Chapter 8: Bill: You're Actually Made of a Fossil?!

After capturing the Wingull and reviewing its data, Cynthia immediately took action.

She led her other Pokémon to begin challenging the nearby NPCs. As luck would have it, a large number of NPCs were waiting for battle around the nearby patch of grass.

Twenty minutes later, after clearing out the last NPC, the rest of the Pokémon in her team had all reached the current level cap of 30.

Meanwhile, the Wingull had successfully reached level 25.

The moment it leveled up, a rainbow-colored light of evolution suddenly burst forth from its body. Within the glowing light, its form began to expand rapidly, ultimately transforming completely into a brand-new appearance!

With broad wings and a massive beak "hanging" from the front of its head—one even larger than its head itself—

While this appearance looked somewhat comical, it also granted Wingull an ability incomparable to other Water-type Pokémon: it could spew torrents of water from its mouth continuously for a prolonged period!

In addition, such a gigantic beak served as an important "storage pouch" for it to store food and other items in the wild.

As Wingull successfully evolved into Pelipper, Cynthia first used the interaction feature to congratulate this newly recruited Pokémon. Upon receiving Pelipper's joyful response, she checked Pelipper's brand-new ability.

A line of information immediately caught her eye—

[Drizzle: When the Pokémon enters the battlefield, the weather automatically changes to rain.]

Cynthia froze in place. After setting Pelipper as her lead Pokémon, she switched to the info screen and maneuvered her character back and forth through the grass, quickly encountering a wild Pokémon.

The moment Pelipper appeared on the field, the sky above the two Pokémon suddenly turned gloomy, heavy raindrops poured down abruptly, and a line of text prompted on the screen.

[Due to Pelipper's Drizzle ability, it has started to rain!]

[The power of Water-type moves has increased! The power of Fire-type moves has decreased!]

Seeing this scene, the livestream chat exploded.

[What the hell? Summoning rain upon entering the battle? With zero side effects?]

[Don't you usually need weather moves to change and affect the weather? What is this automatic weather change? This is invincible!]

[6666 This bird is totally hacking!!]

While the chat was in utter shock, the emotions surging within Cynthia's heart were equally turbulent!

No wonder!

In reality, Pelipper learned the weather move "Rain Dance" with incredible ease, as if possessing a unique innate talent...

It turned out this was its inherent ability all along!

Come to think of it, if this was its ability, did that mean Pelipper in reality—those that evolved from Wingull with the "Keen Eye" or "Hydration" abilities—had already fully developed their traits, just with effects vastly inferior to those in the game?

Cynthia pondered for a moment, and drawing upon her understanding of moves as a Champion, she ultimately arrived at a negative conclusion!

No, absolutely not!

On the contrary, "Rain Dance" as a weather move and "Drizzle" as an ability were two completely different concepts.

Trainers in reality did not know that Pelipper possessed the "Drizzle" ability, and instead trained them to use the "Rain Dance" move to alter the weather...

This was equivalent to everyone choosing to take a long detour when there was originally a much smoother and simpler path available...

Because simply no one knew that Pelipper possessed such an ability in the first place!!

Conversely, if training efforts were focused on developing Pelipper's innate ability, guiding it to master this power it naturally possessed—

The training efficiency would likely increase tenfold or more.

Furthermore...

If one were to deeply cultivate this ability, it would presumably achieve the exact same effect as in the game—automatically triggering rainy weather the moment Pelipper entered the battlefield...

This might sound no different from using the "Rain Dance" move upon entry, but in reality, it was a world of difference!

Recently, due to the surge in developing weather moves, a group of Elite Four members and Champions had all participated to varying degrees, understanding and commenting on them.

Through discussions, everyone unanimously agreed that while weather moves could grant massive buffs to a team and alter combat styles, they came with an unavoidable flaw.

—That is, using a weather move required a Pokémon to consume a massive amount of energy, and it had a very noticeable startup delay.

