After returning from the fishing activity, Gible seemed like it had turned into a completely different Pokémon. It actually took the initiative to go to Dragonite Mother, requesting Dragonite Mother to train it more strictly.
Although Gible had never been considered a particularly playful child before, it absolutely could not be called diligent either. Considering that it was still young, Dragonite Mother had only been training it for half a day every day.
As for Gible's sudden change in attitude, Dragonite Mother found it very strange. She asked Gible about it, but Gible refused to say a word.
Seeing that Gible was unwilling to say the reason no matter what, Dragonite Mother decided not to pursue the matter further, while at the same time feeling that it was a good thing that Gible understood the importance of making progress.
Gible's potential was excellent, and such talent absolutely could not be wasted. At the very least, in the future its achievements must reach the level that matched such potential.
Having an outstanding potential only meant starting from a higher point. If one did not work hard, in the end, one could still accomplish nothing at all.
There had certainly been cases of high-potential Pokémon who ended up ordinary among the masses.
However, Dragonite Mother later still came to know the reason why Gible had suddenly become so motivated: courage born from knowing shame!
It turned out that afterward Pichu came to the Dragon Den Sub-Ecopark to look for Gible. Ever since the fishing competition, Pichu had felt that Gible was a good fellow, and so stubbornly determined that the other was its good friend.
In the past Gible often went out to play, so Pichu thought it would soon come looking for it. Yet several days passed in a row, and it had not seen even a shadow of Gible, so it could only come to the Dragon Den Sub-Ecopark to find it.
Only upon arriving here did it discover that Gible had been undergoing tough training for these past few days.
Pichu was instantly moved. It thought Gible was training so hard because it wanted to avenge it after it had been bullied.
From then on, Pichu came every day to visit Gible, often bringing along some of the delicious treats it had hoarded. This little glutton had indeed stashed away quite a lot of tasty food.
And indeed, Gible's stubborn and obstinate character truly could not be considered entirely a flaw. Once it declared that it would strive to improve itself, it truly did so. Every day it meticulously completed the training tasks that Dragonite Mother set for it, never cutting even the tiniest corner.
Because it was young, at a low level, yet had excellent potential, the training results were extremely obvious. In less than half a month it had risen nearly ten levels.
As time went on, Dragonite Mother naturally took notice of this little guest, Pichu. After conversing with it, she finally came to understand what had happened on the day of the fishing competition.
Although Pichu believed firmly that Gible was standing up for it, its "dearest friend," Dragonite Mother knew for certain that was not the reason. That little fellow Gible absolutely did not have such a strong sense of justice.
All of it was nothing more than the proud self-esteem of Dragon-type Pokémon.
Gible could tolerate temporarily bowing its head to Gothita, but it absolutely could not tolerate a grudge from that time remaining unpaid.
Afterward, Pichu still came every day to accompany Gible in training, and over time it even joined the training itself.
Dragonite Mother thought, whether it was one duck or two ducks being raised, there was no difference, and so she included Pichu in the training as well.
Even though she was not an Electric-type Pokémon, her son was skilled at using Electric-type moves, and besides, she was at least a Master-level Pokémon. Teaching such a tiny Pichu naturally posed no pressure.
At the same time, she also felt that it was a good thing for Gible to have Pichu as a friend.
Gible's personality was domineering and forceful. Although the younger Pokémon in the Ecopark were willing to play with it, that was only out of fear of its strength. In truth, it did not have a single real friend.
That was not a good thing.
Pichu's personality was exactly a perfect match for Gible's.
However, when it came to potential, Pichu was far inferior to Gible, and its rate of progress was much slower. But this little fellow's toughness was not bad at all—it never once complained during training, and so Dragonite Mother still quite liked it.
Later, Dragonite Mother told Yuga about the grudge between Gible and Gothita, and Yuga could not help but laugh. This little fellow Gible really knew how to hold a grudge.
This was a good thing. To know shame and then find courage—its future was bound to be promising!
However, for Gible to catch up to Gothita might be a bit difficult.
Don't be fooled by the fact that Gothita seemed to fool around everywhere all day long. Its potential, just like Gible's, was also indigo, and it had even training for a period of time in Bell Tower. In truth, its strength was very powerful.
But then again… if Gothita kept on being so careless and undisciplined, while Gible could persist in working hard, perhaps one day their situations would be reversed.
One day, as Yuga came out of the Ecopark, he happened to see Gothita riding on Cubchoo, intending to go out. Behind it followed a Pancham.
