Chapter 923: Child
Yuga had made up his mind to check on the situation and was nearing Lake Island's Heart Lake when a sudden gust of wind disrupted everything. The surrounding trees were blown into disarray, shedding branches, leaves, and even a considerable amount of berry.
Facing the howling wind as he reached the lake, Yuga witnessed Gyarados, with an enraged expression, venting its frustration on Milotic. The fierce gust of wind was the result of Gyarados using its move, "Dragon Tail."
The lake's water was churned into waves crashing against the shore, soaking the grass and Yuga's clothes.
Slowking and Slowbro remained calm in the center of the lake, within a cluster of water hyacinths, creating a psychic barrier to deflect the incoming whirlwinds. They protected themselves and the water hyacinths from harm.
These water hyacinths thrived in Lake Island's Heart Lake, covering half of the lake's surface with their oval-shaped leaves and even producing many beautiful flowers.
A few Milotic that hadn't sought refuge swam quietly out from the water hyacinths, positioning themselves behind Slowking and Slowbro to watch the spectacle. It seemed they had done this before.
While Slowking and Slowbro weren't as powerful as the Milotic leader and Gyarados, they were more than capable of ensuring that the spectators didn't get hurt.
"Gyarados!"
Gyarados roared at Milotic in anger, then raised its tail, much thicker than Milotic's waist, creating a stream of water to strike at Milotic.
This was clearly a domestic dispute.
In terms of sheer strength, Milotic's leader was no match for its wife, Gyarados. However, although Gyarados appeared furious, the water stream it unleashed wasn't as powerful as it seemed. Milotic's leader knew this and lightly flicked its tail to disperse the water column.
"Miloticl!"
Milotic's leader looked helplessly at Gyarados, its eyes filled with indulgence. It was trying to persuade Gyarados, but Gyarados clearly wasn't willing to listen.
"Um..."
Yuga wiped his water-covered face and shouted loudly at the couple, but Gyarados's voice was much louder, drowning out his own. The couple was too engrossed in their "lover's quarrel" to notice the "helpless" Yuga standing on the shore.
In the end, Yuga could only watch the spectacle alongside Slowking and Slowbro, trying to piece together the reason for their quarrel from the fragments of conversation he overheard during their argument.
The reason behind this couple's quarrel was a lack of harmony in their family life, or more accurately, Gyarados unilaterally believed there was an issue with their family life.
The couple had been together for about a year or two, during which time all the Milotic had already had their own children. However, Gyarados's belly showed no signs of changing, leading it to suspect that the Milotic leader was the problem.
The Milotic leader felt quite helpless in the beginning and tried to defend itself. After all, how could a man admit that he couldn't perform? But as time passed, it eventually accepted the situation.
Since its wife complained about it all the time, it decided to go along with it. After all, it couldn't magically make its wife pregnant.
Yuga was hearing about such issues among Pokémon for the first time and found it rather amusing. In his opinion, it was entirely normal for high level Pokémon like Gyarados and the Milotic leader to not have children in such a short time.
The higher the level of a Pokémon, the longer it usually took to bear offspring.
For instance, Noctowl and Chatot had only one child by now.
Dragonite's mother had been alive for so long and only had one Dragonite child.
Swellow leader and Honchkrow, just like Ninetales and the Houndoom couple, had one child and no more.
Vivillon and Volcarona shared a similar situation to Gyarados and the Milotic couple; they didn't have any children.
...Examples like these were aplenty.
However, this was all normal. While high level Pokémon almost never had no children at all, their birth rates did decrease. It was just that Gyarados and the Milotic leader, being newcomers, were unaware of this.
High level Pokémon with good luck could have one or two children in a year, maybe even three. On the other hand, those with less fortunate circumstances might not have any offspring for one or two years, or even longer.
Gyarados and the Milotic leader seemed to be in the latter category.
After who knows how long they had been arguing, Gyarados finally appeared tired and lay on the lake's surface. It still glared at the Milotic leader, though.
The Milotic leader swam over and affectionately rubbed its neck, which seemed to please Gyarados. It returned the gesture a few times.
Just like how dragons have sensitive areas called "inverse scales," pseudo-dragon Gyarados also had a sensitive area in its neck. Normally, only close individuals or Pokémon would dare to touch it.
Evidently, after all that fuss, Gyarados wasn't genuinely angry with the Milotic leader.
Seeing that the couple had finished their quarrel, the other Milotic, who had hidden in the water hyacinths, nonchalantly swam out as if nothing had happened. They went about their business as if nothing had occurred.
Behind a large tree, Yuga shook off his soaking wet clothes and shouted to the now quiet Milotic leader and Gyarados:
"Are you two finished now? I understand you want to have some fun as a couple, and I don't mind that, but causing such a disturbance in the entire lake is going too far. Remember, there are more than just the two of you living here. At least, consider everyone else."
The Milotic and Gyarados couple only just noticed Yuga's presence, and they seemed a bit embarrassed by his words.
Other Milotic thought to themselves: Let them quarrel; we get to enjoy a free show.
With their owner present, the Milotic leader and Gyarados couldn't stay idle any longer. They swam to the shore and greeted Yuga.
However, when Gyarados let its tail sway out of the water, Yuga noticed something amiss and said to Gyarados:
"Gyarados, can you extend your tail out for me to see?"
Hearing this, Gyarados appeared surprised, and the Milotic leader looked somewhat displeased.
Gyarados thought: Why didn't we realize he was someone like this before?
The Milotic thought: He's actually flirting with my wife?"
For both Gyarados and the Milotic leader, their tails were a private part of their bodies, and it was one thing to look from a distance, but to inspect them up close was crossing a line.
Seeing their expressions, Yuga quickly realized the misunderstanding and explained, "No, no, I just suspected that Gyarados might be pregnant."
In female Gyarados that are pregnant, the white part of their tail fin would take on a faint pinkish hue until they finished giving birth. Yuga had noticed that Gyarados's tail seemed to have a hint of pink.
Upon hearing Yuga's words, Gyarados immediately showed an expression of delight. Without waiting for the Milotic leader's reaction, it closed its eyes and extended its tail right in front of Yuga.
After a careful examination confirming Gyarados's pregnancy, Yuga congratulated them, saying, "Congratulations, you're going to be parents."
Gyarados, who had been wanting a child for so long, was overjoyed, never expecting to be pregnant.
The Milotic, upon hearing this news, was also very happy and nuzzled Gyarados, saying: See, it wasn't because I couldn't do it.
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