"Hmm... its coat has lost its shine, and the fur on its tail is sparse." Doctor Gao examined Pichu carefully.
"We ran into a swarm of Zubat on the way here. It knocked out almost all of them." I rubbed my bandaged left arm.
"Then your arm..." Doctor Gao frowned, then shook his head. "Impossible. I've never heard of a swarm of Zubat appearing in the city, especially on a busy main road with nowhere to hide."
"Still, if that's what happened... let's run a test." Doctor Gao brought over an examination device.
The device had a display in the middle, with wires on either side connected to metal probes.
He pressed the probes against Pichu's cheeks and asked, "Pichu, can you use Thunder Shock?"
Pichu looked at me.
"You, why don't you tell Pichu?"
"Huh? Um... Pichu... follow the doctor's instructions."
Pichu raised both hands. "Pi-chu-!"
Numbers began appearing on the screen.
Doctor Gao stared at the readings, dumbfounded, then turned to work at the computer behind him.
"This... can a Pichu really reach such a high level?"
Lv.52
"At this level... shouldn't it have evolved?" I was astonished by the results.
"Most evolve once their bond with their trainer is strong enough, but this one has been trained all the way to Lv.52 and still hasn't evolved..." Doctor Gao stroked his chin. "Perhaps... it can't evolve."
It couldn't evolve, so it was abandoned.
"No wonder..." I looked at Pichu. That was probably why its tail had been losing fur.
"As for its tail, plenty of rest and some medicine should clear it up. Go to the Medicine Dispensary to collect its medicine afterward."
Doctor Gao continued, "Hahaha, this little fellow really is impressive, though."
His hearty laughter dispelled the solemn mood, and he reached toward Pichu.