章 700: The Beginning
Seeing Zaden's puzzled expression, Yuga smiled and said, "You know, besides being a Gym Trainer, I also run a Pokémon Day Care, so I'm capturing some Wurmple to breed."
Zaden nodded in response.
Although Wurmple wasn't a rare or powerful Pokémon, its final evolution, Beautifly, was quite popular among Coordinators due to its stunning appearance.
However, Dustox, with its less appealing appearance, didn't enjoy the same popularity since most people preferred beautiful Pokémon.
Of course, finding an exceptional Beautifly was a rare occurrence. Nevertheless, there weren't many Day Cares that specialized in breeding Wurmple.
While some of the Pokémon League's breeding facilities might focus on Wurmple breeding, private Day Cares usually didn't bother because breeding Wurmple didn't offer much competitive advantage.
Yuga only considered breeding Wurmple after learning about the impending fate of these abandoned Wurmple. He had a considerable area in his Floral Sea Sub-Ecopark where he could accommodate several Wurmple, but it wouldn't affect Taillow and Swellow's winter survival.
So, he thought, why not bring back some Wurmple? It wasn't out of charity for the Wurmple; after all, this was a natural occurrence. He just felt that having more Pokémon species in his Ecopark would be a good thing.
Although Wurmple with good potential weren't as expensive as other Pokémon, they still cost more than those with lower potential. Since the number of Wurmple he could take back was limited, he had to focus on capturing those with decent potential.
However, due to the constraints of their species, most Wurmple had poor potential, with the majority being red or orange in color. Yuga was already doing his best to capture those that were yellow or higher in potential.
His Ecopark had an excellent environment, and Wurmple had strong breeding capabilities, but Yuga was concerned that having too many Wurmple might put a strain on the park. Wurmple and Combee were different in this regard.
Combee fed on nectar and honey from birth, whereas Wurmple, before evolving into Beautifly or Dustox, relied on trees and plants for food. So, Yuga wasn't worried about having too many Combee, but he couldn't handle an excess of Wurmple.
Although Yuga had been capturing some Wurmple along the way, he hadn't captured a single Beautifly or Dustox, even if he encountered some with decent potential. He didn't want to disrupt their courtship and migration activities.
These Beautifly and Dustox were different from the Trapinch and Flygon colonies they had encountered in the desert. Trapinch had no natural predators, and there was no hunting or being hunted relationship with other Pokémon. Even if there were, it was the Flygon hunting others.
They lived in a world deep beneath the desert, isolated from the outside world. Besides themselves, there were very few other species of Pokémon, so there was hardly any danger.
However, the vulnerable Wurmple faced numerous challenges during their migration and were constantly at risk of being preyed upon. As time passed, Yuga and his team noticed not only Beautifly and Dustox gathering in one direction but also groups of Taillow and Swellow forming.
"Let's head out and meet up with the others," Zaden suggested after assessing the forest's situation.
Yuga agreed with a nod, and the two of them mounted their respective land mounts, heading toward the usual gathering spot for Beautifly and Dustox during their courtship and migration.
As Yuga and Zaden continued their journey, they noticed an increasing number of Beautifly and Dustox gathering and flying in the same direction. Some of them couldn't even wait to reach their destination and began performing their courtship dances mid-flight.
Among Beautifly and Dustox, it was the males who performed these courtship dances, making it easy for Yuga and Zaden to distinguish between the genders within the swarms.
Petalburg Forest was vast, and it housed countless Beautifly and Dustox.
Although Yuga found the scene impressive, Zaden informed him that this was just the beginning of the spectacle.
After two more days of travel, Yuga and Zaden finally arrived at their destination, the place where Beautifly and Dustox gathered during their courtship and migration. Along the way, they encountered several waves of large scale attacks by Taillow and Swellow on Beautifly and Dustox, which they managed to repel.
Despite the large numbers of Beautifly and Dustox in Petalburg Forest, there were also plenty of Taillow and Swellow, explaining why the forest's rangers sought assistance from nearby towns.
The spot Yuga and Zaden arrived at resembled a canyon, with high terrain surrounding it, while a long river flowed at the bottom. By this time, a large number of Beautifly and Dustox had already gathered around the canyon.
Some were eagerly searching for their partners, while others rested with closed eyes on tree branches, presenting a picturesque scene. What surprised Yuga was that Beautifly and Dustox were not intermingled; they were clearly separated on either side of the canyon.
This arrangement puzzled Yuga. Technically, these two species should belong to the same family. However, Zaden quickly explained the reason behind this.
It turned out that Beautifly and Dustox had different aesthetics. In the eyes of Beautifly, Dustox appeared very ugly. Similarly, from the perspective of Dustox, Beautifly was simply unattractive. Naturally, they would choose good-looking partners over less appealing ones.
This phenomenon was indeed quite remarkable, and it wasn't limited to just the Wurmple family; even Bellossom and Vileplume had similar preferences.
Bellossom found Vileplune too casual in appearance, while Vileplune didn't think Bellossom was handsome enough.
This was the first time Yuga had heard of such a thing, and after Zaden's explanation, he realized how much he had to learn as the owner of a Pokémon Day Care.
About half a day after Yuga and Zaden had arrived at the canyon, other forest rangers began to arrive one by one, accompanied by a significant number of Beautifly and Dustox. There were four forest rangers in total, three men and one woman. The female forest ranger had someone from the Rustboro Gym accompanying her.
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