Even for top-tier Pokémon that had undergone repeated, intensive training and deeply mastered weather moves, the preparation time required before executing this type of move was far greater than that of stat-buffing moves!

In a normal battle, simply finding an opportunity for a Pokémon to use a stat-buffing move was already a difficult task.

Therefore, unless a Trainer was a fool, no one would stand idly by and watch their opponent activate a weather move to summon a weather condition favorable to the opponent!

What if one could bypass this phase, just like in the game, and cause rain to fall the instant Pelipper was sent out?

That was a completely different concept!

This meant that before a battle had even truly begun, one's own team had already seized the initiative—and at absolutely no cost!

The more Cynthia thought about it, the harder it was to calm her racing heart. While all of this was built upon a single premise—that Pelipper's ability was indeed this "Drizzle"—

Given her previous experiences, she knew this must be true!

At the same time, she suddenly realized something: once her Pelipper possessed the Drizzle ability... it could enter the fray as the core backbone of a rain team!

And next, she could officially begin perfecting her rain team!

The shock brought by Pelipper's ability was so immense that it took Cynthia quite a while to recover.

However, she was in no rush to enter Meteor Falls this time. Instead, she continued wandering through the wild grass with Pelipper, encountering numerous wild Pokémon.

On one hand, this was to explore the distribution of Pokémon in the vicinity; on the other hand, it was to raise Pelipper's level. After all, in the upcoming battles, Pelipper had an extremely high probability of being sent out as the lead Pokémon to help Ludicolo trigger its "Swift Swim" ability.

Therefore, its level ideally needed to keep up with the main force as well.

The good news was that this game seemed to feature an additional experience compensation mechanism—when all other Pokémon in the party had reached the level cap, the experience points gained by the currently deployed Pokémon would be multiplied. Therefore, Cynthia quickly raised Pelipper's level to 30 and opened its current move set panel.

As she began configuring its moves, Cynthia fell deep into thought.

Pelipper was a Pokémon adept at Special Attacks, with its Physical Attack stat being less than half of its Special Attack. "Water Pulse" served as its STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) move and was naturally a crucial output method, making it the first choice.

Unfortunately, Pelipper did not master any Flying-type Special Attack moves, so the second move slot had to reluctantly make do with the physical move "Wing Attack" as another STAB offensive option.

She wondered if Pelipper would be able to learn other Flying-type Special Attack moves later in the game...

In reality, according to her memory, Pelipper was capable of using "Hurricane," a high-power Flying-type Special Attack.

Come to think of it, for the third slot of Pelipper's move pool, Cynthia chose "Supersonic," which could confuse the opponent's Pokémon. Previous battles had proven just how vital control effects were in this game.

Although the move's accuracy in the game was only fifty percent—far inferior to Ludicolo's Teeter Dance—it could still be a gamble to test one's luck and provide a slight edge in winning.

As for the final move, after careful consideration, Cynthia finally made her choice.

"Tailwind"!

In the game, this move doubled the speed stat of the user's side for the next 5 turns.

For Ludicolo, whose speed was already doubled under rainy weather, this boost didn't hold much significance. Its primary purpose was to allow Grovyle and Teddiursa to also gain priority in striking, thereby further enhancing Pelipper's supportive role for the team.

However, the moment she selected this move, Cynthia suddenly realized something.

In the game, as long as one's speed was higher than the opponent's Pokémon, one secured the right to strike first. On top of that foundation, being twice as fast as the opponent didn't hold much extra meaning.

In the real world, however, the situation was completely different.

Pokémon battles in the real world were not merely numerical comparisons.

"Speed" was an immensely crucial attribute!

Take "Tailwind" combined with Ludicolo's "Swift Swim" effect, for example—it could push Ludicolo's speed to a terrifying degree!

Such speed meant that no one could dodge its attacks, nor could the opposing Pokémon lock onto its position to retaliate!

And to grant Ludicolo such speed, all it took was for Drizzle Pelipper to enter the field and set up a single Tailwind...

