[Ding, ding! You have successfully subdued a Buneary!]
[In this fledgling Pokémon world, people only have a vague understanding of intimacy. They completely overlook the emotional bond between humans and Pokémon—yet that bond is also one of the evolution conditions for certain Pokémon.]
[As someone who understands all forms of evolution, you must not remain immersed in your current achievements. You must prove to the world that the bond between trainer and Pokémon is the most powerful force of all!]
[You have received a task: Propose and prove the existence of Friendship.]
[Cheat Tip: The move Return is closely tied to Friendship. Lopunny is the only Pokémon that can naturally learn this move.]
...
Although the system calling a dog a rabbit was… painfully absurd, Jiang Xing gradually began to understand its logic—
It had probably loaded the wrong setting, then forcibly mapped everything onto it, ignoring appearance, names, and all superficial traits. Instead, it focused only on specific attributes, then searched its database for matches.
For example:
Golden-Patterned Koi → carp, potential to become a dragon… okay, Magikarp.
For example:
Li Lingyin → novice trainer with combat potential… okay, Red.
Seen this way, calling a dog a rabbit was actually understandable.
Friendship-based evolution + Return move + base form… no matter what it looks like, this is a Buneary!
A serious system. One glance and it flags "copy detected."
'By this logic, in its eyes, I'm basically a rookie Professor Oak.'
Dr. Jiang expressed his understanding.
Back to the point—since the system wasn't assigning tasks randomly, it meant the purple-black puppy must possess the traits described.
Namely: [Friendship Evolution] and [Return Move].
'Friendship…'
This was one of the most classic mechanics in the Pokémon world.
Jiang Xing carefully recalled—and to his surprise, realized that the Beast Taming world truly had no corresponding theory.
How was that possible?
If Friendship existed, it should have been easy to discover!
Frowning, Jiang Xing pondered deeply. Then, seeing the Rainbow Dragon Hatchling floating nearby, playfully teasing the purple-black puppy, he suddenly understood.
It wasn't that it was hidden too deeply.
On the contrary—it was too common to be noticed.
To put it simply:
Gravity has always existed. Humans have always felt it, yet took it for granted—until Isaac Newton formally identified it in the 17th century.
Friendship worked the same way.
In the Beast Taming world, Beast Tamers don't rely on tools to subdue Pet Beasts—they form spiritual contracts.
And once established, those contracts can never be undone—even if one party dies.
This inherent bond naturally creates closeness between Beast Tamer and Pet Beast.
Even so-called "evil Beast Tamers" maintain an intimate relationship with their own Pet Beasts.
Under such conditions, as long as a Beast Tamer raises their Pet Beast normally, any Pet Beast capable of evolving through Friendship will naturally complete that evolution—
Without anyone ever realizing that Friendship was a hidden condition.
On top of that, the existence of the Will-Based Selection Theory means people already know that a Pet Beast's evolution and strength are influenced by its own will.
So even if someone became curious, it would simply be categorized under that theory.
Thus, Friendship became a perfect case of "hiding in plain sight"—
Everywhere, yet unnoticed.
Only someone like Jiang Xing—armed with a god's-eye perspective and knowledge of Friendship—could break through this blind spot.
Then he remembered—
Among the Howl Hound's species moves, there was one called [Training Power].
Its effect:
It unleashes a powerful attack, whose strength increases the longer the Beast Tamer has trained it and the higher its proficiency.
If you added the concept of Friendship into that:
The longer it stays with its Beast Tamer, the higher the Friendship—the stronger the attack.
Isn't that just Return?
Jiang Xing was stunned.
'So the system wasn't stupid at all—it was just playing dumb and setting me up this whole time?'
Putting that aside—
He had now confirmed something crucial:
If the Beast Taming world truly had a Friendship system, then this was an entirely unexplored field.
Its importance might even surpass the Personality Hypothesis.
After all, the Personality Hypothesis had already been proposed by Dr. Ail, with a fairly complete theoretical framework—it just lacked solid proof.
