Chapter 164

Chapter 164: Chapter 164

A trace of embarrassment crossed Manryo’s face.

Having his internet nickname casually spoken aloud by one of the most respected figures in Pokémon academia was apparently much more humiliating than hearing Mike use it.

"Yes, Professor. Thank you again for helping me last time."

Rowan laughed.

"No trouble at all. How’s Gimmighoul doing? Any progress finding its chest?"

"Gimmighoul is doing well. And I think I finally have a lead on the chest."

Manryo gave him a brief explanation.

Gimmighoul also poked its head out from behind his neck to greet Rowan.

"Good. I’m glad to hear it."

Professor Rowan then turned back toward Mike.

"So why are you calling this late?"

"I wanted to ask you something about Pokémon evolution, if you have time."

"Evolution?"

Rowan immediately sat straighter.

"What do you want to know?"

Mike explained, "This afternoon, when Gol-Manryo and I were diving for footage, we found several Huntail and Gorebyss in relatively shallow water."

He nearly called Manryo Gholdengo Bro again, caught himself, and continued.

"They were swimming around several Clamperl, and after circling them for a while, the Clamperl evolved."

Professor Rowan listened closely.

"The part that confused me is that everything I’ve learned says Clamperl evolves through a trade while holding either a Deep Sea Tooth or a Deep Sea Scale."

"You’re asking why those wild Clamperl evolved without being traded."

"Exactly."

Mike nodded.

"If possible, I’d like to understand it well enough to explain it properly in the video."

"Of course."

Professor Rowan leaned back slightly.

Evolution was his specialty.

"The first thing you need to understand, Mike, is that special evolution takes many different forms. One of the strangest methods we know is trade evolution, where a Pokémon undergoes a transformation during the process of being transferred through specialized trade equipment."

Mike listened attentively.

"But there’s an important distinction."

Rowan raised one finger.

"Trade evolution is a method humans discovered."

Mike’s expression changed slightly.

"In other words, we learned that Pokémon can evolve under those conditions. That does not necessarily mean those conditions represent the only possible route to evolution."

Professor Rowan continued.

"For many Pokémon that we currently classify as requiring a trade to evolve, trade evolution may simply be the method human researchers have successfully identified, understood, and reproduced."

"That does not rule out the existence of other natural evolutionary mechanisms."

He gestured toward Mike.

"Take Gengar for example."

"Haunter is generally understood to evolve into Gengar through trade. Yet if I remember correctly, your Gengar was already fully evolved when you first encountered him."

Mike looked toward Gengar.

Gengar shook his head.

"Gar—"

[I don’t know either. I evolved by myself in the wild.]

He scratched his belly.

[I just remember feeling really awful one night, and then suddenly I evolved.]

Mike nodded slowly.

Rowan continued.

"Think about the timescale involved."

"How long have humans been studying Pokémon systematically?"

"How long have modern Pokédexes existed?"

"How recently have we even begun accurately documenting full evolutionary lines?"

"Now compare that with how long Pokémon themselves have existed."

Mike’s expression became thoughtful.

"Pokémon may have natural evolutionary pathways we haven’t discovered yet. Some species may have more than one possible route to the same evolutionary result."

"Eevee is an obvious example of a species with multiple evolutionary methods and outcomes."

Professor Rowan folded his hands.

"I suspect some evolutions may depend on unusual environmental energy, local magnetic fields, seasonal behavior, social activity, or highly specific times and locations."

"We already know that certain Pokémon can evolve because of unusual natural energy present in particular environments."

"So what you witnessed today may have been Clamperl’s own natural evolutionary process in the wild—something their species can accomplish without human trade equipment."

Rowan smiled.

"Interesting, isn’t it?"

Mike nodded.

"That explains why wild populations can contain Gengar, Magnezone, and other Pokémon whose evolution normally requires special conditions from a Trainer’s perspective."

"Exactly."

Professor Rowan’s expression became more animated.

"Nature is extraordinary, and so are Pokémon."

"Even two populations of the same species can diverge until their types, behavior, and biology become dramatically different. Regional forms are proof of that."

"That mystery is why I chose to study Pokémon evolution in the first place."

He smiled faintly.

"I want to uncover as many of those hidden mechanisms as possible."

"Did that answer your question?"

"Definitely."

Mike nodded eagerly.

"That gave me a much better framework for understanding evolution."

"Good."

Rowan relaxed.

"If you run into any other Pokémon-related questions, feel free to ask me. Or Samuel."

"Will do. Thanks for your time, Professor Rowan. Good night."

"Good night."

The call ended.

Mike stared thoughtfully at the dark phone screen.

So the evolutionary methods currently known to humanity were essentially methods discovered through observation and experimentation.

They weren’t necessarily exhaustive.

Some Pokémon might possess other evolutionary routes that humans had never discovered or simply couldn’t reproduce.

Specific locations.

Specific environmental conditions.

Specific times...

Mike froze.

’Specific times.’

Then one Pokémon immediately came to mind.

Ursaluna.

If he remembered correctly, Ursaring evolved into Ursaluna by using a Peat Block during a full moon.