Yuga could not help but ask: "Going out to play again?"
Gothita nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes! I made an appointment with Chatot to go watch the circus!"
Recently, a circus had come to the outskirts of Verdanturf City, attracting many parents to take their children there. Naturally, upon hearing the news, Chatot could not resist going to join the fun.
Yuga had not expected that it would drag Gothita along as well.
Truly, it never did anything proper! Yuga could not help but complain inwardly about it.
Yuga then said again: "You're out playing all the time—don't you need to do some extra special training?"
Gothita said blankly: "I finish my training tasks on time every day. Daddy and Mommy are both watching me!" I definitely haven't been slacking.
All of the Pokémon in the Ecopark had fixed daily training tasks and training quotas. Only after finishing them could they act freely.
But for most Pokémon, those trainings were only the basics. The more ambitious ones would add extra practice depending on their own situation.
Yuga said helplessly: "At this rate, sooner or later you'll be surpassed by the juniors. When that time comes, don't come crying."
Gothita had always been confident in its own talent, and replied carelessly: "Who could possibly surpass me!"
Yuga shook his head and said: "That's not for certain. There are always people beyond people, heavens beyond heavens."
"That's impossible, absolutely impossible!" Gothita said. "If you don't believe me, just watch!" As soon as it finished speaking, its body began to emit a large amount of white light.
Yuga looked on in astonishment, only to see Gothita's figure constantly growing taller within the white light. When the light finally dispersed, a brand new Pokémon appeared before his eyes.
The tender little child instantly transformed into a charming young girl.
...
[ Gothorita ]
Attribute: Psychic
Ability: Shadow Tag
Gender: Female
Potential: Indigo
Level: 49
Moves: Pound, Confusion, Fake Tears, Double Slap, Psybeam, Embargo, Psyshock, Heal Block, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse, Magic Coat.
...
It turned out Gothita had long since reached the point where it could evolve. It had simply refused to do so until now, for the sake of convenience when it wanted to throw tantrums and act spoiled.
Gothita was indeed extremely outstanding. Even though it had not worked as hard as Gible, whether it was learning moves or raising its level, everything came naturally to it with the passage of time, far beyond what ordinary Pokémon could compare with.
But…
Yuga felt that sooner or later Gothita would suffer a loss.
Suddenly, he found himself a little expectant for the day Gible would stage a comeback.
After the evolution ended, Gothorita proudly said to Yuga: "See, those little fellows are still far from surpassing me!"
You yourself are still just a little fellow too!
But Yuga was too lazy to argue with it. He waved his hand and said: "Alright, alright, hurry up and go. If you don't listen to advice now, don't blame me for not reminding you when you suffer losses in the future!"
Gothorita did not take Yuga's words to heart at all. Riding on Snorunt, it left without even turning its head back.
Outside.
The three of them—Gothorita, Cubchoo, and Pancham—arrived at the appointed place and met up with Chatot and Fletchinder. Chatot and Fletchinder were very surprised to see that Gothita had evolved.
"You little one, how is it that you disappeared for just a day and suddenly grew up?"
Gothorita replied with indifference: "Hmph, what's so great about growing up? Are we going or not?"
"Go, go, go…"
As Chatot spoke, it flapped its wings and flew up, heading toward the eastern outskirts of Verdanturf City. Fletchinder immediately followed behind. Seeing this, Gothorita quickly called for Cubchoo and Pancham to give chase.
By the time these few Pokémon arrived, the outside of the circus was already packed with people. Not only were there children and parents who had come to watch the performance, but there were also many vendors selling all sorts of goods.
The eyes of the little fellows were dazzled.
As the eldest among the group of Pokémon, Chatot kept a very close watch on the little fellows. With people coming and going everywhere, if someone were to get lost, it would be troublesome.
Just as Yuga had said, although Chatot normally acted careless and unreliable, at critical moments it was always dependable. Its ability was Keen Eye, so it could easily keep an eye on these children who liked to run about.
Pancham walked up to a stall selling masks. When it saw a Teddiursa mask, it could not bear to move its feet. Its mother was a Teddiursa, so it especially liked this mask.
Gothorita, seeing Pancham staring motionlessly at the mask, asked: "Do you like this one?"
Pancham nodded.
"Do you have money?"
Pancham shook its head in disappointment.
"Then do you still want to buy it?"
Although Gothita spoke that way, it still reached into its body and fumbled around for quite a while before pulling out a few coins. It looked at the price tag of the mask.
Well… the money was not enough.
