Manor Lord of the Elf World

Chapter 68 Feasibility of the Mare Sheep Ranch

In the blink of an eye, the Snivy's body was enveloped in a dense white light.

Within the light, its appearance changed rapidly.

"Teng Teng..."

The vine snake gritted its teeth, showing signs of endurance.

At this critical moment, the light of evolution emanating from the Snivy suddenly shifted and disappeared.

Seeing this, Raven was slightly taken aback.

Is this... an evolutionary failure?

"Huff...huff!"

Snivy breathed slowly, as if enduring the evolution had taken a lot of its strength.

Seeing this, Raven immediately realized what was happening.

It wasn't that Snivy failed to evolve... it was that it patiently endured the process of evolution.

why?
Raven was puzzled, so he crouched down and tried to ask Snivy what she thought.

"Snivy, don't you like evolving?"

Evolution makes Pokémon stronger, and in theory, most Pokémon are naturally inclined to pursue greater strength and would generally not refuse to evolve.

No... perhaps it's not like that.

Raven then thought of some examples from anime.

After evolving, they cannot control their power, which can sometimes cause great damage and burden to the Pokémon's body, resulting in irreversible consequences.

For example, Paras, a Pokémon of the Cordyceps type, will die after evolving into Parasect when its essence and energy are drained by the mushroom. The mushroom that parasitizes its back will then begin to control this new body.

For a trainer, this is absolutely unacceptable.

"Teng Teng..."

The Snivy hesitated for a moment, but then shook its head firmly.

That's right, it doesn't want to evolve!
A memory from a very long time ago surfaced in the mind of the vine snake.

It was a night with a very full moon.

It encountered a monarch snake in the forest.

Despite its immense power, the monarch serpent had lost its legs for running and its hands for grasping objects.

At that time, Snivy was filled with fear of evolution.

Because after evolution, it will also lose its hands and feet.

What difference is there between that appearance and a disability for it?
Snivy is a proud Pokémon with its own pride. Even though Raven is by its side now and treats it very well, it still can't accept that Raven will have to feed it berries in the future.

Although he couldn't understand Snivy's words, Raven could clearly sense its resistance to evolution just by looking at Snivy's appearance.

Although he felt a little disappointed, reality is not a game, and he couldn't force Pokémon to evolve.

Raven composed himself and then spoke to Snivy:
"It's okay, it's okay if we don't evolve!"

“Snivy…” Snivy paused for a moment, then looked up at Raven.

Raven grinned and said, "We can still get stronger, can't we?"

Ash's Snivy was like that too.
Even in its initial stage, it is able to defeat the evolved form of Viper.

Similar examples abound in the Pokémon world.

More importantly, Snivy can learn Leaf Storm even if it doesn't evolve into Serperior.

Even in the game, Serperior needs to reach level 56 to learn Leaf Storm.

Snivy only needs to reach level 43 to learn it, even earlier than Serperior.

Therefore, Raven is willing to respect Snivy's opinion.

"Teng Teng..."

Snivy's eyes flickered as it stared blankly at Raven before turning its head away, closing its eyes, and refusing to look at him. However, Snivy's favorability rating rose from 70 to 90.

Ultimately, Snivy was also somewhat afraid.

It fears that if it doesn't evolve, Raven will abandon it.

After spending these days together, it knew very well that Raven really wanted the Pokémon around him to evolve.

For example, the Mini Dragon.

However, Snivy could not accept itself becoming that way, and it preferred to stay with Raven in its current form.

Seeing that Raven hadn't given up on it, but instead encouraged it, Snivy was deeply moved.

It has fallen in love with this human.

"Alright, let's put this behind us!" Raven reached out and patted Snivy's head. "From now on, we'll continue training as usual!"

This time, Snivy didn't act arrogantly, but gave a firm response.

"Fujiteng!"

Just then, a voice came from over there.

"Your Highness Raven, so you've been here!"

Raven turned his head and saw the old butler, Elif, hurrying over.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked.

"It's Ryan, Cleveland, and Christina who are back!" Elif reported.

Raven immediately thought of Ryan and the others whom he had sent out a few days ago to investigate the surrounding Pokémon ecology.

He hurriedly returned to the Lord's Hall with Snivy and Dratini, and sure enough, he saw Ryan and his two companions waiting there.

Christina presented the notebook to Raven with both hands, her eyes bright, and said:

"Your Highness Raven, we have completed the task you assigned us!"

The taciturn Cleveland stood by.

Ryan grinned and said, "Mission accomplished! After the ice and snow melted, many new magical beasts I'd never seen before appeared in this area!"

"Oh?" Raven's interest was piqued upon hearing this.

He sat down in the chair and then opened the notebook used to record Pokémon information.

The first page features a small Pokémon that looks somewhat like a sheep, with oval eyes, green and curly ears, and its body covered in fluffy cotton.

This is... a wind sprite?

Christina added this annotation below.

They are very lively, but seem to have no fixed habitat. They are very light and can be blown into the sky by the wind.

Wind sprites? They can produce cotton, which can be used to make quilts and clothes, Raven thought.

But the problem is that these wind sprites are very light, and they float away with a gust of wind... That's a problem.

Raven continued looking down.

The Pokémon ecosystem is significantly richer in spring than in winter.

Savage Bass, Poison Rose, Electric Flying Squirrel, Heracross, Helios, Spring Form Four Seasons Deer, Mongoose Cutter, Scyther, Tangoose, Scorpion, Afro-Headed Buffalo, Lobster Soldier, Lickitung, Jigglypuff, and even a Slaking.

"Wow, there's a really wide variety!"

Raven casually flipped to the last page.

There, he saw a rather familiar figure.

A fluffy Pokémon covered in thick wool, with an orange light bulb at the end of its tail.

Mare the sheep!
Christina added this annotation below.

[These are docile, social magical beasts. Even if you're seeing them for the first time, you can approach and pet them. However, they seem to possess some kind of power; if you suddenly touch them, your hand will be slapped and feel both painful and numb.]

(End of this chapter)