Chapter 654: Initial Assessment for Snivy

Chapter 654: Initial Assessment for Snivy (Seeking Monthly Votes!)

"Not coming with us?"

By the seaside of Windy City.

Hiruna had boarded a flight to Sinnoh early in the morning, sparing Hydreigon the strain this time.

Meanwhile, Jinghe and Male wandered around Windy City for a while before deciding to leave. Everywhere they went, memories of Hiruna lingered, making it too easy to "touch the scene and evoke emotions."

However, Jinghe and Male didn't choose to fly. Instead, they opted to take the little ones on a boat ride.

There wasn't much else to consider.

The main issue was that Snivy, the little one, had never been on a boat.

Since its birth, it had mostly lived in Windy City, either in the city's Pokémon Nursery or challenging opponents in the forest outside. It had only ever seen ships sailing by from a distance, never setting foot on the sea.

Thus, to satisfy the little one's curiosity about the ocean, Jinghe and Male chose to take a boat.

Coincidentally, a sizable but fast Streamliner was docked at Windy City's port, set to depart from the Castelia region and head to Hoenn, Kanto, and Johto.

Of course, this was mainly due to the Wind Festival in Windy City, which had brought many visitors from these regions. Now that the festival was over, it was time to send them back.

In response to Jinghe and Male's question, the Giratina Core said:

["My duty is to maintain the balance in the Castelia region."]

Over the past few days, the Giratina Core had closely observed humans, gaining a deeper understanding of them.

It felt it was necessary to have a good talk with its "partner."

More importantly, it had been disconnected from its "partner" for some time and was worried about what might have happened to it, preparing to search for it.

"Too bad", Jinghe and Male sighed lightly.

He truly felt sorry.

Gigalith, such a great giant, couldn't be used now.

After all, apart from Gigalith, the two largest beings in the Castelia region were Zygarde, who was asleep, and Yveltal, who had gone missing. Clearly, there was no one to fight.

"Then, goodbye."

Jinghe and Male exhaled deeply, smiled, and spoke to the little one on his shoulder.

Plop.

The Giratina Core jumped onto the nearby railing.

It didn't have hands, but Jinghe and Male knew it was waving goodbye.

["Wait a moment."]

Just as Jinghe and Male was about to leave, the Giratina Core called out to him.

"What is it?" Jinghe and Male asked with a smile. "Changed your mind?"

["No."]

The Giratina Core rolled its eyes irritably and, after a brief hesitation and careful choice of words, said:

["I sense that the energy in the Castelia region is a bit more active. Be careful."]

The energy in the Castelia region more active?

Jinghe and Male was taken aback.

He was about to leave Kalos, after all.

However, he didn't say much, just nodded and replied, "I understand."

It seemed the decision to leave quickly was the right one.

"Goodbye, Gigalith. If anything happens... give me a call."

Although the Giratina Core had no hands or phone, that didn't mean it couldn't make a call.

Jinghe and Male had already given it his phone number.

["Understood."]

Thus, under the watchful gaze of the Giratina Core, Jinghe and Male boarded the returning Streamliner.

On the deck of the Streamliner.

"Hiss."

Snivy clung to the railing, watching Windy City grow smaller and smaller, its eyes brimming with a mix of reluctance and faint nostalgia.

Although this place hadn't given it many happy memories, it was where it had been born and lived up until now. Every corner of Windy City held echoes of its efforts.

Leaving suddenly made it feel a bit reluctant and melancholic.

Standing beside it, leaning against the railing and letting the sea breeze tousle his hair, Jinghe and Male could sense the little one's feelings, a gentle smile on his face.

"Leaving isn't always a bad thing, is it?"

"Hiss?"

Snivy tried to hide the "weak" thoughts in its eyes and turned to look at Jinghe and Male.

"Without leaving, there can be no return, no reunion."

"Leaving is for a better encounter."

"Hiss."

Snivy lowered its head, pondering Jinghe and Male's words. The heavy heart slowly lightened.

A hand rested on its head, and a gentle voice spoke again.

"Whenever you miss this place, we can always come back."

Snivy stared blankly at Jinghe Male's eyes.

After a moment.

