Night quietly descended, and moonlight poured down from above.
By this time, the forest rangers had already regrouped with the Grass-type tribe, but they were still not permitted to enter the valley.
They all understood that something significant must be about to happen inside the valley. The only thing they could do was wait.
"The moon is so bright tonight."
"I don't know why, but I feel like the moonlight in this area is especially bright."
One ranger spoke to the companion beside him while sweeping his gaze around. Even though it was already nighttime, the surroundings were as bright as day.
"Mm, I feel it too."
The other rangers also nodded in agreement. The moonlight that spilled over the Grass-type Pokémon outside the valley covered their bodies with a layer of silvery radiance.
A few of the rangers owned Gloom, and right now, these Gloom looked unusually excited, dancing gracefully in the moonlight, which helped ease the rangers' tense mood somewhat.
This moonlight… somehow it feels like it has something to do with Lord Aven.
Enel thought to himself, his gaze drifting toward the direction of the valley.
The very next moment, his eyes suddenly widened. Inside the valley, a dazzling green light suddenly flared up, shooting straight into the sky!
"Gloom! Gloom!"
In an instant, the Pokémon outside the valley stirred restlessly. All their eyes were fixed with longing on the pillar of green light before them.
They could feel it—within that pillar of light pulsed an immense and concentrated wave of life energy. Instinctively, their own bodies began to emit faint green light.
The faint green radiance they gave off slowly converged and poured into the towering green pillar, making the energy within it grow even denser!
…
Inside Nidoking Valley
Countless Oddish gathered within the forest, surrounding Vileplume at the center.
As the ritual began, Vileplume's body shone with brilliant green light that continued to spread outward.
In an instant, Grassy Terrain unfurled beneath Vileplume's feet, carpeting the ground of Nidoking Valley and enveloping countless plants within its area of effect.
Immediately afterward, a faint green glow began to seep out from the giant trees, grass, vines, and other plants in the valley, flowing into the Grassy Terrain.
"Plume~ Plume ~ Plume!"
Vileplume's eyes sparkled brightly.
As the leader of the Oddish tribe, it continuously released a powerful wave of energy—the unique energy signature of its species.
Gradually, a strange resonance filled the air. Standing upon the Grassy Terrain, every Oddish present could feel surges of energy flowing continuously into their bodies!
Moonlight bathed the scene like silver water, interweaving with the green radiance until the two lights merged into a magnificent white glow.
This was the light of evolution—the light that signified the beginning of a leap in life!
One, two, three…
As the white light gradually faded, Gloom after Gloom appeared in the clearing.
These were all Oddish that had long been on the verge of evolving, and with the catalyst of the ritual, they were the first to complete the transformation. Their evolution then triggered more and more Oddish to evolve!
…
Outside the Valley
By now, the green glow visible to the rangers had completely vanished, replaced by a flood of white light that illuminated the entire valley.
Every ranger's eyes widened in astonishment—they all knew exactly what this meant!
"Evolution—some Pokémon are evolving!"
"And not just one… there are many evolving at once!"
Even Matthew, the leader among the rangers, couldn't help but cry out in surprise. Though he could tell at a glance that this light was from Pokémon evolution, witnessing so many Pokémon evolve at the same time was something he had never experienced before!
"It's the Oddish! It must be the Oddish evolving!"
"I've seen this before—back in winter, when we were defending against the beast tide, the Oddish all evolved together once!"
"At that time, it was two hundred Oddish evolving at the same time. That scene is still vivid in my mind—it was truly breathtaking!"
One of the rangers shouted excitedly. He happened to be an original resident of Fruitvale Village and had personally witnessed that miracle during that winter.
"A mass evolution of Oddish?!"
Matthew's spirit jolted. Now that he thought about it, he indeed hadn't spotted any Oddish among the Grass-type Pokémon outside the valley.
It made sense now—they must all be inside the valley undergoing a mass evolution. That realization only made him more astonished.
After all, there were nearly two thousand Oddish in that group. Were they all evolving right now?
If nearly two thousand Oddish all successfully evolved into Gloom, then the territory's overall strength would undoubtedly undergo yet another qualitative leap!
…
Deep within Nidoking Valley
Aven and the Nidoking tribe were also watching the start of the ritual.
Seeing every Oddish in the clearing begin to shine with brilliant evolutionary light, Aven finally breathed a sigh of relief. The evolution ritual had succeeded.
"Lil lil!"
Petilil stood at the very front of the grassy field.
Right now, it could sense the changes in the ritual most clearly. A thoughtful expression appeared on its face.
The transformation of life energy and normal energy gave it a deeper understanding of the process of evolution. This—this was the true essence of the evolution ritual!
