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"Jiu Mi~ Jiu Mi~"
Little Shaymin waved its small arms in a swaying motion, acting as if to say, "I don't care—I want to evolve right now!"
The Shaymin patriarch looked helpless, resembling a parent whose child was throwing a tantrum on the ground, demanding an Ultraman toy when they had no money in their pocket.
"Even if we perform another thanksgiving ceremony, your power isn't sufficient to complete the evolution process," the patriarch explained patiently.
"How about this—you go back and train properly for a while. Once I've gathered enough gratitude energy, I'll summon you for the evolution ceremony. Does that sound fair?"
"Jiu Mi~ Jiu Mi~ (No, no, no, no, no! I don't want to wait!)" Little Shaymin protested, actually rolling on the ground in frustration.
"What if I let it come on an adventure with me to gain some experience?" Chris suggested tentatively. As he spoke, he pulled out a cluster of Gracidea flowers from his backpack.
Celebi's and both Shaymins' eyes immediately locked onto the flowers.
Little Shaymin's expression changed instantly to one of pure excitement.
"You have Gracidea flowers too?" The Shaymin patriarch's brow furrowed in surprise, while little Shaymin's eyes sparkled with newfound hope.
"Well, I happened to find these somewhere else during my travels. I've been keeping them with me ever since," Chris explained quickly, not wanting any misunderstanding. He certainly didn't want them thinking he had picked the flowers from their sacred garden and hidden them away.
The Shaymin patriarch studied the flowers carefully and didn't doubt Chris's words. The energy within these Gracidea flowers wasn't the typical gratitude power—it was a purer form called "Purification Power." A Shaymin that evolved using these particular Gracidea flowers would gain significantly stronger combat abilities compared to normal evolution.
These definitely weren't the Gracidea flowers that the Shaymin clan cultivated by channeling gratitude energy through careful nurturing.
"Jiu Mi~ Jiu Mi~ (Please, please~)" Little Shaymin was already clinging to Chris's leg, staring up at him with large, watery eyes filled with longing and hope.
"I'm not giving these Gracidea flowers away for free, you know," Chris said firmly. "You'll need to come on adventures with me and grow stronger before I hand them over." If it weren't for his goal of having a Shaymin companion, Chris would never have revealed this legendary Pokemon item so readily.
Little Shaymin immediately jumped onto Chris's shoulder and pumped its tiny fist enthusiastically. "Jiu Mi! (Let's go!)"
"You'll need to enter a Poke Ball first," Chris said, producing a Luxury Ball and holding it up to his shoulder.
Without a moment's hesitation, little Shaymin tapped the Luxury Ball with its paw and was drawn inside. The ball didn't shake even once—a successful capture on the first try.
Moments later, it popped back out and nuzzled Chris's cheek affectionately.
When a legendary Pokemon's friendship level is already high, it really is surprisingly easy to catch one.
Chris reached up to pet little Shaymin gently, and his happiness increased by one point.
The Shaymin patriarch standing nearby wore an expression of mild exasperation.
"Betrayed by a single bunch of Gracidea flowers—where was this enthusiasm before?" the patriarch seemed to think. "If you had trained more diligently on a regular basis, would you need someone else's help?"
However, the patriarch didn't interfere with Chris's capture of little Shaymin.
From its perspective, traveling with a Trainer and experiencing real adventures would genuinely help this particular clan member—who had always been somewhat careless and immature—to truly grow up and mature.
Besides, this was little Shaymin's own decision to make.
Perhaps it was for the best. Let the young one venture outside and face some hardships. That's how one grows stronger.
Neither the patriarch nor Celebi worried about whether Chris would mistreat little Shaymin. The aura surrounding Chris was peaceful and pure, indicating he wasn't an evil person.
Since little Shaymin was willing to adventure with him, Chris kept his promise and presented the Gracidea flowers. Since Gardevoir now possessed the Lustrous Orb, the Gracidea flowers that had previously been held by Venusaur were now available.
Chris decided to find a grass-type partner for Venusaur. He believed his Venusaur wouldn't mind passing the Gracidea flowers to Shaymin for now.
Venusaur's internal thoughts: "You're so generous! You're amazing!"
Shortly after, Chris departed from the island alongside Celebi and his newly caught little Shaymin. This time, the Shaymin patriarch didn't follow along, simply watching from the shore as Chris sailed away into the distance.
Before leaving, however, Chris had used his treasure detector to thoroughly scan the area, confirming there were no other legendary Pokemon items he might have missed.
After all, if something had been left behind, it probably would have been another cluster of those legendary Gracidea flowers.
After leaving the island behind, Chris naturally switched out of the story mode. His small character sprite was now using Surf along the edge of the Hoenn Region map.
Chris decided to check the Pokemon menu panel.
Sure enough, Celebi appeared in the Pokemon panel listing, but it couldn't be moved to the first position in the party. When Chris clicked on its command menu, there was only one option available: "Time Travel." Even the status screen was locked and couldn't be viewed.
So much for exploiting a game bug.
Chris had hoped that simply having Celebi in his possession would allow him to utilize it directly through the game console without needing to address the game glitches.
Now it seemed he had been too optimistic. He would still need to find an opportunity to properly catch a Celebi in the future. If the chance arose, he'd ask if there were any disobedient young Celebi who needed "adventure experience" as discipline.
However, little Shaymin had been genuinely caught and registered.
While traveling toward the Sinnoh Region, Chris opened Shaymin's status screen to examine it more carefully.
[Shaymin (Grass)]
[Level: 22]
[Ability: Natural Cure (After a certain period passes, any negative status conditions on the Pokemon are automatically removed)]
[Individual Values: HP (31), Attack (31), Special Attack (31), Defense (31), Special Defense (31), Speed (31)]
[Moves: Growth, Magical Leaf, Leech Seed, Quick Attack, Sweet Scent, Seed Flare]
[Held Item: Gracidea]
Perfect IVs across the board—6V.
Little Shaymin's natural talent and potential were exceptional.
But Chris wasn't overly concerned about individual values. Even if a Pokemon had poor IVs initially, he could maximize them to perfect values using the special crowns he'd obtained from Master Mustard.
Additionally, the Gracidea flowers carried by Shaymin had some interesting attribute modifications displayed in the game system.
Gracidea: When held, absorbs any negative effects in the surrounding area. Moves gain the "Purification" effect, dealing double damage to Poison-type and Ghost-type Pokemon. When the absorption of negative effects reaches maximum capacity, Seed Flare can be released automatically.
Current Progress: 100/100
Shaymin gains additional power when holding this item. (Grass-type move power increased by 100%, automatically learns Seed Flare, and its power is doubled)
Perfect. Gracidea flowers and Shaymin were truly a match made in heaven.
Although the Grass-type normally has no advantage over Poison-types or Ghost-types—and is actually weak to Poison-type moves—this special Gracidea reversed that disadvantage completely. When combined with Seed Flare's doubled power, that meant quadruple damage output against those types!
After training Shaymin properly, Chris would have two powerful grass-type Pokemon on his team. For now, though, it would serve as a backup for his Totem-sized Venusaur when needed.