The whale that looked like a ball was none other than Wailord's pre-evolved form - Wailmer.
Back when Wailord was first created, it wasn't just a single one, but a whole group. Aside from the Wailord responsible for carrying Shayna and others to Egghead, the others are scattered across the seas.
Unlike Magikarp with their exaggerated reproduction rate, they only existed in small numbers across the Grand Line.
The fact that this particular Wailmer ended up in Weatheria was purely an accident.
Weatheria does not simply drift with the wind. Through many years of meteorological research, they had developed certain weather-related tools like giant showers that could produce rain clouds, and Wind Knots capable of controlling wind, both of which can be used to control Weatheria's location.
Not long ago, Weatheria drifted near a Sea Cloud road that connected to the Blue Sea below, and this Wailmer came flying up from there.
Yes, not swim, but fly.
As the eyewitness, Nami saw it even more clearly. Weatheria was at least dozens of meters away from that waterway, yet this ball-shaped whale made a dash, flailed its fins desperately in midair, and then, almost like it was truly flying, soared right up to them.
That wasn't truly flying, it's more like gliding or leaping after a running start. But combined with Wailmer's body shape, it looked unmistakably like flying.
And the only reason it did this was to catch a school of Sky Fish in the sky ocean above.
Nami initially thought it was just a silly fool like Luffy, a fish that actually leaped out of the water onto land just for food.
But after landing, Wailmer didn't end up stranded like an ordinary fish. Its round body and the softness of the island cloud cushioned its landing, and it even bounced up like a bouncing ball.
This was one of Wailmer's traits. Once it stored seawater inside its body, it could bounce from the ground like a ball. The height of its jumps was proportional to the amount of water stored.
Pokémon do grow stronger through evolution, but even without evolving, they possess certain unique traits. Wailmer's bouncing was one of them, related to its past.
Creatures evolve, and Pokémon are no exception. But this evolution isn't only about changes in physical form.
It is biological evolution.
In ancient times, some Pokémon had completely different forms.
While most creatures evolve in the direction of the sea to land, Wailmer was different. It went from land to the sea.
Scholars of the Pokémon world believe that Wailmer and Cetoddle share the same ancestor. Long ago, they were a land-dwelling species, but Wailmer's ancestors eventually entered the ocean.
Because they were once land creatures, Wailmer retained some ancient abilities through the ages. Although they now lived mainly in the sea, being out of water for a short time wasn't an issue. Their only weakness was that when their bodies dry out, they become listless.
On beaches, one could even see groups of Wailmer bouncing together.
Wailmer's harmless, goofy expression amused Nami. She poked its round, plump body with her hand, only to be sprayed all over with seawater.
"Ah! I just changed into these clothes!"
She hadn't expected Wailmer to be able to do that. But this too was one of Wailmer's intimidation methods. Aside from warning enemies, they would also deliberately startle other Pokémon or people. That was simply their nature.
"Ohoho~"
"You're laughing! You did that on purpose!"
Having been suddenly sprayed in the face with seawater, Nami instinctively cried out in surprise.
Then Wailmer's strange reaction made her realize it was mocking her, which instantly made her turn fierce.
This also caught the attention of the other meteorologists on the island.
And right at that moment, it seemed that Wailmer had sprayed out too much seawater, leaving its reserves low.
Combined with the high altitude, which made the moisture on its body evaporate quickly, it began to feel uncomfortable.
Under Nami's confused gaze, it raised its head and howled toward the sky. With each echoing whale cry, rain began to fall as if on cue, and under the rain, Wailmer happily bounced around.
"It... it's raining?"
Lifting her arm and watching the raindrops splatter against it, Nami's mind began to race.
She had always been highly sensitive to changes in the weather. Beyond observing changes in the weather, she could also predict certain unusual conditions just by feeling the wind and humidity against her skin.
But before Wailmer used Rain Dance, she hadn't sensed any signs of rainfall at all.
The laundry getting wet wasn't a big deal, but for the meteorologists who lived on Weatheria, it was enough to shatter their convictions.
The weather of Weatheria could also be artificially controlled. That was the very purpose of their years of research. Whether it was artificial rainfall, dispersing clouds, or providing wind, those were the ways they earned their livelihood.
At this moment, their instruments were still running, and theoretically, it was absolutely impossible for it to rain on Weatheria, but it unexpectedly happened.
That was just how unreasonable Pokémon abilities were, especially those that could serve as Weather Setters. The only one Nami had encountered before was Heracross. Bug-types rarely trained in that sort of ability, and those Heracross didn't have the ability to summon rain.
"Why is it raining? The instruments show no problems!"
"All the instruments are functioning normally… did we fail somehow…?"
The researchers of Weatheria were mostly elderly, people who had poured their entire lives into this place. The data they had accumulated was already engraved into their very bones.
Wailmer's actions could be said to have disrupted their line of research, for after all, Pokémon themselves were unscientific existences.
The poisons Caesar studied couldn't compare to the self-generated gases of Muk and Weezing, and the fruits Queen cultivated couldn't compare to the fruits growing naturally on Tropius and other Pokémon.
Even Vegapunk's dream of creating eternal energy seemed childish in the face of the terrifying electricity output of an Electivire.
As Pokémon gradually integrated into this world, many existing technologies would undergo immense upheaval. Weatheria was just the beginning, but it would not be the end.
Wailmer's beady eyes had already narrowed into two straight lines. These crazy old men made it feel like this place was dangerous, so it began hopping and bouncing toward the nearby sky ocean path.
They say if you spend too much time with fools, you'll get infected yourself. It had no interest in turning weird.
"Wait!"
Seeing that Wailmer was about to bounce away, Nami quickly called out to stop it.
"?"
"You like eating these Sky Fish, right? Stay here for a while. You won't have to do anything. Every day, all you'll need to do is call out a few times, and fish will come right to you. You can understand what I'm saying, can't you?"
It wasn't just those old men who were interested in meteorology. Nami herself had stayed here to study weather knowledge. The weather of the New World was not something so easily overcome, and Wailmer's behavior had sparked her curiosity.
Judging from its mischievous antics earlier, this strange whale's intelligence was by no means low. That reminded her of the two Heracross from her hometown, so she decided to offer it her own form of "salary."
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