If Jiang Xing proved it, it would be a major achievement—
But ultimately, it would just complete the final piece of an existing puzzle.
Friendship was completely different.
Aside from its loose connection to the Will-Based Selection Theory, it had no established framework, no real research, and no accumulated knowledge.
Jiang Xing would essentially be pioneering an entirely new field.
It would help Beast Tamers better understand Pet Beasts—
And might even reshape the entire evolution system.
Many evolutions currently labeled as "natural evolution"… might actually be Friendship-based evolution.
'I need to start researching immediately!'
Jiang Xing was burning with urgency.
He left all the energy cubes he had with the purple-black puppy, arranged to examine its condition later and complete its Pet Beast record, then activated the secret realm core.
The scene shifted.
When his vision cleared, he was back on the street.
Around him were onlookers—and several uniformed officers.
"Hello, Mr. Jiang…"
…
The appearance of a micro secret realm in Shanghai wasn't a huge event—but it wasn't trivial either.
As involved parties, Jiang Xing and the fan's family were brought to the public security bureau for questioning—mainly just to record a statement.
As for the secret realm core, according to the rules of this world, ownership belonged to Jiang Xing—the discoverer and acquirer.
Of course, the smooth process also had something to do with Jiang Xing's identity as a reserve researcher.
After leaving the bureau, Jiang Xing signed autographs, took photos with the fan's family, encouraged the child a bit—
Then left in a hurry with the two girls.
After dropping Jian Guoguo off with Master Jian, he didn't even stay to study craftsmanship—
He immediately took his leave.
Then he brought Li Lingyin to the battle arena to play on her own, while he, overflowing with inspiration, rushed into the grand library and began flipping through the Pet Beast Encyclopedia—
The encyclopedia wasn't static.
It was constantly revised as researchers published new papers.
And with the sheer number of Pet Beasts—
Including evolution forms, there were over a million species.
No matter how knowledgeable someone was, no one could claim to know every Pet Beast listed.
Jiang Xing had to rely on it to gather data and complete his research.
First, he assumed that [Training Power] = Return, and searched for: All Pet Beasts that possess this species move.
He recorded them as potential candidates.
Then, from that pool, he filtered: Pet Beasts with no standard evolution form.
Because according to his hypothesis, Friendship evolution in this world had likely been misclassified as "natural evolution."
And any Pet Beast that could naturally learn Return likely had a Friendship-based evolution form.
If none existed, then it was probably undiscovered.
However, since Friendship was easy to increase in this world, any Friendship evolution should have been discovered and recorded.
Out of more than a hundred thousand base Pet Beasts, Jiang Xing found only one.
...
[Name: Ugly Waterfowl]
[Attribute: Water]
[Talent: Ugly]
[Species Tier: Mid Extraordinary]
[Species Moves: Splash, Water Gun, Scare, Peck, Training Power]
[Description: A waterfowl Pet Beast. Though clumsy, its extreme ugliness makes even predators unwilling to eat it, allowing it to survive.]
...
In the encyclopedia image, the Ugly Waterfowl was a bald, featherless bird, covered in bumps. Combined with its strange head and habit of smearing mud on itself, it looked terrifying.
Not only that, it was also a rare low-level Pet Beast with no evolution form whatsoever.
In the past, researchers had reluctantly raised groups of them, trying to find an evolution—
Only to fail.
Worse, these clumsy creatures learned even the simplest move—Training Power—extremely slowly, and its power was pitiful.
After multiple researchers reached the same conclusion, this ugly and useless Pet Beast was quickly abandoned.
After all, there were countless Pet Beasts to study—
Why waste time on something with no potential?
Until now.
Jiang Xing stared at the encyclopedia.
Inspired by the system, fragments of the Pokémon world's mechanics flashed through his mind.
Could it be… that besides Friendship—these Ugly Waterfowl might also trigger a "Beauty" condition?
---
I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> patreon.com/TitoVillar
---