"Happy New Year."
At the stroke of midnight on January 1, Year 140 of the League Calendar.
Listening to the cheers and celebrations outside the window, Silas pressed send.
"Happy New Year."
He repeated it, this time to his Pokémon.
"Blazi~" "Pidgeot!" "Gigalith!"
"Servine." "Togepi." "Mareep~"
They all responded happily.
Of course, Pokémon didn't have a concept of New Year.
But Silas explained it to them in broad strokes. With their intelligence, it was easy for them to understand.
Moreover, Pidgeot, as an experienced senior, helped explain.
"It's a rare day off in the year, but it might get a bit noisy outside at night," Pidgeot said.
"A new year has begun. We need to continue pushing toward the tournament—let's work hard, everyone! Gather at 6 AM tomorrow!"
Silas energetically pumped his fist.
The Pokémon's smiles froze for a moment, glancing at Pidgeot, who had immediately laid back down.
Wasn't it supposed to be a day off? Why so early?
Pidgeot nervously covered its body with its wings.
"Beep—"
Don't slap me! Let's talk properly.
Silas looked at the playful scene and nodded with satisfaction.
"Ding-dong." × N
Messages kept coming to his smartwatch.
For the record, he was definitely not Arthur, nor Nemo.
The flood of messages was just casual greetings between friends.
Over the past six months of traveling, he had met more people than he had in the previous sixteen years combined.
"Happy New Year! Planning a trip to Sinnoh next year?"
—"Maybe Johto. As for the Sinnoh League… not sure."
"Happy New Year! Did you get the Berries I sent?"
—"They just arrived this afternoon. Quality's great, though slightly bitter—maybe Butterfree pollination had an issue?"
"Happy New Year! Your Researcher application has been submitted, and the Soothe Bell is working well."
—"Thank you so much! Really glad to be able to help."
"Happy New Year! Sent you some Candy."
—"Don't eat too much sugar!"
"Happy New Year! I can't wait to battle you."
—"Heh, defeated already."
Silas replied busily, smiling with satisfaction.
He hadn't had a New Year like this in a long time.
New Year in the Pokémon world was essentially celebrating the League's founding; it had no elaborate traditions like in his previous life.
Still, the festive atmosphere was heartwarming.
He solemnly admired a life photo sent by a certain unnamed girl and replied:
"It's freezing outside. Dress warmly and drink hot water."
He had to criticize her for going to an outdoor hot spring in the dead of winter.
Stretching on the sofa, he soon got more messages and was happily busy again.
Early that morning, Silas stared at the scenery outside.
"Rare… but so beautiful."
Viridian City was usually vibrant year-round, full of greenery.
But now, it was unusually covered in snow.
Not once in seventeen years of living here had Silas seen this scene.
Silas shrugged and left the Pokémon Center to start today's training.
Arriving at the expanded training grounds, he released his six Pokémon and gave them instructions—the new tedious training began.
Silas scooped up a handful of snow and splashed it on his face to wake up.
Without the occasional poachers or odd tasks to break the monotony, he would have felt overwhelmed by the intensity of the training.
After the previous incident at Team Rocket's base, he always felt a subtle urgency.
Silas knew it was likely his imagination.
He probably felt rushed because of knowledge of Mewtwo's power, even though it wouldn't significantly affect him—he wasn't responsible for dealing with everything.
"I should rest for a day or two soon."
Silas tried to convince himself. Otherwise, both he and his Pokémon would become exhausted.
Even Togepi and Mareep were barely holding on each day.
Though his team was far stronger than peers, he wanted to get stronger faster.
He wasn't a genius—just a lucky traveler. So, being stronger than others was enough.
But his rapid progress made him unconsciously raise his own standards: from entering the tournament, to top 64, top 16, and now aiming for top 4.
It was time to calm down. His opponents would mostly be years older, with much more time training their Pokémon.
"Pidgeot, increase the downward angle on your left wing, or you'll lose balance with speed."
Even on a rest day, training continued.
Silas mechanically observed the Pokémon, constantly giving improvement instructions.
Time passed minute by minute.
Everything was as usual.
After Mareep released a normal Thundershock, its body gradually became surrounded by a white glow.
Silas raised an eyebrow—it was evolving.
He remained calm; it was about time.
In fact, Mareep was evolving slightly later than he had expected.
The other five Pokémon paused their training to admire the hard-earned evolution of their companion.
The white glow dissipated.
Standing on two legs was a fully pink Flaaffy.
Compared to Mareep, the biggest changes were its upright stance and two-legged walking, closer to the final Ampharos form.
Normal Mareep is blue; after evolving, Flaaffy's wool is reduced, and its body is pink.
It resembles a sheared pink sheep, with white wool remaining only on the head and around the neck.
