Day 40 of the Johto journey. Cloudy.
Reiji spent the night hidden in the forest. The fires over Lake of Rage never really died down, and whenever he looked north, the sky still glowed red, as if dawn might break from the wrong direction.
It didn't, of course.
From his perch in the trees, Reiji watched Officer Jenny and Krystal, who had guarded the lake through the night, pack up and prepare to leave.
"Krystal, he's probably already gone," Jenny said. "We didn't get any reports about him from Lake of Rage either. He's a Trainer. You don't need to worry about him, and there's no point waiting here. Come back with me."
She had just finished taking a call about the end of the battle, and the news let her relax a little. She had stayed here through the night to protect Krystal and the crystal at the bottom of the lake. Nothing had happened, which meant Team Rocket wasn't coming back.
They could go back and rest for two days. After that, another warden would take over the post.
"You really didn't find him?" Krystal asked. "He might have gone to save Zapdos. He saved me last night too."
After a night to calm down, she finally understood what had happened. Reiji had stopped her because he was protecting her. His method had been rough, but he had saved her life.
"There's no need to keep searching," Jenny said, putting on her helmet as she mounted the motorcycle. "If he didn't appear over there and hasn't returned here, then he's already left. From what you told me, he doesn't sound like a bad Trainer. Once we're back, we should be able to identify him quickly enough."
The engine roared.
Jenny turned the motorcycle around and sped away from the lake, kicking up dust behind her. A few moments later, she and Krystal disappeared over a small hill.
Only then did Reiji lower his binoculars and climb down from the tree.
Finally.
He left the forest and returned to the place where he had camped before, then took out Zapdos's Poké Ball.
[Zapdos]
[Type: Electric + Flying]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 68.78%]
[Level: 45.11%]
[Ability: Pressure/7.53%][Hidden Ability: Static/28.53%]
Zapdos's potential had been at 61 before. More than twenty days of treatment by the lake had only pushed it to 62.
Now it was 68.
Reiji thought back to what happened the night before. Zapdos had burst out on its own and thrown itself straight into Electivire's electric field, right in the middle of Magneton's evolution. There was no way that hadn't affected it.
That power had come from two Legendary Pokémon. Zapdos had its own kind in the world, but Raikou was different. There was only one in Johto, and that alone said plenty about the special nature of the Legendary beasts.
Zapdos finally looked like Zapdos now.
The gray feathers were gone, replaced completely by gold. Its crest had grown into a sharp fan of pointed feathers, and its body had grown a lot too.
At the start, the scruffy little bird had only been thirty or forty centimeters tall. After more than twenty days of treatment, it had reached around fifty centimeters. Now it was a full meter.
One night had done more than months of slow treatment.
Just one percent of potential had taken over twenty days before. Last night had given it six. That was more than a hundred days saved in a single burst.
The scruffy bird had finally shed that ugly look and turned into a real, golden Zapdos. Like an ugly duckling becoming a swan, only with more lightning. Legendary power really was ridiculous.
The problem was that Zapdos still wouldn't wake up.
Reiji had tried everything he could think of last night, but it remained unconscious. The other two Electric types were the same.
As soon as he saw Officer Jenny and Krystal leave that morning, he had come out of the forest, opened Zapdos's Poké Ball, and gently placed it in the water by the shore. Hopefully, the lake could wake it.
Its level had risen too. Before last night, it had only been level 42. Now it was level 45. Those extra three levels had to be from the Legendary Pokémon electricity as well.
The abilities hadn't changed much. They had only improved at the same pace as the past few weeks of treatment.
It did gain one new move, though.
Thunder.
Reiji closed the panel and fed Zapdos some water from the Lake of Life. After that, all he could do was wait.
If the lake with the crystal couldn't wake it, he would have to try talking to Pryce, or go back to the Lake of Life and see whether Celebi was still there.
Next came Magnezone.
This one had benefited the most last night. One look at its potential said everything.
