Chapter Thirty-Two: Spring Has Come Again, and Once More...

April 8th, Year 200 of the Alliance.

It had been four days since Am and Misty left Viridian City. That evening, they were eating their twelfth quick meal of this leg of the journey...

Because they’d chosen a route far from the main road, they hadn’t come across a single town or supply point along the way.

“I really wish I had a Rotom... By the way, don’t you have a ghost-type affinity? Can’t you try a little harder?” Misty complained beside him.

It was obvious she longed for a “Heater Rotom”—the rice cooker form! With that, they could cook meals smartly, instead of having to endure these hardships.

“I told you on the first day we should have brought some boxed lunches or sandwiches, so we’d have to eat one less of these. But you insisted you missed the taste of instant meals... And besides, Rotom isn’t something I can just get by working harder,” Am replied, rolling his eyes.

In this world, thanks to demand, instant meals had actually developed quite rapidly. If eaten only occasionally, they tasted pretty good.

As for Rotom...

Because of its unique life form, there were hardly any wild ones!

“Just hang in there... After about ten more meals, we’ll reach the lakeside camp at White Dew Lake,” Am tried to encourage her.

But Misty didn’t look the least bit inspired.

The “lakeside camp” was a commonly used name—essentially, it was a spot by White Dew Lake where traveling trainers gathered to camp together.

With so many people coming and going, a small Pokémon Center had been set up there as well—not offering accommodation, but able to heal Pokémon.

There were also a few makeshift shops and eateries, where people could restock and relax...

But at this point, on foot, they were still at least three days away from White Dew Lake!

Along the way, Am also had to keep an eye out for Pokémon he wanted to catch, not just hurry blindly down the road.

Just then, from the forest beside them, a commotion of battling and pained cries sounded. Am and Misty instantly understood what was happening...

“Nidorino again? It really is spring...” Am muttered as he stirred the pot, glancing in the direction of the noise.

It wasn’t the first time.

In this area, the Nido family was breeding. The Nido family was rather unique, having evolved to be remarkably advanced in reproduction among Pokémon.

The reproduction of Pokémon in this world was a complex subject. So far, all discovered reproductive Pokémon were oviparous, but... the nature of their “eggs” varied greatly. Some ghost-types’ “eggs” appeared as nothing more than a mass of gray mist, while steel-type or mineral Pokémon laid eggs as hard as ore.

Mating itself was different from humans. Their reproductive isolation was determined by “egg groups.” Some methods were similar to humans, but most were not—some could mate just by holding hands and spinning in circles, others required strange rituals...

As for the egg groups, they were largely the same as in the games Am remembered from before he crossed over. The difference here was that even some genderless Pokémon had egg groups and could reproduce asexually—otherwise, Ditto would be overburdened, and there wouldn’t be so many wild ones!

Within the Nido family, males and females were completely separated by species: females were Nidoran♀—Nidorina—Nidoqueen, and males were Nidoran♂—Nidorino—Nidoking.

Also worth noting, among the females, only the base form Nidoran♀ could reproduce! After evolving, their potential was channeled into strength, and they lost the ability to breed...

While this ensured the quality of offspring, it led to an imbalance in the number of breedable males and females. Most male Nido family members had the “Rivalry” ability, and every spring, they fought endlessly for breeding rights!

In the games, “Rivalry” increased damage to the same gender and decreased it to the opposite. In the Pokémon world, it was much the same—except during breeding season, those with Rivalry became exceptionally combative.

On this journey, Am had already helped several injured Nidorino—Nidoran♂ rarely participated in these contests, and the final evolution, Nidoking, was scarce. The most common casualties were Nidorino.

“Want to go take a look?” Misty asked, glancing at Am as he stirred the pot.

“Yeah, usually it doesn’t get deadly, but... at times like these, Nidorino can get into serious trouble,” Am said, cutting the power to the electric cooker and closing it up.

“Doesn’t get deadly” was just a matter of probability. Pokémon could faint rather than die in battle, and unlike ordinary animals, it was harder for them to recover from injuries. So in these breeding contests, the death rate was much lower than among animals—but not zero.

As one of the most restless Pokémon in spring, a number of wild Nidorino died every year...

As an apothecary, Am always carried plenty of healing medicine, and whenever he saw a wounded Nidorino after a fight, he would treat it.

Of course, only after the fight ended—otherwise, intervening would simply escalate the battle, not help!

“Huh?”

Following the voices, Am and Misty came upon an unexpected scene...

Three Nidorino were besieging a blue figure. Judging by its size and shape, it seemed to be... a Nidorina?

“What’s going on? Hey! Why are you bullying a girl!” Misty shouted indignantly.

If it had been an ordinary fight for mating rights, they would have let it be, but... Nidorino shouldn’t attack females—especially not females of their own line.

Hearing Misty’s voice—though they couldn’t understand her words, the emotion was clear—the three Nidorino turned toward them. The “Nidorina” before them had already been knocked down, though not yet fainted.

“Nido! Nido!”
“Nido-nido-nido!”

The three Nidorino seemed to be cursing.

Am was curious about this situation, so he released his Exeggutor and Ivysaur...

“Drive them off,” Am ordered simply.

“Egg... Egg-exeggutor!”

Exeggutor used telekinesis, making the three Nidorino float a little, their bodies less agile than usual—they seemed to be about level seventeen or eighteen, which was typical for wild Nidorino in this area.

Then Ivysaur extended two vines and lashed out, driving the three Nidorino away...

Exeggutor was now level twenty-nine, fully proficient in Energy Ball. Ivysaur had reached level twenty, and could also use Energy Ball—having evolved, Ivysaur now had a few extra levels’ worth of “easy leveling” potential.

Seeing the Nidorino flee, Am did not give chase.

But just then, with a cry of “Nido-nido,” the “Nidorina” who had fallen stood up, gazing at Ivysaur with admiration and longing.

“Saur?” Ivysaur shot Nidorina a disdainful look, clearly unimpressed.

But Am suddenly noticed something...

“Wait, this one doesn’t seem...” he muttered.

He saw that this “Nidorina” actually had a horn. On closer inspection, the shape of its ears and the proportions of its limbs were all wrong for a Nidorina—it was... a shiny Nidorino?