantly and uncontrollably expanding.
Not only that, but the shed skin of a Dratini is an incredibly rare treasure. In the future Era of Leagues, people would tan the shed skin of Dratini to make ultra-high-class goods like clothing and boots. It was one of the main sources of income for the Dragonite clan.
But Will had no way of telling these people any of this. They couldn't understand a word he said. Even if his bond and intimacy with Liz reached a very high level in the future, she probably wouldn't be able to understand such complex ideas unless she awakened some special ability.
"Based on my observations of a certain purple, snake-like primal beast, this may be a molting phenomenon."
Oh? You actually know something! Will's eyes popped open as he looked at the young Pokémon scholar. Considering this was the Johto region and Mt. Silver, he figured the man was talking about an Ekans or an Arbok. Metapod and Kakuna also had the Shed Skin ability, but the way those Bug-types molted was a bit different from how snake-like Pokémon did it.
"Is that so? Then what should we do now?" Liz listened and felt it made sense. Snakes often exhibited this kind of molting behavior. Her Lan looked like a little snake, so he probably did too.
"Well... with the purple snake-beasts, we would manually assist them in molting. But since this is the first time we've seen a beast like your Lan, to be safe, I think it's best to let him molt on his own."
What?! What nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to work this baby to death?! Liz, this guy's a quack, tell him to get lost! Hearing this, Will lost his composure.
A normal Dratini might find it easy to molt on its own, but at his core, he was a human. He couldn't grasp the instinctual knack for it. He already had to use all his strength just to wriggle forward normally, let alone molt by himself. This morning's effort had almost made him vomit up last night's dinner.
In response to Will's protest, the people around him just gave him a passing glance. No one knew what cute antics this little thing was trying to pull. After all, from a human perspective, Will was just a little baby Dratini making "mew~ mew~" sounds. The hearts of the surrounding maids melted as they watched, and they began to understand why their Queen was so fond of this little creature. Both were long-bodied, but a baby Dratini was so dopey and cute, while a baby Ekans was just creepy.
"Alright, it seems this is all we can do for now," Liz nodded, feeling it was the only option. After all, no one knew if assisting Lan with his molt would affect his growth. In the animal kingdom, molting itself was a trial and a test. Animals that could successfully molt on their own were often stronger, while those that couldn't were simply not fit to survive in this world.
With the research concluded, Will was moved to the lawn in the palace's backyard. Using the small blades of grass for friction, Will spent a full fifteen minutes finally completing the damned molting process.
"Wow~ After molting, Lan seems... a little longer? And, oh, so soft." Liz picked up the exhausted Will, who was lying motionless on the ground, and examined him closely. She discovered that he had changed quite a bit after molting. He was a bit longer, the light blue on his back had deepened in color, and his skin had become soft and tender. The texture was top-notch.
"I'm so tired..." Will lay in Liz's arms, too lazy to even move. The thought that he would have to molt on his own like this every day from now on filled his heart with a sense of despair. He would rather fight other Pokémon than molt. At least fighting other Pokémon gained him experience and sped up his evolution. But molting did very little for him; it was mostly just a necessary part of his body's growth.
In some Pokédex entries, it was said that wild Dratini used rushing waterfalls to wash off their shed skin; they didn't go through the effort of squirming it off themselves. This meant that for a Dratini, it didn't matter how the skin came off, only that it came off.
And on top of that, a Dratini needed to reach around Lv. 30 to evolve into a Dragonair. If he stayed in the palace without battling, growing only by eating and sleeping like some wild Pokémon, it would take at least a year for him to evolve. That meant he would have to molt 365 times! And even a Dragonair still had the 'Shed Skin' ability, though the frequency of molting would become much, much lower.
"No, this won't do. I have to find a way to make Liz help me molt."