Wanderer of the Pokémon World

Chapter 264: Fishing for Answers

Humans, at their core, are social creatures. Rinko watched Xiu, Daisy, and Gary depart. The quiet of her villa now felt a little… empty. She desired connection, the free exchange of thoughts and ideas. Her Vileplume, sensing her mood, nudged her gently with a large petal. "Kesha~" it cooed softly.

"Oh, Vileplume," Rinko sighed, bending to stroke its soft, velvety petals. "What is it, my dear?" As she moved, the thick, leather-bound notebook Xiu had given her slipped from her lap, landing with a soft thud on the wooden floor. She'd been so caught up in their departure that she'd almost forgotten about it.

She picked it up. It was a very ordinary notebook, plain and unremarkable. She idly flipped through a few pages. It was full of dense, tightly packed words, covering every inch of the paper.

And the handwriting… Rinko couldn't help a small, amused smile. It was undeniably Xiu's – angular, slightly sloppy, yet strangely distinctive. Clearly written in haste, with little regard for neatness.

But as she began to read, her amusement quickly faded, replaced by a dawning sense of awe. The casual, almost conversational tone of his lecture earlier… it had barely scratched the surface.

This notebook… this was the core. Detailed analyses of Pokémon physiology, intricate breakdowns of battle strategies, observations on energy manipulation, move synergy… it was a veritable treasure trove of advanced Pokémon training theory.

Meanwhile, Xiu, having successfully offloaded Daisy and Gary back at the institute, felt a sense of relief. He needed time to process and plan his next steps.

Daisy, however, was still buzzing with curiosity. The conversation earlier had clearly intrigued her. "Big Brother Xiu," she began, as they walked back from Rinko's, "how do you know so much about Pokémon battling? You said you weren't a Trainer, but…"

"A desire to live, Daisy," Xiu replied, his voice enigmatic, offering no further explanation. "Sometimes, knowledge is the only shield one has."

What does that even mean? Daisy wondered, thoroughly confused.

But Xiu, with his usual infuriating knack for deflecting uncomfortable questions, smoothly changed the subject. "So, Daisy, did you learn anything useful today? Or was it all just a bit too… unconventional for your formal schooling?" He even offered to quiz her, a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Certainly not!" Daisy retorted, rising to the bait. "I'm not a Trainer, why would I need to memorize all that battle jargon?" And so, the conversation devolved into a lighthearted, if ultimately pointless, debate.

The following days settled into a new, focused rhythm for Xiu. Scizor's physical training, while still essential for maintaining peak condition, was now supplemented by a new, more esoteric discipline: energy manipulation.

The goal was to teach Scizor to consciously perceive, control, and ultimately, weaponize its innate Bug and Steel-type energies.

It was a slow, arduous process. Scizor, unlike Abra, did not possess a natural affinity for such subtle, internal work. It required intense concentration guided by Abra's telepathic link, connecting all three of them in a shared consciousness.

Xiu and Abra acted as guides, helping Scizor navigate the unfamiliar pathways of its own internal energy, teaching it to sense the unique signatures of its dual typings.

After several days of intensive effort, Scizor finally achieved a breakthrough: a conscious awareness of the energies flowing within it. The next step, control, would be even more challenging. Then, application.

This new training, unlike Scizor's explosive physical drills, was largely an internal process. To an outside observer, Scizor and Abra simply sat motionless for hours, seemingly in deep meditation. Only Xiu, connected to them both, could perceive their immense effort, the subtle shifts and flows of power.

One afternoon, Daisy found Xiu sitting in his usual spot beneath the withered tree, deeply engrossed with his journals while Scizor and Abra were nearby. "Not off to Rinko-neechan's today, Big Brother Xiu?" she asked, her tone light, teasing.

Xiu didn't even look up. "Even Rinko-san needs time to digest new information. And I gave her my notes, didn't I? Let her master the basics before we delve into more advanced topics."

"Oh. So boring," Daisy sighed dramatically, settling onto the grass beside him. She peered at the journal in his hand. "More texts? Don't you ever read anything… fun?"

Xiu finally looked up, a faint smile playing on his lips. "Study itself can be boring, Daisy," he conceded. "But finding the unraveling mysteries, discovering new knowledge… that can be immensely satisfying.

The fun lies in the pursuit, in the understanding of it." He then tore a blank page from his own research notebook, quickly scribbled a few complex alchemical symbols from the journal he just read, and handed it to her. "Here. Take a look at this."

"What is it?" Daisy asked, examining the strange symbols with a puzzled frown. "It's just… scribbles."

"Exactly," Xiu said, his smile widening. "To you, it's meaningless— but I understand it. And in that understanding, in being able to decipher something you cannot, there is a certain satisfaction.

That, my dear Daisy, is the true charm of knowledge." And if I'm being honest, he added silently, a rather enjoyable way to show off. It feels good to know things others don't, especially when those 'others' are as bright and privileged. 

He then stood, weariness in his posture. "Well, all this has made me quite tired. I should go check on Abra's progress." He left Daisy staring at the incomprehensible symbols, a frustrated pout on her lips.

He approached Abra with serious contemplation. His research into energy manipulation, his deeper understanding of Abra's psychic abilities, had raised a troubling question.

He'd reviewed Professor Oak's data on Abra's evolutionary line to Kadabra and Alakazam. Abra's current psychic power output and cognitive abilities… they had long surpassed the typical parameters for a Kadabra, let alone an Abra. Yet, it showed no signs of evolving. None whatsoever.

Abra required less and less sleep, its waking hours approaching that of a normal human. And its psychic energy reserves grew daily, becoming almost too vast for its small frame to contain and too potent for it to control with consistent precision. That, Xiu knew, was the real danger.

Uncontrolled psychic power, on this scale… it was a ticking time bomb.

What are the true conditions for Pokémon evolution? Xiu wondered, his gaze drifting towards Scizor, still locked in its meditative trance. Scizor's own evolution had been… anomalous. It hadn't followed the game mechanics of trading Scyther with a Metal Coat.

It had been something else entirely, triggered by a unique combination of factors— something he still didn't fully understand. No wonder even those at the top of the field still treat evolution as an unpredictable, almost mystical event.

The problem was clearly far more complex and far more nuanced than any simple checklist of conditions could explain. And for a 'small fry' like himself, barely standing on the shoulders of giants, to even attempt to unravel it… was an act of profound hubris.

Or perhaps, profound desperation.