In a blink of an eye, Snivy's body was enveloped in a rich, white glow.
Within the glow, its appearance rapidly changed.
"Snivy..." Snivy gritted its teeth, enduring.
Just at this critical moment, the evolutionary light on Snivy's body suddenly shifted and disappeared.
Seeing this, Draconis was slightly stunned.
Did it... fail to evolve?
"Hoo... hoo!" Snivy slowly caught its breath, as if enduring the evolution had taken a lot of its strength.
Watching this scene, Draconis immediately realized.
It wasn't that Snivy failed to evolve... it was that it resisted evolution.
Why?
Draconis was a little puzzled. He squatted down, trying to ask Snivy about its thoughts.
"Snivy, do you not like to evolve?"
Evolution makes a Pokémon stronger. Logically, most Pokémon instinctively pursue greater strength and generally wouldn't refuse to evolve.
No... perhaps that's not the case.
Draconis then thought of some examples from the anime.
Being unable to control one's power after evolution can sometimes cause great damage and burden to a Pokémon's body, leading to irreversible consequences.
For example, the Bug/Grass-type Pokémon Paras, when it evolves into Parasect, Paras will die because the essence and energy in its body are sucked dry by the mushroom, and the mushroom parasitic on its back will then begin to control this new body to act.
For a Trainer, this is absolutely unacceptable.
"Snivy..." A hesitant expression appeared on Snivy's face, but after a moment, it still shook its head firmly.
That's right, it didn't want to evolve!
An event from a long, long time ago surfaced in Snivy's mind.
It was a night when the moon was very full.
It met a Serperior in the forest.
Although that Serperior was very powerful, it no longer had legs to run or hands to hold things.
At that time, Snivy's heart was filled with fear of evolution.
Because after evolving, it would also lose its hands and feet.
To it, how was that appearance any different from being crippled?
Snivy is a naturally proud Pokémon. It has its own self-esteem. Although Draconis is with it now and Draconis treats it very well... even so, it cannot accept that in the future, even eating Berries would require Draconis to feed it.
Although he couldn't understand Snivy's words, seeing Snivy's expression, Draconis could clearly feel its resistance to evolution.
Although he felt a little regretful, reality was not a game after all, and he couldn't force a Pokémon to evolve.
Draconis adjusted his emotions and then said to Snivy:
"It's okay, it's okay not to evolve!"
"Snivy..." Snivy was slightly startled, then looked up at Draconis.
Draconis grinned and said, "We can still become stronger, can't we?"
Wasn't Ash's Snivy the same?
It could defeat the evolved form Servine in its initial stage.
Similar examples are abundant in the Pokémon world.
More importantly, even if Snivy doesn't evolve into Serperior, it can still learn Leaf Storm.
In fact, in the game, Serperior needs to reach level fifty-six to learn Leaf Storm.
Whereas Snivy only needs to reach level forty-three to learn it, even earlier than Serperior.
Therefore, Draconis was willing to respect Snivy's wishes.
"Snivy..." Snivy's eyes flickered. It stared blankly at Draconis in front of it, then turned its head away, closing its eyes to avoid looking at him.
But Snivy's friendship level increased from 70 to 90.
Ultimately, Snivy's heart was also a little scared.
It was afraid that if it didn't evolve, Draconis would abandon it.
After all, through their time together, it knew very well that Draconis actually hoped that the Pokémon around him would evolve.
Like Dratini.
However, Snivy couldn't accept becoming like that. It would rather stay with Draconis in its current form.
Now, seeing that Draconis hadn't abandoned it, but instead encouraged it, greatly moved Snivy.
It had grown fond of this human.
"Alright, let's put that behind us!" Draconis reached out and stroked Snivy's small head: "After this, we'll continue to train hard just like before!"
This time, Snivy was no longer tsundere, but gave a firm response.
"Snivy!"
And just then, a voice came over.
"Your Highness Draconis, so you're here!"
Draconis turned his head and saw Old Butler Alfred hurrying over.
"What's wrong?" Draconis asked.
"Ryan, Cleveland, and Christina, they've returned!" Alfred reported.
Draconis immediately remembered Ryan and the others whom he had sent out a few days ago to investigate the surrounding Pokémon ecology.
He hurried back to the Lord's Hall with Snivy and Dratini, and sure enough, he saw Ryan and the other two already waiting there.
Christina presented the notebook in her hands to Draconis with both hands, her eyes bright as she said:
"Your Highness Draconis, we have completed the task you assigned!"
The taciturn Cleveland stood beside them.
Ryan grinned and said, "Mission accomplished perfectly! After the snow melted, many unfamiliar magical beasts appeared nearby!"
"Oh?" Hearing this, Draconis immediately became interested.
He sat down on a chair, then opened the notebook used to record Pokémon data.
The first page recorded a small-bodied Pokémon that looked somewhat like a sheep, with oval eyes and green, curly ears, its body covered in fluffy cotton.
Is this... Whimsicott?
Christina made the following annotation below.
[They are very lively but don't seem to have a fixed habitat. Their bodies are very light and can be blown into the sky by the wind, drifting everywhere.]
Whimsicott, huh? They could produce cotton for making quilts and clothes, Draconis thought.
But the problem is that these Whimsicott are very light and float away with the wind... that's an issue.
Draconis continued to look down.
The Pokémon ecology in spring was clearly much richer than in winter.
Basculin, Roselia, Emolga, Heracross, Pinsir, Spring Form Deerling, Zangoose, Seviper, Tangela, Gligar, Bouffalant, Corphish, Lickitung, Jigglypuff, and even a Slaking.
"Indeed, the variety is rich!"
Draconis casually flipped to the last page.
There, he saw a quite familiar figure.
A fluffy Pokémon, covered in a thick layer of wool, with an orange light bulb at the tip of its tail.
Mareep!
Christina made the following annotation below.
[Docile, gregarious magical beasts. Even upon first meeting, one can approach and pet them, but they seem to possess some kind of power, and touching them suddenly will make one's hand sore and numb.]