Not to mention, since Ludicolo could do it, other Pokémon with the Swift Swim ability... operated on the exact same logic!

If one could assemble a team featuring five Pokémon with the Swift Swim ability...

And train Pelipper's "Drizzle" efficiency alongside Tailwind's duration and effectiveness to their absolute limits—

Even she had to admit, facing such a team would be a nearly impossible challenge!

At this moment, Cynthia couldn't help but ponder:

—After all of this was over...

Should she consider cultivating a "Drizzle" Pelipper in the real world as well?

After all, the cost-effectiveness ratio... was simply a bit too high, wasn't it?

Of course, Cynthia was mostly just thinking out loud. As a top-tier Trainer, every Pokémon she raised required careful planning and preparation well in advance, rather than being captured and nurtured on a whim.

After all, adding another Pokémon to her team required consuming vast amounts of resources, time, and energy, alongside a commitment to take full responsibility for them to the end.

Behind every single partner on Cynthia's current team lay countless hours of silently invested effort and dedication.

That being said, in this game, Cynthia didn't have to worry about such issues at all. She could boldly and freely choose new Pokémon to assemble a well-matched team!

Even with the game's strict restriction limiting players to capturing only 15 Pokémon, it was more than enough in practice.

After successfully raising Pelipper's level to 30, Cynthia took a deep breath, preparing to step into Meteor Falls ahead.

She guessed that a fierce battle awaited her in this place, as it screamed key plot milestone in every aspect.

However, before she had taken a few steps, she spotted a figure at the entrance of the cave.

It was a tattered, disheveled young man staring intently at a rock on the wall, observing it closely while continually muttering to himself.

"The grain of this rock should have formed after crustal shifts around eight hundred years ago. Estimating by that, it's virtually impossible for active Pokémon fossils to exist within a five-hundred-meter radius... though rock strata fossils might..."

Hearing the words "Pokémon fossil," a somewhat absurd thought instantly welled up in Cynthia's mind.

Could this person... possibly be the "Bill" she was looking for?!

To be honest, this appearance didn't quite match what she had imagined...

Yet, as she was pondering, the young man slapped his palm against his thigh and directly hurled a Poké Ball.

"In that case, we don't need to be so cautious anymore. Primeape, use Close Combat on that rock!"
A red flash crossed the air, and a monkey-like Pokémon covered entirely in white fluff appeared before the young man.

Yellow explosive light suddenly flared on its dual fists, and it delivered a ferocious punch directly into the rock.

The next instant, the entire mountain mass began to shake violently from the impact, and countless rock fragments tumbled down from the spot Primeape had struck.

The young man immediately stepped forward in excitement, beginning to inspect the rubble closely.

At the same time, a piece of rock rolled right to the feet of Cynthia's character.

Looking closely, she noticed that the stone bore neatly patterned traces of grain that looked remarkably like the skeletal remains of some Pokémon.

A prompt popped up accordingly.

[You have found an "Ancient Pokémon Fossil (Strata)"!]

[Please note that this item is rare and can be sold in shops for "100,000 Pokedollars." Would you like to hide it?]

Looking at the prompt before her, Cynthia didn't hesitate for a second and directly selected No.

Even within a game, she would never engage in the act of stealing someone else's belongings.

Following Cynthia's choice, her character immediately stepped forward and handed the stone to Bill.

An exclamation point of bright golden color abruptly burst forth above his head!

"I was wondering why I couldn't find it for ages, turns out it rolled over to your side! Thank you!!"

After expressing his gratitude, he looked up and clearly saw the appearance of Cynthia's character, instantly blushing as if remembering something, his speech becoming nervous and disjointed.

"Ah, well, um—"

"Hello, hello, my name is Bill... You're not from Fallarbor Town, are you? Your clothes don't look like anything from around here..."

Before she could respond, he hurriedly added,

"Don't get me wrong! I didn't mean your clothes look bad; on the contrary, you're very pretty!"

