[Wishiwashi? A monster of the sea? Teacher Mo, you're joking, right?]
[What's the "Monster of the Sea"? Some Legendary Pokémon?]
[Probably just a metaphor saying Wishiwashi is really powerful. Honestly though, this little fish doesn't exactly look intimidating. I feel like even I could fight it.]
[Teacher Mo told us earlier, when introducing Jirachi, to pay attention to his wording. Just now he said Wishiwashi, plural—not a single Wishiwashi.]
[I noticed something interesting. Wishiwashi has an Ability called "Schooling." Could Teacher Mo be referring to that?]
Reading the rapidly scrolling comments, Chen Mo snapped his fingers with a smile.
"Looks like some of you have already noticed the clue."
"That's right."
"Wishiwashi's strength has never come from an individual."
"It comes from the entire school."
"I've mentioned before that a Pokémon species' Abilities are closely tied to its living environment and physical characteristics."
"Wishiwashi are somewhat similar to an animal from our own world."
"Sardines."
"In nature..."
"Weaker animals often gather together in groups to reduce their chances of being hunted."
"When facing predators in the ocean, sardines instinctively form enormous schools."
"They constantly weave and shift their formation, creating the spectacular phenomenon known as a sardine run."
"The same principle applies to Pokémon."
"If ordinary animals can understand the power of numbers..."
"Then Pokémon, whose intelligence is generally much higher, naturally understand it as well."
"In fact..."
"Thanks to the extraordinary powers nature granted them..."
"They take it a step further."
"And that's exactly what makes Wishiwashi special."
"Their Ability..."
"Schooling."
"In the Pokémon world..."
"When a school of Wishiwashi understands the value of unity..."
"They use their watery blue eyes to emit a very special signal."
"That signal can travel as far as forty kilometres away."
"The moment nearby Wishiwashi receive the distress call..."
"They rush toward the caller at astonishing speed."
"Then..."
"Just like sardines..."
"They gather together into one enormous formation."
"Ultimately..."
"They become a gigantic, deep-blue fish beyond description."
"Unlike ordinary sardine schools, which can only defend themselves..."
"This colossal creature created by Wishiwashi possesses unimaginable strength."
"Because every member trusts its companions completely..."
"They gain power far beyond what anyone could imagine."
"Even notoriously violent Gyarados will flee upon seeing them."
Just how powerful was a School Form Wishiwashi?
Simply saying that its strength rivaled the "Monster of the Sea" didn't mean much to the audience.
They had no idea what that title actually represented.
It just sounded cool.
But...
The moment Chen Mo mentioned Gyarados...
Everyone immediately had a point of comparison.
After all...
The Gyarados they had seen at Chengying Lake—
Although it had been completely dominated by Milotic—
Was still among the strongest non-Legendary Pokémon Chen Mo had introduced so far.
Combined with the famous saying that only one Gyarados emerged from countless Magikarp...
Gyarados had already become synonymous with overwhelming power in everyone's minds.
So...
Learning that a school of Wishiwashi could scare away even Gyarados...
The livestream exploded.
[Holy crap! Wishiwashi is actually this insane!? Teacher Mo, now I kind of want to raise one!]
[Throughout Earth's history, countless species disappeared over millions of years. Any species that survives today must possess something extraordinary. Ever since Teacher Mo started introducing Pokémon, I've often wondered about this. Looks like I was right. Even the weakest Pokémon found a unique way to survive in a dangerous world. What an incredible testament to life itself!]
[Wait, how would a Pokémon like Wishiwashi even compete in tournaments like the Pikachu Cup? A single Wishiwashi is useless, but calling an entire school breaks the one-on-one battle format.]
Facing the viewers' questions...
Chen Mo remained calm.
Once School Form was activated...
Wishiwashi truly could be considered one of the rulers of the ocean.
However...
Reality wasn't a video game.
Not every Wishiwashi could activate the Schooling Ability and summon its companions.
Therefore...