Silas's shiny Mareep displayed its coloration mostly in these remaining wool patches: pink overall, with slightly lighter pink wool than skin, making it exceptionally cute.
The tail's blue orb became green due to shiny coloring.
On his retina display, the familiar panel appeared:
Flaaffy (Shiny)
Category: Wool Pokémon
Type: Electric
Height: 1.0 m (average 0.8 m)
Weight: 15.8 kg (average 13.3 kg)
Ability: Static
Hidden Ability: Plus
Moves (new): Thunder Wave, Thundershock, Cotton Spore, Double Team, Thunderbolt
Level: 16
Potential: Elite Four Level
Training Plan: Focus—Special Attack (Electric), using Power Amplifier + Thunder Stone.
All changes were standard, everything normal.
The main point is that evolving gave it the signature Electric-type move, Thunderbolt, providing a good ranged attack.
Don't underestimate Thunderbolt—its base power is 90, making it a very strong Electric-type move.
Aside from Thunder (base 110), the only move Flaaffy can learn at this stage that compares in power is Volt Tackle, but that requires strong physical conditioning. As a physical-oriented attack, Volt Tackle would struggle to reach theoretical damage potential if the Pokémon isn't strong enough.
Silas was somewhat skeptical about having his Flaaffy use Volt Tackle effectively. One way or another, it certainly couldn't surpass Thunderbolt.
This time, Silas did not immediately use the high-quality Thunder Stone given to him by Sabrina to evolve Mareep.
The main reason: for Pokémon like Mareep, which don't normally require a stone to evolve, using a high-quality evolution stone alongside the natural evolution light often yields better results than the first evolution alone, slightly increasing the chance of improved stats.
Theoretically, as a Pokémon becomes stronger and closer to its final form, evolution energy becomes higher in both quantity and quality, so applying external factors to enhance stats is easier.
The case of Snivy evolving into Servine in the Unusual Garden is different; not all Pokémon evolve in strange locations. Only the garden had a unique effect on Grass-types, which justified Silas's use of a high-quality Leaf Stone. The results proved him right.
As Silas pondered, he didn't notice Togepi slowly waddling up to Flaaffy with a forlorn look.
"Toge… Togepi? Togepi."
It stammered, asking Flaaffy.
"Mee, mee, mee." Flaaffy put its short, stubby arms on its waist and replied with exasperation.
"Togedoo!"
Hearing this, Togepi staggered back in disbelief, then spun around with tears and leapt into Silas's arms.
"Ahem."
Silas was caught off guard and nearly lost his breath.
"What's wrong, little guy?"
He felt Togepi's tears on his clothes, unsure of what had happened.
"To, Togepi…"
Togepi sobbed, accusing Silas of lying.
"?"
A question mark appeared over Silas's head. "Lying about what?"
Through Togepi's explanation, Silas realized helplessly that the little Pokémon remembered when Blaziken lost some feathers. He had told Togepi its wool would grow thick like Mareep's.
But now… Mareep had evolved into Flaaffy, and its wool loss was even more complete than Blaziken's feather change.
Blaziken only replaced feathers; Flaaffy had basically been "shorn."
"No, no, you can't be like this—you were an egg! Where did the wool come from?"
Silas was exasperated, having explained this to Togepi countless times.
"Togepi~~~~"
Togepi ignored him and continued bawling.
Silas rubbed his temple.
"Alright, alright, don't cry. When you were at home, you've seen your future evolutions, right? Aren't they all fine?"
He patted Togepi on the back, trying to comfort it.
Togepi paused, recalling its evolutionary family—older siblings, uncles, and aunts.
Seems… not bald at all.
Togepi hesitated. "But what if I'm the one in a million who goes bald?"
Silas could roughly guess what it was thinking and quickly added:
"Absolutely not. Don't worry—you're too cute to go bald."
Togepi nodded vigorously in his arms, as if convincing itself.
Suddenly, Silas had an idea.
"Look, if you're worried about going bald, why not evolve and see?"
He didn't notice that his tone carried a bit of coaxing.
"To—"
Togepi muttered unclearly, its little brain spinning:
Evolve, not evolve, evolve, not evolve.
Bald, not bald, bald, not bald.
Four concepts alternated wildly in its mind.
Silas watched nervously.
He had long felt that their bond was strong enough for evolution—mutual understanding and habits were already perfect. He couldn't imagine Togepi refusing to evolve.
The only reason left would be its own reluctance.
"Togepi?"
Togepi hesitated, looking up at Silas.
Silas's eyes softened:
"Don't worry. As long as you want, you can still sleep in my bed."
Hearing this, Togepi closed its eyes, and like Mareep moments ago, glowed white.
....
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