"Liru~"
A soft cry came from the little blue water mouse Pokémon in front of Silas.
It was an Marill. Its evolved form, Azumarill, would one day earn a resounding nickname—Dragon Slayer.
Azumarill's Hidden Ability is Huge Power, which directly doubles its physical attack. Combined with its hidden Fairy typing that has a natural advantage over Dragon-types, it's no wonder it earned that title.
Marill usually lives near water. Its oil-filled tail acts like a floatation device—when you see a small blue ball floating on the surface, it's likely an Marill grazing on aquatic plants beneath the surface.
You can often spot them living near flowing water.
This one in particular seemed to have been attacked by a bird Pokémon while eating. A small wound was visible on its tiny tail.
Since it was used to seeing humans, it had approached Silas, probably hoping for some free medical care.
Only in a Safari Zone could something like this happen if this were in the wild, it'd be impossible.
It wasn't a serious wound, so Silas casually bandaged it up.
He tied a butterfly-shaped bow on its tail and clapped his hands. "Alright, all done."
Marill wiggled its tail, feeling much better. It especially liked the big bow tied on it.
"Liru~ Liru~"
Bowing politely to express its gratitude, Marill disappeared into the forest.
Silas stood up from the ground and resumed exploring the area.
The forest zone had the most complete ecosystem and the largest area. According to surveys, over 40 different Pokémon species lived inside.
Up on the high branches, Pidgey lined up in rows, preening their feathers while watching the humans below.
Aipom were darting back and forth between trees, causing Silas to grow anxious—hanging from the branches nearby were clusters of Foongus.
Foongus resembled acorns, with dark green, scale-covered bodies. They explode with a loud boom at the slightest impact. Worse still, they're social creatures when one explodes, the whole cluster goes off.
The resulting sound is like fireworks, but the power is comparable to grenades.
Only agile Pokémon like Aipom could safely maneuver through the gaps between them.
In the bushes below, it was a haven for small Pokémon like Sentret, Pikachu, Raticate, and Mankey.
Silas looked around most of them were the more common species.
Sigh... Too bad that Trapinch belonged to the Zone. I still regret not catching it in time.
Just then, a familiar little figure popped out from the tall grass.
"Liru~"
Hmm? Silas blinked at the Marill with the bow on its tail. "You again? What are you up to this time?"
Marill turned to the grass and let out a few cries, but nothing responded.
"Liru!"
It puffed up its cheeks, waddled into the bushes, and pulled out a small, bright yellow Pokémon.
Tiny in size, it resembled an egg. Its eggshell had red and blue triangle-shaped markings, with short limbs and five spike-like protrusions on its head that looked somewhat like a crown.
Togepi, the Spike Ball Pokémon. A Normal-type that evolves into Togetic and then Togekiss both extremely skilled in aerial battles.
Its diet in the wild is unknown, but it primarily eats fruit. Some tamed Togepi have been seen eating ice cream. It's considered a symbol of good luck.
The moment Silas laid eyes on it, his mind automatically recalled all this information—like a walking Pokédex.
This was an ultra-rare Pokémon. In terms of rarity, it was even more uncommon than the Trapinch from earlier.
Silas stood frozen, stunned by this sudden surprise.
As of now, people had rarely seen even small groups of wild Togepi, let alone evolved forms like Togetic or Togekiss. Only in the most remote, untouched regions had there been rumors of them living in flocks.
"Togepii~"
Togepi puffed its cheeks and chirped at Marill. Why'd you drag me out here?
"Liru liru!"
Marill cried back while pointing at its tail. Look! Isn't the bow on my tail pretty?
"Togepii~"
Yeah, it's nice... but I don't even have a tail! Togepi put its tiny hands on its hips, trying to look angry.
Silas finally snapped out of his daze. "Hey little ones, what are you trying to do?"
His face wore a gentle, warm smile.
"Liru!" Marill pointed at the bow on its tail, then motioned toward Togepi.
Silas turned his gaze to Togepi.
It shrank back as if frightened, curling itself into an egg shape. Only its two little black eyes peeped out, darting around nervously.
Silas reached into his backpack and took out some Poké Snacks and Pokéblocks.
For most Pokémon living here, these items were incredibly tempting though only if you'd already earned a bit of their trust and friendliness.
The Poké Snacks were standard, but the Pokéblocks were sky-blue and gray, representing Water and Normal types respectively.
Fairy-types hadn't been officially discovered yet, so there were no specially crafted Pokéblocks for them.
Marill eagerly took a few snacks and a blue Pokéblock, happily munching away.