"Er, anyway, I'm sorry, I don't really interact with people much..."

As he spoke, his voice gradually trailed off, and his head dropped, seeming somewhat dejected.

Watching him, Cynthia pressed the interaction button and spoke.

"It's fine, I don't mind."

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Strawberry Ice Cream. And you?"

Hearing this, the young man instantly grew excited.

"Really?! Great, I, my name is Bill, I'm a researcher!"

"My research focuses on these fossils—they all carry at least a thousand years of history and time, remaining the only traces left in this world by ancient Pokémon. My goal is to use these fossils to restore them to their original appearances from a thousand years ago."

Whenever the topic shifted to fossils, this young man named Bill suddenly spoke with fluid fluency, lifting the stone he had just retrieved to show it to Cynthia.

"Look at these patterns, this should be the skeletal fossil of the ancient Pokémon Omanyte, belonging to the upper-left shoulder portion of its body. It's precisely this kind of sturdy structure that enabled it to wield claws shaped like giant sickles."

"Omanyte? Claws as big as sickles?"

Cynthia subconsciously repeated the words.

—Was this yet another species of ancient Pokémon undiscovered by the current scientific community?

Noticing that Cynthia seemed interested, Bill's eyes transformed into twinkling stars, radiating boundless excitement.

"You're actually interested in ancient Pokémon? In that case, let me tell you a secret!"

Bill looked left and right before stepping close to Cynthia's character, lowering his voice into a conspiratorial whisper.

"Actually, it's not just that I want to restore these ancient Pokémon to their original forms..."

"What I want to achieve is to use these fossils to bring them back to life!"

"And I've already succeeded halfway; I'm just missing the final step!"

Fossil Resurrection!!

Bill's three sentences struck Cynthia's mind like a thunderclap. Holding her breath, she immediately pursued the matter:

"What's the final step missing?"

Bill glanced at her.

"I've already built the machine to resurrect fossils. But strata fossils like these cannot be successfully revived because the cells and genes inside strata fossils have long since perished."

"The only way to resurrect fossil Pokémon is to find a special kind of fossil, known as an 'Active Fossil'!"

"The genes and cells within this type of fossil remain in a dormant state. As long as they are loaded into my machine, such fossils can be resurrected back into living Pokémon!"

At this, Bill let out a deep sigh, looking somewhat regretful and bewildered.

"But natural conditions for generating such active fossils are extremely demanding, and they're just too hard to find... I've scoured the entire Hoenn region, yet I haven't found a single active fossil..."

With that, he pulled out a device and waved it over the stone in his hand.

The machine emitted a beam of red light before instantly dying out.

"See, this is a self-made machine of mine for detecting active fossils, and the one you gave me is just a strata fossil... Still, thank you so much for helping me find it!"

Hearing this, Cynthia felt a sudden jolt of surprise in her heart.

In this game, fossil Pokémon could genuinely be resurrected!!

Moreover, she recalled the description of the fossil she had acquired in Granite Cave!

—[A fossil of some unknown ancient Pokémon. It seems to still harbor the breath of life within it?]

Could it be that this was precisely the fossil Bill was looking for?

Meanwhile, as Bill kept talking, he carelessly raised the hand holding the device and waved it around.

The exact moment the device happened to align with Cynthia's character, a brilliant green glow suddenly flashed across the machine!

Following right behind it was a rapid, dense series of beeps!

Bill froze completely in place, then grabbed the device and inspected it repeatedly.

"It's not malfunctioning... my machine can't possibly have issues! But it only reacts to active fossils..."

"Wait... could it be?"

Realization dawning upon him, he pointed a hand directly at Cynthia, his mouth hanging open in astonishment.

Cynthia's breath caught as well.

Sure enough, what she held in her possession was indeed that "active" fossil!

Yet the very next moment, Bill's emotive and wildly astonished voice rang out—

"Oh my god! So you... you were actually transformed from an active fossil?!"

"This is incredible!!"

Cynthia: ?