Seeing the two excited Nidoran, Aven stood up naturally and made his way toward the wooden table in the courtyard.
At this moment, a stack of notebooks lay on the table, each one documenting the training progress of all his Pokémon.
This time, since he had successfully captured a Mothim that had mastered the move Camouflage, he naturally needed to formulate a dedicated training plan for it as well.
Based on the battle earlier, he could clearly see that this Mothim possessed extraordinary strength.
With just a bit of nurturing, it could grow into a very powerful Pokémon—perhaps even reaching the level of an advanced Pokémon.
Currently, even the leader of the Mothim swarm was only at a level close to that of an advanced level Pokémon.
If the Mothim he had captured weren't so fond of hiding its strength, it might have even been able to challenge for the leader position.
Therefore, if he could raise the strength of his Mothim to the advanced level Pokémon, it could quickly become the new leader of the Mothim swarm, allowing him to bring this large group under his control.
If he could successfully integrate the Mothim swarm into the aerial units of his air force, then the aerial domain over the southeastern territory of Aspiration City would be solidly secured.
Furthermore, Pokémon like Burmy, known for their rapid growth and development as Bug-type Pokémon, were also highly suitable as starter Pokémon for new Trainers—allowing them to develop formidable strength in a short time.
Currently, the main moves that Mothim had mastered were Camouflage, Gust, and Silver Wind—all of which were exceptionally powerful and full of potential.
Among them, the move Camouflage was especially noteworthy. It allowed the user's type to change depending on the environment it was in, similar in effect to the move Nature Power.
In essence, both Camouflage and Nature Power involved the manipulation of normal energy. However, compared to Nature Power, which involved controlling normal energy directly, Camouflage was more about becoming one with nature itself.
In a certain sense, Camouflage represented a deeper and more advanced application of normal energy than Nature Power.
As such, Pokémon that could truly master this move were extremely rare—exceedingly rare, in fact!
"Mothim, come out for a moment."
After a brief moment of thought, Aven called out toward the sky.
If it hadn't been for Luxio and Petilil being present, he wouldn't even have known where Mothim was currently hiding.
"Moth~"
After a while, Mothim's figure slowly emerged from behind Aven.
Turning his head with some surprise, Aven looked at the Mothim—who had truly blended in as if it were invisible—and gave a light nod.
"Let's test your Camouflage move first."
Aven's understanding of the move Camouflage came primarily from textbooks.
This was his first time actually seeing a Pokémon that had mastered the move.
"Moth~"
Mothim nodded and gently landed on Aven's shoulder.
"Petilil, you come too."
Petilil quickly ran over, just as curious and eager to see Mothim's performance.
With the two Pokémon in tow, Aven quickly led them to the riverside next to the Pokémon breeding house.
"Petilil, use Nature Power!"
Upon hearing the command, Petilil nodded rapidly and began to gather normal energy.
Because they were standing by the river, the normal energy soon took on a Water-type nature, quickly coalescing around Petilil.
Finally, as Petilil unleashed the Nature Power move, all the gathered water-elemental energy condensed into a thick, powerful stream of water, which shot out like a cannon and crashed into the river's surface, sending up a huge spray of water!
Witnessing this, Mothim's expression became visibly more serious.
It realized that this water cannon seemed even more terrifying than Luxio's Wild Charge.
I really am still too weak... I must be even more cautious and stay hidden!
"Mothim, did you sense anything just now?" Aven turned and looked at Mothim.
Right after, Mothim's body began to fade, and then suddenly vanished mid-air—entering its hidden state once again!
Aven paused for a moment, speechless.
"Um... this area is very safe. You don't need to hide."
Hearing this, Mothim reappeared, glancing at Aven, then at Petilil.
It nodded gently, as if realizing—hiding in front of Petilil might be useless?
That thought triggered a sudden sense of danger in Mothim's heart.
If it encountered an opponent with similar sensory abilities in the future, it could be in real trouble!
No, I must increase my strength as quickly as possible.