It suddenly snapped back to reality, baring its teeth and hissing.

"Hiss! Who's going to be sad about something so insignificant?"

Who, who would feel sad over such a trivial thing!

Despite its words, it didn't shake off Jinghe Male's hand.

"Shall we go out and see the world together?" Jinghe Male asked with a smile.

"Hiss!"

This time, Snivy didn't argue but nodded firmly, clenching its fists.

The queen has set out on her conquest!

"Hiss."

After the Streamliner had been sailing for a while, in one of the rooms on the third floor, Snivy was perched on the windowsill, watching the pouring rain outside. It turned to look at Jinghe Male, who was sitting on the sofa, reading The Essence of the Earth.

Is this what you call the outside world?

Not long after leaving the port, a sudden downpour began, and all the tourists either hid in their rooms or huddled in the ship's viewing area.

"It's raining; there's nothing we can do about it."

Jinghe Male flipped through The Essence of the Earth.

Although he had read Giovanni's The Essence of the Earth at least twenty times, he always found something new and useful every time he read it.

This made him marvel at Giovanni's expertise. Even as a "villain", he was still revered as a "master" in certain aspects.

Giovanni indeed had profound insights into Pokémon training.

Previously, Jinghe Male had read this book to train Yuki, Dratini, Thicklipuku, and the others. This time, he found some of Giovanni's insights on training Grass-type Pokémon.

As the owner of "Viridian Power" and the guardian of Viridian Forest, Giovanni, though known as "Giovanni of the Earth", had a deep connection with the forest and Grass types.

Therefore, in The Essence of the Earth, he mentioned his understanding of Grass-type Pokémon.

For example, one passage read:

"Grass-type Pokémon, while having plant attributes, ultimately rely on the earth to draw nutrients from the soil. Therefore, treating Grass-type Pokémon as a single attribute is not sufficient, even for pure Grass types."

Grass and Ground are inseparable.

This made Jinghe Male think of Yuki and Snivy.

Could these two little ones work perfectly together?

"Giovanni's book is still fascinating."

In the special episode, after Green held the title for a few minutes and then lost to Red, he returned to Vermilion City to become the Gym Leader, inheriting Giovanni's The Essence of the Earth.

He completely rebuilt his team from scratch and, in just one year, trained a whole new team of Pokémon to a level comparable to a champion. This was truly impressive.

While Green's ability as a "trainer" certainly played a role, he himself admitted that The Essence of the Earth had greatly inspired him.

"Hiss!"

Seeing Jinghe Male completely engrossed in the book, Snivy puffed out its cheeks.

"Yuki~"

Yuki walked over and raised its hand to pat Snivy's shoulder, saying,

"It's fine, it's fine. It's just rain; I'm not afraid!"

But Yuki's hand missed.

"Hiss!"

Snivy sidestepped, skillfully avoiding Yuki's hand.

"Yuki?"

Seeing this, Yuki became intrigued. It thought Snivy was playing hide-and-seek, so it grinned and pounced.

As the "second-generation" leader, am I afraid of this?

But Snivy just tilted its head, glanced at Yuki, and sidestepped again, evading Yuki once more.

This time, Yuki's playful spirit was truly ignited.

Before long, the room was filled with the two little ones darting around.

Under Dratini's head, under Nine-Tails' tail, in Gengue Male's mouth.

"Yuki, Yuki."

Yuki panted heavily, looking at Snivy with a mix of disbelief and determination.

Snivy, also panting heavily, its chest heaving, maintained its proud stance.

Can't catch me.

Yuki really couldn't catch Snivy.

Jinghe Male, who had been reading, couldn't help but put down the book and laugh at the sight of the two puffing and panting.

Yuki's current strength was undoubtedly much greater than Snivy's, even with Snivy's type advantage.

However,

Yuki's weakest point was its speed.

If it came to defense or strength, two Snivies wouldn't be enough to match Yuki.

Snivy's greatest advantage is undoubtedly its speed.

This allows it to evade Pokémon like Queen of Cold, who also boasts impressive speed, making it difficult for them to take Snivy down. Snivy's agile movements and lightning-fast reflexes are what give it the edge.