In Chen Mo's opinion...
Some Trainers would inevitably become interested after hearing today's explanation.
They'd try raising Wishiwashi themselves.
But...
Given enough time...
Most of them would eventually give up.
Which meant...
The odds of Wishiwashi appearing in official battles were actually extremely low.
And even if...
By some miracle...
Someone successfully trained a Wishiwashi capable of activating Schooling...
The competitive rules were still far from finalized.
Making adjustments later wouldn't be difficult.
"Pika! Pika!"
Just then...
Pikachu suddenly cried out in alarm behind him.
Turning around...
Chen Mo saw that inside the large basin...
Wishiwashi had floated belly-up once again.
It drifted peacefully across the surface.
"Chen Mo! Chen Mo!"
"Wishiwashi really died!"
After hearing from Gengar and the others that a fish floating belly-up basically meant it was dead...
Jirachi looked completely panicked.
It had even started using telepathy.
Chen Mo showed no surprise whatsoever.
He walked over to the basin.
Looking at the floating Wishiwashi...
He frowned deeply.
"That's strange."
"I already treated its injuries."
"So why has it gotten worse instead?"
Hearing those words...
Every Pokémon nearby became serious.
Except for Gible and Jirachi...
The rest had already accompanied Chen Mo on multiple educational journeys.
They had seen countless injured wild Pokémon.
Especially during the Mount Cangqing expedition...
Chen Mo had helped the Bureau treat numerous wild Pokémon.
He had never once failed.
And every time...
He could accurately judge their recovery.
If even Chen Mo said...
That things were getting worse...
Then...
Everyone looked sorrowfully at the little Wishiwashi.
Kind-hearted Jirachi couldn't sit still.
"Chen Mo! Chen Mo!"
"Should I try healing it with my wish-granting power?"
However...
It was as though Chen Mo hadn't heard anything.
He simply stroked his chin.
Then sighed.
"Well..."
"Life and death are simply unavoidable."
"There's nothing we can do."
He looked toward Pidgeotto.
"Pidgeotto."
"Pidge?"
Pidgeotto tilted its head.
"We shouldn't let it go to waste."
"Go ahead and eat Wishiwashi."
"Then carry on its will..."
"Live well in this world..."
"And become stronger."
"Pidgeotto!?"
Pidgeotto spread its wings in utter shock.
Everyone present—
Including the countless viewers—
Was completely baffled.
Why would gentle, compassionate Chen Mo suddenly say something like that?
Then—
Thump!
Something landed heavily on the deck.
Everyone instinctively turned.
The Wishiwashi that had supposedly died...
Had leapt straight out of the basin.
Now...
It flopped frantically across the deck.
Its face was filled with terror as it desperately tried to escape from Chen Mo and his Pokémon.
At that instant...
Every Pokémon understood.
Chen Mo's earlier words...
Had simply been meant to scare this little fish that had been pretending to be dead.
They'd been fooled!
Pikachu and the others glared furiously at Wishiwashi.
Seeing that...
Wishiwashi struggled even harder.
Unfortunately...
It was still a long way from the sea.
At its current flopping speed...
It would take ages to get there.
Long before that...
Chen Mo reached out.
An utterly merciless hand descended onto Wishiwashi's head.
He picked it up...
And gently placed it back into the basin.
"Waa..."
Wishiwashi's watery eyes filled with despair.
It could already imagine what the rest of its fish life would look like.
I still couldn't escape...
The light slowly faded from its eyes.
Then...
Chen Mo spoke again.
"I treated your wounds earlier."
"But healing takes time."
"So..."
"You'd better stop flopping around."
"Otherwise your injuries will only get worse."
"Waa?"
Wishiwashi blinked.
Then...
It noticed something.
The old wounds covering its body...
Were indeed healing rapidly.
This human...
Hadn't lied.
"Looks like you've noticed."
Chen Mo smiled.
"My earlier words probably frightened you."
"So..."
"I'm sorry."
"I apologize."