Mothim turned its gaze to Aven, recalling the scenes where Aven had guided his Pokémon's training sessions.
"Mothim, try using Camouflage," Aven instructed.
Mothim nodded. Its figure swiftly disappeared into the air.
"Uh... I didn't mean to go invisible..." Aven rubbed his forehead and added,
"Fly over the river, then activate Camouflage."
Hearing his clarification, Mothim nodded again, quickly flying out over the river. Then it used Camouflage once more.
This time, its figure did not vanish. Instead, its body gradually began to take on the color of the river's surface, and at the same time, waves of Water-type energy began to emanate from it.
"Moth~"
Mothim jumped in shock as it activated the move.
It quickly flapped its wings and retreated from the river's surface, looking down with a mix of fear and confusion—clearly not understanding what was happening to its body.
Normally, Mothim lived in the forest, so it had only ever used Camouflage in the woods or in the sky.
It had never used it in other environments before.
"Don't worry, that's the effect of Camouflage," Aven reassured it, reaching out his hand for Mothim to land on.
"This move allows your type to change according to your surroundings. Since you're over the water now, Camouflage has turned you into a Water-type Pokémon."
"When you used the move in the forest before, it must have turned you into a Grass-type."
Hearing this explanation, Mothim paused for a moment, then showed a look of realization.
That feeling did seem very similar—it was just due to the different terrain.
"Moth~"
Under Aven's encouragement, Mothim cautiously attempted the move once again.
After activating Camouflage, Water-type energy once again began to flow through its body.
This time, already mentally prepared, it quietly waited for the transformation to complete.
Soon, it could feel itself radiating dense Water-type energy, and its sensitivity to this type of energy had clearly increased.
Looking down at the water surface, it actually felt an urge to dive in.
The sensation was similar to the comfort it usually felt when hiding among the trees in the forest.
"It worked! Mothim has successfully transformed into a Water-type using Camouflage!"
Aven's eyes lit up with excitement as he carefully recalled every detail of the transformation.
"Lil lil, lil lil~"
Petilil also looked up at Mothim, her big eyes narrowing slightly.
Just now, as she watched Mothim, she had sensed a very familiar kind of natural energy.
As someone already deeply attuned to normal energy, could she also learn this incredible move, Camouflage?
"Petilil, did you feel it?"
Suddenly, Aven's voice reached her ears, and Petilil looked up in surprise.
"Camouflage, at its core, is also a way of manipulating normal energy," Aven continued.
"It's just that Camouflage achieves this by merging yourself with nature, allowing your type to change."
"Whereas your move Nature Power involves controlling normal energy to produce various effects."
"In that sense, the two moves do share some common principles."
Petilil blinked, her face showing thoughtful realization.
It seemed Aven had long since noticed the similarities between the two moves.
At that moment, Mothim flew back from the distance and landed on Aven's outstretched hand.
"Mothim, Petilil," Aven said,
"From now on, the two of you can help each other explore and exchange insights on how to control normal energy."
He continued to explain to the two Pokémon.
Mothim had the potential to learn the move Nature Power as well.
If it could pick up some learning methods from Petilil, it would greatly strengthen its abilities.
At the same time, Nature Power could also help Mothim gain a deeper mastery over Camouflage, allowing it to better merge into the natural environment.
In fact, if both Camouflage and Nature Power were used together, there was a chance that some kind of synergy could occur—enhancing both moves simultaneously!
As for Petilil, although she couldn't learn Camouflage, when using the move Grassy Terrain, she could similarly achieve a state of merging with nature.
Understanding Camouflage might help her better grasp that feeling of oneness with nature—thus allowing her to unleash even more powerful effects when using Grassy Terrain.
One more thing worth mentioning—whether it was Camouflage or Nature Power, both moves could undergo unique transformations when used within Grassy Terrain.
In fact, there was a strong interconnection between all three moves!
(End of Chapter)
TN: I'm so dumb, I just realized natural energy is normal energy.