Zou Yi and Swanna slowly descended. Zou Yi jumped off Swanna and first nodded slightly to Dr. Chen, greeting him.
Then he looked at the disheveled Research Institute personnel, especially Lin Yue, who looked dejected, feeling even more ashamed for not arriving in time. He then spoke, “My apologies, everyone. I received instructions from the higher ups in the Alliance to specifically gather intelligence, but I was still a step too late.”
Dr. Chen naturally knew about the situation within the Alliance; any support was a godsend. He responded without much concern, “It has nothing to do with Zou Tianwang. It was our team’s oversight in planning that allowed the Water Blade Gang to take advantage.”
Lin Yue also recovered from his grief and anger. When he looked up at Zou Tianwang, he couldn't help but choke up, “Teacher, I… I failed to Protect the glory of the academy and even let Golduck suffer such severe injuries, almost dying.”
The Research Institute staff looked at Lin Yue choking up, and they were all moved. After all, if it weren’t for Lin Yue and Golduck’s brave defense, they wouldn’t even have bought enough time for rescue.
Everyone spoke up to comfort Lin Yue, “Lin Yue, if it weren’t for you, we might have already been buried beneath this lake. We wouldn’t have waited for Zou Tianwang’s rescue at all.”
“One-on-one, you used Toxic to kill the Water Blade Gang’s ace Pokémon. You and Golduck are truly strong.”
Zou Yi also spoke, “Lin Yue, your companions around you all highly recognize you. You can stand up and Protect your comrades in times of crisis. You can already stand on your own two feet and are an excellent graduate of our academy. The academy is proud to have cultivated students like you.”
Zou Yi is not only an Elite Four Trainer serving in Goose City but also a mentor at the Goose City Pokémon Academy, and Lin Yue is one of his students.
In fact, he is not a combatant but a professional intelligence scout, like a sentinel.
There are also differences in combat power among Elite Four Trainers. Trainers like Zou Yi, who only have one Elite Four Pokémon, are at the bottom of the Elite Four ranking competition.
Swanna also moved in front of Lin Yue, stretched its white neck, and rubbed its head against Lin Yue and the still unconscious Golduck.
Lin Yue wiped away his tears and forced a smile: “This is all what I should do… It’s just a pity I couldn’t Protect Golduck…”
Zou Yi scanned the crowd and then fixed his gaze on Zhang Heng: “Young friend Zhang, do you have a way to treat Golduck?”
Zhang Heng was slightly surprised, wondering why he knew he had healing methods. He then spoke, “Zou Tianwang, I can only maintain Golduck’s vital signs for now, and then send him to the Pokémon Center Hospital for treatment, but…”
He hesitated, then looked at Lin Yue and Golduck.
Lin Yue: “Speak freely. As long as Golduck is alright.”
Zhang Heng exhaled, “Even if he recovers, his potential will decrease, and his severed arm cannot regenerate. However, I am currently lacking some treatment methods…” He then looked up at Swanna’s skill list. He found it!
Pokémon Name: Swanna
Attribute: Flying, Water
Level: 61 (Elite Four combat power)
Potential: Elite Four
Tera Type: Flying
Nature: Gentle (raises Special Defense, lowers Attack)
Ability: Keen Eye
Friendship: None
Held Item: Charty Berry (resists Electric-type attacks)
Special Ability Bonus: None
Learned Moves: Water Pulse, Defog, Aqua Ring, Roost, Rain Dance, Hurricane, Protect
Egg Moves: Steel Wing
TM Moves: Whirlpool, Toxic
After reading Swanna’s skill list, Zhang Heng had a flash of inspiration. “Zou Tianwang, could Swanna help me treat Golduck?”
Zou Yi motioned for Swanna to help, then responded, “Yes, but Swanna is not good at auxiliary healing. How can it help you?”
Zhang Heng came to Swanna and Golduck, quickly neutralizing some of the damage from internal frostbite with a potion made from Magcargo’s shell.
Then, activating the Water-type affinity ability he obtained from the system, he placed one hand on Golduck’s chest and held Swanna’s right wing with the other, saying, “Swanna, use your Aqua Ring skill.”
Swanna began to use the skill. Gentle Water-type energy covered Swanna's body in a flowing water curtain, which could restore HP every turn in battle.
Zhang Heng slowly transmitted the way Swanna used the skill to Golduck through his Water-type affinity, causing similar skill fluctuations to appear around Golduck. Zhang Heng then stepped aside.
“Swanna, try to transfer the Aqua Ring skill to Golduck.”
Swanna understood and expanded the Aqua Ring’s water curtain to cover Golduck as well, perfectly overlapping with the similar skill fluctuations around Golduck, successfully grafting the Aqua Ring skill onto Golduck.
“Alright, with the Aqua Ring’s recovery effect and my medicinal aid, supporting him until we reach the Pokémon Center will be no problem.”
Zhang Heng then noticed that a Water Tail skill had been added to Golduck’s skill list.
Aqua Tail? Aqua Ring? Although it was only a one-word difference, the effects were different, and Golduck couldn't learn Aqua Ring. It might be that the way the skills operated was very similar, accidentally causing the unconscious Golduck to learn a skill.
The people around were amazed, wondering if skills could even be grafted!
Chen Chunjiang and Zou Yi, a Pokémon Doctor and an Elite Four mentor, could see the deeper essence of the problem. For example, why could Zhang Heng directly understand Pokémon skills? How did he know Swanna had Aqua Ring? And why could he transmit the skill sensation to Golduck? All these actions led to wild speculation.
However, neither of them asked. A Doctor and a mentor both truly made outstanding contributions to China, and protecting young talents was one of their duties.
Seeing the expressions of Dr. Chen and Zou Yi, Zhang Heng knew that the abilities he had displayed were too bizarre. He explained, “I have some understanding of skill states. The gentle Water-type energy swirling around Swanna is a manifestation of having learned the Aqua Ring skill. I just showed off some knowledge, and I didn’t expect to guess correctly.”
“As for having Golduck Mimic Swanna, I feel that these two Pokémon have a very tacit understanding from their past.”
Zou Yi also intentionally concealed it and took over the conversation: “That’s right, Swanna can be considered Golduck’s master. When Golduck was still in its initial form, Psyduck, it always followed behind Swanna, Mimicking and learning various Water-type abilities.”
“By the way, here’s a fun fact: do you know what Swanna’s initial form is?”
Chen Xue and several researchers eagerly answered, “Ducklett.”
Zou Yi nodded in satisfaction, “Yes. Although Swanna looks elegant, its initial form, Ducklett, is quite dull, somewhat similar to Psyduck. Perhaps that’s why Swanna used to take such good care of Psyduck.”
The mentor’s charisma radiated at this moment, turning the tense aftermath of the disaster into a classroom quiz, and also diverting the conversation from the extension of Zhang Heng’s peculiar abilities.
“Everyone, the S ground gem has been taken. Your mission to explore the habitat has also failed. The battle that occurred in the Wilderness Area has exceeded the scope of a normal exploration mission. Therefore, I hope you will retreat as soon as possible.”
In fact, everyone at the Research Institute understood that plans couldn’t keep up with changing circumstances. What was originally just searching for a habitat along the lake had turned into having to cross the lake, with the danger level increasing sharply.
The high-level combat power currently deployed by the Water Blade Gang, consisting only of the Quasi-Champion Sharpedo and the Elite Four Drednaw, had already left the Research Institute personnel with no way to cope.
Dr. Chen sighed slightly, “We will retreat. Ensuring the safety of our companions is the top priority, and Golduck’s injuries should not be delayed.”