Chapter 42: Squirtle's Determination
The Squirtle Boss's reminiscence continued.
"With the big fellow's help, we finally opened up the entrance to this valley and established this natural treasure trove as our home. And while exploring this valley, she, Oddish, unintentionally discovered a stone filled with grass energy. With the help of this energy stone, she directly evolved into Vileplume, the form you see now."
"That was the first time I had been so close to a Pokémon's evolution. It was such a wondrous sublimation of life. I initially thought that I, being unable to evolve, would be very jealous of Vileplume who could. But I found that my heart was only filled with peace. Vileplume, too, didn't change because of her evolution; we still helped and cooperated with each other just like before."
"The big fellow felt there wasn't enough food in the valley for him to eat, so he bid us farewell and went off to find other places on his own. With only the two of us Pokémon left, this valley seemed very empty and quiet, so we came up with the idea of finding companions."
"In this forest, there are many Pokémon who cannot evolve due to natural defects; they are all at the bottom of this food chain. They are bullied, preyed upon, and unable to resist. But I felt that if nature did not protect them, then I would protect them. Even with a flawed body that cannot evolve, there are still things I can do. With this thought in mind, Sunrise Valley was established. We couldn't possess strong individual strength like other Pokémon communities, but we could defeat enemies stronger than us through close unity and cooperation!"
"For example, Scyther. In his own flock, due to insufficient nutrition at birth, his wing development was stunted, and he was severely bullied within his flock. Once, I encountered him being teased by his companions flying in the sky. Unable to bear watching, I brought him to Sunrise Valley. Under the nourishment of various nutritious foods carefully prepared by Flower, he now possesses even greater strength than his kin."
"And Machop is also a good companion. Although we haven't known each other for too long, he often enthusiastically teaches the Pokémon in the valley knowledge that we normally wouldn't be able to learn."
Speaking up to this point, the Squirtle Boss turned to look at Rio. After taking off his sunglasses, his eyes shone with a bright glint, and he spoke with a sincere tone.
"As their good friend, or rather, as the protector of Sunrise Valley, I must rescue them."
"However, facing that group of enemies, I know that my strength alone is not enough."
"And you, you possess a power that perhaps even you yourself are unaware of."
With that, the Squirtle Boss extended his right hand, clenched it into a fist, and held it out in front of him.
"Perhaps it will be very dangerous later on, and perhaps there will be changes that even I cannot explain. Are you willing to lend me a hand?"
"What are you talking about?"
Rio waved his hand.
"What's there to be willing or unwilling about? I just finished bragging in front of those guys. If I back down now, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself."
"So what if I can't evolve? So what if the level difference is huge? In this world, even a Pachirisu can take down a Tyranitar and a Salamence. What else is impossible?"
Rio laughed and also clenched his right fist, bumping it against the Squirtle Boss's.
"We'll rescue them together!"
As if a great weight had been lifted from his heart, the Squirtle Boss's expression relaxed, then became firm again.
In Rio's perception, the Squirtle Boss's originally dim Aura suddenly blazed up like a fierce fire, connecting through their bumped fists.
"Boom!" Like a sudden clap of thunder, a phantom image appeared before Rio. He saw powerful Water-type energy continuously circulating within the Squirtle Boss's body opposite him. However, when it flowed through the center of his body, it was continuously absorbed by a constantly rotating black hole. Any energy that flowed past the black hole would be weakened by several degrees.
"Ah, what's this?" Seeing this situation, Rio couldn't help but exclaim, startling the Squirtle Boss.
"What's wrong?"
Rio stared intently at the Squirtle Boss. "Perhaps, I have a way to know why you can't evolve."
The Squirtle Boss's breath hitched abruptly.
"Our kind of Pokémon can see an energy called 'Aura.' Aura is a special wave that naturally emerges from a creature's body. Therefore, by observing the flow of Aura, we can see many things that ordinary Pokémon cannot."
"For example, the Boss I see in my eyes right now, right here," Rio pointed his claw at the Squirtle Boss's chest. "There's a rotating black hole constantly absorbing your energy."
"A black hole?"
The Squirtle Boss touched his own chest, his face full of confusion.
Rio frowned and continued to stare. "Boss, can you try to evolve now?"
"I can, but..."
A little unsure of what was happening, the Squirtle Boss nevertheless tried to evolve as Rio suggested.
"Whoosh—" As a large amount of azure blue Water-type energy continuously overflowed from the Squirtle Boss's body, several spiraling air currents also rose from beneath his feet, creating a mighty spectacle that stirred the surrounding water vapor. Immediately after, a brilliant light enveloped the Squirtle Boss's entire being. Within the bright light, the phantom of a turtle-type Pokémon with wing-shaped ears and a wavy tail gradually formed. But just as this phantom was about to solidify, "pop," it shattered in the air like a bubble.
"Well, did you see anything?"
It was evident that failing to evolve was quite draining for a Pokémon. After the failed evolution just now, the Squirtle Boss's face was slightly pale, and he was panting heavily.
Rio was so conflicted that the black markings on his face, which resembled a mask, wrinkled together:
Just now, when the Squirtle Boss was evolving, he had been carefully observing the changes in that mysterious black hole.
During the evolution, a large amount of Water-type energy formed a vortex within the Squirtle Boss's body. As it spun rapidly, the energy continuously increased. In the process of increasing, it fed back into his body, causing his body to stretch and deform as if following certain rules. But when the energy seemed to have brewed to its peak state, the black hole, true to its name, directly and unreasonably sucked in a large amount of energy. And because the energy was absorbed, the Squirtle Boss's body couldn't receive further energy supplementation during its transformation process, thus leading directly to evolution failure.
"...That's how it is." Rio explained all this to the Squirtle Boss with some difficulty, because Pokémon evolution was truly too wondrous, completely unrelated to the physics or any scientific knowledge he had learned in his previous life. He could only rely on his expressive ability to give a vague explanation.
"Then do you know what's going on with the black hole in your body? Or have you encountered anything strange before, and then this thing appeared in your body without you knowing?"
It should be known that there were also many magical treasures in the Pokémon world. If encountering these divine objects resulted in an inexplicable state, that would indeed be an answer.
However, it seemed the Squirtle Boss was also completely clueless, stating that he hadn't encountered any meteorites, orbs, or other miscellaneous things.
Rio remembered that since gaining the ability to observe Aura, he had more or less seen the Aura energy of many Pokémon, whether they were newly hatched, relatively weak ordinary Pokémon, or powerful Hegemon Pokémon like Hegemon Nidoking. This mysterious black hole in the Squirtle Boss's body was something he was seeing for the first time.
Seeing Rio looking completely puzzled, the Squirtle Boss, on the contrary, patted his shoulder with a sense of relief.
"Forget it. If you can't figure it out, don't think about it. Anyway, the fact is I can't evolve. Why add to my own troubles over something that's already destined? Let's go. Rest well. We'll discuss tomorrow how we should rescue our companions."
After comforting Rio, the Squirtle Boss turned and walked towards his resting place with a rather carefree air.
Only, the moment he turned, Rio clearly saw a trace of disappointment and unwillingness hidden in the depths of his eyes.