Early the next morning, Chen Shi returned to the Meteor Tribe with Jirachi and the others.
He had just been about to head back to his little wooden cabin when Shate, who had received word of his return, hurried over and stopped him.
Shate's face was filled with anxiety.
"Lord Qiu, could you please take a look at Xiaolan and tell me what happened to him?"
"I don't know what happened yesterday, but he suddenly changed. Now he's gotten really big and hard."
Chen Shi was slightly surprised.
Bigger and harder?
That sounded like an evolution.
A few days ago, Bagon had only just recovered from its malnourished state.
He had gone out for one trip, and it had already evolved?
"Alright, don't worry. Take me to see him. This should be a good thing."
"Alright, alright! Please come with me, Lord Qiu. He's right next door."
Shate relaxed slightly and immediately led Chen Shi toward his home.
Shate's wooden cabin was right next to Chen Shi's, so it only took them a few steps to get there.
They opened the door and walked inside.
Chen Shi immediately spotted a Shelgon lying on the floor.
Hearing someone enter, Shelgon opened its eyes.
When it first saw Shate, a trace of happiness appeared in its eyes.
But the moment it noticed Chen Shi behind him, its expression became somewhat unnatural.
"Lord Qiu, look. This is Xiaolan."
Shate pointed at Shelgon in confusion.
"What happened to him?"
Chen Shi glanced at it and calmly replied,
"He evolved. It's a good thing, so you don't need to worry."
"Once he evolves one more time, he'll become like his mother, Salamence."
"You can think of it as part of his growth."
"Evolution?"
Shate scratched his head.
He clearly didn't understand the word.
As someone from a small tribe, his knowledge of Pokémon was simply too limited.
He didn't even understand something as basic as evolution.
There was nothing Chen Shi could do about that, so he patiently explained what evolution meant.
Thinking about it, it was rather strange.
The smaller tribes here didn't even possess such basic knowledge, while the large tribes were powerful and rich in resources.
Some even possessed Heavenly King-level Pokémon.
The difference between the two was enormous.
All Chen Shi could say was that life for the people at the bottom of society in this era was truly difficult.
After a lengthy explanation, Shate finally understood what evolution was.
His expression immediately brightened.
"Lord Qiu, you mean that as long as Xiaolan gets through this stage, he'll eventually become like his mother?"
"That's right."
Chen Shi nodded before continuing,
"However, the Salamence evolutionary line is rather special."
"During the Shelgon stage, they accumulate strength in preparation for their transformation."
"I suggest you don't let him battle during this period. Otherwise, it could interfere with the transformation and affect his future growth."
"Alright, I understand."
Shate looked grateful and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for telling me all this."
Chen Shi reached out and stopped him.
"Alright, there's no need to be so polite with me. I've been eating and living here for free for so many days, after all."
"I only gave you a few pointers. You don't need to take it so seriously."
"No, Lord Qiu."
Shate spoke with complete seriousness.
"The food we've been eating was all brought back thanks to you. How could you possibly call that eating and living here for free?"
"Forget it, let's not talk about that."
Chen Shi changed the subject.
"Did anything else happen during the two days I was gone?"
"Hmm... Other than Xiaolan's mother coming back a few times, and that commotion in the sky a few days ago, nothing major happened."
Shate answered honestly.
"Xiaolan's mother came back several times?"
Chen Shi casually asked,
"Did she feed Xiaolan anything?"
"Huh? How did you know?"
Shate was surprised.
"Xiaolan's mother really has been bringing him food for the past two days. I just don't know what it was."
Chen Shi wasn't surprised.
If Salamence hadn't brought Bagon something good to eat, there was no way it could have evolved into Shelgon this quickly.
He then asked another question.
"When Salamence came back, did you manage to build a good relationship with her?"
"Uh..."
Shate scratched his hair.
"I think our relationship is pretty good now."
"She didn't seem to like me much before. Every time she came back, she'd give me a cold look."
"But now she doesn't object to me approaching her anymore."
"Yesterday, she even took me flying once."
As he spoke, excitement appeared in Shate's eyes.
Riding through the sky on the back of such a terrifying dragon was something he had never even dared to imagine before.
Chen Shi felt rather pleased.
It seemed Shate had done a good job.
He had already managed to establish a decent relationship with Salamence.
At this rate, it probably wouldn't be long before the Draconids became true Draconids.
"..."
After checking on Shelgon, Chen Shi still felt that things weren't secure enough.
He needed to give them some proper instructions.
So he took Shate with him to find Nio.
Inside the wooden cabin, a faint smile appeared on Nio's aged face.
"Qiu, did you need something from me?"
Chen Shi nodded slightly.
"I do."
"From now on, I hope you'll pay more attention to that Salamence."
"Prepare some food for her ahead of time whenever she comes back. Show her some concern and try to build a better relationship with her."
"No problem."
Although Nio didn't understand Chen Shi's intentions, he immediately agreed.
"I'll leave this matter to Shate and Aji."
Shate quietly listened from the side, committing everything to memory.
Chen Shi calmly continued,
"Don't underestimate the importance of this. I'm telling you to do it for your own good."
Before either of them could ask why, Chen Shi continued,
"Over the past few days, I visited three large tribes nearby."
"I discovered that all of them have a Pokémon clan under their influence."
"Their tribes are rich in resources, and their Pokémon are fairly powerful too."
"Actually, you could develop in the same direction."
"Behind that Salamence is a dragon den inhabited by many Dragon-type Pokémon."
Nio's body trembled.
His fingers tightened around his walking stick so hard that his knuckles turned white.
Shate shot to his feet in excitement.
"L-Lord Qiu, is that true?!"
"Why would I need to lie to you?"
"No, I didn't mean that! I just... I just..."
Shate scratched his head frantically, unable to find the right words.
He knew that the "Pokémon" Lord Qiu spoke of were what they called magical beasts.
And Lord Qiu's meaning couldn't have been clearer.
He wanted them to establish a good relationship with Salamence so that perhaps, one day, they could form a connection with the dragon den behind her.
If that happened, they might eventually become like those large tribes and have an entire clan of magical beasts supporting them.
Then they would never have to worry about things like food again.
Nio's voice trembled.
"Qiu... can we really do it?"
"How would I know?"
Chen Shi shrugged.
"Whether you can do it or not depends on your own efforts."
"But I can give you some help."
"If there's anything you don't understand, you can ask me. I can also provide you with some food that Salamence likes."
"After that, it'll be up to you."
Nio took a deep breath.
After a moment of silence, he slowly stood up and bowed deeply toward Chen Shi.
"Qiu, I know you don't like listening to pointless words, so..."
"You... you're a good person!"
Chen Shi: "???"
I don't like listening to pointless words, so you give me a Good Guy Card instead?!
You're the good person!
Your whole family are good people!!
...
Come to think of it, Buzzwole really is pretty strong.
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