Looking at the ten Staryu in front of me, I was stunned. Three of them had a hidden ability, and all of them were shiny. There wasn't a single normal Staryu among them. Since the Staryu aren't known for excluding shiny members from their group, this must mean that they either formed this group on their own or came from a large group of shiny parents. After all, for there to be ten shiny Staryu here, there must be at least 20 shiny parent Staryu. Given that not all offspring of shiny parents would be shiny, if we account for the probability of shiny parents producing shiny offspring, there could be at least 50 shiny Staryu in total.
It was an interesting discovery. Groups of shiny Pokémon this large have never been found until now. Shiny Pokémon, when excluded from their original groups, sometimes form their own, but they are rarely this big. The most large group consists of only 5-10 Shiny Pokemon. These groups mostly consist of the most common Pokémon, due to their large populations. They are typically found deep in the wild, as shiny Pokémon near routes are often captured by trainers or Pokémon hunters.
I think there is only one reason for them to form a different group. The Staryu are the most predated species in the ocean as most of them are very weak because of their nature. They don't compete for territory and are mostly inactive. So usually, most of the Staryu don't get strong in the wild. As these shiny Staryu stand out from ordinary Staryu, the predators may target them more than others. So, maybe some Starmies decided to form a different group consisting of only Shiny for protection. Since all of them are Shiny, the predator will not target only one.
"Starmie go and look at the ocean floor near here to see if there are more shiny Staryu here."
I think there should be more around here so I sent Starmie to look around. If their group is for self-protection then there should be more Staryu and Starmie nearby. This area isn't far from the previous beach. So, I think it is more probable that Pokemon Rangers know them because young Staryu spent most of their time near the shore. Rangers regularly patrol their area so they may have come across it. They may also be migratory.
"Hya" Starmie returned from the ocean.
"Are there other Staryu here?"
"hya" Starmie nodded.
"Did you find a larger group of Staryu and Starmie?"
"hya-ha" Starmie nodded again pointing towards the northeast.
"Are there more than 100?" I asked. I knew Starmie must not have searched properly since it would be intruding on their territory and there must be many Starmie there with few even stronger than it. So, it will not be a precise number.
"HA" It shook its upper body from side to side.
"More than 50?"
"Hya" It nodded.
Less than 100 Pokemon having ten Shiny young ones was very unusual and according to Starmie, there were more Shiny young Staryu in the ocean. I think there is only one possibility, other normal Staryu group must have sent their Shiny ones to this group. Only this can explain this group of Shiny Staryu. Stramie are very smart especially since they are part psychic. So, it isn't unusual if they do so.
Seeing this group was an extraordinary experience, but also a sad one. It highlighted just how much Staryu are preyed upon. Their regenerative ability only worsens the situation. If their core remains unharmed, they can continuously regenerate, making them a constant food source for other Pokémon. To make matters worse, Staryu face even more predators in other regions, where both Kanto Pokémon like Gyarados and Tentacruel coexist with others like Sharpedo, Lumineon and more creating an even harsher environment for them.
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But one thing was bugging him now.
"If there more powerful Starmie in their group, why did they agree to the test when you said you would teach them a powerful move?" I think this is weird because if they want to learn, the more powerful Starmie will teach them. They don't need a suspicious Starmie along with a human to teach them powerful moves.
"Hya-hay-ha-ha!" Starmie gestured toward the Staryu, then pointed at me, followed by a gesture toward the Pokéball on my belt, before pointing back at the Staryu again.
"They want me to catch them?" I was baffled. Did they know my intentions from the start? Did the Staryu of the previous beach know? I know that it wasn't unusual for Pokémon to follow trainers, like how Ash's Pokémon, chose to follow him. Some Pokémon seek strong trainers to grow stronger since the trainers can train them. But I didn't think I was capable of that kind of influence. I was still a child, and I didn't have that powerful or calming aura that Pokémon are drawn to. If I did, Gyarados would have obeyed me, just like it obeyed Misty in the anime.
Seeing my confusion Starmie again pointed at me, "I", "the ocean", "I" Starmie again shook its body. It pointed at me twice. "me" "I have to go to the ocean", "I am like the ocean", "I have an ocean-like aura".
I don't know what Starmie wants to say. It was very confusing. Then Starmie made a human figure in the sand and sprayed water on it. It again pointed at me and then at the human figure in the sand. Finally, something clicked in my mind.
"I have large water energy in my body." Starmie nodded multiple times and fell in the sand like a tired man who had worked the whole day on a construction site. I knew it must be saying 'Phew, this idiot finally understood'.
Now I know why they want to follow me. I did suspect that I have more water energy in my body than other water Pokemon trainers but not enough to make me appealing to some water Pokemon. I was wrong, it was enough to make me appealing to Staryu. It still wasn't able to work on Gyarados though. It must be because of a gift I possessed after I reincarnated.
They are indeed more intelligent than I thought they would be. Because of Staryu's structure and their nature, they are neither considered a smart species nor an idiot one. But, they seem more smart than most people think.
"Truth be told, I want to catch all of you but right now I can't protect all of you. So, I will be catching only one of you today." I said to the Staryu. The Team Rocket is becoming more active. So, if they somehow knew that I have ten Shiny Staryu then it would put both me and these Staryu in danger. I also don't want to keep them as show prizes in some corner of the gym. If I was strong enough I could keep them in the gym and give them to the trainers sponsored by the gym.
"I will catch the one whose water gun can reach the farthest and you three will be the one to shoot the last." I wanted to see the difference between one with a hidden ability and the other without it. The ten Staryu stood in a line and shot water gun. The one with the ability had shot the farthest, another with hidden ability was second but the third was the Staryu with the ability of Natural cure. It must have a nature that boosts attack.
The one who shot the farthest looked excited while others wilted like a soft leaf on the sun.
"Would you like to be my first Partner?" I asked the one who had shot the farthest. It nodded. I took out a Pokeball from my belt and threw it at the Staryu. Staryu turned into a red light and entered the Pokeball. The ball shook two times and stopped flashing a red light one time.
I was very excited as I was suffering from double happiness. I have just caught my first partner and shiny Pokemon. I was wondering if I should search for Shiny of other Pokemon too. I will have to look for their shiny to see if they look cooler than the original. I wasn't going to catch it just for the sake of being Shiny.
I wasn't going to become a trainer and go on journeys so I should go on adventure for Shiny Hunt, right? I will go on an ability hunt in the future but Shiny I don't know, because having both ability and being Shiny requires astronomical luck which I should have spent just now.
[Analytic ability acquired.]
As I touched the Pokeball a virtual screen appeared in front of my eye. The virtual screen is my second gift while the text written in it is due to my first gift.