After all, Queen of Cold has the ability "Queen's Dignity", which means all "priority moves", such as Quick Attack or Flash Cannon, cannot work against it. This ability itself requires Queen of Cold to have extremely fast speed and reflexes, but Snivy seems to have an even greater advantage in this area.

Jinghe, Male couldn't help but be a bit surprised after laughing.

He then gave Gengue, Male a meaningful look.

Gengue, Male immediately understood.

"Gengue~ Gengue gengue~"

Heh heh heh, let this old man see what you've got.

Jinghe, Male wanted Gengue, Male to test Snivy's limits.

While Jinghe, Male knew Snivy wasn't weak, he wasn't exactly sure where its ceiling was, especially since he had just recently captured it.

Gengue, Male's form blurred, turning into a cloud of Black Fog, and then—

Snivy was lifted by the scruff of its neck.

Snivy let out a fierce hiss.

In mid-air, Snivy bared its fangs and teeth, kicking its legs wildly.

"Gengue~"

Gengue, Male moved closer to Snivy.

Is that all you've got?

Jinghe, Male: "..."

He rubbed his forehead.

He had been too hasty.

He had assumed Gengue, Male would be the right choice to test Snivy, but Gengue, Male was even faster.

Testing Snivy with Gengue, Male was a waste of time.

However, it didn't matter. Jinghe, Male gave Nine-Tails a look, and she was more measured in her approach.

"Ao~"

Sure enough, Nine-Tails smiled gently, showing her nurturing side. One of her tails extended from behind her, reaching toward Snivy's head.

"Hisss!"

Having just been caught by Gengue, Male, there was no way Snivy could be caught so easily again. It immediately used all its strength to dart around the room.

But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't escape Nine-Tails' tail.

In the end, the soft, shimmering tail gently touched Snivy's cheek, caressing it.

Feeling Nine-Tails' warmth and kindness, Snivy, for the first time, didn't bare its teeth. Instead, it showed a shy, almost embarrassed expression.

"Hisss."

There it was.

Another one "conquered" by Nine-Tails.

However, Nine-Tails' approach gave Jinghe, Male a better sense of Snivy's speed and agility.

This was definitely what gave Snivy the confidence to face Queen of Cold.

Watching Nine-Tails retract her tail and seeing Snivy raise its head with a proud look, Jinghe, Male rubbed his chin.

"It seems Queen of Cold's 'Queen's Dignity' ability is just a show of pride, while our Snivy is the real deal."

Jinghe, Male had already understood why Snivy and Queen of Cold had fought.

The reason was very simple.

Snivy simply couldn't stand Queen of Cold's proud demeanor, and Queen of Cold, in turn, couldn't stand Snivy's small size.

To put it more simply, in a group of Pokémon, there can only be one queen.

Bang!!

The massive Streamliner suddenly jolted, and all the passengers inside could feel the significant shaking.

However, the ship's intercom quickly reassured them.

"Apologies to all passengers. Due to the heavy rain and rough seas, some seaweed has been washed into the navigation channel. We are currently addressing the issue. We apologize for any inconvenience caused."

The announcement was repeated three times, and the passengers quickly calmed down.

To be honest, a large cruise ship like the Streamliner is generally immune to the mischief of most Pokémon. Moreover, such a large ship would certainly have powerful trainers among the crew.

"Gengue!"

Dripping wet, Gengue, Male suddenly floated in from outside, shaking off the water like a dog and pointing excitedly at the sea.

Clearly, Gengue, Male had ventured out on its own again.

And it was excited because—

There are dolphins, I saw dolphins!

Dolphins?

"Yuki!"

Yuki grumbled as it stood up from the ground, eagerly calling out to Jinghe, Male.

Let's go see!

Snivy looked at Yuki, slightly surprised. It had been just as tired as Snivy moments ago, but now it seemed fully recovered.

And it has tough skin and thick flesh.

Snivy didn’t underestimate Yuki at all. How could it, after witnessing Yuki’s battles firsthand?

However,

Apart from speed, Snivy was completely outmatched in defense, attack, and recovery.

“Let’s go.” Jinghe, Male put on his coat and patted Snivy’s head, “We’re going to see the dolphins.”

