I'm popularizing ecology in the Pokémon world.

Kurosaki Hidemasa, who was the first to successfully pass the test, jumped high in excitement.

"Teacher Chen, you're amazing!"

Qinglian was also eager to try.

Hidemasa Kurosaki just tamed a male baby Nidoran.

She, however, preferred the cute Nidoran.

She then glanced at Chen Mu, and took the food towards the Nido tribe.

A short while later, she and Chenggong returned, each holding a newborn baby Nidoran in their arms.

Compared to Nidoran, which Kurosaki Hidemasa had just subdued, the Nidoran in her arms was much more docile and was quietly eating cookies in her arms.

The two men's consecutive successes left Chen Mu with "no room for argument".

Meibo held up her phone, looking at Chen Mu with an expression of admiration.

"Teacher Chen, you truly are a master of combat! This is simply amazing!"

Chen Mu was also quite taken aback at this moment.

He had expected his suggestion to be effective, but he didn't expect it to be so effective.

Now he's truly going to become an all-powerful person.

Fortunately, his advice this time wasn't given randomly; he could explain it clearly if needed.

This is a good opportunity to do another science popularization session.

"Actually, this is not entirely about the wisdom of combat."

This still contains knowledge of elf ecology.

"Huh? Really?" Minami was surprised and quickly pointed her phone camera at Chen Mu.

Chen Mu then cleared his throat and said, "Have you noticed that the leader of this Nido tribe is a female Nido Queen, not a Nido King?"

The three children nodded.

It was obvious that Nido was the only final evolved form of the entire race in front of them.

Moreover, this Nidoran is exceptionally tall, estimated to be over 2.5 meters, and is very likely a leader; it would be hard not to notice it.

Chen Mu continued, "This requires discussing some biological knowledge about the Nido family."

First, let me test you: what are the conditions for the second stage of Nido family evolution?

The lively Minami was the first to raise her hand, "I know! It's the Moon Stone! Nidorino and Nidorina both need the Moon Stone to evolve into their final forms, Nidoking and Nidoqueen."

"That's right, it seems you've been learning very well in class." Chen Mu nodded encouragingly.

He then continued, "Moonstones are a common method used by human trainers to assist these two types of Pokémon in their evolution."

In the wild, large, intact Moonstones are extremely rare. Wild Nido tribes often need to spend a long time collecting minerals and gravel rich in lunar energy, slowly accumulating enough resources for evolution.

This makes the evolution of Nido populations in the wild far less free than that of other Pokémon.

For a period of time, the evolutionary resources they could gather were limited, so they had to prioritize supplying them to the individuals who were most helpful to the group.

Chen Mu paused here, deliberately creating suspense, "Did you notice? I used the phrase 'the individual most helpful to the group,' not 'the strongest individual.' Does anyone know the difference?"

The three children looked at each other and could only shake their heads helplessly.

Little Eevee shook its head along with him, then looked at Ralts as if to ask: Do you know how to do this?

Ralts raised its hand and gently patted Eevee's head, letting out a soft cry.

"Naruru, roo!"

It's not like it's a test for us, why are you worrying about it, you idiot!

Little Ibrahimovic suddenly realized what was happening, but he wasn't angry at being photographed and continued to smile carefree.

"Buee~"

So that's how it is~

Her tail wagged happily again.

Chen Mu then explained the answer: "The difference stems from an important difference between King Nido and Queen Nido – their fertility."

Male Nidokings retain their fertility, but females lose the ability to reproduce when they evolve into their final form, Nido.

Their strength comes at a price.

Therefore, given limited resources, wild Nido populations tend to prioritize giving evolutionary opportunities to males.

In this way, the tribe can gain the protection of a powerful leader without sacrificing the leader's fertility or reducing the quality of offspring.

Therefore, in the wild, the number of Nidokings far exceeds that of Nidoqueens.

At this point, a look of realization flashed across Minami's face.

"Oh, I remember now. I once read in a Pokémon breeding magazine that when raising Nidoran, you must remember to let her leave offspring before evolving into her final form, otherwise you will regret it."

I didn't quite understand why at the time, but now I know: it's because they can no longer reproduce after evolving into Nidorans.

Upon hearing this, Qinglian looked down at Nidoran, whom she had just subdued, and nodded solemnly, as if to say to the little guy: I will remember.

Hidemasa Kurosaki was still somewhat confused. "Then what does this have to do with Professor Chen's suggestion that we prioritize fighting Nidorino and engage in bold offensive battles?"

Chen Mu laughed and said, "Don't you understand yet? Under normal circumstances, Nidoran populations in the wild will prioritize feeding male Nidorinos for evolution. So under what circumstances would a population have Nidorinos and Nidorans, but no Nidoking?"

The three children thought about it and finally understood.

Qinglian asked, "Is it because the adult males in this group are far less powerful than the females?"

Chen Mu said, "At least the comparison of direct combat strength should be like this."

In the wild, the ability to engage in direct combat is very important, especially for leaders.

Because they have a tribe to protect, they often cannot use hit-and-run tactics or flanking maneuvers; they must directly defeat or drive out their rivals.

These Nidorinos might be quite skilled at using poison, but they're probably not good at direct combat; otherwise, the chance to evolve wouldn't have gone to that Nidoqueen.

Meanwhile, in the nearby Nido tribe, their leader Nido Queen was also berating the two Nidorinos who had just lost a battle.

The two adult Nidorinos were quite aggrieved and couldn't lift their heads after being scolded.

They didn't understand either: the tourists they had fought before had been tormented by their poison skills, and after a long and arduous battle, they had all emerged victorious.

Why did those two humans we encountered today suddenly become so reckless? They caught them completely off guard.

Although they are used to some of their cubs leaving with human tourists during the hunting season every year, handing over the cubs so early will still put the group in a somewhat passive position.

The Pokémon in the protected area are generally quite simple and honest. Once all the baby Pokémon in their group have left, they are often too embarrassed to go looking for food from humans again.

They are all very kind and honest creatures, without many bad intentions.

However, the two defeated Nidorinos soon had a chance to catch their breath.

The leader stopped reprimanding them.

Because Chen Mu and his group brought a lot of snacks into the park, after successfully catching the Pokémon, Qinglian and Kurosaki Hidemasa generously gave them two more bags of cookies and nut chips.

This time, everyone is a kind-hearted being.