Feebas quickly began treating the two Pokémon as close friends, even feeling like they should have met much earlier.
Growlithe jumped left and right while Haunter floated up and down, and Feebas responded by blowing out bubbles in excitement.
Shiro stood to the side, watching quietly as he used his psychic power to scan it out of curiosity.
[Beauty: 125/255]
* * *
[Beauty: 136/255]
* * *
[Beauty: 142/255]
He checked again and again, growing more tense each time, until the number finally stopped rising.
The dog's praise showed no sign of pretense. It was sincere, and it had truly touched the fish's heart.
At that rate, if it kept increasing, it might reach full Beauty in less than an hour.
For a brief moment, he even wondered whether it would suddenly overflow with confidence and evolve on the spot.
Even so, the current result was already shocking.
This Feebas was different from most of its kind. Because of its personality and larger body, it was not as insecure as other Feebas and had already started with a high base Beauty value of one hundred.
Now, having only just met Growlithe and the others, it had already jumped more than forty points. Once it reached one hundred seventy, it would meet the condition to evolve.
Although the Beauty growth had paused for the moment, Shiro still felt uneasy.
He did not truly understand how to raise Water-type Pokémon, especially one like Feebas. It had only just reached Beginner-level. What if evolving too early affected its future potential?
And what if the higher the Beauty accumulated, the greater the benefits after evolution?
At present, there was still no confirmed method to ensure stable evolution into Milotic. No Pokémon professor had conducted a proper comparative experiment on this matter.
Shiro was uncertain, and when uncertain, he could only assume the possibility might be real.
It would be better to let it hold an Everstone for now.
With that decision made, he took out a gray-white Everstone necklace from his backpack.
Walking past Bewear, who was leaning sideways to observe, he stopped behind the bouncing Growlithe and the spinning Haunter. The dog immediately turned around with an excited bark, while Haunter grinned and spread its claws, mimicking the way Feebas flapped its fins.
"Feebas," he called softly as he crouched by the pool.
Noticing his approach, Feebas instinctively sank slightly into the water until only the top of its head above the eyes remained above the surface.
It still remembered this human. He was the one who had taken the blue stone in the cave and captured it with a small ball.
This human looks fierce.
It blew out a few small bubbles.
Shiro took out the Everstone necklace and held it toward the fish. "This is for you."
"Feee, feebas?"
It had not reacted yet, and its already dull eyes grew even more blank.
After a few seconds, it slowly lifted its head again and called out in a hurried tone.
"Baas?" (Is this really for me?)
"Of course." Shiro held the chain and let the Everstone dangle in front of it.
Its body was too large to truly wear the necklace. Holding it in its mouth would likely be better.
"Feebas!"
Feebas flapped its short blue fins rapidly.
Back in the Rocket Team breeding pond where it had once lived, only the Pokémon that stayed close to humans and were favored by them were allowed to wear decorations. Not to mention itself. Even the other Pokémon in the pond could only watch enviously as the pet Pokémon on the shore showed off their accessories.
This was the first time anyone had given it a gift.
It slowly rose higher, afraid something might go wrong. Using its thick, sausage-like lips, it carefully bit onto the Everstone. When Shiro loosened his grip, the small stone slipped fully into its mouth.
Since the Everstone was so small, it could only tuck it behind its teeth.
"Feee!"
Overwhelmed with excitement, Feebas trembled and dove into the water, blowing bubbles upward again and again.
Seeing how happy it was, Shiro smiled softly and said, "So from now on, I am your trainer, alright?"
"Feeebas!"
It popped back up and nodded repeatedly.
It did not truly understand what a trainer was. It only knew that this human was a good person.
Shiro then took out a box of Water-type Pokéblocks and fed them to it.
[Beauty: 156/255]
* * *
[Beauty: 161/255]
"Phew…"
Shiro wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. After watching Feebas swim deeper into the pool to play, he turned his head and met a pair of familiar bright yellow eyes.
Mesprit had lowered its gaze slightly, as if examining him.
Instinctively, he tried to look away, but the two thin tails behind it stretched out and pressed against both sides of his face, turning him back toward it.
"What is it…"
Something felt different about Mesprit, and that made Shiro uneasy. Because of its previous sudden loss of control, he was still worried.
What is it trying to do?
What if it's unhappy?
If nothing else, if it stripped away his emotions for a few days and turned him into a calm monk with no desires, that would be disastrous.
In that case, he would probably have to stay indoors and let Unown A act as trainer again. Over the past few days, Unown A had already been guiding the move training.
'That thing,' Mesprit said in a clear voice. 'I want one too.'
It stretched out a small hand toward him, clearly asking for something.
Shiro frowned slightly, confused as his mind raced.
That thing… Want one… Want one…
The Everstone necklace.
His expression relaxed at once. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out another Everstone necklace.
The gray-white stone looked like an ordinary pebble one might find by the roadside. It was nothing special and carried no rare energy. As a commonly produced Pokémon item, it was not expensive.
Holding the chain, he let the stone dangle below.
The two clover-shaped tails slowly withdrew as Mesprit looked at him quietly.
Putting on what he believed was his gentlest smile, Shiro carefully placed the necklace around its neck. The long chain hung down, and the Everstone rested beneath its body.
Mesprit held the chain. A faint flash of light passed, and the stone adjusted itself neatly against its chest.
Shiro did not understand why it wanted an Everstone. After all, it had no need for such an item.
Perhaps it was some strange feeling. Seeing that Feebas had one, it simply wanted one as well.
But would Mesprit really feel envy or jealousy toward a Feebas?
He could not make sense of it.
Still, it looked quite pleased. After floating in the air for a moment, it flashed and disappeared.
"Sigh…"
He lightly patted his head and gave up trying to analyze complicated Pokémon psychology. Instead, he worked together with Unown A and continued the training session.
**
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