A purple entry!
[Fate Entry (Purple): Yearning for the Sun, Defying Death A tragic, unseen battle for the soul is raging within this fragile shell!
Because this Paras possesses exceptional potential and an Adamant nature, its self-awareness has awakened to terrifying heights. It is acutely aware of the horrific intent of the mushrooms on its back. The moment it evolves, the fungus plans to completely devour its brain and erase its independent soul!
To stop itself from becoming a walking corpse controlled by the mushroom's neural network, the bug is using astonishing willpower to forcibly suppress the light of evolution. It yearns for warm sunlight and harbors an extreme fear of dark, damp caves.
It is enduring the agonizing pain to preserve its final dignity and life as a "bug"!]
Gasp...
Miles sucked in a sharp breath as he read the bloodcurdling details of the purple entry. All his doubts vanished in an instant.
He looked at the conspicuous 'Extreme Endurance' status on Paras's profile. Then, he carefully observed the two malnourished, shriveled mushrooms on its back. They were completely disproportionate to its profound Level 31 energy.
Suddenly, the darkest, most tragic biological lore of the Pokémon world flooded his mind like a broken dam.
He finally remembered! There was a cruel truth regarding a Paras evolving into a Parasect, one that made every veteran player shudder.
Before evolving, the bug retained full control of its body. The mushrooms merely existed as symbiotic parasites. But the moment it evolved, the mushrooms would undergo a terrifying mutation.
They would grow wildly until they eclipsed the host, their roots piercing straight through the bug's skull and burying deep into its brain! At that exact moment, the soul and consciousness of the "bug" would be wiped out, effectively killing it. Those once bright, dark eyes would glaze over into hollow, dead white orbs.
While an evolved Parasect appeared to be a powerful Pokémon on the outside, the insect beneath was nothing more than a zombified puppet. It was a mere transport vehicle controlled by the giant mushroom's neural pulses.
The most direct evidence of this was the complete reversal of its habits. Paras was a bug that loved warm, sunlit, dry forests. Yet, an evolved Parasect exclusively preferred extremely dark, damp, and sunless underground caves.
Why? Because that was the perfect environment for the fungus to thrive!
The entity truly evolving wasn't the bug at all... it was the usurping mushroom.
"So that's how it is," Miles murmured. "The little guy's bodily functions are perfectly healthy. It's not that it can't evolve, it's... it simply doesn't want to! It's using its own stubborn soul to fight against certain death!"
Looking at the screen, Miles felt a profound sense of shock. The Paras nestled in its owner's arms looked adorable, but in reality, it was enduring immense torment.
To confirm his deduction and truly understand the despair this Pokémon was experiencing, Miles took a deep breath and issued a mental command.
"System! Deduct Influence Points! Activate 'Voice of All Things'!"
Although this skill aggressively burned through his hard-earned points with every passing second, physical observation was meaningless for a life-or-death crisis of the soul.
He had to hear the voice buried deepest within that shell.
Buzz—
As the 'Voice of All Things' activated, all ambient noise vanished.
Miles's spiritual energy bridged the spatial gap, plunging directly into the depths of the Paras's soul.
However, the instant the connection formed, Miles's pupils dilated. A violent shudder racked his body.
He didn't just hear one voice. He heard two. Two completely different voices, frantically tearing and clashing against one another!
The first voice was incredibly childish. It was a faint, terrified whimper that represented the "bug's" self-awareness.
"It hurts... hiss... my head hurts so much... my back is so itchy. It feels like countless needles are stabbing into me..."
"No... you hateful mushrooms, stop drinking my blood. Stop growing... I'm so tired."
"Sometimes my head feels so heavy. Like I'm about to fall asleep. And if I sleep, I'll never wake up again..."
"Paras likes being with master. Paras likes basking in the warm sunlight on the grass... Paras doesn't want to evolve... Paras doesn't want to die... Waaah..."
But woven beneath those despairing sobs was another voice. Something utterly bizarre.
It was a chilling, alien tone that sounded like the scraping of countless microscopic spores, brimming with insatiable greed. It represented the mushrooms gathering strength on the bug's back.
