Not Being a Trainer This Time-Chapter 569 - 320: Making Friends with Slugma

"Got it." Helian nodded.

At this moment, the temperature around them kept rising.

Only wearing a short sleeve shirt, Helian felt so hot that he took off his clothes, his face flushed: "It’s too hot... I can hardly stand it!"

Naoki’s clothes were already drenched in sweat. He exhaled a hot breath, silently chanting to himself to stay calm and cool.

Helian looked around, seemingly checking something.

Then, he ran to a hillside and, after seeing the sight in front of him, he quickly turned back and shouted: "Naoki, come here quickly! The Slugma are here!"

Naoki rushed over.

On the sun-bleached slope lay a large group of bright red Slugma.

The piles of rubble around them constantly spewed hot volcanic gas upward, and the Slugma crawled around slowly, appearing lively.

Finally found them!

Naoki’s eyes lit up.

And just then, he suddenly noticed a strange phenomenon on one of the Slugma.

That Slugma was currently emitting a crystalline-like colorful radiance, with a red candlestick atop its head.

Is that... Terastalization?!

Naoki was bewildered.

This isn’t right, is it? Kitakami and Paldea Region are so far apart, how come there’s Terastalization here too?

Helian also noticed the scene.

He was equally puzzled: "I don’t know what that is either. That Slugma isn’t the first Pokemon to turn like this. Over this past month, I’ve encountered several strange-looking Pokemon here, and they return to normal after being defeated."

"That’s Terastalization." Naoki explained.

"Terastalization?" Helian was startled.

"It’s a mysterious phenomenon occurring in the Paldea Region. Tera Energy envelops a Pokemon, temporarily changing its type, making its moves more powerful, just like..."

Naoki was about to say like Mega Evolution, but around this time, Mega Evolution probably hasn’t emerged yet, so he changed it midway to:

"Just like Dynamax in the Galar Region."

"What’s Dynamax?" Helian was even more confused.

Naoki: "..."

He couldn’t help but ask: "Don’t you pay attention to news from other regions?"

Helian embarrassedly scratched his head: "Because those places are too far from us... and I’m usually traveling outside, with no chance to watch the news."

"Alright then." Naoki thought of Helian’s previous use of a Pokedex to scan Koraidon.

His Pokedex should just be the Sinnoh Region’s regional Dex, not a National Dex, so it wouldn’t contain data on Pokemon from other regions.

Plus, with the communication limitations of this era, the internet wasn’t yet advanced, leaving many Trainers with no means to learn about situations in other regions.

Thinking of this, Naoki said: "If you get a chance, you can go to the Galar Region and Paldea Region to see for yourself."

Helian: "I will!"

Naoki looked at the group of Slugma and said to Pawmot:

"Pawmot, it’s up to you!"

"Pawmo!"

Already unable to hold back at the sight of so many Slugma, Pawmot flew over with a Berry, a bit bashfully introducing itself to the Slugma.

"Pawmo Pawmo!" (Hello, I’m Pawmot, I want to be friends with you!)

The Slugma raised their heads to look at Pawmot, blinking one after another.

Very soon, the Slugma uninterested in Pawmot turned their gaze away, continuing to crawl slowly on the ground.

Pawmot felt quite dejected. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

"Pawmo..."

But just then, a smaller Slugma leisurely crawled in front of it.

Pawmot’s attention was instantly drawn. He turned to look at this Slugma.

The Slugma used its yellow eyes to look at the Berry in Pawmot’s hand.

Pawmot looked down at the Berry, then back at the Slugma, happily extending its paw pad to offer the Berry: "Pawmo!"

The Slugma elongated its head, using its mouth to take the Berry from Pawmot’s hand, then happily started eating it.

Pawmot happily stretched out a paw: "Pawmo?" (Will you be my good friend?)

Finishing the Berry, the Slugma looked up at this unfamiliar Pokemon, blinking its eyes in slight confusion.

"Goo?"

Pawmot explained: "Pawmo!" (A good friend is a good friend! I’ll bring you lots of Berries, and we’ll play together every day. If any Pokemon bullies you, I’ll knock all of them down!)

The Slugma had never heard of such a thing. It imagined along with Pawmot’s words, and then its whole body started emitting white smoke.

In an instant, the sound "boom boom boom" echoed across the entire cliffside.

Pawmot froze slightly, having seen "The Slugma-Powered Home," it instantly understood the Slugma’s meaning.

This means the Slugma is very happy right now!

Pawmot’s eyes sparkled with anticipation and asked: "Pawmo?"

The Slugma looked at it, then made the "boom boom boom" sound again.

Seeing this, Pawmot turned back to glance at Naoki.

Naoki handed over a Poke Ball.

Invited by Pawmot, the Slugma happily moved into the Poke Ball, planning to follow Pawmot home.

"Pawmo!"

Pawmot was extremely happy to have made a new friend, hugging the Poke Ball with the Slugma inside, and flew back to hand it over to Naoki.

Having witnessed the whole process, Helian was utterly shocked, gaping in disbelief.

Nani?!

This this this...

Can you capture Pokemon like this?

No, no way! This Pawmot actually captured a Slugma!

But will the Slugma captured by Pawmot listen to Naoki’s command?