I caught a Pokémon

As his companions, Xiaoxia and Xiaojian naturally had no objections, and besides, they also wanted to see what had happened.

After a moment's thought, Xia You didn't rush on her way. She greeted Sabrina first, letting her ride Charizard behind her, while she sat on Lapras and headed towards Citrus Island with Ash and the others.

Amidst the splashing waves, Laplace struggles to maintain its balance in the turbulent currents while avoiding contact with the Magikarp.

On its back, Ash and his friends were having a heated discussion about why the Magikarp had gathered together, but the reasons they gave were all increasingly absurd.

Xia You listened quietly without saying much, but couldn't help but sigh again.

He knew that as long as he encountered Ash, there was a high chance of triggering a story event!

Clearly, this time, he has also been drawn into one of the events that Ash is about to experience.

However, he did not dislike such troubles. After all, in his view, travel is made up of unknown adventures. Only by constantly experiencing those incredible and wonderful events can one be fully trained and grow up quickly!

The sound of splashing water filled her ears, disturbing Xia You's thoughts.

With so many Magikarp gathered together and moving in unison, the sight was truly magnificent.

Despite their generally lackluster performance and seemingly useless combat abilities, as Water-type Pokémon and also as fish, they still possess considerable speed in the sea.

He looked down and could see Laplace swinging his limbs, trying to keep up with them, but with so many people on his back, he was slowly overtaken until he fell to the very back of the group.

Fortunately, after traveling for more than ten minutes, they could already see the sweet orange island in the distance, so they no longer had to worry about losing their target.

Chapter 247 Going Against the Current

From a distance, the interior of Sweet Orange Island is covered with forests, and it is surrounded by cliffs of varying heights, forming a natural barrier that isolates the island from the outside world. A low hill stands in the middle of the island.

Xiao Jian is right, this is indeed just an uninhabited island, at least from the outside there are no signs of human activity.

The carp swam here, but instead of going anywhere else, they swam straight into the island from the mouth of a river.

Xia You looked around and finally found the submarine she had just seen in a calm bay.

However, the diver was quietly anchored there, with its hatch tightly closed and no movement whatsoever. It seemed that the old man, like Magikarp, had also entered the Sweet Orange Island.

"What do we do now?" Xiao Zhi asked.

“Is that even a question?” As Laplace approached the shore, Xia You was the first to jump over. “Now that we’re already here, of course we have to go in and take a look!”

Once everyone was on the island, Ash put away Lapras, and Sabrina controlled Charizard to land and walk to Xia You's side.

The group got ready and set off, walking along the riverbank deeper into the area.

In the river beside them, an endless number of Magikarp were swimming upstream, and in an instant, the entire river was filled with the red figures of Magikarp, which looked extremely spectacular!

"Wow, what a rare sight!" Xiaoxia exclaimed as she listened to the continuous splashing of water.

Xia You nodded. For some reason, the scene before him reminded him of the stories in his hometown about fish returning to the inland from the sea to spawn every year.

Perhaps this world has similar habits.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but take out his phone and save this image forever in his photo album.

Just as everyone's attention was focused on the river, an old man's voice suddenly rang out from behind them.

"Hey you guys, what are you standing there daydreaming about?!"

Upon hearing the voice, everyone turned around and saw that it was the same old man who had been piloting the submarine.

At this moment, he was carrying more than a dozen boxes and slowly approaching them. However, even though they were following the old man's trail, they didn't know when the old man had somehow circled around to their backs!

Looking at the various pieces of luggage that were taller than the old man, everyone was amazed by his strength in addition to feeling that it was exaggerated!

It's amazing that such a petite old man could carry so much luggage and move around so freely; it's truly an eye-opener!

Seeing them standing there dumbfounded, the old man took it upon himself to stuff all his luggage into their hands, even Sabrina and Pikachu, who in the blink of an eye had small boxes stuffed into their hands as well.

what?

Such an outgoing personality caught Xia You and the others completely off guard.

The old man's actions clearly showed that he was treating them as free laborers!

"Hey, grandpa, what are you doing?" Xiao Zhi asked, holding a huge box in his hands, looking quite surprised.

The old man ignored him and, carrying only a small backpack, leisurely continued walking along the river into the depths of the forest.

After walking a few steps, seeing Xia You and the others still standing there in a daze, he turned around and waved to them, urging, "Alright, stop standing there like idiots, let's get going!"

Set off!?

