As the light faded, the Yungoos leader successfully evolved into Gumshoos.
Gumshoos's appearance was very similar to Yungoos, except it stood on two legs and was much larger in size.
Looking at the Gumshoos standing with its hands behind its back, Leon almost couldn't hold back his laughter.
"Yungoos!"
Gumshoos didn't know what Leon was thinking. It was currently very excited, having finally evolved.
Actually, Gumshoos's level and strength had long met the evolution requirements, but its emotional baggage had been suppressing its evolution.
It wasn't until Leon's words completely resolved its emotional issues that it successfully evolved.
Therefore, Gumshoos was very grateful to Leon. It secretly vowed in its heart that in the future, it would protect the territory together with its new master, just like its father had done.
The other Yungoos were also very happy to see their leader evolve. They seemed to see traces of their old leader in it.
"Congratulations on evolving into Gumshoos. Let's treat your injuries first, then we'll return to the territory."
Leon said while holding a Potion.
"Yungoos~"
Gumshoos nodded. Earlier, in order to lose to Leon, it had endured a Headbutt from Aron while injured, worsening its condition.
If not for the energy during evolution restoring some of its stamina, it probably wouldn't even be able to stand now.
After Leon treated Gumshoos and the Yungoos's injuries, he began packing up the food on the ground to prepare for their return to the territory.
Compared to the previous two outings, this one had gone relatively smoothly. Although there had been some unexpected incidents, it was precisely these incidents that led him to find the Yungoos.
"Could my luck finally be turning around?"
Just as Leon was wondering if his luck was improving, one of the Poké Balls at his waist suddenly released a beam of white light.
A blue figure emerged from the light, quickly grabbed a bag of Pokémon food, called out to Leon twice, then flew off into the distance.
This series of actions left Leon dumbfounded.
Pokémon could leave their Poké Balls of their own volition, but generally speaking, once wild Pokémon were captured in Poké Balls, they would obey their trainer's commands and wouldn't leave the ball without orders.
Unless the trainer was in danger, the Pokémon would come out to help.
For example, when Bell was about to be attacked by Rattata, Spinarak came out on its own to block the attack.
Or if the Pokémon was particularly willful and just wanted to make its presence known.
There were many examples of this, like Walter's Psyduck and Ash's Oshawott.
But none of these Pokémon, regardless of why they left their Poké Balls, would fly away like Corvisquire just did.
"Corvisquire said to follow it," Rotom Drone said to Leon.
"Follow it?"
Leon was full of confusion, but it seemed this Corvisquire wasn't trying to escape. There must be another reason, otherwise it wouldn't have told him to follow.
"Then let's follow and see what's going on. Gumshoos, you all rest here for now. I'll come back to get you after dealing with Corvisquire's matter."
Seeing Gumshoos nod in agreement, Leon mounted Ursaring and chased after Corvisquire's direction.
Corvisquire seemed to be waiting for Leon, flying at a moderate speed that Ursaring could easily keep up with.
Leon glanced up at the bag of Pokémon food Corvisquire was carrying, then recalled how it had refused to let go of Bounsweet even when knocked out in battle. He already had an answer in mind.
After a while, Corvisquire gradually slowed down and landed on a large tree.
Several Rookidee flew out from the branches, chirping as they surrounded Corvisquire.
Corvisquire used its claws to tear open the bag of Pokémon food, allowing the Rookidee to eat.
"So this Corvisquire was in a hurry to come back and feed its children," Leon murmured to himself.
After the Rookidee finished eating, Corvisquire brought them down from the tree to Leon's side.
It was about to say something when Leon waved his hand to stop it.
"No need to explain, I understand everything. You're such a good mother. If you're willing, you can bring these Rookidee back to the territory with me. I promise I won't treat them poorly," Leon said sincerely.
"Corvisquire?"
Corvisquire tilted its head, its eyes full of confusion. What was this human talking about?
"Uh... did I misunderstand? Roto, do something!"
Seeing the confusion in Corvisquire's eyes, Leon realized he might have misunderstood and quickly asked Rotom Drone to translate.
With Roto's translation, Leon finally understood that this Corvisquire wasn't the Rookidee's mother—it wasn't even female, but a male Corvisquire.
A few days ago, when passing by this tree, it had heard the Rookidee's cries for food and landed to investigate.
It found that these Rookidee hadn't eaten in a long time and were starving.
Corvisquire had no choice but to share the food it had just obtained with them.
At first, it thought the Rookidee's parents had gone out to find food and would return soon.
But after waiting on the tree for two or three days, it still didn't see any other Corvisquire return.
Only then did Corvisquire realize the Rookidee's parents might never come back.
After these few days together, the newly hatched Rookidee had come to see it as their father and were very attached to it.
Corvisquire had also grown fond of the Rookidee, so it decided to stay and care for them until they could fend for themselves.
Thus, a male Corvisquire without a mate took on the responsibility of raising Rookidee.
To feed these little ones, Corvisquire worked tirelessly, constantly searching for food and barely sleeping.
This left it physically and mentally exhausted, even becoming somewhat delirious—mistaking Bounsweet for a berry.
After Leon captured it, while it had already accepted Leon, it still worried about these Rookidee.
So Corvisquire left on its own, leading Leon here in hopes that he would take in the Rookidee.
After understanding the situation, Leon grew even fonder of Corvisquire. He loved Pokémon with a strong sense of responsibility and dedication.
He naturally agreed to Corvisquire's request. The territory was already home to so many Pokémon—a few more Rookidee wouldn't make a difference.
Moreover, if these Rookidee could be raised and evolved into Corviknight, the territory would have "air taxis," making travel much more convenient.
"Corvisquire!"
Hearing Leon agree to its request, Corvisquire excitedly flapped its wings and let out a long cry.
These past few days of "daddy duty" had exhausted it. Keep in mind it had only recently left its parents and was still practically a teenager itself—the pressure of raising Rookidee was almost too much.
Now it had finally found someone suitable to entrust them to, and it could finally rest properly.
At this thought, Corvisquire suddenly felt overwhelmingly sleepy. Staggering, it walked up to Leon and lightly pecked one of the Poké Balls at his waist, returning to the ball to rest.
"Guess it's no surprise for a raven Pokémon to be so clever, figuring out how to use Poké Balls so quickly," Leon couldn't help but praise.
Then he looked at the Rookidee still flying in the air.
"Corvisquire must have told you you'll be coming with me from now on, right? Let's head out now. We'll pick up some other friends first, then all return to the territory together!"
"Rookidee~" (Okay~)
Just as Leon was about to start the journey back, a group of guests had already arrived at Ember Town ahead of him.
(End of chapter)