Chapter 617: The Name of This Era is Dragon Clan!
"You guys know the rules of our Dragon Clan, right?"
Kazuya glanced at the Ludicolo clan.
Most Pokémon on this grassland had more or less heard about the affairs of the Dragon Clan.
But there were also some exceptionally "solitary" Pokémon clans.
That had almost zero understanding of the Dragon Clan.
Moreover.
Even if they had heard of them, they might not know the specific details.
The Dragon Clan didn't have many rules.
But every time a new clan joined, Kazuya would still have Floette properly explain the specifics, to prevent them from making mistakes later and being ostracized or reported by other Pokémon in the safe zone.
"Ludi!"
Ludicolo nodded.
He turned around, waving his arms, calling his clansmen to look over and get ready.
Those practiced movements momentarily stunned Kazuya.
They had clearly rehearsed this for a long time.
What are they trying to do?
Kazuya frowned at the group of giant pineapples and little water kappas in front of him, having no idea what kind of show they were about to put on.
Of course.
He found out the very next second.
"The name of this era is 'Dragon Clan'!"
The Ludicolo clan raised their hands high and shouted in unison.
"???"
Kazuya froze for a moment, then abruptly whipped his head around to look at the others.
The patriarchs of the five great tribes were all present.
Their eyes also showed varying degrees of confusion.
Kazuya fixed a pointed stare at the intellectual Rampardos, but the latter shook his head with an innocent expression.
Rustle...
The sound of grass parting echoed.
Kazuya narrowed his eyes and glanced to the side.
His little brother was tucking his tail between his legs, sneaking stealthily into the bushes.
"So it was you, you little brat."
Kazuya walked over, grabbed him by the tail, and dragged him out of the grass.
"Rua!!"
The name of this era is Dragon Clan!!
Seeing his cover blown, Charizard simply gave up resisting, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Stop shouting nonsensical slogans and making up random rules, you'll mislead the newcomers, you idiot."
Do you think you're Portgas D. Ace, you bastard?
I have no intention of being Whitebeard.
Kazuya twitched his tail in slight anger. Seeing his little brother still struggling and shouting indiscriminately, his anger flared.
Bang!
An iron fist of love descended.
The world went quiet.
His little brother lay on the ground and immediately started snoring, looking very peaceful.
The other Dragon Clan members sneaked a glance at their Big Brother, recalling the phrase Charizard had just shouted.
It's actually pretty catchy.
Let's remember it.
Regarding the arrival of the Ludicolo clan.
Kazuya was naturally very welcoming.
The expansion of the safe zone currently presented no apparent drawbacks for their Dragon Clan; it could even be considered a covert strengthening of their forces.
Even if the Dragon Clan were to march out in full force one day, their home wouldn't be left entirely defenseless.
The Ludicolo clan was quite strong.
According to Kazuya's observation.
The strength of this Ludicolo patriarch should be around Lv. 57.
Not weak at all.
No wonder they could lead their clan to hold out for so long.
There was only one thing Kazuya was curious about...
"How did you guys evolve?"
Kazuya pointed at the seven or eight Ludicolo in front of him.
For Lombre to evolve into Ludicolo requires a Water Stone.
This item wasn't considered too scarce in the future League Era.
At least among evolutionary stones, the Water Stone was relatively common, with a higher drop rate in the ocean.
He guessed.
The place where the Ludicolo clan lived must have Water Stones.
Or.
Perhaps those Pokémon with specific evolutionary conditions didn't need to meet those conditions to evolve in the Ancient Era.
If it was the former, then it was fine.
Water Stones meant absolutely nothing to them.
There wasn't a single Dragon-type Pokémon in the world that needed a Water Stone to evolve.
But if it was the latter, then things got interesting.
This meant some Pokémon with special evolutionary conditions might no longer be restricted by those conditions.
For example.
Floette?!
At this moment, Kazuya suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Floette sitting on his nose.
He had completely forgotten.
Floette is a Pokémon that requires a Shiny Stone to evolve.
Seeing so many Florges in her mother's clan before, he had mistakenly assumed Floette didn't need conditions to evolve.
The memories were too distant.
So distant that he had forgotten some things about Pokémon.
If that's the case...
"Ludi."
Ludicolo tilted her head in confusion.
Her sentence confirmed Kazuya's thoughts.
Pokémon of this era.
Don't need those messy evolutionary conditions.
As to the reason why.
It might be because the natural energy in this era was too abundant.
Some Pokémon in the League Era couldn't absorb enough natural energy from nature to evolve.
So they had to rely on those "crystallizations of natural energy tempered by time" to meet the evolutionary conditions.
But if that's the case...
"Why haven't you evolved yet?"
Kazuya looked at Floette in confusion.
This child was already Lv. 62.
If she could evolve, she should have evolved a long time ago.
He remembered seeing several level 30 or 40 Florges in her mother's clan.
If they could evolve at that level.
Why couldn't Floette?
Could it be because there weren't enough flowers planted in the Dragon Clan's territory?
