The first match at Arena 3 was the quickest to conclude. From the moment the referee signaled the start to the final blow, less than three minutes had passed. Hisoka suddenly found himself with time to kill. Unlike the other competitors, who crowded around the three arenas to scout their potential rivals, Hisoka chose to wander leisurely through the halls of the Cerulean Gym.
He had already seen through those applying for the interim Gym Leader position. Aside from a few standouts, the rest were mediocre stuck in that awkward middle ground where they were no longer novices but still leagues away from being true elite trainers.
Unknowingly, Hisoka drifted away from the main stage and reached the pool area. This was clearly where the Cerulean Gym trained its Water-type Pokémon. Numerous rectangular pools were partitioned off, housing a variety of species common to the Kanto region.
Staryu, Poliwag, Tentacool, Seel...
"Wait, what is this little one...?" Hisoka's attention was suddenly gripped by a small, earth-yellow figure tucked away in the furthest corner of a pool. It had blue, bifurcated fins and was covered in jagged, tan-brown spots.
Its oversized eyes were vacant, fixed in a dull stare. The tiny creature remained motionless in the water; if not for the occasional bubble escaping its mouth, one might have assumed it was dead.
It was an exceptionally ugly fish. Its shape was somewhat similar to a Magikarp, but it was smaller and significantly more hideous. With its lifeless gaze and rough, yellow-brown skin, it was the kind of creature that inspired an immediate sense of revulsion in anyone who saw it.
"A Feebas!" Hisoka was internally stunned. Why would such a Pokémon appear here in the Cerulean Gym? Feebas preferred specific, weed-choked waters, and unlike Magikarp, which were found in every puddle across the globe, their numbers were incredibly scarce.
Because of their repulsive appearance, trainers who accidentally hooked a Feebas rarely chose to catch or raise it, usually tossing it back like common trash.
Furthermore, very few people knew that the Pokémon hailed as the embodiment of dreamlike beauty in the Hoenn region Milotic was actually the evolved form of this wretched Feebas.
The truth was often hard to believe. How could such a pathetic, stupid-looking fish transform into the majestic Milotic? Milotic and Venus; in this world, the names were spoken with the same reverence for beauty.
If not for his memories of a past life, Hisoka admitted to himself that he wouldn't have spared the little thing a second glance. At most, he might have stared for an extra second out of sheer curiosity at its ugliness. Such was human nature.
One had to understand that Milotic were rarer than the pseudo-legendary Pokémon of most regions. They possessed not only peerless beauty but also mysterious and formidable power.
Feebas were rare enough, but a Feebas capable of evolving into a Milotic was one in a million. The conditions for evolution were incredibly harsh. Even trainers who knew the method had to be exceptionally lucky to actually achieve it.
Hisoka knew the path to evolution, though he wasn't entirely certain if his memories would hold true in this "real" world. To evolve into Milotic, a trainer didn't focus on training a Feebas's combat strength, but rather its Beauty. Even if that abstract Beauty stat reached the required threshold, a catalyst was needed to trigger the light of evolution: a Prism Scale.
The Prism Scale was a mysterious object that shimmered with a seven-colored luster. It was said to be formed from the "Reverse Scale" that fell from a Milotic's neck upon its natural death.
Hisoka had learned this after hacking into the main computer of a Water-type research institute in Hoenn. It meant that for every Feebas that ascended to become a Milotic, another Milotic had to wither away. Consequently,
finding a naturally evolved Milotic in the wild was nearly impossible. The conditions were so demanding that encountering a wild Milotic was practically on par with meeting a Legendary Pokémon.
"Hey, do you recognize this Pokémon?" a vibrant female voice chirped.
"It's you," Hisoka said, turning around. It was the purple-haired beauty who had served as his referee earlier. Her name was Violet, if he recalled correctly.
"You haven't answered my question yet." Violet stood with her hands behind her back, a mischievous smile playing on her lips as she trotted over to his side. "I've seen you standing here for ages. Are you actually interested in this little thing?"
"Not really, and I don't recognize it," Hisoka lied without blinking, his expression calm. "I was just curious since I've never seen this species before."
"It's probably because it's so ugly, right?" Violet said teasingly. "At first, I thought it was a Magikarp with some kind of skin disease. It wasn't until I asked Nurse Joy that I found out it's from another region. It's called Feebas. The name really fits it looks like a real 'feeble' mess, doesn't it? Giggles."
"Hmm?" Hisoka's sharp eyes noticed that as Violet spoke those words loudly, the Feebas beneath the surface showed a flash of indignation in its eyes. With a flick of its blue tail, it dove into the deeper part of the pool.
"The little thing is actually upset." Violet noticed the movement but remained indifferent. "My youngest sister found it stranded on the beach while she was playing. Its fin was injured and it was washed up on the sand. If my sister wasn't so soft-hearted, this little thing would've been a goner."
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