Wallace turned to look at Lionel, his tone filled with genuine anticipation: "Lionel, you'll be participating in this year's Lilycove City Grand Festival, won't you?"
Lionel nodded without hesitation, a bright light shining in his eyes:
"Yes, Master Wallace. The Pokémon Contest is my favorite stage, and I want to use it to showcase the unique Charm of my Pokémon to all the audience members."
"Excellent. I'm full of anticipation." Wallace smiled and nodded. "Today's Aurora Creativity truly opened my eyes and gave me many new inspirations.
By the way, how do you view Pokémon? In your heart, are they merely partners used for battles and skill demonstrations, or...?"
Wallace changed the subject, his gaze becoming slightly more serious.
Lionel did not answer immediately.
He looked at Feebas and Tyrunt frolicking happily beside Milotic, and memories of the time spent training and living with them flashed through his mind.
He raised his eyes to meet Wallace's gaze, his tone sincere and earnest:
"They are my family.
I have always believed that Pokémon have their own personalities and emotions, and they are certainly not tools valued only for battle or performance.
Trainers should respect and understand them. Pokémon are very pure creatures; if you treat them well, they will repay you with double the sincerity and affection.
And the Pokémon Contest is a special stage that can proclaim the cuteness, beauty, and coolness of Pokémon to everyone.
Pokémon that excel only in battle are not the only ones with value. The number of Gym Badges or the ranking achieved at the Ever Grande Conference is never the entirety of who they are."
After Lionel finished speaking, he bowed slightly, his tone full of respect:
"Thank you so much, Master Wallace. It was you who promoted the Pokémon Contest everywhere and created the touring Wallace Cup, allowing more people to see the lovely aspects of Pokémon.
I will also give my all to ensure others know that Pokémon are not just for fighting; they are our best friends, family, and partners."
Wallace listened quietly, never interrupting, but the admiration in his eyes grew stronger with Lionel's words.
Only after Lionel finished did Wallace slowly nod, his eyes mixing tenderness and approval, and a particularly gratified smile appeared on his lips:
"Well said! Every word hit home!" He raised his hand and gently patted Lionel's shoulder, his tone full of emotion:
"The reason I took over Steven's position as Hoenn Champion back then was precisely to use the influence of that title to let more people see the value of the Pokémon Contest and ensure the beauty of Pokémon was remembered by more people.
I am truly happy to meet a junior like you who understands this original intention. The legacy will continue!"
As he spoke, Wallace's gaze fell upon the Feebas currently playing with Milotic, and he suddenly changed the topic, looking at Lionel:
"Do you think Feebas has the potential to evolve?"
Lionel's heart stirred, and just as he was about to speak, Wallace stopped him with a raised hand.
"Don't rush to answer." Wallace smiled, his tone carrying a hint of guidance:
"You should know about Magikarp, right?
That kind of Pokémon is commonly seen in rivers. It looks dull and clumsy, seems to have no skills besides jumping, and is often ignored.
It wasn't until Professor Oak of Kanto announced its evolved form that many people realized this inconspicuous Magikarp could evolve into the mighty Gyarados.
Regarding the conditions for Magikarp evolving into Gyarados, Professor Oak mentioned in his research that Magikarp's evolution is a 'Metamorphosis of Cells and Will.'
For Magikarp to evolve into Gyarados, simply increasing its internal energy intensity is not enough.
It also requires the influence of various factors like emotion, environment, and external stimuli to cause a reorganization of its brain cell structure before it has a chance to evolve into Gyarados.
Research data shows that some Magikarp complete evolution when being bullied and experiencing violent emotional fluctuations, while others complete their transformation with great confidence after migrating upstream, overcoming obstacles like waterfalls.
Still others suddenly burst forth with the power of evolution upon sensing their Trainer's strong conviction."
Wallace paused, his eyes deepening:
"So you see, Magikarp's evolution is not that simple:
Emotional outbursts, environmental tempering, external stimuli, and even the bond with its Trainer.
Only through the guidance of these various factors is it pushed from an inconspicuous small fish to a majestic Gyarados."
Lionel quietly listened to Wallace recount Professor Oak's research on Magikarp's evolution. It immediately opened up a new realm of knowledge for him, and he felt this was the logical framework that fit reality.
A Pokémon with such astonishing combat power as Gyarados is the signature of Elite Dodo, famous throughout the Kanto League, known by countless people, yet few Trainers actually own one.
If it were truly as easy to evolve as it was in the games of his previous life, shouldn't everyone capture and train a Magikarp, ultimately holding an astonishingly powerful Gyarados?
That would be far too unrealistic!
Wallace continued speaking to Lionel:
"I suppose you must have guessed what I'm about to say now. Yes, Feebas, like Magikarp, has the potential to evolve.
And Feebas's evolved form is Milotic, but its transformative evolution is far, far more difficult than Magikarp evolving into Gyarados.
Besides requiring a Prism Scale as the item to facilitate evolution, the critical factor is that Feebas itself must harbor a deep desire for beauty.
It must possess extremely strong self-confidence, believing deep down that it is the most beautiful and unique Pokémon, to have a chance to complete the evolution.
But Feebas is known as one of the "Ugliest Pokémon" and naturally feels very inferior about its appearance, making it very difficult to help it build confidence.
Furthermore, most Feebas only know Splash and Tackle, and their combat abilities are extremely weak. They lack strength to give them confidence, and their appearance often makes them feel inferior.
Under these circumstances, trying to make it build confidence is simply a pipe dream.
If one wants to make it evolve simply through the Trainer's verbal encouragement and praise, it's utterly fantastic.
In our Hoenn region, the Trainers who have successfully raised Milotic are few and far between. Besides myself, there are only my master Juan and Robert.
Also, precisely because its evolution conditions are so stringent, the League has not publicly disclosed Feebas's evolution information; it is only circulated within a small circle.
The main concern is that too many people might blindly capture it and then discard it carelessly after failing to raise it, thus harming these Pokémon.
In the Sootopolis Gym managed by my master Juan, many apprentices train Feebas, but so far, apart from Robert's success four years ago, no one else has succeeded.
My Feebas, Robert's, and Master's all possessed extremely high talent.
They learned many skills even as Feebas, using strength as their foundation to gain sufficient self-confidence, and only by combining this with the other two conditions did they finally successfully evolve into Milotic.
And your Feebas's talent for learning skills is even more outstanding than ours. When I held it just now, its eyes were full of spirit, and its mental state was exceptionally robust.
Therefore, I have high hopes for it; it has a very high chance of evolving into Milotic.
I'm telling you this because I hope you won't miss the chance to evolve Feebas due to a lack of information—that would be a great pity."
So that's how it is.
After hearing Wallace's words, Lionel finally cleared up some of the confusion in his heart.
If he had truly followed the method for Feebas's evolution from the games of his past life, raising a Milotic wouldn't have been too difficult.
Yet, in reality, the number of Trainers in the entire Pokémon world who possess a Milotic can be counted on one's fingers.
This incident also served as a reminder to Lionel: the knowledge he had about Pokémon from his past life could not be taken as absolute truth.
The world he was currently in was a flesh-and-blood, real Pokémon world.
Pokémon had their own joys and sorrows, complete emotions, and independent consciousness.
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