"But..."
"We don't mean you any harm."
"The reason we caught you..."
"Was simply because we wanted to confirm something."
"If you're willing to answer a few questions..."
"I'll help you with whatever I can."
"And..."
"If you don't want to answer..."
"That's perfectly fine too."
"I won't hurt you."
"When your injuries have healed..."
"You can leave whenever you like."
"I won't stop you."
Inside the basin...
Wishiwashi had clearly understood every word.
Although traces of fear still lingered on its face...
It gradually calmed down.
Then...
It seriously considered Chen Mo's proposal.
After a long while...
It blew out a string of bubbles.
"Waa."
(...I agree.)
Even without Pikachu translating...
Chen Mo understood.
He immediately asked,
"Wishiwashi..."
"You've lived in these waters all along, haven't you?"
"Waa."
Wishiwashi blew another string of bubbles in confirmation.
Chen Mo nodded.
Then continued,
"From what I've observed..."
"Something seems to have happened in this sea."
"To be honest..."
"Other than you..."
"I haven't encountered a single wild Pokémon all day."
"So I'm curious."
"What exactly happened here—"
Before he could finish...
Wishiwashi suddenly reacted as though it had heard the most terrifying thing imaginable.
It immediately buried its head at the bottom of the basin.
Its entire body trembled violently.
"Hey?"
"Wishiwashi?"
Seeing its reaction...
Chen Mo became even more certain.
Something really had happened in these waters.
However...
No matter how he questioned it...
Wishiwashi would only answer relatively harmless questions.
The moment the conversation approached the real cause...
It absolutely refused to speak.
Even mentioning that topic...
Filled it with overwhelming terror.
Looking at the emotional readings displayed by Eye of Insight...
Chen Mo sighed inwardly.
This little Wishiwashi...
Really was timid.
It had already reached its limit.
With no other choice...
Chen Mo temporarily gave up questioning it.
His plan was to first help it calm down...
Then slowly see if he could learn anything useful later.
"Since it's something happening in the sea..."
"Why don't you just ask that Pokémon called Manaphy?"
Marshadow's calm voice echoed in Chen Mo's mind.
Chen Mo shook his head.
Although Manaphy had left him the shell they could use to contact each other...
It had also said before leaving last night...
That all of its attention would be devoted to stabilizing Yu Heguang's spirit for quite some time.
Under those circumstances...
Chen Mo really didn't want to bother it.
Besides...
Manaphy frequently traveled through these waters.
With its astonishing powers of observation...
It had undoubtedly already noticed what was happening here.
The fact that it hadn't intervened yet...
Meant one of two things.
Either...
Its hands were simply full because of Yu Heguang.
Or...
Whatever was happening here wasn't serious enough to require its direct intervention.
After all...
Judging from the information Wishiwashi had revealed...
The Pokémon inhabiting these waters hadn't died.
They had fled.
Wishiwashi itself...
Had been fleeing as well.
It had simply failed to resist the temptation of food...
And ended up taking Chen Mo's bait.
Generally speaking...
There were countless reasons that could cause large numbers of Pokémon to flee.
But...
Since Manaphy hadn't warned him...
It suggested this wasn't the worst-case scenario.
At the very least...
It probably didn't involve Legendary Pokémon.
Chen Mo stroked his chin.
Several possibilities flashed through his mind.
Just then...
A low, angry shout came from nearby.
"Don't touch the camera!"
Chen Mo turned toward the voice.
The timid young sailor...
Hao Tianyu...
Who had been temporarily serving as cameraman...
Was glaring darkly at the large purple Pokémon floating beside him.
Gengar looked completely stunned.
It clearly hadn't expected such a fierce reaction.
Realizing that every Pokémon—
And Chen Mo himself—
Had turned to look at him...
The anger instantly vanished from Hao Tianyu's face.
It was replaced with panic.
Finally...
He gave a deep bow.
Stammering,
"I-I'm..."
"I'm sorry!"
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