"Liru!" So tasty! Marill chewed as it nudged Togepi to stop hiding and eat something too.
Silas carefully offered some food to the egg-shaped Togepi, doing his best to keep his smile soft and friendly.
"Togepii~"
Togepi felt the human's emotions... so warm, so peaceful nothing bad at all.
So, one by one, it poked out its tiny hands and feet from the shell and peeked shyly at Silas.
Silas gently moved his hand a bit closer. Togepi instinctively took a step back, but then felt that it wasn't very polite. Blushing, it quickly snatched the food from Silas' hand.
Silas was a little disheartened by Togepi's initial reaction, but when it suddenly took the food afterward, he couldn't help but beam with joy.
Of course, he wanted to catch this Togepi—it was an exceptionally rare and valuable Pokémon.
Togekiss, its final evolution, evolved from Togetic with the help of a Shiny Stone. It could learn an incredibly wide variety of both offensive and support moves, including numerous flying and wind-based techniques.
In the wild, when paired with Pidgeot, the skies could be completely dominated by just the two of them.
However, the method of evolving Togepi into Togetic was still unclear. Researchers had yet to propose the concept of friendship-based evolution.
That said, a group of scholars led by Professor Oak had already put forward the theory that Pokémon like Togepi and Igglybuff evolve primarily through the bond between Pokémon and trainer what they called emotional energy, or happiness.
As someone who had crossed over into this world, Silas was already familiar with the idea of friendship evolution.
Not to mention, Togepi was often seen being cradled in Misty's arms, so he wasn't unfamiliar with it either.
Now, he already had a rough idea of how to evolve Togepi.
If possible, he'd like to get a Soothe Bell, an item said to raise a Pokémon's friendship level. Right now, it was only known as something that calmed Pokémon, and its price wasn't very high.
Silas thought to himself, If I had enough capital, I'd stock up on a bunch of Soothe Bells could turn a profit in the future.
"Togepii~"
Togepi let out a weak little cry, sounding almost identical to Marill's tone earlier.
Silas snapped back to reality. Just now, he'd been daydreaming about a bright future but the most important thing now was whether Togepi was even willing to come with him.
"No tail? That's fine. I'll make a bow for you anyway."
He understood what Togepi meant and replied with a cheerful smile.
Meanwhile, back in the Safari Zone control room...
The moment the supervisor saw Silas encounter a Togepi, everything went black and he fainted on the spot.
Thud! His body collapsed to the floor.
The surrounding staff gave their former supervisor a look of pity, and out of goodwill, moved him off to the side.
Yes, they had already confirmed that this supervisor was definitely going to be fired.
If the earlier incident with Trapinch still had a chance of being salvaged, this Togepi was the final straw.
Director Baoba didn't even spare the supervisor a glance this time.
At first, missing the Trapinch was a big deal, but since the supervisor had worked here for years and made plenty of contributions, it wasn't something worth over-punishing at most, a formal reprimand.
But when the people they sent were discovered by Silas? That was serious.
The former wouldn't hurt the Safari Zone's reputation at worst, it might reduce profits a little. But with the right marketing, it could even attract more visitors. The latter, however, could deal devastating damage to their public image.
If the situation had ended there, perhaps some compensation could've salvaged things. Silas was, after all, somewhat connected to them there might've been room to fix things.
But then, within the span of a few hours, a Togepi an even rarer Pokémon appeared?
That was clear dereliction of duty.
Togepi's habits were nowhere near as elusive as Trapinch's. And judging from its friendly interaction with Marill, it was obvious that it had been living in this part of the zone for quite a while.
"Togepi... the Pokémon that symbolizes good fortune, huh..."
Director Baoba murmured softly, then signaled everyone not to take any action. He walked out of the surveillance room and made a phone call.
"Janine? I need to ask you something."
_____
"Alright, little one, what do you think?"
Silas clapped his hands confidently and pulled out a mirror, placing it in front of Togepi.
Togepi was startled by the reflection of itself in the shiny surface.
But the clever little Pokémon quickly realized it was just its own reflection. Curious, it poked the cold glass and let out a joyful giggle.
"Togepii~"
Admiring its own appearance with a bit of vanity, Togepi turned around and began showing off to Marill.
On the crown-like spikes atop Togepi's head, Silas had tied a bright pink bow—flashier and prettier than the one Marill had.
"Liru!"
Marill gave it a glance. Hmph, not jealous at all.
And so, the two little Pokémon began playing and teasing each other beside Silas.
Surrounded by the peaceful environment, Silas couldn't help but sit down on the ground and join in their fun. The two Pokémon played even more energetically with him.
....
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