So it stuffed its few coins back into its pocket and said to Pancham: "Let's go."
Pancham did not notice Gothorita's movements, and nodded, just about to leave together with Gothorita. At this time, Chatot suddenly swooped down from the sky and threw a bill to the stall owner.
"Boss, give me that mask!"
As an old-timer in Verdanturf City, Chatot still had some money in its claws. It had seen Gothorita's actions just now, and only then did it swoop down.
The stall owner actually recognized Chatot.
"Haha, so it's the Chatot from YoYo Day Care! Alright then, for Mr. Shimizu's sake, I'll give you this mask at half price!"
As he spoke, the boss handed the mask to Chatot and even gave it the change.
Chatot held the money and mask, happily saying: "See, our dear master's face really carries weight."
Its words made the stall owner burst into hearty laughter.
"Here, take it."
Chatot tossed the mask to Pancham, then flew back into the sky again, not even giving Pancham the chance to say thank you.
Today, Sakurako and Asuka also came.
Ever since the fishing competition ended, these two girls—one big, one small—had become good friends. Whenever Asuka had time, she would go find Sakurako to play.
Today too, it was Asuka who had invited Sakurako over.
Sakurako liked her big sister Asuka very much.
Although she had already become a trainer, Sakurako had not entered a trainer school. Instead, she explored the path of being a trainer on her own, planning to set out on a journey once the time was right.
Compared to enrolling in a trainer school, going out on a journey was much more suitable for a child like her who came from an ordinary family.
Every time Asuka came to find Sakurako to play, she would explain a lot of knowledge about trainers to Sakurako, which greatly benefited her.
Asuka was a girl who loved lively places, and as soon as she arrived here, she was immediately attracted by all sorts of fun activities.
"Hey~ Sakurako, come quick, come quick, there's a goldfish catching game here."
Asuka squeezed into the crowd, and after a while popped her head out from within the crowd, shouting loudly to Sakurako.
The so-called goldfish catching game had very simple rules: in a large pool there were many Goldeen being raised, and among these Goldeen a limited number of Seaking were hidden. If a customer could catch one of the Seaking, they would receive a generous prize from the shop owner.
Participating in the goldfish catching required paying money.
Don't be fooled by how simple the rules sounded, but in practice it was very difficult. The Seaking inside had been specially trained, not only were they agile in their movements, they were also very good at hiding their traces.
There were quite a lot of people participating in the goldfish catching activity, but those who could successfully win a prize were very few. Asuka and Sakurako had to squeeze hard before they managed to get inside.
The two of them were surprised to find that the owner of this goldfish catching stall turned out to be none other than the very uncle who had taken third place in the fishing competition, the one who was very skilled at fishing.
The uncle clearly also recognized Sakurako, the young girl who had won first place, so he warmly invited Sakurako and Asuka to participate in the goldfish catching.
The quiet Sakurako was actually not interested in goldfish catching, but Asuka's enthusiasm was very high, and she pulled Sakurako along to pay the money and join the activity.
Although it was not easy to win prizes, goldfish catching was indeed quite fun. The two girls splashed about in the water with great delight, and even Sakurako, who at first had not been very interested, burst out into peals of cheerful laughter.
In the end, the two girls of course did not have the good luck to catch a Seaking, and could only leave empty-handed, but having so much fun was worth it.
Not long after, the circus performance was about to officially begin, and the audience started entering the venue one after another.
Watching the circus performance required buying tickets, but Chatot and the others had not bought any. Instead, they quietly slipped in through a corner.
Each of them was small in size and very agile, so sneaking into the venue was very easy.
Pancham's personality was nothing like its name—it was extremely honest. With a worried face it said: "Will we get caught if we do this?"
"Aiya, how could we get caught? Besides, wouldn't we just run away if they did come after us?" Chatot said.
"Don't think so much, just follow us," Gothorita added at that moment.
"Oh…" Pancham could only obediently follow behind everyone else.
The group of Pokémon entered from the back of the venue, where many circus staff were coming and going.
At this time, the all-along-silent Snorunt suddenly said: "Did you guys hear a strange sound?"
"Strange sound?" Gothorita looked at Snorunt in puzzlement, "What strange sound?"
Hearing this, everyone unconsciously stopped walking.
Snorunt closed its eyes, perked up its ears, and listened carefully, and everyone else one by one followed its example.
"Did you hear it?"
"It really does seem like there is something."
"It should be coming from that direction."
The direction they all looked toward was exactly the backstage of the circus.