The group was completely bewildered, unsure of where they were going, but after exchanging glances, they decided to follow the old man.

"Grandpa, please wait a minute, can you tell us what you're doing?!"

Xiao Zhi shouted again, but the old man showed no sign of stopping.

Xiaoxia sighed helplessly as she walked, looking down at the box in her hands, and said with a wry smile, "Really, what's going on here?"

"Forget it," Xia You comforted her. "Once we get to our destination, we'll know what happened. For now, let's just go with him."

After saying that, he glanced at Naz again and saw that she was still holding the box in her hands and her expression was calm, so he asked in a low voice, "How are you? You're not unhappy, are you?"

Naz shook her head gently.

If this had happened before, she would have definitely used her superpowers to teach that unreasonable old man what it meant to be an aerial acrobat. But now, this little thing doesn't matter to her anymore.

As they spoke, the group walked along the riverbank deeper into the forest.

However, the ground beneath their feet was becoming increasingly steep, transforming from a flat surface into a precipitous one. Clearly, they had climbed the small hill they had seen earlier at sea.

Beside them, with the drop in elevation, the river pressure suddenly increased, but the carp kings still swam upstream, also heading towards higher ground.

At this moment, Xia You understood that if it wasn't for laying eggs, then something must be attracting them.

After walking silently for a few more minutes, Xiaoxia couldn't resist her curiosity any longer and quickened her pace to reach the old man.

"Grandpa, who exactly are you?"

Looking at the girl's cute face, the old man's attitude softened considerably, and he said with a smile, "I am a Pokémon observer, Green River."

Pokémon Observer!?

Upon hearing this title, the others all turned to look at Xiao Jian.

Xiao Jian shook his head. Although the old man was a Pokémon observer like him, he had never heard of the name Green River.

"Grandpa," Xiaoxia held up the box in her hand and asked, "What's in these boxes?"

"Is that even a question?" Green River said matter-of-factly. "Of course, it's all the equipment needed to observe the Magikarp!"

"The equipment for observing Magikarp!?"

“That’s right.” Perhaps it was because the little girl in front of him was so adorable that it reminded Green River of his granddaughter, so he explained a few more words, “These devices were specially prepared for observing these Magikarp.”

Hearing this, Xiao Jian became interested. He strode to the shore, took out his sketchbook, and said, "So, just as I thought, these Magikarp do have some special abilities or habits? Okay, then I'll take a look too."

However, perhaps because he was too close to the river, a Magikarp suddenly leaped up, startling him and splashing water all over his face, instantly cooling his enthusiasm.

"Idiot." Seeing the young man's impatience, the old man couldn't help but snort. "Those are just ordinary Magikarp; there's nothing to observe!"

"Huh?" Xiao Jian, ignoring his soaking wet clothes, asked with a puzzled look, "Didn't you just say that these devices were for Magikarp? But if it's just a regular Magikarp, why did you prepare all these things?"

Chapter 248 The Lake of Birth and Evolution

Green River didn't explain much, but glanced at the time and frowned when he saw that so much time had passed. "Alright, there's no time to waste here. Everything will be clear when you get to your destination. Now, let's hurry on our way."

After saying that, he turned around and quickened his pace, heading towards the top of the mountain.

Through their brief encounter, Xia You and the others had gained some understanding of the old man, realizing that he wasn't actually a bad person, just a bit eccentric and lacking in social skills, like those scientists with strange tempers.

Despite having many questions in their minds, they had no choice but to continue following Green River as it had already gone far away.

The Magikarp beside me continues its tireless journey upstream.

However, the Magikarp soon arrived at a small waterfall group consisting of three waterfalls.

They began to try to climb the waterfall, but even with all their might, many of the Magikarp could not withstand the scouring of the water in such a vertical upward flow and fell in halfway down.

Only a few birds managed to climb upstream of the waterfall by desperately shaking their bodies and withstanding the immense pressure.

Xia You had no choice but to stop again.

Clearly, this was a huge challenge for these Magikarp, and it was hard to believe that they had witnessed such a miraculous scene!

To be honest, the effort they put in doesn't seem like they're here to lay eggs and reproduce; it's more like the legend of the carp leaping over the dragon gate.

However, in this world, these Magikarp, after leaping over the Dragon Gate, are destined not to become soaring dragons, but rather to become brutal and terrifying Gyarados!

