When Chen Mo arrived at the lakeside, he realized Magikarp was gone again.
He called out for quite a while.
Only then, in the distant waters, did he catch sight of a red figure slowly approaching from the far edge of his vision.
"Magikarp…"
Chen Mo felt a headache coming on.
"Didn't I tell you not to swim too far…"
Watching Magikarp blowing bubbles in the lake, he even began to regret not recalling it into its Poké Ball earlier.
"Gulu…"
Magikarp spat out another string of bubbles.
And right then—
As the bubbles burst, Chen Mo suddenly noticed that four or five whirlpools had appeared around Magikarp, tightly enclosing it.
"This is!?"
Chen Mo froze.
He hurriedly activated [Detection Eye] and discovered that Magikarp—originally with only four moves—now had an additional Water-type move:
Whirlpool.
"Magikarp, you…"
"Gulu gulu…"
Magikarp's eyes were filled with utter despair.
A moment later—
After understanding the whole story from Magikarp, Chen Mo didn't even know what to say.
Something like this could actually happen?
A Gyarados chasing a Magikarp just to teach it moves?
And the most outrageous part—
This Magikarp, which clearly didn't want to learn anything, somehow still ended up learning Whirlpool?
Chen Mo felt dizzy.
Earlier, when explaining Magikarp's evolution, the livestream viewers kept saying things were unrealistic or too idealistic.
But compared to this situation—
Those complaints were nothing.
They had only met that Gyarados two or three hours ago.
Yet in such a short time, through sheer passive exposure, Magikarp had learned a new move.
Honestly—
This was completely beyond Chen Mo's understanding.
Even Pikachu, with its exceptional talent, hadn't grown this fast despite hard work and Gastly's dream-based training.
"Gulu gulu…"
"…Let me calm down."
Chen Mo rubbed his temples.
Magikarp stayed quiet, watching him.
After a while—
"…Forget it. It doesn't really matter."
Chen Mo smiled faintly.
"Since that Gyarados is still bothering you, do you want to go back into your Poké Ball and hide for a while? If needed, we can move camp after the rain stops. There are plenty of lakes in Cangqing Mountain—though none as big as Chengying Lake."
Magikarp paused for a second.
Then—
It gently shook its head.
"Gulu…"
"You think this is fine? No need to move?"
After confirming again, Chen Mo frowned slightly.
"Then… do you want me to talk to that Gyarados?"
To be honest—
If he hadn't confirmed the Gyarados had blue whiskers instead of white ones, Chen Mo might've suspected it had taken a liking to his Magikarp.
Magikarp shook its head again.
Although they hadn't been together long—
Magikarp had already figured out Gyarados' personality.
While teaching moves—
After being subtly mocked, Gyarados repeatedly insisted:
Its loss to Milotic was mainly because it hadn't fought strong opponents for a long time.
If it were still living among its original Gyarados clan—
If it hadn't wasted the past half year—
It would definitely have been able to defeat Milotic.
Arrogant. Boastful. Always saving face.
…and a little afraid of loneliness.
Its overwhelming pressure drove away almost every Pokémon in Chengying Lake.
Only something like Magikarp—
Carefree and fearless—
Would dare approach it.
A lonely overlord…
Magikarp thought.
That might also explain why Gyarados tolerated a powerful Milotic settling into the lake.
Afraid of loneliness—
Yet unwilling to leave its comfortable territory.
What a strange creature.
Magikarp shook its head.
But then—
It looked up.
The young man opened the lunchbox, smiling as he spoke:
"These are dishes made from Mystery Eggs. Gastly even shared the egg Pikachu gave it—I'm honestly impressed…"
Magikarp liked this feeling.
Just like before—
Even though it already knew Chen Mo's journey—
It still enjoyed listening to him talk about trivial things.
Maybe…
It was just like that Gyarados.
Afraid of being alone.
Otherwise—
Back then—
It wouldn't have followed this human and left Red Leaf Lake.
"Try this egg roll first. I cut it into smaller pieces. Not sure if you'll like it, but the others seemed to enjoy it."
Magikarp looked at the smiling young man—
Then remembered what Gyarados had said.
Perhaps…
It was time to reclaim what it had forgotten.
Even without evolving…
——
"You're back."
Hearing footsteps outside the tent, Yi-ge looked up and saw Chen Mo—his hair damp, raindrops still clinging to his face.
"For some reason, the rain suddenly got heavier while I was feeding Magikarp. Seems meeting a Chansey doesn't necessarily mean you'll be lucky after all."
Chen Mo took the towel Yi-ge tossed over and wiped his hair.
Then he glanced aside.
At the table—
Pikachu and Gastly, full and satisfied, were fast asleep while hugging the large Pidgeotto.
Nearby, Absol lay curled by the tent entrance. It briefly looked up when it heard Chen Mo, then relaxed again after confirming it was him.
Chen Mo softened his steps, not wanting to disturb them.
Most of the food was gone—
But each dish still had a portion left.
"Didn't I say you didn't need to save any for me?"
Chen Mo asked, puzzled.
He had specifically told Gastly earlier to finish all the Mystery Egg dishes, since they were highly nutritious for Pokémon.
For humans, it was actually a bit of a waste.
"Do you think they would do that?"
Yi-ge replied calmly.
Chen Mo looked at the three sleeping Pokémon.
A warm feeling rose in his chest.
The exhaustion from a long day of travel seemed to fade.
"Want me to heat it up for you?"
Yi-ge asked softly.
Chen Mo shook his head, sat down at the table, and picked up his chopsticks.
"No need. This is fine."
Rain pattered steadily against the tent.
In the distant Chengying Lake—
The red Magikarp glanced once more toward the tent—
Then flicked its tail and sank beneath the surface.
At the same moment—
A blue figure arrived silently—
Right on cue.
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