This dragon looked far too strange. Its wings were pitifully small, its belly was round and protruding, and its whole body was plump and chubby. How could something that looked so bizarre possess such overwhelming strength?
Tyrantrum could not understand it at all.
How was it that this creature's strength surpassed every Dragon-type Pokémon it had ever seen in the Village of Dragons in the region of Unova?
The robust and handsome Haxorus, the ferocious and terrifying Hydreigon, and even the proud Salamence with its enormous blood-red wings…
Not a single one of them could compare to this "fat dragon" in front of it?
Could it be… that what Larvesta used to say was true, that the stranger the appearance, the stronger the power?
Dragonite was also staring at Tyrantrum, a trace of curiosity flashing in its eyes. It carefully sized up the short-clawed dragon in front of it, which wore a crown-like crest on its head and stood a full head taller than itself.
This was the first time Dragonite had seen a Dragon-type Pokémon even larger than itself. And that crown on its head… the more Dragonite looked at it, the more it liked it. It really felt like that crown should belong on its own head instead.
"Draa!"
"Tyrant!"
The two Dragon-type Pokémon faced each other from a distance. It was as if invisible sparks were colliding in the air between them, and the atmosphere gradually grew tense with the anticipation of battle.
"Ouch!"
Professor Oak's sudden cry of pain broke the standoff between the two dragons.
He was crouched in front of Deino, trying to lift its bangs to see its eyes, but Deino had slammed its head straight into his stomach, making him grimace in pain.
"Deino, stop!"
Theo quickly called out.
Deino snorted in dissatisfaction, puffing out two streams of white air from its nostrils before darting behind Fire Vulpix and Ice Vulpix.
This stranger was too annoying. He tried to touch the bangs it cared about the most the moment he arrived. Getting headbutted served him right.
"It's fine, it's fine, my fault."
Professor Oak rubbed his stomach, yet there was not the slightest hint of anger on his face. Instead, he looked even more excited.
"So this is Deino, right? A Dragon-type Pokémon from Unova, truly rare! I saw its data in the Pokédex sent from Unova some time ago, and I've always been curious about what its eyes look like under those bangs…"
Professor Oak kept staring at Deino, muttering nonstop.
"Judging by this bulge near your neck, you're about to evolve, aren't you? And this size, you must be close to evolving.
According to the records, when Deino evolves into Zweilous, it gains two heads and two separate consciousnesses. Then when it evolves into Hydreigon, it has three heads, but only the middle head retains consciousness. That's too strange!
Based on this evolution pattern, shouldn't three heads mean three consciousnesses? It doesn't make sense at all…"
Being stared at so intensely by Professor Oak, Deino felt extremely uncomfortable. It simply buried its head into the fluffy tail of Ice Vulpix, choosing to ignore everything.
"Oh? What's this…"
Professor Oak's attention was quickly drawn to the Fire-type and Ice-type Vulpix. After observing them for a moment, his eyes widened in amazement.
"Twin Vulpix? One Ice-type and one Fire-type? This is incredible!"
He leaned closer, examining them carefully, clicking his tongue in astonishment.
"These should be the Drought ability and the Snow Warning ability, right?
How fascinating. Recently, when Drake brought that Totem Alolan Ninetales, I didn't see a single offspring with Snow Warning among its children. Who is their mother? To be able to give birth to such a pair of twins, that's truly remarkable."
While talking nonstop, Professor Oak had already reached out his hands, trying to pet the heads of the two little Vulpix.
The Fire-type Vulpix and Ice-type Vulpix stared at him warily. This guy had just bullied Deino. He was definitely not a good person.
Before Theo could even react, Fire Vulpix spat out a small flame, while Ice Vulpix released a stream of icy breath, both attacking Professor Oak at the same time.
The flame landed on Professor Oak's face, only leaving a bit of soot. The icy breath hit his hand, yet it caused no real harm.
Professor Oak was stunned for a moment, then continued smiling as he reached out again, muttering to himself,
"You two are quite fierce, aren't you? So cute."
Theo stood there, completely dumbfounded. He had just been about to scold Deino, but then he saw the two Vulpix actually attack Professor Oak.
Usually, when others tried to pet them for photos, they never reacted like this. Even if they did not want to be touched, they would only dodge. Why were they actually attacking when it came to Professor Oak?
"Don't worry about him, Theo."
Professor Birch shook his head helplessly from the side.
"That's just how Oak is. He never greets Pokémon before touching them, so getting attacked is an everyday occurrence.
He seems to have some kind of special constitution. Pokémon just love attacking him. The rest of us professors often joke about him. Who studies Pokémon like that?"
Watching Professor Oak remain completely unfazed after being attacked, Theo felt more and more that he resembled Ash to an absurd degree.
Both of them were capable of withstanding Pokémon attacks with their bare bodies. Could it be that they shared the same so-called Pallet Town superhuman physique?
At that moment, Theo suddenly recalled one of the unresolved mysteries from his previous life watching the anime. Who exactly was Ash's father?
And Professor Oak seemed to have an unusually close relationship with Ash's mother, Delia. In the anime, she was almost always seen appearing together with Professor Oak…
"Ash, is your mom home alone? Here, take this Pikachu and go on a journey. Go become a Pokémon Master!"
"What are you thinking about?"
Professor Birch patted Theo on the shoulder.
Theo snapped back to his senses, quickly shaking off those messy thoughts. He smiled awkwardly, then pointed toward the red cocoon formed by Larvesta.
"Professors, let's take a look at Larvesta first."
"Right, right, business first!"
Professor Oak slapped his forehead, immediately coming back to his senses. He gave up teasing the two Vulpix and Deino and quickly walked over to the red cocoon, crouching down to observe it carefully.
Professor Birch also took out a magnifying glass and some detection instruments from his backpack, beginning to measure the energy fluctuations within the cocoon.
"Oh right, Theo," Professor Birch said as he set down one of his instruments, suddenly remembering something. "You came all the way to this island on purpose. Is there something you needed to do?"
Theo pointed at the Fire-type and Ice-type Vulpix, who were still watching Professor Oak vigilantly from the side, and explained:
"I brought them here to see their mother.
They've been away from her for quite a long time. Although they often keep in touch through video calls, it's not the same as meeting in person.
Anyway, I was going to pass by this island on my way to Lilycove City, and since the Alolan Ninetales family has already settled on the snowy mountain here, living together with the Snorunt, I brought them back to visit home along the way."
"Oh right, I completely forgot about that!"
Professor Birch slapped his forehead.
"These two little ones are the children of that Totem Alolan Ninetales, right? Elite Drake mentioned it to me before, but I forgot about it for a moment."
Professor Oak, who had been touching the red cocoon with his fingers, also paused and leaned over to join the conversation.
"So these two really are children of that Totem Alolan Ninetales!
That explains it. I was wondering what kind of Ninetales could give birth to twins like you two. Since you're its offspring, no wonder you're so special."
(End of Chapter)