"Hum... give up your resistance, weak bug... together, we will... welcome a grand evolution..."
"Stop thinking. Hand over control... we are one..."
"The sunlight is too blinding. You are wrong. We do not like the sun... We must go to dark, damp caves. We must find rotting, sweet sap... Grow out, pierce through... reproduce, spores, evolve..."
"Holy shit!" Miles cursed aloud.
Even though he was mentally prepared, hearing this terrifying dual-monologue made his scalp tingle. It felt like a possession straight out of a horror movie. Goosebumps erupted all over his skin.
Without hesitation, he swiftly severed the connection to the system skill.
Not only did he need to conserve his rapidly draining Influence Points, but the sheer oppressive chill of feeling a soul being eroded by a fungus was far too morbid to endure a second longer.
'Good lord, the universe really is full of wonders. What an eye-opener', he thought. He panted heavily, struggling to maintain a neutral expression. 'How the hell is this an evolution difficulty disorder? This is a literal cellular-level battle royale!'
The cruelty of natural selection was punishing this little bug solely because it yearned to live.
He stared at the chat feed, falling into a brief silence. The viewers were still laughing and joking, completely oblivious. Some were even throwing out terrible advice, suggesting the owner buy a high-grade Leaf Stone to force the evolution.
Inside the dorm room on the stream, the girls stopped laughing. They noticed Miles's grim, heavy expression. The young girl grew so nervous that her eyes turned red.
"Master Miles... what... what exactly is wrong with it? Does it have a terminal illness?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Miles took a deep breath.
Like a judge delivering a final verdict, he stared straight into the camera and dropped a terrifying answer that would shatter everyone's perception.
"It doesn't have a terminal illness. However, there is only one truth as to why it refuses to evolve."
His normally clear voice grew incredibly low. It echoed in the ears of tens of thousands of viewers like a heavy, tolling bell in the dead of night, carrying an undeniable weight.
"The truth is, this Paras is subjectively fighting against its own evolution with everything it has! It would rather endure the agony of its body tearing apart than take that damned step into the abyss!"
When those words dropped—words that utterly shattered common sense—the entire live chat plunged into a suffocating dead silence.
The previously hopeful girls' dormitory went completely still.
"What... what does that mean?" The gentle, wealthy girl froze on the spot.
Her hopeful eyes clouded over with unconcealed shock and profound disappointment. She looked down blankly at the shivering Paras in her arms. An uncontrollable sob choked her voice.
"Master Miles, are you saying... it doesn't want to evolve?"
"But aren't all Pokémon eager to grow stronger and evolve? Could it be... did I do something wrong raising it? Does it think I'm unworthy of being its master? It doesn't acknowledge me, so it refuses to undergo a metamorphosis for me?"
Tears welled up in the girl's eyes.
For a novice Trainer who had poured her heart, soul, and a fortune into providing her Pokémon with the best possible life, being "unacknowledged" by her own partner was the cruelest, sharpest blade in the world.
Seeing the girl blaming herself to the point of a breakdown, a flash of sympathy crossed Miles's eyes. He didn't hesitate to cut off her spiraling thoughts.
"No! You have it completely backward!" he stated firmly.
"Do not use such an absurd reason to belittle your love for it, and absolutely do not doubt this little guy's loyalty to you!"
Miles leaned forward slightly. His gaze pierced through the screen, softly studying the shivering Paras.
"The very reason it desperately suppresses the light of evolution—the reason it refuses its metamorphosis—is precisely because, deep in its soul, it wholly acknowledges you as its master!"
"It craves the warmth you provide. It cherishes every day and night spent with you. It... doesn't want to cruelly leave you. It doesn't want to lose you forever!"
The delicate girl was completely stunned by his words. Her three roommates exchanged clueless glances.
If they shared the most intimate of bonds, why would that tie into "leaving" or "losing"?
In normal perception, the deeper the bond between a Pokémon and its Trainer, the more natural and seamless the evolution process should be. How did all logic completely flip on its head here?
The girls weren't the only ones confused. Tens of thousands of viewers in the stream were left scratching their heads.
