Chapter 481: The Charlatan and the Seed
Arthur walked up to the Sandslash and took its place. This caused a slight stir among the group of Trapinch. Due to the long history of conflict in the Ashen Desert, the wild Pokémon here were generally warier of humans, and their relationship was far from amicable. Adding to that the faint aura of danger that Arthur exuded, the Trapinch grew restless.
"Arthur, don't do anything rash," Amani instinctively cautioned.
However, Arthur didn't resort to brute force. He knelt down, plucked a handful of leaves from the nearby vegetation, and offered them to the Trapinch. Although it was just a simple offering of readily available food, the gesture of feeding them earned him some goodwill. Humans who give food are good humans. The not-so-bright Trapinch followed a very simple set of values.
After a few more handfuls of leaves, having won over the Trapinch, Arthur proceeded to the next step. He cleared away some sand, revealing a small section of plant roots. The nearest Trapinch, following its instincts, immediately crawled over to take a bite.
With lightning speed, Arthur delivered a sharp chop to the back of the gluttonous Trapinch's neck, knocking it out cold. Another small commotion erupted from the pack. But with a circle of Sandshrew, and a Sandslash and a Greninja looking down on them, the agitated Trapinch didn't dare to do anything too drastic.
Arthur picked up the unconscious Trapinch and tossed it to the back of the group. He then pointed to the exposed roots again. Soon, a second, defiant Trapinch crawled forward.
SMACK! Another chop. Glutton number two was also "down."
He tossed the second Trapinch to the back. This time, no more Trapinch dared to come forward. So, Arthur reached out and forcibly dragged one over, holding it next to the roots. The Trapinch instinctively opened its mouth.
SMACK! Arthur's other hand came down. Knock out, toss away, all in one smooth motion.
The pack grew restless again. But Arthur paid them no mind and grabbed a fourth Trapinch. This time, the fourth unlucky fellow refused to open its mouth, no matter how Arthur dragged, shook, or tempted it. It kept its mandibles clamped shut.
Satisfied, Arthur gently set it down, even giving its back a soft pat to soothe it. He then looked at the pack and uttered a single word. "Understand?"
This time, the dim-witted Trapinch seemed to have instinctively understood the human language, nodding their heads furiously. Arthur smiled with satisfaction. He then turned to the Sandslash. "This is how you teach them effectively."
The Sandslash had a moment of enlightenment. It had learned something. The pack of Trapinch could only nod in agreement, their large heads bobbing obediently. The teaching was a complete success.
After the lesson, the Sandslash let the Trapinch go without any further trouble.
Amani walked over, looking at Arthur with amazement. "I didn't know you were so skilled at communicating with wild Pokémon."
Arthur replied modestly, "It's nothing, really. I just happened to have raised a Trapinch a long time ago."
Amani was surprised. "You raised a Trapinch? But I haven't seen any Pokémon like that with you."
Arthur gave a wry smile. "It was a very long time ago."
Indeed, it was a very long time ago. Over two hundred years, in fact. He had really raised a Trapinch, because Trapinch was the pre-evolved form of Flygon.
The Flygon evolutionary line had a distinct characteristic: its initial form, Trapinch, had particularly low intelligence and a short lifespan. If it couldn't evolve, a Trapinch would only live for about eight to ten years, even shorter than many Bug-type Pokémon. It shared many traits with insect-like Pokémon and had almost no connection to the Dragon type. Only after evolving into its second stage, Vibrava, would it gain sapience and the long lifespan of a Dragon. In a way, Trapinch's first evolution was as significant a leap in life form as that of Magikarp or Feebas.
When Arthur was raising his Trapinch, he had worried about it constantly. The chances of a wild Trapinch evolving were incredibly low, similar to Magikarp. If it couldn't evolve, all his efforts would be for nothing. His Trapinch back then had spent its days eating and sleeping, living a carefree life with not a thought in its big head,傻of天真烂漫. It had caused Arthur no end of stress.
Fortunately, his efforts paid off, and his Trapinch had successfully evolved at a young age. After gaining sapience, it quickly showed exceptional talent, spending only a year as a Vibrava before evolving again into a Flygon. The very same little dragonfly he was now searching for in the desert.
Unfortunately, the Ashen Desert was vast, and Trapinch were everywhere. Arthur had no leads, which left him feeling a bit disheartened.
The three vehicles parked nearby. The research team got out and began collecting plant specimens, conducting a series of on-site experiments and data logging. Arthur couldn't help with that, so he stood guard, bored, and struck up a conversation with the Sandslash.
"Why did you want to teach the Trapinch about sustainable eating?"
Sandshrew and Sandslash in the desert were omnivores. Their main food source was ordinary desert animals like lizards and snakes. Their diet didn't conflict with the Trapinch's, and they weren't in a predator-prey relationship. Arthur was curious why the Sandslash had been so insistent on teaching them. It could have easily driven them away, but instead, it had gone to the trouble of surrounding them just to give them a lesson.
"Slash, slash."
The Sandslash let out a few solemn cries. With Greninja's translation, Arthur's expression turned strange. The Sandslash said it was all because of a revelation. The revelation had told it that it should do everything it could to maintain order and ecological balance in the desert.
"Uh..."
Arthur suspected that his own Little Lapras might have taught it some new, fancy words before they left. The charlatan-like aura around this Sandslash was growing stronger.
Having just seen the Trapinch, which had triggered some memories, Arthur's main focus was now on finding his little dragonfly. So, once again, he didn't pay much attention to the Sandslash's talk of revelations.
However, in a place unknown to him, a group of people was watching this particular Sandslash with great interest.
"Its intelligence is high, and it has repeatedly guided other species in a short amount of time. There's no mistake! This Sandslash is a Seed! We need to find a way to separate it from that meddlesome group."
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