"HRR… DUO!!"
Heatran's deep, metallic roar echoed through the air.
The moment the Confusion binding weakened, Heatran forcefully twisted its body midair. Flames surged violently from its mouth, rapidly compressing into a blazing sphere before being hurled straight downward.
Boom!!
The fireball detonated the instant it made contact with the ground. A towering mushroom-shaped plume of smoke and flames erupted skyward, scorching the surrounding earth and shaking the nearby trees.
The intense shockwave rippled outward.
Heatran, no longer restrained by psychic power, crashed down heavily from midair and slammed into the ground. The impact caused a dull metallic thud, and although Heatran's body was extremely sturdy, the fall still inflicted noticeable damage.
"HRR…!"
Heatran let out a low growl, clearly irritated but still steady on its feet.
On the other side—
Togepi lay motionless.
Despite its abnormally high level and frighteningly cunning battle instincts, Togepi's physical limitations were impossible to ignore. Its species base stats were inherently low, and it had already exhausted itself badly.
Using Substitute consumed a significant amount of stamina. Togepi had used it twice in a short period of time.
On top of that, Heatran's Flash Fire Ability had already been activated earlier, amplifying its Fire-type attacks. That final explosion was more than enough to overwhelm Togepi's remaining strength.
The smoke slowly dispersed.
Togepi did not get back up.
Gary exhaled softly, his eyes steady.
"Good."
He didn't hesitate.
"Go, Poké Ball."
A red-and-white Poké Ball flew out in a clean arc, cutting through the lingering smoke before landing directly on Togepi's small body.
Flash!
Togepi was drawn inside.
The Poké Ball dropped to the ground and rocked gently.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Click.
The shaking stopped.
"It worked."
Gary walked over, picked up the Poké Ball, and immediately checked Togepi's data.
[Pokémon: Togepi]
[Attribute: Fairy]
[Level: 60]
[Potential: Quasi-Legend]
[Ability: EX Serene Grace]
(When using moves with secondary effects, the chance of triggering those effects is multiplied by 4. If the probability exceeds 100%, the effect is guaranteed.)
[Moves: Growl, Pound, Sweet Kiss, Life Dew, Metronome, After You, Double-Edge, Safeguard, Baton Pass, Wish]
[Teachables: Attract, Psychic, Flamethrower]
[Friendship: 55 / 255]
"…What the hell."
Even Gary, who had seen countless rare Pokémon, couldn't help but curse under his breath.
EX Serene Grace.
This wasn't just a strengthened Ability—it was absurd.
Normally, Serene Grace doubled the chance of secondary effects. But this one?
Four times.
Most secondary effects in Pokémon battles had a base probability of around 30%.
Multiply that by four and you got 120%.
Which meant—
Guaranteed activation.
Gary's mind immediately jumped ahead.
Togekiss.
Once Togepi evolved into Togekiss, it could learn Air Slash—a move with a 30% chance to make the opponent flinch.
With EX Serene Grace?
Every Air Slash would cause flinching.
As long as Togekiss was faster, the opponent would never get a turn.
"That's… disgusting," Gary muttered.
This Togepi wasn't just evil in personality.
It was evil by design.
However, Gary's expression quickly turned regretful.
"…If only you didn't have Hustle later."
Togekiss had incredible stats, an excellent movepool, and some of the strongest Abilities available.
But its first standard Ability—Hustle—was borderline disastrous.
Hustle boosted physical attack by 50% but reduced accuracy by 20%.
The problem?
Togekiss was a special attacker.
Its physical attack stat was mediocre at best. Boosting it was pointless, and losing accuracy on special moves was unacceptable.
Its Hidden Ability, Super Luck, was strong—but still inferior to Serene Grace.
And with EX Serene Grace already present, forcibly changing Abilities using an Ability Patch or extension stone could actually reduce Togekiss's combat potential.
If Gary interfered recklessly, he might ruin a perfectly broken Pokémon.
"…I'll leave your Ability alone," Gary decided.
Then he looked at the last line.
Friendship: 55.
Gary sighed deeply.
"That's the real problem."
Togepi evolved based on friendship.
It needed more than 220 friendship points to evolve into Togetic.
Then, with a Shiny Stone, it could finally become Togekiss.
At 55 friendship, Togepi wouldn't even listen to him reliably.
Teaching moves increased friendship by around 10 points per move. Even if Togepi learned five or six moves, it would barely reach 100.
Leveling up increased friendship too—but Togepi was already level 60. Gaining levels now would require large amounts of Rare Candy, and each level would only give about 5 friendship points without a Soothe Bell.
And the worst part?
With such low friendship, Togepi might refuse to hold a Soothe Bell in the first place.
"…This is going to be expensive."
Gary quickly formulated a plan.
First, teach Togepi as many compatible moves as possible.
Push friendship to around 130–140.
Then force-level it using high-grade Rare Candy while holding a Soothe Bell once it tolerated him enough.
Crude, inefficient—
But effective.
With a clear plan in mind, Gary immediately released Togepi again.
The little Pokémon was still unconscious.
Gary placed his hand gently on Togepi's head.
Skill teaching began.
A soft glow surrounded Togepi's body as knowledge was forcibly—but safely—imprinted into its instincts.
One move after another.
Time passed quietly.
When Gary finished, he checked the data again.
[Pokémon: Togepi]
[Attribute: Fairy]
[Level: 60]
[Potential: Quasi-Legend]
[Ability: EX Serene Grace]
[Moves: Growl, Pound, Sweet Kiss, Life Dew, Metronome, After You, Double-Edge, Safeguard, Baton Pass, Wish]
[Teachables Learned: Attract, Psychic, Flamethrower, Mega Kick, Reflect, Signal Beam, Rest, Rain Dance, Fire Blast, Protect, Body Slam]
[Friendship: 135 / 255]
"Eight moves learned. Not bad."
Gary nodded in satisfaction.
Friendship jumped significantly.
Still not enough—but now manageable.
Gary recalled Togepi, then also recalled Heatran and Cyclizar.
After what had just happened, he wasn't about to ride Cyclizar again.
Who knew how many holes Togepi had dug along the road?
Instead, Gary released Garchomp.
"Garchomp, let's go."
"Garchomp."
With a powerful leap, Garchomp took off, carrying Gary across the sky.
Its speed was terrifying.
In less than fifteen minutes, they arrived at Eterna City.
Pokémon Center – Eterna City
After Togepi received treatment, Nurse Joy returned with a slightly troubled expression.
"Gary… your Togepi refuses to stay inside its Poké Ball," she said. "I can't store it properly."
She pushed a small cart forward.
Togepi sat on the padded mat, arms crossed, cheeks puffed, eyes full of anger. Its Poké Ball lay untouched beside it.
"Boke."
The moment Togepi saw Gary, it bristled.
Its body tensed, clearly wanting to attack.
But then—
It hesitated.
Gary's face was calm, confident, and undeniably good-looking.
For a brief second, Togepi felt conflicted.
"…Hmph."
Gary chuckled inwardly.
"That's my Togepi. It's fine."
He walked over and scooped Togepi up.
"BOKE!!"
Togepi struggled violently.
But despite being level 60, its physical strength was pitiful.
Gary held it easily.
Outside the Pokémon Center, Gary finally put Togepi down.
"Stop struggling," he said calmly. "I'm your Trainer now. You need to behave."
"Boke!!"
Togepi stomped its tiny feet in fury.
How dare you?!
It was the dignified Queen Togepi!
Humans were supposed to be fooled, manipulated, toyed with—
Not obeyed!
Togepi crossed its arms defiantly, turning its head away with an unmistakably arrogant expression.