To not be driven away by people, to not be feared or loathed... to live a normal life just like the common people on this land—this was a dream shared by all Joys.
Upon hearing this question, the surrounding Joys also turned their gazes toward the Joy wearing the nurse's uniform, waiting for her answer.
"Of course."
Joy Alia looked gently at her kindred before her, and then slowly began to recount her story:
"In the past, my sister and I were just like everyone else. No matter where we went, we were shunned and driven away. People treated us as ominous beings who were cursed, believing that getting close to us would bring misfortune."
"Back then, my sister and I almost lost our lives because of those things, until one day... we came to Nimbasa City and met His Majesty Draconis."
"He personally came out to meet my sister and me. Not only that, His Majesty personally found us a place to live, sent us to learn medicine from Miss Lila, and then found us a very good job."
"As you can see now, my sister and I have become doctors, working hard to help injured residents and Pokémon."
"To this day, the people living here no longer look at my sister and me with those kinds of eyes."
"We love our current jobs. By helping out here, we earn a very considerable income every month. My sister and I can use this money to buy the clothes and furniture we like."
Joy Alia slowly recounted the experiences of herself and her sister.
The surrounding Joys were filled with longing.
Soon after, several Joys made up their minds.
They also wanted to stay here and learn! They would work hard to lead such a life!
—
"His Majesty Draconis, the number of Joys in the territory has currently grown to seventy-eight, and it continues to increase. They are all Joys who have come from other places."
Inside the castle, Alfred reported the various conditions within the territory over the past few days to Draconis.
"As per your instructions, these Joys have gone to Miss Lila's place to learn medicine. Before long, they will be able to take up positions at Pokémon Centers in other cities."
"Mhm." Draconis nodded, a detailed plan already formed in his mind.
It was now the year 150 of the kingdom calendar, and the timing was about right. Academies in various places had long since begun teaching children knowledge about training and Pokémon.
The Poké Ball had also been successfully developed and was about to enter mass production.
And now, the Nurse Joys were basically in place.
By next spring, he would formally begin implementing a new strategy: promoting Trainers across Unova and popularizing Pokémon battles.
However, there was still one problem.
That was, who should serve as the Gym Leaders in various locations.
Regarding the League Tournament system, Draconis did not intend to change it; he planned to follow the system from the anime.
Every Trainer would need to collect eight Gym Badges to qualify for the tournament.
The first-place winner of the tournament could become the regional Champion, while those in 2nd to 5th place could become the Elite Four.
Of course, these positions were not permanent.
The Champion of the League Tournament would be able to continue forward, gaining the right to battle the Elite Four and the sitting Champion.
If they defeated an Elite Four member, they could choose to replace them. If they defeated the Champion, they would become the new Champion, enjoying honor and fame.
However, the number of Trainers within the kingdom's borders was currently very small. Although people had begun to slowly live alongside Pokémon, there were very few who could truly be called Trainers in the proper sense, let alone Gym Leaders.
Moreover, most of these Trainers were concentrated in Nimbasa City; in other places, there were practically none.
Anna, Gerolt, and the students of the Pokémon Academy... the soldiers in the army from before could also barely count as half-Trainers.
Over the past year, their strength should have improved considerably.
Why not select eight from among them to go to other cities and serve as the first generation of Gym Leaders?
For now, this seemed to be the only way.
"Forget it, we'll leave it at this for now and slowly refine it once the number of Trainers increases," Draconis murmured.
Thinking of this, he made up his mind and said to Alfred:
"Alfred, pass down the order for the Pokémon Academy to hold a Pokémon Command Battle Competition. Select the top eight strongest students from among them."
"Your Majesty means?" Alfred was slightly startled.
"I have a very important task that I need them to complete," Draconis said with a smile. "The specifics—you'll know once the competition is over."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Alfred nodded and then turned to inform the people at the academy.
Meanwhile, Draconis reviewed the various financial expenditures and revenues of the territory during this period.
With the implementation of the steam engine and the establishment of various factories, the handicraft industry in the territory had developed rapidly.
These goods were taken by merchants to other cities for sale, bringing huge income to the territory.
The open-air arena had also been generating a steady stream of profit during this time.
In addition, there were various taxes and income from the tourism industry.