And there didn’t seem to be any ordinary Ursaluna populations in the modern era.

But there was one peculiar individual in Kitakami.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna.

That Pokémon, however, wasn’t simply another normal evolutionary form.

As Mike remembered it, an Ursaluna had somehow crossed the sea and eventually reached Kitakami, where years of adapting to the local environment caused it to develop entirely new characteristics.

Rather than treating it as a standard alternate evolution, it was essentially a singular individual whose body had changed dramatically over time.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna.

Possibly the only Pokémon like it in the entire world.

And then there was Kleavor.

Scyther could evolve into Kleavor through exposure to Black Augurite.

If Mike remembered correctly, the ancient evolutionary process was especially associated with wild Scyther.

Pokémon evolution really was absurdly fascinating.

If that was true...

If he could locate Peat Blocks and Black Augurite, couldn’t they bring Ursaluna and Kleavor back into the modern world as well?

And according to the timeline, the Kleavor associated with Kitakami probably hadn’t appeared yet.

Mike turned toward Manryo.

"Gholdengo Bro, have you ever seen a Pokémon in Paldea called Bloodmoon Ursaluna?"

Manryo raised an eyebrow.

"You mean that strange Pokémon that looks like an Ursaring?"

Mike nodded.

"Yeah."

"I have."

Manryo answered immediately.

"It belongs to Mr. Jacq. I’ve seen it a few times. It’s an incredibly unusual Pokémon."

Mike’s eyes lit up.

If Bloodmoon Ursaluna existed, then didn’t that mean Peat Blocks might still exist somewhere in this world?

"Have you ever heard of an item called a Peat Block?"

"Peat Block?"

Manryo searched his memory, then shook his head.

"What is that? Some kind of coal?"

"Yes and no."

Mike briefly described its appearance.

"A combination of soil and coal?"

Manryo frowned.

Something about the description felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

"I don’t remember anything specific. What does it do?"

Mike lowered his voice slightly.

"Mr. Jacq’s Bloodmoon Ursaluna could be considered a highly unusual individual descended from ordinary Ursaluna."

Manryo’s eyes widened.

"According to what I’ve heard, an Ursaluna once crossed the sea and eventually reached Kitakami. After living there for a very long time, environmental pressures gradually changed it until it became the Bloodmoon Ursaluna we know today."

"Seriously?"

"Mew told me."

Mike immediately dumped responsibility onto the immortal pink cat.

"You know how long Mew has been around. It’s seen things nobody alive today remembers."

"The Mew from your fantasy movie?"

Mike nodded.

Manryo thought about it.

"Then the Peat Block..."

"Exactly."

Mike leaned forward.

"According to Mew, a Peat Block is the special item that allows Ursaring to evolve into Ursaluna."

For once, Manryo had no immediate response.

"Ursaluna from the Hisui era?"

"Right."

Mike nodded.

"I suspect modern Ursaring stopped evolving because Peat Blocks became extremely rare or disappeared from their environment."

"If we can find one, there’s a real possibility we could restore Ursaluna too."

He pointed toward Manryo.

"And when you told me Bloodmoon Ursaluna still exists, that made me think Peat Blocks might not be completely gone after all. Otherwise, it becomes difficult to explain how the Ursaluna that eventually became Bloodmoon Ursaluna existed in the first place."

Manryo slowly nodded.

"I understand."

"When I return to Paldea, I’ll have people investigate Peat Blocks."

"Thanks."

"I want to see Ursaluna return too."

Manryo shook his head.

Mike suddenly remembered something else.

"Oh, and keep an eye out for Black Augurite too."

He paused.

"Although that’ll probably be even harder to find."

Manryo’s eyelid twitched.

"What’s Black Augurite?"

He had the distinct feeling another major scientific bomb was about to be dropped into his lap.

Mike answered casually.

"The evolutionary item that allows Scyther to evolve into Kleavor."

Manryo went silent.

Then he drew a slow breath, summoned every ounce of composure expected of a company president, and asked in an impressively calm voice:

"Could you describe what Black Augurite looks like?"

"Sure."

Mike took out some paper and sketched rough images of both a Peat Block and Black Augurite.

Manryo studied the drawings seriously.

"I understand."

He carefully put the paper away.

"I’ll have people watch for both when I get back."

Then he looked toward Mike, who had already returned to fiddling with his phone.

Manryo hesitated.

"There’s one thing."

Mike looked up.

"What?"

"You should probably tell Professor Rowan about this too."

Manryo gestured toward the sketches.

"If these are evolutionary items associated with Hisuian Pokémon, then the odds of finding them in modern Sinnoh—the same land that used to be Hisui—should be considerably higher than in Paldea."

Mike’s fingers tightened around his phone.

Silence.

He stared at Manryo for several seconds.

Then said very seriously, "You know, next time you could remind me about that beforehand."

Manryo: "???"

’Beforehand?’

’I only learned about these items thirty seconds ago!’

’How exactly was I supposed to remind YOU before YOU told ME?!’

Shouldn’t Mike have been the one telling him earlier?

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