"Nido! Nido!"
The Nidorino and Nidorina, upon seeing the evolving Oddish, all leapt up in excitement.
Their eyes sparkled with envy—they wished they could undergo a leap in life just like those Oddish!
As for the Nidoking and Nidoqueen, they were more filled with disbelief. They were among the rare few who had managed to evolve from Nidorino and Nidorina themselves, and so they knew firsthand just how difficult evolution could be.
"Nido~ Nido-"
The Nidoking leader's gaze grew burning hot as it turned to Aven.
In its mind, it was wondering—did Aven perhaps have a way to help its tribe experience a mass evolution as well?
…
However, there were a few exceptions
At the very back of the grassy field, there were a few Oddish enveloped in green light who were different from the rest.
The leader among them was none other than Number Seven.
Although these few weren't even standing within the Grassy Terrain's range, they were still affected by the ritual.
Now, Seven—having successfully mastered the Moonblast move—already had strength at the intermediate- level Pokémon, fully capable of meeting the conditions for evolution.
But judging from the way these Oddish were gritting their teeth and suppressing the evolutionary energy within them, it was clear that they didn't want to evolve.
The reason was simple—they didn't want to lose their invaluable Run Away ability!
These Oddish were Aven's personally trained reconnaissance units. If they evolved, they would lose their advantage and have to start all over again.
"Seven…"
Aven glanced back at them and sighed softly.
Run Away was a Hidden Ability, and Oddish that possessed it were exceptionally rare.
Even so, Aven never forced them to avoid evolution. He let them make the choice themselves.
If they truly did evolve, he would still raise them carefully. When Oddish evolved into Gloom, their ability would change from Run Away to Stench. Upon evolving again, Stench could become either Bellossom's Healer ability or Vileplume's Effect Spore—both highly valuable in their own right.
But for now, not evolving was their own decision, and he would respect that. After all, Oddish with the Run Away ability truly were the best scouts.
…
As time passed, the light of evolution gradually faded from the clearing.
The moment the white glow completely vanished, the surroundings seemed to darken abruptly—the moon's energy had been almost entirely drained.
At the same time, the valley filled with the sight of countless Gloom.
Every Oddish that had been carefully chosen to meet the evolution standards had successfully evolved during the ritual.
But mere seconds later, the valley was overwhelmed by an extreme stench—an indescribable mixture of rotten eggs, sweaty sneakers, garbage, and filthy socks spreading rapidly through the air.
"Nido! Nido…"
The Nidoking, who had just been expressing admiration, suddenly froze mid-expression.
Then, the Nidorino, Nidorina, Nidoran♂, and Nidoran♀ all bolted away as fast as they could.
The Pokémon beside Aven, however, were already used to this smell. Some even showed faint smiles of nostalgia.
"Petilil, use Aromatherapy." (TN: If I remember it correctly Petilil doesn't know Sweet Scent)
With a hint of amusement in his voice, Aven gave the order.
As a faint fragrance spread through the valley, the stench from the Gloom quickly dissipated.
Seeing this, the Nidoking leader, who had been gritting its teeth to endure, let out a deep sigh of relief and cast Aven a grateful look.
"Plume~ Plume~"
Vileplume, with its huge petals, came walking back from afar.
Though it looked exhausted after performing the ritual, the excitement in its eyes was impossible to hide.
"Well done, Vileplume."
Aven handed it a bottle of nutrient juice in praise.
Though the success of evolving two thousand Oddish had many contributing factors, Vileplume's effort was the most critical.
"Plume~ Plume~"
Vileplume plopped down on the ground, grinning happily.
"Lil lil!"
Petilil quickly came over as well, using its life energy to help Vileplume recover while discussing with it the finer points of life energy and natural energy manipulation.
…
In the Nidoking Valley, the newly evolved Glooms were still familiarizing themselves with their new bodies, delighted at having evolved.
Outside the valley, the rangers also saw the white light fade, followed by the overwhelming stench that confirmed their suspicions.
"Heh, this smell… it's oddly moving in a way," one ranger chuckled.
To those who had spent a long time living alongside Gloom, this stench was all too familiar.
Back in the day, it was these very Gloom that used their stench to protect the village, so none of the rangers felt even the slightest aversion to it.
One ranger's own Gloom, hearing this, happily squinted its eyes and released a faint pleasant aroma.
This was the Sweet Scent move, which could transform the stench into a fragrance.
These days, nearly all the Gloom living in Fruitvale Village had mastered this move.
As a result, there was no trace of foul odor in the village anymore—in fact, the air often carried a refreshing floral scent that lifted the villagers' spirits.
(End of Chapter)