He remembered the Florges clan's territory was almost completely covered in colorful flowers.
But that wasn't right either.
The Dragon Clan's farm could essentially be called a small flower field.
And it was a flower field belonging exclusively to Floette and Venusaur.
This problem suddenly made Kazuya worry.
Could Floette have some physical illness?
Or was it that...
Floette in her Eternal Flower form.
Is just more special?
Even incapable of evolving entirely?
"Flo-ette?"
Floette tilted her head in confusion.
She didn't know either.
She had left with the two little dragon cubs when she was so young.
Without clansmen or elders around, she had to solve any problems she encountered by herself. How would she know why she couldn't evolve?
"You guys head over to the farm. The lake is also over there, and there are many Water-type Pokémon there. When you have free time, you can help Floette look after the farmland."
Kazuya first withdrew his gaze from her, then looked at the Ludicolo clan.
The scale of the farmland was expanding.
After all.
The Dragon Clan's population was expanding, and their territory was expanding.
Leaving so much land empty was a waste; of course it had to be used to expand the scale of the pastures and farmland.
But after expanding.
Guarding the pastures wasn't a problem at all.
But there was a shortage of hands to look after the farmland.
Pokémon with suitable personalities and the Grass typing weren't common on this grassland.
The largest and strongest Grass-type clan Kazuya knew of was the Florges clan.
Until now.
Only Floette and Venusaur were looking after the farm.
Starting today, things would be better.
The Water/Grass-type Ludicolo clan could definitely rank in the Top 10 when it came to tending farmland.
In the future, they might not even need to draw water from the lake for irrigation.
The Ludicolo clan could do it themselves.
There was even a precedent in the anime of a farm using Lotad to cultivate fruit trees.
"Flo-ette."
Floette flew up.
She planned to lead this group of new workers to the farmland.
"No, no, wait a moment. I need to take you out for a bit."
Kazuya gently cupped Floette in his hands.
He needed to investigate this issue with Floette.
"Flo-ette?"
A look of confusion appeared in Floette's eyes.
"We're going to find your mom."
Kazuya explained.
He had to go ask what was going on with Floette not evolving.
Florges might know.
Whether Floette wanted to evolve was one thing.
Whether she could evolve was another.
Being unable to evolve.
Could also mean there was a physical problem, just like Kazuya in his fourth life.
It was just that he was lucky back then; it was only a genetic defect that didn't affect his health.
Moreover.
Figuring it out in advance.
Would save trouble if Floette suddenly changed her mind later.
"Flo-ette."
Floette tilted her head, lacking interest.
She didn't really want to return to that 'home'.
As for evolution...
It held no allure for her.
She even felt somewhat averse to it.
After all, once she evolved, she wouldn't be able to fly anymore, right?
That felt quite troublesome.
One dragon and one flower set off anyway.
Since Kazuya wanted to go, Floette would definitely accompany him.
The Florges clan lived in the southern part of the grassland. Flying over from the Dragon Clan's heartland at a relaxed pace took a little over ten minutes.
A quarter of an hour later.
The Florges clan suddenly descended into chaos.
The fire dragon flying in the sky struck terror into their hearts.
Even though the current Charizard clan's behavioral style had changed drastically, the atrocious image from back then hadn't faded from their memories.
The brain isn't the internet.
The atrocious image of a clan isn't so easily forgotten.
Especially for those Pokémon who had personally experienced the trauma.
If they could suddenly turn good.
Why couldn't they suddenly turn bad?
It's always right to be wary of someone with a criminal record.
After all, a leopard can't change its spots.
It wasn't until Kazuya drew closer.
And the Florges clan judged by his massive size that this Charizard was the Dragon King of the North.
That they finally settled down slightly.
Simultaneously.
Some Floettes and Flabébé couldn't help but cast curious glances.
The deeds of this Dragon King of the North.
On this grassland.
No.
Perhaps in this entire era, were considered a miraculous feat.
All rivers run into the sea, embracing all tribes in one land.
How incredibly legendary.
Moreover...
Many Pokémon knew.
That within the Dragon Clan, the one holding the No. 2 status was actually a Floette who had walked out from among them.
A Floette favored by the Flower of Ill Omen.
Whoosh—
Kazuya landed gently.
The gentle breeze from his flapping wings swept over the grassland and flower beds below, kicking up waves of floral fragrance.
"Flo-ette."
Floette didn't like this place.
Not only because of the attitude of her former companions.
But also because within these flower beds, she couldn't find a single black flower.
The Dragon Clan was her true home.
Nowhere in the Dragon Clan's territory lacked black flowers.
That was the place she loved.
"Your mom is looking at you,"
Kazuya chuckled softly.
"Flo-ette."
Floette didn't care.
Could a Florges who had never even hugged her be called a mother?
Kazuya shook his head at this.
He actually felt that Florges wasn't entirely heartless.
There was still a bit of feeling there.
He had a pretty good relationship with Feraligatr.
And had learned from him.
During the very first Grassland Alpha Assembly, aside from Arcanine, only Florges had spoken up in his defense.
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