[Magnezone]
[Type: Electric + Steel]
[Gender: None]
[Potential: 99.98%]
[Level: 56.91%]
[Ability: Magnet Pull/36.13%][Hidden Ability: Analytic/24.23%]
[Moves]
Electric type: [Thunder Wave/54.14%, Thunder Shock/59.11%, Electro Ball/56.31%, Spark/47.45%, Magnet Rise/46.15%, Charge/64.26%, Discharge/49.24%, Zap Cannon/39.82%, Electric Terrain/53.62%, Charge Beam/58.22%, Electroweb/46.21%, Thunderbolt/59.72%, Thunder/59.28%]
Steel type: [Gyro Ball/16.22%, Flash Cannon/15.23%, Metal Sound/22.31%, Iron Head/19.81%, Iron Defense/17.58%]
Normal type: [Tri Attack/16.51%, Lock-On/9.52%, Tackle/31.12%, Supersonic/26.33%, Screech/27.35%, Protect/16.13%, Hyper Beam/7.25%]
Psychic type: [Light Screen/17.21%, Rest/41.78%, Gravity/38.47%, Reflect/8.44%]
Other: [Rain Dance/4.44%]
Ninety-nine point nine-eight.
That number was ridiculous.
But then again, it had evolved with magnetic armor, three high-grade Thunder Stones, fifty or sixty million Pokédollars' worth of Electric Gems and Steel Gems, and electricity from both Zapdos and Raikou. With that much piled onto it, anything less would have been strange.
Reiji wasn't surprised Magnezone had reached this level. It was only a hair away from 100, making it his second-highest potential Pokémon after Gengar.
Weezing and Dugtrio could probably be pushed this far too if he really wanted, but there was no need to rush it. They could grow slowly later.
Magnezone's level had jumped as well.
Before evolving, Magneton had been level 52. Now it was level 56. The evolution and Legendary electricity had pushed it up four levels overnight.
It was already close to level 60, pulling far ahead of the other second-line Pokémon and almost catching up with the first-line team. That growth rate was honestly a little too fast.
But it also made sense.
Magneton was three Magnemite linked together. Dugtrio was three Diglett. Weezing was two Koffing. Pokémon like that grew strangely fast once the pieces were properly combined.
Reiji had worked it out before. Weezing's growth speed was basically doubled. Magneton and Dugtrio were at least more than double. Their potential had been lifted, and their growth speed was abnormal too.
A nice surprise, if nothing else.
Magnezone's abilities had improved, though the recent training hadn't focused on abilities. They had mainly been using the lake to practice Electric-type moves.
Beyond that, there wasn't much new. Magnezone already knew the Electric-type moves it should know, and no new ones had appeared.
The only recent additions were Protect and Hyper Beam from the Normal type, both learned before this. Hyper Beam was one of those major attacks almost every Pokémon eventually had to learn.
If its physical Attack was better, it learned Giga Impact.
If its Special Attack was better, it learned Hyper Beam.
There was also Reflect from the Psychic type, and Rain Dance from the Water type. Rain Dance was practically mandatory for Electric types. Thunder in the rain was disgusting in the best way.
After checking the panel, Reiji placed Magnezone in the lake as well.
Hopefully, the water could wake it too.
Unfortunately, Magnezone didn't have a mouth, so it couldn't drink the Lake's water.
All three Pokémon had been injured by last night's explosion, and all three were still unconscious.
The last one was Electivire.
Getting this Pokémon had been pure accident. Reiji had only wanted to evolve Magneton. Then Zapdos suddenly flew out, everything overloaded, and the lab exploded.
At least all three had survived. Since Electivire was right there, Reiji had caught it too. Why leave meat sitting in front of him? His nickname as Reiji the Freeloader wasn't for show.
Some people might think of Itsuki's Bagon here.
But that was different.
Bagon came with a promise.
As Spider's leader, Reiji took promises to his people seriously. If he said he would do something, he would do his best to deliver.
Naoki's request was only about crashing a wedding. His crush was playing both sides anyway, so that would probably end badly on its own. Once Naoki gave up, the matter would be over.
Itsuki's request was the kind that could cost Reiji his life.
No thanks.
There was no reason to gamble his own neck on that. A transmigrator valued his life very highly.
Reiji looked at the sleeping Electivire in its Poké Ball and opened its panel.
It had mutated too.
[Electivire (shiny)]
[Type: Electric]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 79.99%]
[Level: 61.01%]
[Ability: Motor Drive/68.13%][Hidden Ability: Vital Spirit/58.23%]
[Electric-type moves: every Electric-type move it can learn, up to Generation VI. Later generations not counted.]
There was no denying it.
This Electivire was tempting.
