Chapter 878: Chapter 437: Wishiwashi School in the Deep Sea, Slowpoke and Shellder (Part 3)
After passing through this white sand area, a coral reef made up of rocks and corals appeared ahead.
On a large underwater rock, Naoki finally spotted a Shellder.
Found it!
Naoki was very excited, with this, Slowking could be born!
He turned to look at the Slowpoke on his back, preparing to approach a Shellder and ask for its opinion.
If the other agrees, then they could evolve first, and if it feels inappropriate after evolving, they could revert back.
The relationship between Slowpoke and Shellder is very special, and their evolution is different from other Pokémon.
This "symbiotic evolution" can be reversed at any time.
Just by removing the Shellder biting on the Slowpoke, the evolved Slowking or Slowbro can revert back to a Slowpoke and Shellder.
A school of Wishiwashi stopped not far away.
They neither approached nor left, but stayed there curiously observing the human’s actions.
Naoki, carrying Slowpoke, swam forward.
The Shellder was half-opened, with a pair of eyes in the dark shell, and a large pink tongue sticking out from the shell.
However, before Naoki could approach, the alert Shellder noticed him.
With a muffled "pop" sound, Shellder immediately clamped its shell shut, and with the shells constantly opening and closing, it quickly swam backward.
And during its escape, it seemed to have spit out something.
Naoki looked closely and found that it was a beautiful pearl!
Naoki: "..."
It seems that the Pokedex was right... Shellder tends to spit out its pearl because it finds it bothersome.
That Shellder escaped, so Naoki had to focus on other Shellders.
Just then, Naoki suddenly felt the Slowpoke on his back move.
He turned around in confusion, only to see Slowpoke jump down itself, its normally sluggish eyes seemingly drawn by something, slowly moving its limbs and swimming toward a target.
Following Slowpoke’s gaze, Naoki saw a Shellder blowing bubbles on a protruding rock.
The pearl that the previous Shellder dropped happened to land on this bubble-blowing Shellder’s shell.
Slowpoke swam to the front of the Shellder and stopped there, its eyes moving up, staring blankly at the beautiful pearl.
The Shellder, which had been sleeping with its shell closed, seemed to sense something unusual.
It slowly opened its shell, and upon opening its eyes, saw a pink unfamiliar Pokémon suddenly appear in front of it.
!!!
Shellder was startled, and instinctively used Shell Clamp on Slowpoke.
Slowpoke’s head was immediately bitten by the Shellder.
The next second, countless bubbles appeared in the seawater, and a dazzling light burst from the connection of the two Pokémon.
The light of evolution instantly engulfed the two Pokémon, and within the light, Shellder and Slowpoke’s bodies gradually merged into one.
When the light dissipated, a new Pokémon appeared before Naoki and the school of Wishiwashi.
It was a bipedal Pokémon with an orange and white umbrella-like structure around its neck, crowned with a Shellder crown.
Its eyes were full of wisdom, yet it still looked quite silly.
Naoki: "..."
Is this Slowking? Why does it still look so not-so-smart?
Slowking, however, turned its gaze toward him and opened its mouth, emitting a stream of bubbles.
"&@#%."
Naoki was slightly taken aback. Was that Slowking speaking?
"Rotom, could you help translate?" He looked at his Rotom Phone.
However, the Rotom Phone translated a garbled message: "Unable to translate, Roto!"
"Scan Slowking." Naoki asked a different question.
Rotom: "Slowking, known as the sage of the sea, is always calm and composed.
There is a saying in some regions, [If lost, ask Slowking], indicating it is well-known for its intelligence.
Although Slowking can solve any problem posed to it, no one can understand its language, Roto!"
Naoki: "..."
So after evolving, did Slowking create its own language system?
Anyway, as long as Slowking has evolved successfully.
Although the method of evolution was a bit strange, it seems Slowking is getting along quite well with Shellder now.
Perhaps?
"Slowking, do you still recognize me?" Naoki swam in front of Slowking, pointed at himself, and asked.
Slowking looked at him with wise eyes, then nodded gently.
Of course, it remembered that it was this human named Naoki who brought it here and helped it evolve into Slowking.
However...
Who is it? Where is it? Why does this world exist?
Slowking did not understand, and it inevitably fell into pondering the world.
Naoki looked up at the surface and said to Slowking: "Shall we leave here first? We can talk more when we get back to the ranch."
Slowking thought of everything about the World Tree and nodded, speaking another string of words Naoki couldn’t understand.
As Naoki swam upwards with Slowking, he recalled the plot about Slowking in the anime.
If he remembered correctly, in the movie "Revelation Lugia," there was a Slowking living on Shamouti Island.
That Slowking was very special; it could not only foresee the future but also speak the human language.
So here’s the question: is that something all Slowking can learn, or is that particular Slowking the only one in this world who can learn human speech?
Naoki wasn’t sure, and he decided to have a good chat with this Slowking after returning to the ranch.
Since the Phone Rotom couldn’t translate, he’d try using Translation Nuts Cake instead.
