Looking at the girl in front of him, Ethan's eyes held an unconcealable struggle. Sneasel was indeed an Ice-type, but her main type was not Ice, but the hidden Dark-type. In the team composition Ethan designed for her, Litten held an irreplaceable position.
In fact, when they first envisioned the team, they debated for a long time over these two Pokémon. The scarcity of Dark-type Pokémon severely limited their choices. Unless they were lucky enough to find extremely rare Pokémon, it would often result in Emily's team lacking a primary damage dealer. This was why Ethan eventually set his sights on Litten's final evolution—Incineroar.
To be honest, choosing a Fire-type as a starter Pokémon was not Emily's best match. Not to mention Incineroar's noticeable size, which didn't align with Emily's path of stealth, Sneasel's Ice-type would also create a huge conflict between the two. This inherent animosity between types was difficult even for a trainer to manage.
However, in subsequent Pokémon selections, there weren't many powerful damage-dealing Dark-type Pokémon that were relatively easy to obtain. Most were known for being tricky and cunning. Thus, Incineroar became a better choice than Greninja. After all, there were many stealth-type Dark Pokémon, but almost none specialized in large-scale damage. Of course, obtaining ultra-rare Pokémon like Tyranitar, known as a demigod, would be a different story, but that was incredibly difficult.
Of course, without considering these factors, Greninja was indeed a better choice than Incineroar because it was more aligned with the stealth techniques Emily learned in the Temple. Coupled with Sneasel, it could maximize Emily's early-game advantage. However, once it reached the late game, without a powerful large-scale damage Pokémon, Emily's team would undoubtedly have a huge weakness.
"It's fine. Who can say what will happen in the future?" Emily said with conviction. In fact, without considering team composition, she herself leaned more towards choosing Greninja. Perhaps not being able to get Litten now was fate.
"Alright then, please take us to see the Froakies!" Looking at Emily's determined eyes, Ethan said helplessly, though he secretly resolved to find a way to make up for this shortcoming for her in the future.
"It seems you two have already made up your minds. Follow me then!" Listening to their conversation, Sarah Yan knew that these two children had probably already decided their path. She wasn't surprised by this, after all, Ethan's breeding skills were far superior to hers. So, she said no more and calmly led them to choose the Pokémon they wanted.
There were quite a few Froakies in the research institute. After all, whether for research or to provide to new trainers as starter Pokémon, the institute always kept a large reserve of starter Pokémon. In the virtual environment where Froakies were bred, there were hundreds of Froakies in their initial form living there, mixed with quite a few Frogadiers. Seeing so many Pokémon at once, Ethan's earlier slight displeasure turned into excitement.
"So many Froakies!" Ethan exclaimed excitedly, rushing into the virtual environment. The starter Pokémon in the research institute were all specially bred and would not randomly attack humans.
"This is Froakie's territory. You can choose freely, as long as they are willing to go with you," Sarah said with a smile. Anyone would be excited to see so many Pokémon at once. However, choosing a starter Pokémon wasn't just about the trainer picking a Pokémon; it was also about the Pokémon picking the trainer.
"Emily!" Hearing Sarah's words, Ethan turned his head and called out to Emily. The girl nodded, then closed her eyes, and a faint dark ripple instantly spread outwards from her as the center.
This scene astonished Sarah. Although it wasn't the first time, seeing someone use an awakened power firsthand still couldn't help but excite her. This mysterious and powerful ability was what she had always hoped for but had never been able to awaken.
Seeing Emily begin to unleash her Dark Power, Ethan looked towards the Froakies. Awakened trainers had a great advantage when choosing Pokémon: they could easily find the Pokémon most compatible with themselves from a group, unlike ordinary trainers who had to search aimlessly and might even be rejected by the Pokémon in the end.
Not all Pokémon are willing to be caught by trainers. Forcibly caught Pokémon will not easily obey a trainer's commands, let alone develop intimate affection and synergy. Such Pokémon cannot unleash their true strength. Only those who willingly follow a trainer and genuinely acknowledge them can truly grow together with their trainer.
Of course, this perspective was only Ethan's view on Pokémon. Only a minority in this world held and agreed with this view. Although Pokémon accompanied humans in life and battle, Pokémon were also constantly encroaching on human living spaces. Human life was not as easy as imagined, and therefore, many people harbored great resentment towards Pokémon.
The purpose of Dark Power was to help Emily find the Froakie among them that liked Dark Power, could accept Dark Power, and thus truly accept Emily. After all, Froakie's type was Water, and without awakening their Dark-type, they couldn't know how their Dark-type talent would be after evolution. Dark Power was the best tool for identification.