Then, the chat feed instantly exploded.
[Viewer "Midnight Patrolling Noctowl": Hold on, Master Miles, why the cliffhanger? My brain is frying! If their bond is so good, shouldn't it just evolve to protect its master?]
[Viewer "Canyon's Most Affectionate Jungler": Bro I'm so lost! When did this turn into a tragic romance? It's just an evolution, how is it life or death?]
[Viewer "Hardcore Data Analyst": Anomalies always have a dark reason! I always felt there was an unspeakably weird vibe to Paras's lore. Master Miles, stop being the Riddler and spill the truth!]
[Viewer "Frontline Melon Eater": Protest! Protest! Riddlers get out! You're making the stream way too scary, I feel a cold draft down my spine!]
[Viewer "Veteran Breeder Old Wang": As a professional breeder, I've never heard of a Pokémon refusing to evolve because it didn't want to leave its owner. Aren't you just clickbaiting, Master Miles?]
[Viewer "Keyboard Holmes": New viewers are panicking while the veterans are chilling. Grab your notebooks, chat. Master Miles is about to drop some hardcore lore!]
[Viewer "Slacker Who Gave Up": Does it have a hidden illness where it turns to ash if it evolves? RIP to that guy if true.]
Facing a screen full of rushing text, questioning comments, and utter confusion, Miles picked up his thermos. He took a slow sip of water to moisten his dry throat.
He knew the biological truth he was about to unveil would be a devastating blow. It would shatter the worldviews of these ordinary people who lived their lives through a fairy-tale filter.
Truth was often held by the few. Masters who exposed cruel realities were always destined to suffer misunderstood glances in the beginning.
"Sigh... I can't really blame you all," he started, setting down his thermos.
"After all, to protect the public's feelings, the standard Pokédex published by the Federation usually only details the beautiful side of Pokémon. It deliberately conceals nature's bloodiest and cruelest laws of survival."
Miles's expression turned unprecedentedly solemn. His voice cut through everyone's eardrums like the biting wind of midwinter.
"For the vast majority of Pokémon, evolution is a sublimation of life. It is a qualitative leap in power, and a tremendously good thing."
"But the Paras species is an absolute anomaly!"
"For the 'bug' underneath, the moment it crosses the threshold of evolution, it isn't greeted with a new life. It is greeted with... death!"
Boom!
The word 'death' exploded in everyone's minds like a heavy bomb!
The delicate young girl trembled violently. Subconsciously, she hugged the shivering Paras in her arms even tighter.
Miles didn't give them a single chance to breathe as he continued his bone-chilling lore drop.
"Do you really think the two mushrooms growing on a Paras's back are part of its body?"
"You couldn't be more wrong!"
"That is an incredibly dangerous, extremely greedy, and malignant parasitic fungus! From the moment a Paras hatches, the spores of this fungus are already deeply rooted in its back."
"During its unevolved stage, the bug's consciousness can still maintain dominance. The fungus merely absorbs nutrients from the bug's body silently and stealthily. It maintains a seemingly peaceful, yet utterly morbid, symbiotic relationship."
"But!" Miles raised his voice, a chilling tremor underlying his tone.
"As its level increases, when the energy accumulated in the Paras's body reaches the critical point of evolution, the fungus on its back fully matures!"
"In the instant that so-called 'light of evolution' shines, the fungal roots undergo a terrifying mutation. Like countless sharp steel needles, they will pierce straight through the bug's shell and plunge deep into its cerebral cortex, secreting massive amounts of neurotoxins!"
"In that exact moment, the host 'bug'—its self-awareness, its soul, all its memories, and its attachment to its master—will be completely obliterated. It will be devoured by that toxin!"
"When the light fades, the dominant force over the massive body of the Parasect standing before you will no longer be the bug underneath. It will be the giant mushroom on its back, which will have grown to eclipse the host!"
"Because of brain death, that poor bug's eyes will roll back into hollow, dead white orbs. Its body will be reduced to a soulless walking corpse, its nervous system entirely hijacked by mushroom spores!"
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