By quietly activating [Detection Eye], Chen Mo noticed that a new emotion—curiosity—had appeared in Magikarp's status panel.
It seemed that Magikarp really did care a great deal about Pidgey evolving into Pidgeotto.
And more importantly, without either of them realizing it, the intimacy between Chen Mo and Magikarp had already risen to over thirty.
One had to know that when Chen Mo first tried to befriend Pichu, their starting intimacy had only been around this level.
"Should I… give it a try?"
Some people capture Pokémon because they're collectors at heart.
Some do it with team composition and battle tactics in mind.
And some—purely based on instinct and personal liking.
Chen Mo belonged to the last category.
He valued the bond and coincidence between himself, Pichu, and this Magikarp.
This Magikarp that always quietly hid in the water, watching them from afar—Chen Mo felt that he would probably get along very well with it.
Well then, let's try!
Once he made up his mind, Chen Mo turned the livestream back on, set the device aside, and after getting everything ready, sat down by the shore.
At the moment, Pichu was pestering Magikarp again, asking it to perform its signature "fish-made fountain." Faced with Pichu's pitiful, pleading look, Magikarp eventually gave in. It lifted its head, opened its mouth, and sprayed a jet of water into the sky.
The sun dipped toward the horizon, and the remaining light of dusk refracted through the splashing droplets, scattering into brilliant colors. Pichu, already back on shore, stared at the scene and excitedly cried out, "Pichu! Pichu!"
[Just came into the stream and saw this—instantly healed. Fine, I'll let you off for suddenly ending the stream earlier… for now.]
[Damn damn damn! Mo-bao, do you know how I survived the past few hours!?]
[Finally you're back! If you'd stayed offline any longer, I'd have thought something happened to you.]
[Magikarp really dotes on Pichu—there it goes again, showing off its special trick.]
[So cute.]
Glancing at the comments on the screen beside him, Chen Mo smiled and quietly watched along.
Perhaps because the day had been far too eventful—or perhaps because Pichu was still young and already tired—before long, Pichu wore itself out.
In this completely relaxed state, it soon returned to Chen Mo's arms and fell fast asleep, breathing softly.
Looking at Pichu's sleeping face, still smiling even in its dreams, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile as well.
He turned to Magikarp and said gently,
"Thank you—for taking such good care of Pichu."
"Gurgle gurgle…"
Magikarp floated in the water with half its head exposed, looking at Chen Mo and blowing a string of bubbles, as if saying that something so small wasn't worth thanking for.
As expected of the fish I took a liking to.
Chen Mo was growing more and more satisfied with Magikarp.
After a brief silence, he smiled again and said,
"Weren't you very curious about Pidgey evolving into Pidgeotto? Then… would you like to hear about what happened to the Pidgey flock today?"
"Gurgle gurgle…"
It didn't seem to be refusing.
Seeing this, Chen Mo didn't hesitate any longer. Following the plan he'd already worked out in his mind, he began softly recounting the story of what had happened to the Pidgey flock that day.
Although Chen Mo wasn't explaining anything to the audience right now, some viewers had already started to sense that something was off.
[Mo-bao… you're not trying to abduct Magikarp, are you?]
[What Magikarp doesn't dream of leaping the Dragon Gate and becoming a mighty Gyarados? Bringing up Pidgey's evolution is basically the reveal of your true motive.]
[Magikarp, you foolish child—run!]
[Is there a possibility—just a possibility—that Mo-bao is about to fail again?]
[No way. Magikarp clearly cares a lot about Pidgey's evolution. With just a little temptation, it should be just like when he got Pichu—easy.]
Indeed.
According to Chen Mo's assumption, Magikarp was probably curious about Pidgey's sudden evolution because it wanted to evolve into Gyarados itself.
Using this as a starting point, Chen Mo thought he could help Magikarp—
and by help, ahem, recruit it into his Pokémon team.
Yet strangely enough, when this Magikarp heard that Pidgey had evolved into Pidgeotto because of its flock, a look of sudden realization flashed through its eyes.
"Gurgle gurgle…"
Having resolved one of its inner doubts, the seemingly satisfied Magikarp spat another fountain of water into the air as a gesture of thanks.
The sight left Chen Mo both amused and helpless.
After all, he didn't exactly have a special hobby of watching fish make fountains.
But still…
Not bad.
After adjusting his mood slightly, Chen Mo decided it was time to use his trump card.
"Magikarp, you care so much about Pidgey evolving into Pidgeotto—is it because you want to evolve into Gyarados? If—"
Before he could finish—
Chen Mo saw Magikarp abruptly stop in the middle of making its fountain.
In that instant, he felt as if Magikarp had shot him a glare.
A sense of unease crept into his heart.
But trying to analyze a Magikarp's psychology based on a single look was far too difficult.
So—when in doubt, [Detection Eye].
Through [Detection Eye], Chen Mo discovered that the curiosity status in Magikarp's emotional panel had vanished, replaced by a new state: resistance.
Then he glanced at the intimacy value—
It had nearly dropped below thirty.
Something had gone wrong.
Chen Mo's heart sank. Just as he was about to apologize, Magikarp gently blew a string of bubbles, flicked its tail, and disappeared into the lake.
All that remained was Chen Mo, holding Pichu, completely dumbfounded.
[Uh…]
[Why does Mo-bao feel kind of unlucky lately? Magikarp seems to have rejected him.]
[No way—does a Magikarp that doesn't want to evolve into Gyarados actually exist in this world? That's way too weird.]
[Mo-bao, forget it. Missing out on Magikarp isn't that big a deal.]
[How is it not a big deal? This Magikarp feels different from the others. Just from its eyes, you can tell it's really smart. If Mo-bao misses it, that's going to be a real regret.]
"…Pichu…?"
Half-asleep, Pichu seemed to sense something. It lifted its head, glanced at the lakeside, then at Chen Mo's dazed expression, as if asking what had happened.
After a long pause, Chen Mo finally came back to himself and forced a smile at Pichu.
"It's nothing. Your friend just had something to do and went back. Go on and keep resting."
Too sleepy to think much about it, Pichu lowered its head again and soon fell back asleep.
Under the setting sun, the lake shimmered with golden light.
Chen Mo stared at the calm water in silence.
He was deeply puzzled—
that there could actually be a Magikarp in this world that resisted evolution.
That was… far too strange.
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