A Theory About Bonds (Please Keep Reading)

The Caterpie Leader quickly set off, intending to take Mark to the Wiki Berry tree. But it found that Mark did not immediately follow. Instead, he untied Caterpie's hammock and carried Caterpie on his back.

"Hiss?"

The Caterpie Leader was puzzled by Mark carrying Caterpie on his back.

Mark gently stroked Caterpie on his back twice and smiled. "I'm not comfortable leaving it here, so I'll bring it along with us."

The Caterpie Leader tilted its head as it watched Mark.

After spending some time together, it was no longer quite so afraid of Mark, though it still felt somewhat intimidated. But as it watched what Mark was doing now, all those fearful feelings vanished.

There was only one thought in its mind: this scary human Trainer was truly so gentle with that Caterpie.

It did not watch for long. Seeing that Mark was having trouble securing the Caterpie on his back, it spat out a strand of silk and helped Mark fasten Caterpie in place perfectly.

"Thank you, Caterpie Leader!"

"Hiss hiss!"

The Caterpie Leader nodded lightly and led Mark deeper into the forest.

A few minutes later, Mark and the Caterpie Leader arrived at a three-meter-tall tree. It was the Wiki Berry tree.

There were not many berries, but there were not few either. Mark gave them a rough count. Including the unripe ones, there were probably around seventy berries on the tree.

"Hiss hiss, hiss hiss."

The Caterpie Leader repeatedly gestured with its feet.

Perhaps because they had become somewhat familiar after their earlier exchange by the campfire, the Caterpie Leader told him that he could take half the Wiki Berries from the tree, leaving the other half for itself and the Caterpie Group.

It was clear that although the Caterpie Leader was very intelligent, it had little experience with the world and possessed an exceptionally pure heart.

If he were ruthless enough to deceive it, he could probably trick it out of most of the Wiki Berries on this tree. He could even make the Caterpie Leader thank him while he was taking them.

Unfortunately, he simply could not bring himself to do it.

Mark shook his head. "I won't need that many. Ten should be enough. Oh, there's something I forgot to ask you. Did your body grow this large because of these Wiki Berries?"

The Caterpie Leader tilted its head, its expression turning thoughtful and nostalgic.

It first shook its head, then nodded, then shook its head again...

Under Mark's confused gaze, the Caterpie Leader quickly waved its feet about, explaining with a series of hisses.

Since it was not his Pokemon, they could not communicate through mutual understanding. The Caterpie Leader had to explain for a long time before Mark finally grasped the general idea.

According to the Caterpie Leader, it had not originally been this large. It had only been a little bigger than an ordinary Leader's Guard, and it had not been nearly as intelligent as it was now. Back then, it had been somewhat muddleheaded.

It was not until the previous Caterpie Leader evolved into Butterfree and flew away that it defeated its competitors and became the new Caterpie Leader. Only then did its intelligence gradually increase further, while its body also grew larger.

The Caterpie Leader's account inexplicably reminded Mark of some questions he had had while watching the Pokemon anime before his transmigration.

During Ash's journey, he had encountered many gigantic Pokemon. They were not the Gigantamax forms of the later Galar Region, but truly enormous individuals, such as Giant Dragonite, Giant Tentacruel, Giant Claydol...

The leaders of some Pokemon groups were also often far larger than the sizes recorded in the Pokemon Index.

Could it be that these unusually large Pokemon were connected to becoming the leader of a Pokemon group?

Yes, not only was the current Caterpie Leader large, but the Caterpie Leader from several years ago had also seemed rather big.

Mark fell into thought.

Aside from the Caterpie Leader, his Caterpie also seemed somewhat special, possessing intelligence far beyond others of its kind.

As he pondered, a word suddenly surfaced in Mark's mind, along with a theory.

—Bond.

The word bond had accompanied the entire journey of Ash, the protagonist of the Pokemon anime.

Through bonds, Ash's Pikachu had defeated powerful enemies countless times. In the special episode's storyline, there had even been a case of a newly born Pokemon defeating a Legendary Pokemon through the power of bonds.

In the world of Pokemon, bonds represented emotional resonance between Trainers and Pokemon. They could genuinely become power.

This world seemed to be the same.

The school Textbook, Hia Kingdom Pokemon Common Sense Encyclopedia (III), used a few passages to describe how emotional resonance between Trainers and Pokemon could unleash tremendous power. The only issue was that the description was extremely vague, and the later books offered no further explanation.

Then, had his Caterpie gained intelligence because of the bond between them?

Mark thought it was highly likely.

Because he had been a muddleheaded fool for the past ten-plus years, Caterpie had gradually gained wisdom far beyond that of ordinary Caterpie through the bond between them, all so it could help him.

—Since he had no brain, then Caterpie would become his brain.

And through this theory about bonds, Mark suddenly realized that if humans and Pokemon could form bonds, then could Pokemon not form bonds with other Pokemon as well?

Perhaps the Caterpie Leader had formed bonds with the Pokemon of its entire group, gradually gaining a larger body and greater intelligence.

Then what about his Caterpie?

If his Caterpie became a leader, would it also grow further through its bond with the group?

Mark rubbed his temples with his fingers.

Although his theory seemed quite plausible, whether it was actually true would require a series of tests.

Besides, the Caterpie Leader had just given him some Wiki Berries. He felt too embarrassed to go back on his word and lead his Caterpie to seize the leader's position directly.

Moreover, he and Caterpie still needed the Caterpie Group for training. If Caterpie became the Caterpie Leader, they would lose that avenue for training.

The Caterpie Breeding Base in Clear Stream Village, however—finding a way to make his Caterpie the leader there—was something he could consider.

Without dwelling on it further, Mark continued listening to the Caterpie Leader's account.

According to the Caterpie Leader, after becoming the leader, its body had gradually grown to around one meter in length.

It was also during that period that its String Shot technique had advanced by leaps and bounds. At the same time, as its intelligence increased, it became aware of the threat facing its group.

Adjacent to the Caterpie Territory lived a powerful Pokémon.

The Caterpie Leader did not know exactly what kind of Pokémon it was. It only knew that it was purple, around three meters tall, extremely muscular, and possessed deadly venom.

Based on the Caterpie Leader's description, Mark guessed that Pokémon was probably a Nidoking.

That Nidoking often came to attack the Caterpie Group, and the Caterpie Group had always been helpless against it.

After racking its brains, the Caterpie Leader created Spike Catapult Traps triggered by silk threads. By setting off over a hundred traps at once, it severely wounded the Nidoking in one fell swoop.

In the end, the Nidoking fled, and the Caterpie Leader naturally took over its territory, gaining several Oran Berry trees and a small Wiki Berry tree within it.

Mark looked at the Caterpie Leader with admiration. He truly had not expected such a winding story behind these Berries.

"So, by eating these Berries, you grew from around one meter to your current size of nearly 1.3 meters.

And that was why you were shaking your head and nodding just now?

These Berries were one reason you grew so large, but they weren't the only reason."

The Caterpie Leader nodded repeatedly, confirming Mark's guess.

"Then how many of these Wiki Berries did you eat in total before growing to your current size?"

The Caterpie Leader began gesturing with its Feet again. It meant that it had eaten them over a period of time, one every few days, but it could not describe exactly how many it had eaten.

Mark shook his head. "I forgot you haven't learned how to count yet. We can talk about exactly how many you ate after you learn to count. Actually, math is pretty interesting once you get the hang of it. I'll teach you later..."

The Caterpie Leader tilted its head. For some reason, it once again felt the urge to run away. But out of fondness for Mark, it endured its discomfort and stayed...