Disturbed by the Dark Power, one Froakie after another ran away with slight aversion. Not yet having awakened their Dark-type, they could not accept this dark sensation. That power made them feel very uncomfortable, and some with worse tempers even showed a hint of hostility.
However, there are always exceptions. When all the Froakies had moved away from Emily, two Froakies remained still, even looking over with a hint of curiosity. Clearly, they didn't dislike this power.
Emily gradually stopped releasing her Dark Power, her gaze gently falling upon these two Froakies. Her soft eyes conveyed hints of goodwill towards them. Finally, one Froakie walked forward first, sniffing its nose as if wanting to feel more of the aura Emily emitted.
"My name is Emily. Will you come with me?" Looking at the Froakie that stepped forward, Emily didn't hesitate. She slowly crouched down and spoke to it.
"Froakie~" The Froakie tilted its head, neither agreeing nor refusing. Around its neck hung a number tag with "36" on it.
"Number 36, Water-type energy is average, but its combat ability is quite outstanding. It has already learned Growl, Pound, and Quick Attack." Seeing the number tag, Sarah quickly flipped through the data in her hand. The detailed information of this Froakie immediately appeared before everyone.
"It learned Quick Attack but hasn't learned Bubble yet. It seems this Froakie's combat talent is much higher than its Water-type talent!" Ethan was slightly stunned when he heard Sarah's introduction, then he said.
According to the data from his previous life's game, Pound and Growl were Froakie's innate moves. As a Water-type Pokémon, it should have learned the Water-type move Bubble faster than the Normal-type move Quick Attack. Although this statement isn't entirely applicable in this real world, being able to learn Quick Attack at least indicates that this Froakie has very good physical abilities.
"It seems so. This is its Poké Ball. You can try to see if you can take it with you." Sarah took a numbered Poké Ball from the storage cabinet by the door and handed it to Emily.
"This is Dark Power. It can make us strong. You are different. They cannot understand your power. Will you come with me?" Taking the Poké Ball, Emily reached out and placed it in front of the Froakie. At the same time, she released another wisp of Dark Power, then looked at the Froakies that had fled far away, their faces filled with fear, and said.
"Froakie~~~" Feeling the power in Emily's hand, the Froakie's face showed a hint of confusion and curiosity. Then, following Emily's words, it looked at its companions behind it. These companions, who had lived together for a long time, now had faces full of unease and fear, as well as strong disgust.
A hint of sadness flashed in the Froakie's eyes. It looked up at the girl in front of it, whose cold yet gentle gaze made it feel very comfortable.
"Froakie~~~" With a low hum, its right hand had already pressed on the Poké Ball. Becoming a new trainer's starter Pokémon was their predetermined fate. It wasn't popular in its own group, and the trainer in front of it was at least someone it liked, so there was nothing to hesitate about.
"Haha, congratulations, Emily!" Seeing the Froakie enter the Poké Ball, Ethan laughed and congratulated her. No matter what, the addition of a new companion was always something to be happy about.
"From now on, we are partners!" Holding the Poké Ball in front of her, Emily murmured as she looked at the Froakie inside through the translucent sphere.
...
Emily had chosen her starter Pokémon, and now it was Ethan's turn. He chose Popplio. The area for Popplio was not far from Froakie's, as both were amphibious Pokémon, simply separated. It was just a turn away.
As newly introduced Pokémon, there weren't as many Popplio as Froakie, and there weren't even any Primarina managing the group. Dozens of dark blue figures with red noses were happily playing in the breeding room, with researchers occasionally coming to record relevant data.
Ethan followed suit, letting his Moonlight Power emanate, hoping to pick a suitable Popplio from the group. However, the result was unexpected. As the Moonlight Power spread, all the Popplio in the breeding room excitedly gathered around. It was then that Ethan remembered that Moonlight Power itself had calming and healing effects, belonging to a special life force. Therefore, except for some dark-type Pokémon, it could attract the closeness of most Pokémon. Thus, it was simply unrealistic for him to use this method to choose a Popplio.
Finally, having no other choice, he could only ask Sarah for the relevant data on these Popplio and began to read through them page by page. Since all these Popplio were willing to go with him, he could choose at his leisure.
However, as he looked, he truly found an extremely satisfactory Popplio: one that had learned Disarming Voice and inherited Liquid Voice.
"Number 13, that's the one." Ethan said with a smile, taking the Poké Ball Sarah handed him, and took away this Popplio with both a Fairy-type move and an inherited move.