BONUS CHAPTER
Because he wasn't standing very far away, Chen Mo could see it clearly.
It was a grayish-brown stone, and embedded in the center was a green crystal.
"Bzzt…"
Electabuzz took a deep breath.
It slowly walked forward and gently placed the stone with the green crystal on the ground in front of Chen Mo and Pikachu.
"Bzzt."
"Pika?"
"Bzzt, bzzt bzzt…"
Pikachu understood.
While Chen Mo had been focused on Suicune earlier, Electabuzz had already learned what had happened from Roselia.
Thinking back to how Chen Mo had commanded Pikachu and the others to desperately battle Hydreigon… and remembering that this same human had saved its life twice, Electabuzz—having narrowly escaped death—finally realized its mistake.
Not all humans were bad.
At the very least, the strange human in front of it was someone willing to stand and fight alongside his Pokémon.
Afterward, Electabuzz had left the area alone and returned to its temporary shelter nearby, retrieving this stone it had treasured for a long time.
Electabuzz didn't know exactly what the stone was.
But it could sense Electric-type energy emanating from it, which told it this wasn't an ordinary rock. That was why it had picked it up and kept it until now.
As a wanderer separated from its own kind, Electabuzz didn't possess many valuable items.
This special stone was almost the most valuable thing it owned.
And since Pikachu was also an Electric-type Pokémon, Electabuzz decided to give the stone to Pikachu as an apology.
Even though it felt embarrassed, this was already the best apology it could offer.
Pikachu looked at Electabuzz, who seemed a little nervous.
Its small face remained serious.
"Pika! Pika pika chu!"
As it spoke, Pikachu pointed at Chen Mo standing beside it.
The meaning was obvious.
Pikachu felt it personally didn't need Electabuzz's apology—but Chen Mo did.
In many ways, Pokémon were far simpler than humans.
Once they recognized their mistakes, most Pokémon didn't hide it.
And a straightforward Pokémon like Electabuzz didn't hesitate at all—after hearing Pikachu's words, it immediately apologized to Chen Mo.
Although Chen Mo couldn't understand the exact words, he could clearly feel Electabuzz's sincerity.
Perhaps that was what made Pokémon so lovable.
Their emotions were usually transparent and honest.
At that moment—
Satisfied with the result, Pikachu finally turned its attention to the glowing green crystal on the stone.
Somewhere deep inside, it felt a faint pull.
It was as if the stone was calling to it.
Just as Pikachu reached out to pick up the crystal—
A hand moved faster.
Chen Mo grabbed the stone first.
"Pikachu?"
Pikachu looked at Chen Mo in confusion.
"You should think carefully, Pikachu."
"This isn't an ordinary stone. It's an Evolution Stone."
"Once you touch that green crystal, you'll be forced to evolve into Raichu."
"PIKA!?"
Pikachu's expression instantly changed.
It jumped backward in panic, retreating rapidly from the stone in Chen Mo's hand until it bumped into Haunter behind it.
Meanwhile, the livestream audience exploded with curiosity.
[Evolution Stone!? Something like that exists!?]
[I thought Pokémon evolved by gaining enough experience and nutrients! Mo-bao, you had a cheat item like this and didn't tell us earlier!?]
[This probably isn't something that just evolves Pokémon casually. Mo-bao, explain it properly!]
Chen Mo hadn't explained Evolution Stones before because there was still something he hadn't fully figured out.
But since they had encountered one now, he didn't intend to hide it.
He smiled and began explaining.
"As you can see, this green stone with the lightning-shaped marking in the center is called a Thunder Stone."
"It's a special stone capable of evolving certain Pokémon."
"I've explained before that most Pokémon evolve through their own growth and accumulated experience."
"But a small number of Pokémon have special evolution methods, including evolution triggered by touching certain stones."
"And Pikachu happens to be one of those Pokémon."
"Members of the Pikachu line can evolve into their final form—Raichu—by touching a Thunder Stone."
"However, there's an important thing to note."
"For some Pokémon that evolve through Evolution Stones, their movepools change drastically after evolving."
"For example, there's a Pokémon called Eevee. By using different Evolution Stones, it can evolve into completely different forms—and after evolving, the moves it learns are totally different from before."
"And now I'll add an important personal hypothesis—remember, this is only a hypothesis."
"Using Pikachu as an example: under normal circumstances, Pikachu gradually learns powerful Electric-type moves as it gains experience—moves like Thunderbolt or Thunder."
"But if Pikachu evolves too early using a Thunder Stone before learning those moves…"
"Then after evolving into Raichu, it may become much harder to naturally learn those moves."
This hypothesis was the main reason Chen Mo hadn't talked about Evolution Stones before.
In the games, Pokémon that evolved too early using stones often couldn't learn certain powerful moves through leveling afterward.
But since that was game logic—and reality might work differently—Chen Mo could only present it as speculation.
If proven wrong later, at least he wouldn't look too embarrassed.
However…
Chen Mo glanced at Pikachu.
His Pikachu seemed to have an unexpected dislike of evolution.
Originally, Chen Mo had planned to consider evolving Pikachu into Raichu after it fully matured.
But now…
Pikachu was hiding under Haunter, its face full of lingering fear—as if it was still shaken by how close it had come to touching the Thunder Stone.
"…."
Seeing Pikachu's reaction, Chen Mo suddenly wondered something.
Could my Pikachu be like Ash's Pikachu… wanting to remain a Pikachu forever? ⚡
After thinking for a moment, Chen Mo felt he needed to ask directly.
"Pikachu."
"Do you not want to evolve into Raichu?"
"Pika pika!"
Pikachu cautiously glanced at the Thunder Stone in Chen Mo's hand and nodded repeatedly.
"I see…"
Chen Mo looked puzzled.
"Can you tell me why?"
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