Chapter 87: The Dazed King

Early the next morning, Axew immediately realized this was Hu Yang's doing upon hearing Gengar say it had turned an ugly color again.

It had really wanted to burst into tears.

But Gengar smirked at it from the side and said, "What's there to cry about? Even if your color changed, no other Axew is going to see you."

Axew thought about it and realized that was indeed true, so it stopped crying and pointed at Gengar. "Axew!" (Your color changed too!)

"What?!" Gengar was startled and looked down at itself. Seeing that it didn't look nearly as ugly as Axew, it breathed a sigh of relief.

"Petty." It muttered, glancing at Hu Yang on the bed, then dragged Roserade and Axew over.

After a brief discussion, the Pokémon immediately realized this was a sneaky little revenge from their trainer, and promptly decided to act as if nothing had happened at all.

So when Hu Yang woke up and saw that Axew wasn't crying but instead sitting there basking in the sun with its butt sticking up as if everything was normal—

This left him feeling a bit dejected. He walked over to Axew on his own and reminded it, "Axew, haven't you noticed anything wrong with yourself today?"

Axew made a face at him. "Axew!" (Nyeh nyeh nyeh!)

Hu Yang: "..."

Fine. His little boy had grown up—it didn't cry when something happened anymore.

His childish revenge as a father had failed, and he lay back on the bed feeling very wounded, changing their colors back.

After all, if someone else saw them like that, explaining it would be a hassle.

The return journey to the Hoenn region went smoothly. On the third day, the White Seel docked back at that Slowpoke island they had encountered on the way there.

After pulling up to shore, the captain went over to notify Hu Yang.

Hearing this news, Hu Yang dug the King's Rock out of his bag and took it with him as he disembarked.

The Slowpoke were still lying motionless on the rocks by the shore, basking in the sun.

Seeing this, Hu Yang began to suspect that these Slowpoke hadn't moved at all these past few days.

However, this time, there were two extra Slowbro on the island.

Slowbro—also known as the "Slow River Hippo" in some circles—were another evolved form of Slowpoke.

Unlike their pre-evolution, Slowbro had gone from walking on four legs to standing upright as bipedal Pokémon, and a creamy striped pattern had grown across their bellies.

Because of their upright posture, their limbs had also grown longer, and a large spiral shell had appeared on their tails.

That shell was the evolution material formed from a Shellder.

Slowpoke's two evolutionary paths were both different from ordinary Pokémon.

Evolving into Slowking required the King's Rock.

As for evolving into Slowbro, it happened when a Slowpoke dangled its tail into the water to fish and got bitten by a Shellder.

Because the Shellder was biting its tail, the Slowbro could no longer use its tail to catch food, and was forced to reluctantly swim into the water to hunt instead.

The Shellder clinging to its tail survived off the leftovers from the Slowpoke's meals.

This kind of fusion-like evolution was quite interesting to see.

Hu Yang went over to a Slowbro sitting on the ground eating fish and observed it for a while.

That Slowbro paid no attention to his arrival—but the Shellder on its tail turned its gaze toward him.

After fusion evolution, the Shellder didn't lose consciousness; its eyes could still be used.

It was said that both the Slowpoke and the Shellder that made up a Slowbro each retained their individual consciousness and would communicate with each other.

If the Shellder on its back ever came off, the Slowbro would revert back to being a Slowpoke.

Stared at like that, the Shellder's gaze grew wary.

It seemed to communicate something to the Slowpoke, and then the Slowbro stopped eating its fish, looked up, and let out a warning cry meant to drive him away.

Hu Yang: "..."

Can't he even look? Seriously.

At least the Slowpoke were nice.

Hu Yang returned to the rocks by the shore and used his appraisal ability to search for his Slowpoke.

His golden finger couldn't reveal their aptitude, but it could show their moods.

For example, some were thinking, "The weather is so warm today."

Others showed a confused mood: "Huh? Did something just bite my tail?"

But most were just blank-minded, thinking of nothing at all, staring vacantly at the distant ocean.

Occasionally, a few would flash a sharp look, but they'd quickly go back to their vacant expressions.

While Hu Yang was picking out a Slowpoke, Gengar was pointing and commenting from beside him:

"This one won't do—too vacant. This one either—looks super lazy. This one's body's too thin—too weak."

Hu Yang: "... Are you picking out cabbages at a market?"

Gengar defended itself: "The ones with frail bodies are clearly the type that never get enough to eat. These Pokémon are really dumb—can't even catch their own food, let alone battle. Not like me."

Hu Yang: "..."

Gengar's body and soul had been nourished by the power of the Spooky Plate for over a thousand years. Even without Hu Yang putting in any special effort to train it, it was already incredibly strong.

He had to admit, Ghost-types and Psychic-types were truly absurd in real life.

Ghost-types had invisibility and all kinds of eerie abilities; Psychic-types had teleportation and telekinesis.

Back when he'd first watched the anime and seen Psychic-type abilities, Hu Yang had always felt they were an unsolvable existence.

While talking to Gengar, Hu Yang's gaze never stopped searching.

Then, he spotted a Slowpoke that was a little different from the rest.

[Species: Slowpoke]
Type: Psychic, Water
Ability: Own Tempo
Base Stats: Omitted
Known Moves: Yawn, Water Gun, Confusion
Egg Move: Future Sight
Current Emotion: Deep in thought ("Who am 'I'?")
Body Condition: Perfect
Friendliness: 0

Well now—this Slowpoke was actually pondering one of the ultimate three questions of human philosophy.

Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?

That's it. I want this one!

Hu Yang took a Poké Ball from his pocket and tossed it at the Slowpoke.

It hit true, and the Slowpoke was drawn inside. Without putting up the slightest fight, it was caught successfully.

Though more likely, it simply hadn't registered what had just happened.

Hu Yang released the Slowpoke from its ball, and it still wore that vacant look.

"This one..." Gengar suddenly frowned.

Hu Yang, who had been about to take out the King's Rock, paused. "What's wrong?"

Gengar critiqued, "It looks pretty dumb too."

Hu Yang: "..."

Ignoring Gengar, he took out the King's Rock.

At that moment, the Slowpoke's gaze shifted over.

Seeing this, Hu Yang felt a sense of wonder.

Could it be that the King's Rock contained some kind of energy that Slowpoke could sense?

He remembered that simply placing the King's Rock on a Slowpoke's head would allow it to evolve directly, right?

Thinking this, Hu Yang set the King's Rock on the Slowpoke's head.

The next second, the look in the Slowpoke's eyes changed.

Then, the light of evolution bloomed from its body.

Within it, the Slowpoke's form underwent rapid transformation.

Soon, when the white light faded, a Slowking appeared before Hu Yang and Gengar.

"It still looks really vacant," Gengar said after observing for a while.

Hu Yang felt the same way. He reached out and waved his hand in front of the Slowking's eyes, asking, "Hello, Slowking. Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Hearing the voice, the Slowking turned its gaze to Hu Yang's neck and face. It opened its mouth slightly, and first mouthed two soundless words.

Though there was no sound, Hu Yang could still tell what it meant from the shape of its lips.

It was saying "Hello."

Hu Yang: !!!

If he wasn't mistaken, that looked like human language, didn't it?!