Before Zapdos was captured, Electivire must have already absorbed a huge amount of Raikou's electricity. After that came Zapdos's power as well.
It had been one step from Champion potential.
One step.
But at that final moment, the sheer amount of Legendary energy would have torn it apart.
It missed the chance to reach Champion tier, but it kept its life.
For Electivire, that was probably the better outcome. Champion potential was a Trainer's desire. Electivire's own will to live had been overwhelming, and in the end, it survived.
Reiji released it, fed it Lake of Life water, then placed it in the lake beside the other two.
He wanted the lake to heal them.
All three of them.
He didn't want to lose any of them. Not one.
Every single one was too valuable to lose.
Electivire's level was already Elite Four tier too. With two Legendary sources of Electric-type energy being pumped into it like that, even if it hadn't started at Elite Four tier, it had broken through at the last moment.
That was another reason Reiji didn't want to lose it.
A free Electivire with quasi-Champion potential and Elite Four-tier strength? He could laugh himself awake just thinking about it. Last night's biggest prize was definitely this shiny Electivire.
After the unstable Legendary energy faded, Electivire's basic shape had mostly settled back down. It was still over two meters tall, with thick arms and legs. The plug-like horns had changed back into round horns.
Its fur was still gold and black. The marking on its chest had become a black lightning pattern. The two cable-like tails on its back were still gold with blue tips.
A normal Electivire had yellow-and-black fur, stood around 1.8 meters tall, had a straight black chest marking, and black tails. This one looked clearly different. The tails were the most obvious change.
Its ability growth made sense too. With all that Legendary electricity forced into it, Motor Drive had climbed even higher than its level.
Vital Spirit prevented sleep. And in a place like Team Rocket's base, proper rest was probably impossible, so that ability had been trained to a high degree as well.
As for moves, it knew every Electric-type move it could learn.
Those Electric moves were far beyond its level. Everything else was ordinary.
But with this Electivire, "ordinary" stood out only because everything else was so abnormal.
Overall, it was excellent.
If Reiji could win it over, he would have three Elite Four-tier Pokémon for now. Even after Lokoko left, he would still have two.
And when it came to Elite Four-tier Pokémon, he wanted as many cards as possible. Team Rocket was pressing down on him so hard he could barely breathe. He needed stronger Pokémon badly.
That was why he had even been tempted by the Regice sealed in the ice cavern.
He hoped Poliwrath and the others would grow quickly too.
He needed his old partners to become stronger.
He really did.
Reiji pulled his gaze back from the distance. The three unconscious Pokémon floated near the shore, and all he could do was wait.
He released the rest of his Pokémon for breakfast.
After they ate, he let everyone rest. The battle at Lake of Rage had only just ended, and the whole forest was still unstable. Heavy training was a bad idea right now, so he stopped all high-intensity routines for the time being.
Everyone drank Lake of Life water to ease the fatigue from their recent training and restore their strength. If another fight broke out, they needed to be ready.
Reiji kept only Umbreon beside him, with Gengar in his shadow and Lokoko at his side.
Then they waited.
The three Pokémon in the lake were still unconscious at noon.
They waited through lunch.
By evening, nothing had changed.
Reiji had already prepared himself for a long stay. He was about to feed the Pokémon dinner when a violent wind tore through the forest.
The sky darkened in an instant.
The setting sun vanished behind a mass of thunderclouds.
Reiji knew at once who had arrived.
He took out Poké Balls, ready to recall the three Pokémon from the lake.
Then the trees rustled sharply.
Something moved through the forest fast enough to cut through the leaves.
Raikou appeared on the far side of the lake.
"Raikou."
It had been about to jump into the water to recover, but the moment it saw Reiji by the shore, it froze.
Then its guard snapped up.
Team Rocket had captured it, and now it hated humans enough to tear them apart.
"Zaa."
A sharp beak pushed through the clouds above.
Zapdos spotted Reiji too.
More importantly, it saw him holding Poké Balls, about to recall the three Electric-type Pokémon in the lake.
To Zapdos, that looked like another human trying to capture one of its own.
Its fury ignited instantly.
It hated humans too.
Every greedy human deserved to die.
Thunder cracked.
Zapdos did not waste time shouting.
The moment it saw Reiji, it called down Thunder from the black clouds.
The bolt fell straight toward him.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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