Snivy let out a sharp hiss.

Snivy burrowed into Jinghe, Male’s clothes.

“Sir, Teacher Jinghe, Male?”

The sailor on deck initially wanted to stop them, considering the heavy rain and rough waves outside, which made it quite dangerous to go out.

But upon recognizing Teacher Jinghe, Male, he quickly let them pass.

“What’s the situation?” Jinghe, Male didn’t immediately leave but asked.

The sailor chuckled bitterly and said, “As the announcement said, seaweed from another area got caught in the shipping lane and accidentally entangled the propeller.”

He paused and then lowered his voice, whispering,

“Actually, the more troublesome part is that a Toxtricity and four Lalarage live in that patch of seaweed.”

So that’s it.

No wonder.

It must be the seaweed from Toxtricity and Lalarage, otherwise, ordinary seaweed wouldn’t have gotten entangled in the propeller.

Jinghe, Male nodded and asked, “Do you need help?”

“Teacher Jinghe, Male—”

The sailor quickly took out his walkie-talkie and asked the first mate, receiving a very precise and urgent response.

“Quickly, please Teacher Jinghe, Male!”

Seems like it’s quite a problem.

Jinghe, Male didn’t say anything else and walked out of the cabin.

Splash—

The heavy rain and waves blurred the entire field of vision, turning the sea into a grayish-black expanse.

Waves continuously crashed against the cabin, splashing white water flowers and washing over the bare deck.

Fortunately, the Streamliner had a deep draft, so the rocking was minimal.

“Let’s go.”

At the edge of the deck, in Snivy’s startled cry, Jinghe, Male jumped straight into the turbulent sea.

Plunk—!!

“Hiss?”

Snivy, which had covered its eyes, slowly opened them. The expected rush of water didn’t come. Instead, it realized that the water was completely isolated from them, as if they were inside a bubble.

“Awooo~”

Jinghe, Male’s Nine-Tails, with its deep blue eyes glowing softly, smiled gently at Snivy.

“Hiss. (//Д//)”

Jumping out of Jinghe, Male’s arms, Snivy felt as if it was standing on a soft water bed, cool and soft, yet completely dry.

Impressive.

“Yuki? (●●)”

Yuki seemed much more at ease. Its face pressed against the water bubble, staring at a passing Amethyst Jellyfish. The jellyfish, its amethysts turning white from fright, released a cloud of Black Fog and hurriedly swam away.

Scaring a jellyfish to death!

Snivy, mimicking Yuki, curiously looked into the sea and saw—

“Gengue, Male~ gurgle~ ga~ gurgle~~”

A large Gengue, Male had transformed into a Magikarp, swimming past them.

“Hiss?”

Snivy’s leaves stood up from fright.

“Rrrzzz”

Then came Bear Trainer, snoring loudly, swimming with perfect form, pushing the water bubble along, but was it really okay to be asleep with his eyes closed?

But—

Is this the ocean?

Aside from Gengue, Male and Thicklipuku, Snivy’s eyes sparkled as it gazed at the underwater world, which was far more magnificent than it had imagined.

Gengue, Male led the way.

The dolphins they saw were in the direction where the propeller was entangled with seaweed.

Soon,

Jinghe, Male and his companions saw a large patch of brownish-yellow seaweed floating in the sea, some of which had already entangled the propeller, while the larger part was still drifting in the ocean.

Outside the seaweed, they could see the Streamliner’s sailors and their Pokémon.

And—

A Toxtricity with seaweed-like tentacles extended, looking ferocious, with four small Lalarage hiding in the seaweed behind it.

The dolphins Gengue, Male mentioned were also there.

“Pop dolphin?”

A smaller Pop dolphin was entangled in the seaweed, while two larger ones, presumably its parents, were outside, looking extremely anxious.

“What a complicated situation.” Jinghe, Male clicked his tongue.

Pop dolphins were first discovered in the Paldea region’s waters and were thus first registered in the Paldea region’s Pokédex.

“Pop dolphin, Water Pokémon, a very gentle species skilled at using ultrasound to perceive direction and the emotions of other creatures, Rotom!”