He took out his phone again and captured the scene. In just a short while, hundreds of Magikarp had failed to climb the waterfall, eventually losing their strength and being swept downstream. But the remaining Magikarp continued to charge towards the waterfall one after another.

Beside him, Xiao Jian also turned his head to look for a while, and asked in surprise, "Mr. Green River, what is on the mountaintop that makes these carp kings so crazy?"

Green River continued walking, saying, "At the top of the mountain, there is only an ordinary lake. Although it looks inconspicuous, I call it the Lake of Birth and Evolution."

Everyone exclaimed in surprise: "The Lake of Birth and Evolution!?"

“That’s right,” Green River said. “That’s where these Magikarp are born, and every year at this time, they return here to complete their evolution!”

Evolution complete!?

Hearing this, Xia You was taken aback.

It's well known that evolving a Magikarp is no easy feat, often requiring careful nurturing from its trainer. But judging from Green River's words, it seems that the Magikarp here can evolve smoothly as long as it swims back to that lake!

This is incredible! If the news is true, then this place must be a magical paradise for Magikarp trainers!

It's not surprising that Xia You would have such thoughts; it's simply a matter of different perspectives.

As a Pokémon Trainer, his way of thinking is definitely different from that of ordinary people, and he cannot represent the views of ordinary people. At least, Tracey, as a Pokémon Observer, has a different opinion on this matter.

"Mr. Green River," Xiao Jian asked with great interest, "how many Magikarp manage to swim to the top each year?"

Green River gave Xiao Jian a meaningful look, then turned and glanced at the waterfall before shaking his head: "It's hard to say, but based on past experience, at most only one in ten Magikarp can successfully leap over the waterfall and swim to the top of the mountain."

Only one-tenth?

This number surprised Xia You and the others, but upon reflection, it made sense.

Although one-tenth is a small number, given the sheer number of Magikarp, at least nearly a thousand Magikarp would be able to successfully reach the summit.

However, this number still left Ash speechless. He exclaimed in surprise, "Will all the Magikarp that reach the Lake of Evolution evolve?"

"Don't be silly." Green River rolled her eyes at him, finding his question both amusing and somewhat annoying. "Even if they swim to the Lake of Evolution, it doesn't guarantee evolution. It only means that only one-tenth of Magikarp will evolve into Gyarados."

One-tenth of one-tenth?

There were also a hundred new Gyarados that appeared, which is no longer a small number!

Ash scratched his head, about to speak, but seeing that he was about to ask something else, Green River waved his hand impatiently.

"Alright, stop asking. If we don't hurry, we'll really miss their collective evolution period!"

Hearing him say that, Xia You and the others quickly shut up and said no more.

Now that they were already here, they naturally wanted to see how those Magikarp evolved collectively.

Everyone hurried away, but little did they know that shortly after they left, a clump of bushes nearby stirred.

"Hey, did you all hear that?!"

A voice, indistinguishable from a human's yet slightly hoarse, rang out from the bushes, and soon after, the Team Rocket trio emerged from there.

"Of course I heard it!" Kojiro exclaimed excitedly, his eyes wide. "The Lake of Evolution! That's incredible! This is yet another amazing discovery!"

"You idiot!" Musashi crossed his arms, rolled his eyes at Kojiro, and snorted, "This is a rare opportunity."

"Oh?" Kojiro asked, puzzled. "Why would you say that?"

"Hmph." Musashi raised his chin. "Since it's the Lake of Evolution, that means if we catch enough Magikarp and throw them into the lake, wouldn't we immediately get a lot of powerful Gyarados?! And with these Gyarados, wouldn't we be able to create an earth-shattering, howling, flawless, and strongest invincible Gyarados army in history?!"

"A Gyarados army!?" Kojiro's eyes widened, and he seemed to already picture himself commanding numerous Gyarados in the future. "Doesn't that mean we'll be valued by the boss, and even be able to hold our heads high in front of that girl with the watermelon-shaped glasses!?"

“That’s right!” Jessie clenched her fists, her eyes burning with fire. “With this Gyarados army, Team Rocket will be invincible! No one will be our match!”

"But..." Kojiro suddenly hesitated, "Will it really go that smoothly? You know, we've never really gotten along with Gyarados."

"You don't need to worry about that," Musashi laughed, seemingly confident. "I've already thought of it. It's very simple. As long as we capture them while they're still Magikarp, we won't have to worry about them turning into Gyarados and disobeying our commands!"

Chapter 249 The Hometown of Magikarp