Chapter 111: Divergent Training Paths

After explaining to Tang Yi, Fang Tianze no longer paid him any mind and went to spend time with the Jumpluff girls, occasionally chatting with them. Every now and then, the older man would reach out to rest his hand on a girl’s head; these girls seemed quite familiar with him and did not resist such close contact.

Fang Tianze was equally disciplined, quietly sensing and observing without any other actions. Each contact lasted anywhere from ten to over twenty minutes. After withdrawing his hand, he would gently shake his head, revealing a hint of helplessness in his expression despite saying nothing.

“Mark this down: this Jumpluff cannot evolve,” Fang Tianze instructed, ensuring Tang Yi wouldn’t just stand idly by. Tang Yi, who had brought paper and pen intending to take notes on training insights, now had a new task. He tore off a sheet, wrote a simple “No,” and handed it to the girl Fang Tianze had just touched as a marker.

By the time Fang Tianze had made contact with all the Jumpluff girls, it was well past noon. He was thoroughly exhausted—not merely from physical thirst and hunger, but from mental exhaustion. Sitting on a large rock to rest, he asked, “What’s the tally?”

“There are twenty-three Jumpluff in total,” Tang Yi replied, “twelve cannot evolve, and eleven can.”

“Hmm, the ratio is a bit higher than I expected. For wild Pokémon to reach this stage naturally, it’s quite an achievement,” Fang Tianze remarked appreciatively.

“How can you tell?” Tang Yi asked earnestly.

“Energy,” Fang Tianze explained. “Pokémon capable of evolving have a noticeably higher energy ceiling. Evolution requires reaching a certain growth stage, which means an increase in overall energy capacity. Generally, aging or training raises this upper limit.”

“Wild Pokémon face greater challenges evolving. Usually, a tribe’s leader guides their members through evolution, but these Jumpluff are special—they were carried here by the wind. Their previous leader has disappeared, leaving them without guidance. While they can instinctively evolve into Jumpluff, advancing further to Jumpluff Cotton without external help is extremely difficult.”

Tang Yi listened intently, frowning thoughtfully as Fang Tianze finished. Fang Tianze didn’t rush to speak again but munched on a biscuit, sipping mineral water.

Fifteen minutes later, Tang Yi looked up again and said, “You mentioned before that the essence of Primitive Release is a psychic resonance between human and Pokémon girl—meaning to resonate, one must perceive the Pokémon’s inner thoughts. So the first step in training is sensing the Pokémon’s spiritual energy. Is that right?”

Fang Tianze nodded, chewing thoughtfully. “These biscuits are pretty good. Want some? This is all we have for lunch.”

Tang Yi was speechless.

Swallowing with water, Fang Tianze resumed. “Well, you’re partly right, partly not. Just take it slow. For now, your task is to identify how many Jumpluff in this tribe are fit to evolve into Jumpluff flowers.”

Tang Yi sighed internally at the vague answer but at least had a general direction.

From the afternoon onward, Fang Tianze stayed with the Jumpluff girls. Eevee continued tending the newly cultivated vegetable garden, while Tang Yi sought out the Jumpluff.

But truthfully, it was very difficult—especially since the Jumpluff didn’t understand human language, making communication nearly impossible. Still, these Pokémon girls were kind and simple-hearted; even if they didn’t comprehend Tang Yi’s words, they always greeted him with smiles.

By mid-afternoon, with no significant progress, they decided to return. Upon arriving at the villa at the mountain’s base, Larulace and Butterfree were already home.

Seeing Tang Yi, Larulace gave a reserved smile. Butterfree inquired about Fang Tianze’s progress, to which he only shook his head. “It’s still early.”

Butterfree laughed. “Larulace is doing fine. Little Tang, didn’t I tell you? Larulace has telepathic abilities. If that’s the case, she’s probably advancing faster than you.”

Primitive Release required joint effort between Pokémon girls and humans. Well then, it seemed Tang Yi was the one lagging behind.

After a brief rest at the villa, the two prepared to part ways—it was quite a distance back home.

On the journey, Tang Yi and Larulace couldn’t help but ask each other questions.

Butterfree had taken Larulace to a spot near the mountain peak, where a group of newly born wild Swablu girls were learning to fly. Butterfree was assisting them, and Larulace’s role was to help by relaying signals to the flying Swablu—when to flap wings, when to glide, and so on.

Larulace was also responsible for their safety. These fledglings were inexperienced and often could fly up but had trouble landing.

At such moments, Larulace needed to use her telekinetic powers to assist their descent, though she often struggled to time it correctly.

Fortunately, her companion, the Six-Tailed Vulpix, possessed psychic powers and helped her.

Tang Yi guessed this training wasn’t just about improving Larulace’s telekinesis but more importantly, about honing her emotional perception and coordination.

More precisely, it aimed to guide Larulace toward independently using her telepathic abilities.

In any case, both their tasks were far from easy.

Tang Yi also searched online for more about Primitive Release but found little—just a few old news reports mentioning a lab established years ago by some doctors to study this unusual ability.

The weekend passed quickly with almost no breakthrough for either of them.

Still, Tang Yi was prepared for either outcome; even if he couldn’t master Primitive Release, he wouldn’t slack off in regular training.

The new week’s goal for Larulace was to master the skill “Absorb Kiss.”

They had already purchased the skill book. As an early-stage Fairy-type skill, it wasn’t particularly difficult. Yet, after carefully reviewing the description, both Tang Yi and Larulace wore somewhat puzzled expressions.

The skill required forming a kiss infused with Fairy energy to deal damage while absorbing the opponent’s stamina to restore oneself. The amount restored depended on skill proficiency.

“How... how are we supposed to practice this?!” Larulace was dumbfounded. Given her personality, initiating a kiss voluntarily might be even harder than learning Primitive Release.