For Jinghe, Male, besides finding Pop dolphins cute, he had a deeper impression of their evolved form, Dolphin Knight.

Especially the "Omni Form" Dolphin Knight.

The "Normal Form" Dolphin Knight has a base stat total of 457, but the "Omni Form" Dolphin Knight has a base stat total of 650!

It can be said that it is second only to the Leave King among ordinary Pokémon, and its appearance is... cough cough.

But Pop dolphin is still very cute.

Additionally,

According to Jinghe Male, there is a certain food chain relationship between Pop dolphin, Toxtricity, and Lalarage.

Pop dolphin is very fast, and even Toxtricity struggles to catch up. Therefore, it often hides in the seaweed, waiting for Pop dolphin to come looking for food, then uses its toxic attacks to immobilize it.

This time, all of them ran into each other.

Now,

Toxtricity and Lalarage, the sailors and the propellers, and Pop dolphin and its offspring are in a complete standoff.

No wonder the first mate is frustrated.

As a renowned Pokémon psychologist, upon hearing that Jinghe Male was willing to help, the first mate immediately requested assistance.

Without Teacher Jinghe Male, he would have no choice but to use force, forcibly driving away Toxtricity and Pop dolphin, and then untangling the seaweed from the propellers.

Buzz—

Jinghe Male didn't speak; underwater communication is quite troublesome. So he directly used Waveguide to sense the anxiety of Toxtricity and the Pop dolphin parents, as well as the tension and fear of Lalarage and the baby Pop dolphin.

Calming them down wasn't difficult for Jinghe Male, especially after his Aura Power was further enhanced by Arceus.

"Gengue, Male, bear guidance."

Jinghe Male closed his eyes and spoke softly.

"Ge~ gururu~ ga~ gururu~ cough cough~"

"Hururuzz"

Gengue Male helped rescue the four baby Lalarages, and Thicklipuku helped save the baby Pop dolphin. Seeing this, Snivy used Vine Whip to help quickly untangle the seaweed, successfully rescuing all the little ones.

The sailors immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly dealt with the seaweed tangled in the propellers.

Smoothly and to everyone's satisfaction.

"Hisss."

Snivy, perched on the water sphere, watched the entire process and couldn't help but look back at Jinghe Male, who stood behind her with a smile on his face.

Recalling the situation during the Spore Fog incident in Windy City a few days ago,

"Hisss."

A smile also appeared on Snivy's face.

On the Streamliner's deck,

"Ge ga~~"

In the heavy rain, Gengue Male waved to Toxtricity and the Lalarages, holding a few toxic algae in his other hand as a small snack.

The taste was quite good, crispy and with a seafood flavor.

"Woo woo woo~~"

On the other side, the Pop dolphin family shook their bodies, expressing their gratitude to Jinghe Male and the others.

Splash—

Suddenly, the Pop dolphin enveloped itself in a stream of water and charged toward the deck.

Aqua Jet!

"Hisss!"

Standing on the railing, Snivy instinctively dodged the charging Pop dolphin with a remarkably agile and graceful movement.

Huh?

Jinghe Male's eyebrows raised slightly at the sight.

Although the Pop dolphin had no intention of attacking, Aqua Jet is a priority move, and Snivy's reaction speed...

"Could it be that, besides the 'Contrary' ability, it also has a hidden 'Queen's Dignity' ability?"

Jinghe Male grinned.

This Pokémon is unreasonable.

Is it mine?

Then it's fine.

The Pop dolphin left behind a shimmering light blue scale and swam back into the water, quickly disappearing from the surface.

"Hisss?"

Snivy picked up the strange scale, examined it closely, and, finding nothing unusual, handed it to Jinghe Male.

"I can't tell what it is either."

Jinghe Male sighed in resignation.

Since Pop dolphin is a dolphin Pokémon and doesn't have scales, it wouldn't make sense to guess it was from them.

But now it's clearly not a Pop dolphin scale.

"Never mind, it's a thank-you gift."

Regardless, today's assessment of Snivy was very successful!

He now had a general idea of how to train it.

---

PS: It's the start of the month, so please vote with your monthly votes! Thank you, dear readers!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end