The Difference Between the Real Pokémon World and the Games

Wallace turned to Lin Mo, his tone filled with genuine anticipation. "Lin Mo, you'll be participating in this year's Grand Festival in Lilycove City, won't you?"

Lin Mo nodded without hesitation, his eyes shining brightly.

"Yes, Master Wallace. Pokémon Contests are my favorite stage. I want to use them to show every spectator the unique charm of my Pokémon."

"Excellent. I'm looking forward to it." Wallace smiled and nodded. "Aurora Creation truly opened my eyes today and gave me many new ideas.

By the way, what do you think of Pokémon? In your heart, are they merely partners for competitions and displaying moves, or...?"

Wallace abruptly changed the subject, his gaze becoming more serious.

Lin Mo did not answer immediately.

He looked at Feebas and Tyrantrum playing joyfully beside Milotic, memories of training and living alongside them over this period flashing through his mind.

Then he raised his eyes to meet Wallace's gaze, his voice sincere and earnest.

"They are my family.

I have always believed that Pokémon have their own personalities and emotions. They are absolutely not tools whose only value lies in battling or performing.

Trainers should respect and understand them. Pokémon are simple-hearted creatures; if you treat them well, they will repay you with twice the sincerity and affection.

And Pokémon Contests are a special stage. They can show everyone how adorable, beautiful, and cool Pokémon are.

It is not only Pokémon skilled at battling that have value. How many Gym Badges they possess or what placing they achieve at the Ever Grande Conference has never been everything they are."

After speaking, Lin Mo bowed slightly, his tone full of respect.

"Thank you so much, Master Wallace. You were the one who promoted Pokémon Contests across so many places and created the touring Wallace Cup, allowing more people to see how adorable Pokémon can be.

I will also give it my all, so that others will understand Pokémon are not merely for battling. They are our best friends, family, and companions."

Wallace listened quietly without interrupting, the admiration in his eyes growing stronger with every word Lin Mo spoke.

Only after Lin Mo had finished did Wallace slowly nod. Gentleness and approval mingled in his eyes, and a particularly gratified smile rose on his lips.

"Well said. Every word struck right at my heart!" He raised a hand and lightly patted Lin Mo's shoulder, his voice full of emotion.

"The reason I took over Steven Stone's position as Hoenn Champion was precisely because I wanted to use the influence of that identity to let more people see the value of Pokémon Contests and ensure the beauty of Pokémon would be remembered by more people.

I'm truly happy to meet a junior like you who understands this original aspiration. There is someone to carry it on!"

As he spoke, Wallace's gaze fell on Feebas, who was playing with Milotic. Then he suddenly changed the subject and looked at Lin Mo.

"Do you think Feebas has the potential to evolve?"

Lin Mo's heart stirred. Just as he was about to answer, Wallace raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't rush to answer." Wallace smiled, his tone gently guiding.

"You know Magikarp, right?

Those Pokémon can be found everywhere in rivers. They look silly and clumsy, and seem capable of little besides jumping around. They are often overlooked.

It was only after Professor Oak of Kanto revealed its evolved form that many people learned that the unremarkable Magikarp could actually evolve into the powerful Gyarados.

Regarding the conditions for Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados, Professor Oak mentioned in his research that Magikarp's evolution was a transformation of cells and will.

For Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados, simply increasing the energy within its body is not enough.

It also needs its brain cell structure to be reorganized under the influence of various factors, such as emotions, environment, and external stimuli, before it has a chance to evolve into Gyarados.

Research data showed that some Magikarp evolved after being bullied and experiencing intense emotional fluctuations. Others transformed after swimming upstream during migration, breaking through obstacles such as waterfalls, and gaining tremendous confidence.

Others still suddenly erupted with the power to evolve after sensing their trainer's powerful conviction."

Wallace paused, his gaze growing deep.

"So, you see, Magikarp's evolution is not that simple.

An outburst of emotion, the tempering of its environment, external stimulation, even the bond between it and its trainer—

Only under the guidance of these different factors can it be pushed from an inconspicuous little fish into a majestic Gyarados."

Lin Mo quietly listened as Wallace recounted Professor Oak's research into Magikarp's evolution. It opened the door to new knowledge for him, and he felt that this was the reasonable logic that truly fit reality.

A Pokémon as astonishingly powerful as Gyarados was also the signature Pokémon of Dodo Bird, the Elite Four member renowned throughout the Kanto Pokémon League. Countless people knew of it, yet very few trainers truly possessed one.

If it could evolve as easily as it had in the games from his previous life, then shouldn't everyone catch a Magikarp, raise it, and end up holding a tremendously powerful Gyarados?

That was far too unrealistic!

Wallace continued speaking to Lin Mo.

"I imagine you have already guessed what I want to say. Yes, Feebas, like Magikarp, has the potential to evolve.

Feebas's evolved form is Milotic, but its transformation is far, far more difficult than Magikarp evolving into Gyarados.

Besides requiring a Prism Scale as the item that carries its evolution, the crucial point is that Feebas itself must possess a desire for beauty.

It needs immense confidence, believing from the depths of its heart that it is the most beautiful and unique Pokémon, before it can have a chance to evolve.

But Feebas is known as one of the 'ugliest Pokémon.' It is deeply insecure about its own appearance, and helping it build confidence is extremely difficult.

Furthermore, most Feebas only know Splash and Tackle. Their battle ability is exceptionally weak. They have neither strength to serve as a foundation nor an appearance that does not often make them feel inferior.

Under such circumstances, making it develop confidence is truly difficult. If you want it to evolve through nothing but a trainer's verbal encouragement and praise, that is simply a fantasy.

In our Hoenn Region, there are only a handful of trainers who have raised a Milotic. Aside from me, there are only my teacher Juan and Robert.

And precisely because its evolution requirements are so harsh, the Pokémon League has not publicly disclosed Feebas's evolution information. It is only circulated within a small circle.

The main concern is that too many people might blindly capture them, then casually abandon them after failing to raise them successfully, hurting these Pokémon instead.

At the Sootopolis Gym managed by my teacher Juan, many apprentices raise Feebas. But to this day, aside from Robert's success four years ago, no one else has succeeded.

My Feebas, Robert's, and my teacher's all possessed exceptionally high talent.

They learned quite a few moves even in their Feebas stage. With their strength as a foundation, they had ample confidence, and only by combining the other two conditions did they finally evolve into Milotic.

And your Feebas has an even greater talent for learning moves than ours did. When I held it just now, its eyes were full of liveliness, and it was in exceptionally high spirits.

That is why I think so highly of it. It has a very strong chance of evolving into Milotic.

I'm telling you all this because I hope you will not fail to evolve Feebas simply because you were unaware. That would be such a pity."

So that was it.

Only after hearing Wallace's words did Lin Mo finally have some of the doubts in his heart cleared up.

If Feebas could really evolve according to the method from the games of his previous life, raising a Milotic would not be too difficult.

Yet in reality, throughout the entire Pokémon world, trainers who possessed a Milotic could be counted on both hands.

This also served as a reminder to Lin Mo that he could not completely take the knowledge he had of Pokémon from his previous life as truth.

What he was in now was a real Pokémon world, one of flesh and blood.

Pokémon had their own joys, anger, sorrows, and happiness, complete emotions, and independent consciousness.

They could act cute and clingy, be mischievous and troublesome. They were lives that truly existed, not merely cold names and data in a game.