Thus, another three days quietly passed.
During this period, Lilligant had been focused entirely on studying the Sun Stone.
Her evolution itself was achieved through the combination of solar energy, life energy, natural energy and grass energy. These forces were already extremely close to the kind of power contained within a Sun Stone.
Now that she had truly come into contact with a real Sun Stone, she finally had the opportunity to further refine and perfect the powers she had already mastered, allowing her own energy to grow even closer to the essence contained within the stone.
"Lilli~ Lilli!"
Gazing at the Sun Stone in her hands, Lilligant's eyes were filled with determination.
The next moment, the Sun Stone suddenly blossomed with radiant light, and its energy continuously poured into her body.
As the Sun Stone's power flowed into her, Lilligant's own form erupted with dazzling brilliance. Two different streams of energy rippled, intertwined, and merged.
Gradually, the power of the Sun Stone fused completely with the strength already within Lilligant, and finally, all of it gently sank into her body.
"Lilli~"
Lilligant slowly opened her eyes. The golden blossom atop her head shimmered faintly with a flowing glow.
Although her appearance had not changed at all, Froslass, Gardevoir, and the others could all distinctly sense that she was no longer the same as she had been before—almost as though something within her had been filled or completed.
"How do you feel, Lilligant?" Aven asked with a warm smile.
Hearing his voice, Lilligant nodded forcefully, extending her hand to reveal golden energy circulating across her palm.
She could clearly feel that she had fully grasped the power of the Sun Stone—and could now perfectly condense and manifest that power at will.
"So, this is the power of the Sun Stone…" Aven's eyes gleamed with an unusual light.
If so… could this power be used in place of an actual Sun Stone to allow Gloom to evolve?
The moment this thought formed, his heart trembled violently. If this truly worked, then a huge number of Gloom could evolve into Bellossom!
Without any hesitation, Aven led Lilligant to the territory of the Drapion tribe, where the selected Gloom lived.
These particular Gloom had all been chosen for their talent and strength, trained specifically to learn the move Grassy Terrain. Their natural aptitude for Grass-type energy was especially high.
"Gloo~ Glooo~"
As soon as they saw Aven arrive, the cluster of Gloom immediately gathered around him.
"Lilli~ Lilli~"
Suppressing the excitement in her heart, Lilligant instructed the Gloom to line up.
The Gloom were already used to this—whenever they gathered like this, it meant training was about to begin.
Then, just like usual, Lilligant released Sunny Day and Grassy Terrain, letting the twin fields of energy fill the area.
Immediately afterward, she used Growth, a move that stimulated plant development and allowed solar and life energy to infuse directly into the bodies of the Gloom.
"Glooo…?"
The blossoms atop the Gloom trembled as they all used Absorb in unison, drawing the Growth energy into themselves.
But the next moment, the Gloom froze.
The energy felt… different from before.
They couldn't describe it, but something within their bodies reacted strongly—greedily pulling in this unfamiliar yet irresistible force.
And faintly, they felt something inside them unlock. A soft white glow began to spread across their bodies, slowly but steadily enveloping them!
"This is… evolution light!" Aven's eyes widened.
He had already suspected this much, but seeing the Gloom truly begin evolving left him unable to conceal his shock.
Under the brilliant white glow, their forms began to shift—first their bodies stretched and grew taller, then a skirt-like arrangement of leaves began forming around their waists.
When the light finally faded, the Gloom had been completely transformed into small green Pokémon with two bright red blossoms atop their heads and a skirt made of lush green and yellow leaves.
It was Gloom's alternate evolution form—Bellossom.
Their former Grass/Poison typing had vanished, replaced by a pure Grass-type nature. The energy overflowing within their new forms was unmistakably bright, warm, and lively.
"They did it. They evolved into Bellossom!" Aven exclaimed, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
Just like how Vileplume once guided countless Oddish through a mass evolution ritual, Lilligant had now triggered a group evolution with every single Gloom present had evolved!
Nearly a hundred Bellossom stood together in the field. The sight was shockingly beautiful—so astonishing that even Aven, an experienced Pokémon Breeder, had never witnessed such a breathtaking scene before.
"Bell~ Bell~"
After evolving, the Bellossom looked around at one another.
A moment of stunned silence passed—then excitement bloomed across their faces.
Gloom had always cared deeply about their appearance, and now, with their adorable new forms and the clear rise in strength, the Bellossom couldn't help feeling both proud and joyful.
Soon, they began sensing the power circulating through their bodies—only to find themselves completely astonished.
Suddenly, several of the Bellossom erupted with radiant green light that spread outward like a wave. Wherever the light flowed, lush grass sprouted across the ground.
They had immediately mastered Grassy Terrain upon evolving.
At the same time, life energy continuously pulsed from their bodies, naturally radiating outward.
"This is… the Healer ability!" Aven quickly noticed.
Indeed—some of these Gloom, formerly possessing the Stench ability, had evolved into Bellossom with the Healer ability.
Pokémon with Healer found it especially easy to learn restorative moves. Combined with all their previous training, they had naturally awakened Grassy Terrain the moment they evolved!
The rest, even if they hadn't mastered it yet, would certainly be able to learn the move once they continued training with the sludge potion method.
"I never expected the breakthrough to come from Bellossom before Chansey…" Aven murmured softly.
With Lilligant holding Sun Stone like power, the Pokémon Domain could now produce Bellossom endlessly.
From here, all he needed was to refine a stable training system that ensured each Bellossom learned Grassy Terrain and Aromatherapy.
Once that was done, he could continuously cultivate his own healing Pokémon.
Combined with the entire Oddish evolutionary line's population, Aven felt more certain than ever.
In this world, creating something equivalent to the Joy family was no longer impossible.
And if so—his dream of establishing a Pokémon Center in every territory and settlement could finally be realized. It would become a milestone achievement for the entire Pokémon Alliance.
(End of Chapter)