The Reason

"Let's just believe you. But why did he want to capture you?"

Yuga still couldn't figure out why anyone would want this obnoxious and useless bird. The Chatot was favored by the Noctowl, and now humans wanted it too. It didn't make sense.

"I told you, I don't know, maybe it's because I'm too handsome! He must be lusting after my beauty."

The Chatot struck a pose as it spoke.

Yuga could tell this bird was lying without a doubt.

"Never mind, if you won't talk, I won't ask. Who knows, someday when you're out and about, someone might catch you, and then I won't be able to do anything."

Yuga picked up the backpack he had taken from Butler and emptied its contents with a clatter.

Yuga rummaged through the items but didn't find anything particularly special. However, he did find a Pokémon egg. It was light blue with some grayish spots.

"Could this be the Pokémon egg of that Salamence?" Yuga asked in astonishment, holding the egg in a hatching device.

Judging by the color and pattern of the egg, it strongly resembled Bagon, just with a Green potential.

"Maybe," the Chatot replied.

Putting the Bagon egg into the system backpack, Yuga picked up a glass device, and a gray stone the size of an index finger was floating inside.

"What's this? It looks valuable!"

"I don't know," the Chatot shrugged, indicating it had no idea either.

[ This is a part of Groudon's body ] the system's voice suddenly chimed in.

"Groudon's body part?"

Yuga was startled. How did Butler discover such a treasure?

Never mind, it's a valuable item. I'll take it. I just don't know what it's used for.

Yuga stored the Groudon fragment and continued to rummage through the bag, finding nothing of particular note. He casually tossed the backpack aside.

"Butler may have unwittingly become the God of Wealth!"

He had given away a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon egg and now this valuable Groudon item, not to mention the other Pokémon that had lost their battle capabilities. There were indeed quite a few items.

However, Yuga wondered how to handle these Pokémon, considering they were originally the enemies. It would likely be impossible to turn them into allies.

"Let's get back for now."

With that, Yuga recalled Chimecho, mounted Dragonair, and continued flying toward the direction of Verdanturf Town.

Before leaving, Yuga asked the Chatot one more time, "Are you really not going to tell me the secret between you and Butler?"

In response, the Chatot quickly dove into Yuga's hat and refused to utter another word.

Meanwhile, the Butler, who had been rescued by Diane, was in a fit of rage. The reason for his anger was the loss of the Groudon fragment, while the other items didn't seem to concern him, including his Pokémon.

After flying for a while, the Chatot suddenly poked its head out of Yuga's hat and sighed, saying, "Actually, he just wanted to know some information from me."

"Information? What kind of information?" Yuga asked curiously.

"It's about the People of the Water."

"People of the Water? You mean the ones who guard Manaphy?" Yuga exclaimed in surprise.

"How did you know?" This time, the Chatot was taken aback.

"I have some knowledge about it, just a bit," Yuga replied cryptically, not revealing the full extent of his knowledge.

"I never thought you were so knowledgeable. You even know about such a secret."

The Chatot looked admiringly at Yuga.

"But what's your connection to the People of the Water? You're a bird, not a fish!"

Yuga was even more puzzled.

The Chatot explained, "I have no real connection to the People of the Water, but I know the location of their ancestral land."

It turned out that the circus where the Chatot belonged once discovered a relic at sea, which contained information about the People of the Water, Manaphy, and the Sea Crown. Unfortunately, the others hadn't reached the deepest part of the relic before it collapsed, leaving only the circus's ringmaster and his Pokémon, the Chatot, to explore the secret within.

Initially, everyone believed that the Chatot and the circus ringmaster had both perished in the relic, leading to the circus's dissolution.

However, surprisingly, the Chatot had survived and reunited with its former troupe member, Butler, as well as Diane.

Listening to the Chatot's account, Yuga finally understood the sequence of events.

"Why are you willing to tell me all this now?" Yuga asked curiously. "Weren't you reluctant to share before?"

"Well, keeping it all inside was getting uncomfortable," the Chatot sighed.

"Alright then, what about your ringmaster? Weren't you both supposed to enter the depths of the relic together? You made it out, but what about him?"

This question made the Chatot fall silent.

Yuga waited for a while, seeing that the Chatot wasn't going to answer, he decided not to press further.

After a considerable pause, the Chatot suddenly asked, "Aren't you going to ask me about the People of the Water's information?"

Yuga rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Why would I ask? Is it for Manaphy? Come on, that's a mythical Pokémon that maintains the balance of the ocean's ecosystem. I'm not stupid enough to provoke its attention. Isn't it better to live a peaceful life?"

The peaceful life suited Yuga just fine.

The Chatot considered this and realized that Yuga had a point. Given Yuga's character, he clearly preferred a tranquil life and had no interest in stirring up trouble.

Knowing the secret that the Chatot had been hiding made Yuga feel better, although he suspected that it was still concealing other information. Nevertheless, Yuga didn't care about the Chatot or its previous owner's affairs.

Upon returning to Verdanturf Town, Yuga made a swift journey. It had been over a month since he left, marking his longest time away from home. He couldn't help but feel a bit homesick.

Although his master's manor was pleasant, there was no place like his own cozy pet shop.

The next afternoon, Yuga finally returned to the YoYo Day Care as he had wished.

Inside the shop, not much had changed from when Yuga left, except that business seemed even busier than before.

However, as soon as Yuga entered, he was almost immediately pulled into the Ecopark by the excited children.

Once inside, Yuga realized why they were so eager. The first batch of Pokémon brought from Lavaridge Town Day Care Center had finally evolved into their final forms.

All the Grovyles and Servines had evolved into Sceptiles and Serperiors.

Moreover, Florges had successfully reached level 50, and she now exuded an even more dignified and elegant aura, looking quite different from before.

Yuga suspected that the evolution of Grass-type Pokémon was not only based on reaching a certain level but also had something to do with Florges's efforts.

"Florges!"

Seeing Yuga, Florges calmly greeted him.

Yuga took Florges's hand and sensed a power similar to his own flowing through her body.

This power emanated from a green seed at Florges's chest, coursing through her entire body before returning to the seed in a continuous cycle.

He remembered that Florges also had a Seed of Celebi, much like his own. His had awakened into a unique ability, but under the influence of the seed, Florges's power had evolved into something else.

Yuga couldn't help but wonder about the true purpose of this newfound power.