Tourism in particular—with the establishment of Pokémon Flying Taxi companies in various places, many tourists came from afar every day. Their spending promoted the commercial development of Nimbasa City.
Overall, the national treasury was full.
However... the kingdom was newly established, and money was needed everywhere.
Building Pokémon Centers everywhere required money, building Nurseries to breed Pokémon Eggs required money, and the rescued wild Pokémon needed to eat. Besides that, there were unemployment benefits and various subsidies for Commoners in the cities... while they weren't exactly in the red, they couldn't save much.
But this situation should be ending soon.
The construction of infrastructure such as Pokémon Centers, Friendly Stores, schools, and Nurseries in various places was nearing completion and would soon be put into use.
And when the Trainer industry developed, the income they could bring to the kingdom would far exceed those previous investments.
It was precisely for this reason that Pokémon battle culture would become so prevalent.
After handling his official duties, Draconis turned and went to the ecological park located behind the castle, specifically designed for Pokémon to live and play.
Dragonite, Serperior, Kyurem, Larvesta, Golett, as well as Vulpix and Audino were all playing there at the moment.
Budew and Sunkern were Reisurely sunbathing on the grass; Vulpix was chasing and playing with Pansage; Oshawott was floating on its back on the water... Dragonite sat on the grass enjoying food and juice, Serperior was quietly coiled under a tree watching the scene, and Golett stood foolishly still.
And there was Larvesta, who was currently battling Kyurem.
After the war ended, with a powerful Pokémon like Kyurem by his side, Draconis was no longer as urgent about increasing the strength of his other Pokémon as before.
Even though Draconis had been busy with official duties and establishing Unova during this time,
Dragonite and the others had not stopped their training. Under Kyurem's supervision and as a sparring partner, their strength improved every day.
At this moment, the various Pokémon on the grass noticed Draconis's arrival.
Seeing Draconis come over, Dragonite's eyes lit up. It immediately abandoned its snacks, flew in front of Draconis, and wrapped its arms around him, expressing its longing.
"Awoo~"
Draconis: "...We just saw each other an hour ago!"
Dragonite didn't care; it just wanted to be by Draconis's side all the time.
Draconis smiled helplessly. He reached out to pat Dragonite's head, and then turned with it to look at Larvesta, who was in the middle of a fierce battle with Kyurem nearby.
It was called a fierce battle, but it was actually more like Kyurem unilaterally overwhelming Larvesta.
Facing a powerful enemy, Larvesta tried every trick in the book, its body erupting with scorching flames in an attempt to engulf Kyurem.
Its partners had all evolved into more powerful Pokémon, and now it was the only one who hadn't evolved.
Whenever it thought of this, Larvesta felt a bit of resentment. Unwilling to lose, it also wanted to evolve and become a stronger Pokémon to accompany Draconis.
To this end, its training during this period had been exceptionally hard.
But facing Larvesta's continuous attacks, Kyurem remained perfectly composed from start to finish, standing tall like a true powerhouse.
He gazed at Larvesta, and as if sensing its inner desire to become stronger, He nodded slightly imperceptibly.
"Mhm, I have felt thy heart. Since it is so, I shall help thee achieve this ideal!"
As Kyurem's voice fell, in the next second, an incredibly scorching flame surged from His body.
That was the Fire of Truth, capable of incinerating all things in the world.
After fusing with Reshiram, Kyurem had reclaimed its original power, and Reshiram's power had also merged with Him.
That scorching flame was like a fire dragon, roaring as it rushed toward Larvesta.
Sensing that near-extreme heat, even Larvesta, as a Fire-type Pokémon, couldn't help but feel a surge of alarm.
The flame seemed to naturally exert pressure over it. The fire it released was as immature as a newborn child in front of Kyurem's flames.
However, the expected pain did not arrive.
The flame did not attack directly, but instead turned into a vortex of fire, trapping Larvesta within it.
No, to be precise, it surrounded it! Because Kyurem's intention was not to attack!
Facing this situation, Larvesta appeared somewhat panicked and quickly looked around. It spat out a Flamethrower from its mouth, trying to break the vortex.
But its Flamethrower was like a drop of water in the ocean; the moment it touched the vortex, it was swallowed up and merged with it.
