"Silas, I've found some leads on the person you asked me to help look for last time."
Walking side by side with him, Diantha spoke in a calm tone.
Catching Minccino as it climbed up toward him, Silas asked curiously, "Who is it?"
"A rising rock star from the Unova region, Roxie."
"A rock singer?" Silas hesitated for a moment. Considering Minccino and Diancie's voices, they were practically the opposite of rock style.
Very quickly, however, he figured it out himself.
Minccino and the others were only just getting started. Whether they were suitable or not would only be known after trying.
With Diantha acting as the intermediary, the two sides would still need to arrange a time to meet and talk.
But that would not be today. Today's focus was still the World Expo.
The two of them strolled leisurely toward the venue hosting the Expo. The entrance was packed so tightly with people that not even a drop of water could pass through.
All the brand new technologies developed by the League in recent years were going to be showcased inside. It would have been strange if there were not many people.
The chaos only appeared at the very beginning. Soon, Officer Jenny stepped in to maintain order, and several Arcanine and Growlithe patrolled back and forth. Before long, orderly lines formed one after another.
Silas and Diantha queued up with their Pokémon, chatting and laughing as they shared interesting stories from their recent days. Time passed quickly.
After passing through the ticket checkpoint and entering the venue, the previously crowded mass of people dispersed instantly, and the view became much more open.
Looking around, Silas's attention was drawn to a company booth right near the entrance.
"The Wild Zones was developed by this company, Quasartico Inc.," Silas said as he stopped to look at their promotional display. "They aim to build a city where humans and Pokémon can live together and have proposed an Urban Redevelopment Project."
"This company has been developing quite well. They have already started trial operations in Lumiose City."
Silas nodded in understanding. It was probably what he had seen last time when he returned from his vacation in Alola.
As for whether it would expand further, he did not concern himself with that for now.
After walking only a few more steps, Silas and Diantha ran into someone they had met once before, Professor Sycamore.
"Professor, we meet again."
Hearing the greeting, he turned his head. The moment he saw Silas and Diantha, his eyes lit up. "Silas, Diantha, long time no see."
His new research progress in the direction of Mega Evolution owed much to the discoveries the two of them had made previously.
Waving them over, Professor Sycamore took the initiative to introduce the latest findings regarding Mega Evolution.
He unfolded his tablet, and a video began to play, accompanied by his explanation.
"This is a new discovery regarding Mega Evolution from Hoenn, a brand new Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving, Mega Victreebel."
At that moment, the video reached its most important segment.
The experiment site was inside a research laboratory. A trainer whose name was not disclosed stood together with his Pokémon, Victreebel.
Although Victreebel was a Grass type Pokémon, it was one of the rarer ferocious plants.
It lured in prey, and once the prey approached, it would open its massive mouth and swallow it whole, then use the dissolving liquid inside to melt everything.
Within a single day, not even bones would remain.
It was said that the sweeter a Victreebel's dissolving liquid smelled, the more food it had eaten.
Recalling the basic information about Victreebel, Silas did not take his eyes off the screen.
Soon, the familiar light of Mega Evolution enveloped both trainer and Pokémon.
When the radiant glow faded, a brand new Victreebel appeared.
Now it should be called Mega Victreebel.
"How strange. Why would Mega Victreebel tie up its own mouth?" Diantha voiced her confusion.
As everyone knew, Victreebel relied entirely on its mouth to hunt. Binding it shut seemed like starving itself to death.
Victreebel's hunting method belonged to the sit and wait category. It attracted prey with fragrance, then delivered a fatal strike.
Silas was also puzzled. The two of them turned their gazes toward Professor Sycamore, seeking an explanation.
Professor Sycamore pulled up detailed data about Mega Victreebel and compared the figures as he explained. "According to my research and the findings from Hoenn, the energy from Mega Evolution causes Victreebel to generate a massive amount of dissolving liquid inside its body."
"If it does not actively bind its throat, the liquid will spray uncontrollably in all directions. Mega Victreebel's dissolving liquid has been further strengthened. It can completely dissolve even concrete and iron."
Silas imagined the kind of destruction Mega Victreebel could cause.
Yes, tying up its mouth was good. Tying it up was wonderful.
But with that enormous belly, how exactly would Mega Victreebel hunt?
Silas voiced the question in his heart.
"Mega Victreebel will actively seek out and eliminate its prey. The liquid accumulated in its mouth emits a dizzyingly sweet scent that can, to a certain extent, render prey unable to move."
"We found during experiments that the vast majority of Bug type Pokémon are unable to resist this fragrance."
In other words, Mega Victreebel did not need to worry about food at all. There were more Bug type Pokémon in the world than there were Pikachu.
The sudden appearance of Mega Victreebel caused Silas's thoughts to wander. He still had a Dragoninite Mega Stone in his waist pouch.
Should he take it out?
Giving it away for free was absolutely not an option. He was not a fool.
An equivalent exchange would be acceptable.
After thinking about it, Silas temporarily gave up on the idea.
Once he captured a Dragonite in the future, it would not be too late to reveal it then.
That could also count as his own contribution to the cause of Mega Evolution.
The Wild Zones and the newly discovered Mega Pokémon were only part of the Expo.
For example, the Rotom Phone they were looking at now was another highlight.
"If anyone has questions, feel free to ask me, Rotom!" The Rotom Phone floated in midair, weaving through the crowd as it spoke in an extremely confident voice.
That confidence came from having already answered one difficult question after another.
"Min?"
Minccino tugged at Silas's hair, urging him to challenge the Rotom Phone.
It had just been completely defeated.
"No rush, no rush." While soothing Minccino, Silas looked toward the Rotom Phone and raised his hand.
"Hehe, if you have any questions, just tell me. I am the most powerful Rotom!" it declared proudly.
Silas pondered for a moment, then asked, "Then let me ask you this. Are there aliens in the Arctic?"
The moment the question left his mouth, the tourists who had been surrounding the Rotom Phone froze for a second, then burst into laughter.
Even Diantha shook her head helplessly and teased in a low voice, "Why are you suddenly asking such a wild question? No matter how intelligent the Rotom Phone is, it cannot answer that."
The Rotom Phone floating in midair clearly paused. The blue light ring on its screen flickered rapidly twice, as if it were searching its database at high speed.
"Smoking is harmful to health!"
"I cannot agree with Rotom's point of view." Silas shook his head with a serious expression. "Personally, I believe that spaghetti should be mixed with number forty two concrete, because the length of this screw... connected to the excavator... commonly known as a UFO... will cause a certain degree of nuclear pollution to the charger... and that does not affect Zangoose and Seviper falling in love, huh?" He tilted his head and widened his eyes.
He started with an extremely long sentence and then simply said whatever came to mind. The chaotic flow of thoughts instantly overloaded the Rotom Phone.
The blue light ring on its screen flashed frantically, so fast it nearly formed a continuous line. The device itself trembled slightly.
It seemed to be desperately trying to analyze the causal relationship between spaghetti mixed with concrete, screws and excavators, UFOs and nuclear pollution of chargers, and why all of that would make Zangoose and Seviper fall in love.
Clearly, Rotom's database did not contain such knowledge. In the end, with a crackling buzz, the blue light ring suddenly dimmed, leaving only a rotating RT icon in the center of the screen, spinning endlessly like a stuck top.
(End of Chapter)