Lü Shouchun's surprise and confusion!

On the banks of the Songjiang.

Pokémon of all sizes crowded both banks, while the river was a vast expanse of red dotted with specks of blue.

The red came from Magikarp swimming upstream, as well as those swept away by the current when their stamina ran low.

The blue came from newly evolved Gyarados.

"Roar!!"

A Gyarados who had just finished evolving threw back his head and roared.

He had been very lucky, becoming one of the few fortunate enough to evolve successfully.

But his location was terrible. He was close to the riverbank, so he came under attack as soon as he finished evolving.

"Xiao Du, X-Scissor!"

A male human's voice carried across the river to his ears, and he turned toward it.

The one shouting was a tiny human, and the Pokémon he commanded was even more pitifully small—not even as big as his mouth.

"Roar!"

Freshly evolved and feeling boundless power coursing through his body, Gyarados could hardly tolerate a "little bug" provoking him. He immediately let out a thunderous roar.

An icy chill welled up in his mouth, quickly forming a set of sharp fangs forged from ice.

Ice Fang, an Ice-type move, was a new move he had just learned.

Whether it was thanks to his talent or a gift from evolution, he executed Ice Fang fairly quickly, without the slightest hitch, succeeding on his first attempt.

He showed none of the awkwardness expected of someone using a move in battle for the first time.

An instinctive talent for battle after evolving...?

Mu Yun mused to himself as he watched how smoothly Gyarados instinctively used Ice Fang.

Normally, when Pokémon learned a new move, they were either below beginner proficiency or had only just reached it. At that stage, using the move would feel