Seeing this scene, Larvesta became even more panicked.
And just then, it heard Draconis's voice.
"Don't panic, Larvesta! Feel the power of that flame carefully; Kyurem is helping you!"
As an outsider, Draconis naturally saw Kyurem's intention.
That flame was no ordinary flame, but the Fire of Truth that could burn everything in the world to ashes!
Legend has it that when humans scorn the truth and indulge their desires, Reshiram will use fire to incinerate their kingdom and turn everything to ash.
Hearing Draconis's voice, the originally flustered Larvesta soon gradually calmed down.
It tried its best to stay cool-headed, turning its head to observe the surrounding situation.
What to do? What should it do?
The fire moves it was most proud of were completely useless in front of Kyurem's flames. Now, the only thing it could use was probably this body of its.
Right, its body!
As if suddenly remembering something, Larvesta's eyes lit up.
Its body had the Flame Body ability; maybe it could rely on brute force to rush out!
No sooner said than done. Larvesta found a spot and slammed its head hard against the fire vortex in front of it.
But as soon as half its head poked out, it was bounced back by an inexplicable force.
The fire scorched its body. While Larvesta felt the pain, it was also a bit dazed, but the fact that half its head had just poked out proved that as long as it had enough strength, it could definitely get out of here!
Ignoring the injuries on its body, Larvesta built up its strength again and crashed into the vortex.
But this time it was still bounced back by that force, and the injuries on its body from being burned by the Fire of Truth became even more severe.
Larvesta was in pain and felt like giving up, but then Draconis's face appeared in its mind. Larvesta immediately shook its head, tossing the idea of giving up to the back of its mind.
Draconis was waiting for it outside; it must not let Draconis down!
So, Larvesta began its charge once more.
It crashed into it again and again, trying to break through the Fire of Truth, but it didn't succeed once. Instead, the injuries on its body continued to worsen.
"Huff... huff..."
Time passed minute by minute.
Larvesta's strength gradually drained away. Panting, it looked at the vortex in front of it; it was almost out of strength.
And just then, Draconis's voice came from outside again.
Draconis saw that Larvesta was currently at a critical moment, and he immediately spoke up:
"Larvesta, don't give up! When you come out, we'll go eat roasted Sitrus Berries together!"
Draconis... hearing this, Larvesta struggled to stand up.
Right, it couldn't give up yet!
Draconis was still waiting for it; it must not let Draconis down!
Larvesta stood up again. It gathered its last bit of strength, then gritted its teeth and used all its power to charge once more at the vortex made of the Fire of Truth.
Pain... burning... an immense agony swept over it.
Half of Larvesta's head had already broken through the vortex, and it saw Draconis ahead.
Just a little more... just a little bit more!
Larvesta ignored the pain in its body and suddenly erupted with its final strength, breaking through the fire vortex in one go.
The Fire of Truth continuously baptized its body.
At this very instant, a dazzling light erupted from Larvesta's body. The fires of truth wrapped around Larvesta's entire form, as if forming a giant insect cocoon!
Inside the cocoon, Larvesta's appearance changed rapidly.
A moment later, when the light dissipated, a Pokémon shaped like a large moth slowly flapped three pairs of orange-red wings and appeared before everyone's eyes.
It had sky-blue eyes and a pair of red antennae. Its body was plump, its upper body surrounded by a ring of white fluff, and it had four small legs.
The three pairs of orange-red wings on its back flapped gently as it slowly descended in front of Draconis.
Watching this, Kyurem nodded slightly, an appreciative expression in His eyes.
It seemed it had made it.
"Congratulations, Larvesta—no, I should call you Volcarona now."
Volcarona, the Sun Pokémon, was once considered by humans to be the incarnation of the sun.
Legend has it that it is born from a cocoon of blazing fire and will appear in the bitter winter to help people and Pokémon suffering from the cold.
Hearing Draconis's words, Volcarona didn't seem at all full of majesty and divinity as in the legends. Instead, it happily narrowed its eyes and leaned in front of Draconis like a child, waiting for its "parent's" praise and touch.
....
Power Stones PlZZZZ
[Get 20+ chapters ahead on - P.a.t.r.e.o.n "PokeFicLord"]