Back in his room, Reiji released Umbreon and Electivire. Umbreon immediately hopped onto the bed and started testing the mattress, bouncing around to feel how springy it was.
Reiji took out a pair of scissors and prepared to trim Electivire's fur. Its coat had grown far too long. Before this, he had only cut the hair around its eyes so it could see properly. Now that he finally had time, he might as well clean up the rest.
"Electivire, I'm going to trim your fur. It's too long, and it'll get in your way. Sit still on the floor and don't move."
Reiji dragged over a stool and stood on it. Even then, he could only just reach Electivire's head.
"Rrrm." Electivire looked at itself in the mirror.
It had been uncomfortable for a while now. The long fur made everything inconvenient. Sweat clumped it together in thick patches, and its whole body itched.
"Don't tense up. This won't take long."
Reiji started with the scissors, cutting Electivire's hair down into a short, neat crop. It immediately looked cooler and cleaner.
After that, he took out electric clippers and worked from head to foot, shaving its coat down section by section until only short fur remained. Long fur would only interfere with its discharge.
Once he was done, Reiji opened the balcony doors, swept all the loose fur into an iron bucket, and had Gengar burn it with Will-O-Wisp.
Electivire was a mutated individual from Team Rocket's experiments. Its fur could not be left lying around. Burning all of it was safest.
That was also why Reiji had not trimmed it on the ship. The cabins were too cramped, and starting a fire in the training room was out of the question. If the smoke alarm went off, the sprinklers would drench them, and the passenger ship might even throw them off.
So Electivire had to put up with it until they reached the villa. Now that the fur was finally gone, it looked much fresher.
After the haircut, Reiji recalled Electivire into its Poké Ball, stepped onto the balcony, and released it beside the pool. Everyone else was asleep anyway, so no one would see.
He let Electivire wash and swim in the pool, scrubbing itself properly. Then he had Magmar dry it off before recalling both Magmar and Electivire. Once he was back in the room, he released Electivire again.
"Electivire, rest well tonight. We won't train for the next few days. What we need now is a few battles so we can get used to each other."
Electivire was already strong enough. What it lacked was coordination with its Trainer. Once they understood each other, they would be able to fight well together.
"Rrrm." Electivire felt the cool air over its freshly trimmed body and relaxed. It felt much better than before.
The only problem was that the ceiling here was a little low.
"Come back for now. You're too big for this room. I'll let you stretch properly when we have the space." Reiji smiled and recalled Electivire, then called Umbreon into the bathroom so they could wash up too.
Hot water hissed from the shower.
Reiji worked shampoo into foam and rubbed Umbreon's head. Umbreon narrowed its eyes in comfort, clearly enjoying it.
"Ruu… ruu…"
After washing Umbreon, Reiji scrubbed himself down too. Once both of them were clean, he wrapped himself in a towel, carried Umbreon back to the bed, and lay down.
It felt good. Really good.
He still could not sleep yet, though. Reiji took out another Poké Ball and released Dratini.
Dratini appeared and immediately slithered onto the bed, coiling around Reiji and flicking its tongue against his cheek.
"I just washed my face. Don't lick me." Reiji really could not handle the way Pokémon liked licking each other as affection. He grabbed Dratini gently around the neck and fought for control of its tongue.
The little dragon had been with him for more than two months now. During that time, it had shed its skin every day, and each shedding raised its potential by 0.1.
Its body had grown longer with every shed too. By now, it was nearly two meters. The last time he measured it, Dratini was 1.98 meters long. It had not only regained everything it had lost, it had even grown a little plump.
[Dratini]
[Type: Dragon]
[Gender: Male]
[Potential: 55.08%]
[Level: 38.32%]
[Ability: Shed Skin/34.23%][Hidden Ability: Marvel Scale/9.33%]
Through shedding, Dratini's potential had risen from 48 to 55. For a pseudo-Legendary, that was only barely acceptable, but at least it had finally reached a workable point.
Its level had also reached 38. Because Reiji had been suppressing its evolution, its growth was much slower than the others. Add in the naturally slow growth of pseudo-Legendaries, and the pace became even more painful.
Shed Skin, at least, had improved quickly. Dratini had relied on that ability to rebuild itself. A weak, ordinary Dratini with low potential had finally clawed its way back.
Reiji had released Dratini tonight to measure its length. It had not shed for several days, which was unusual. That meant Dratini's body had probably reached its current limit.
Once Dratini reached that limit, its growth would slow again. Maybe it would shed once a week, maybe once a month, or maybe it would stop shedding altogether and stop growing in size. Either way, it was time to start thinking about evolution.
Reiji had prepared for Dratini's evolution long ago. He took out its little Dragon Gem nest, filled with Dragon Fang, Dragon Scale, Flying Gem, Sharp Beak, and other items.
Every item started at quasi–Elite Four tier. The Dragon Fang was even an Elite Four-tier tooth from Mega Aerodactyl. There was also an Elite Four-tier scale from Feraligatr. With these Dragon-type materials, he hoped Dratini's Dragon-type talent would strengthen further.
From here, when Dratini evolved would be up to Dratini itself.
Reiji removed the Everstone from around Dratini's neck, stroked its head gently, and said, "Dratini, go back to your nest. It'll help you."
"Mrru…" Dratini had no intention of going. It kept rubbing its round white nose against Reiji.
"Be good. Once you evolve, we can sleep together."
Reiji really could not handle it when Pokémon acted cute. He had almost no resistance to adorable little things, especially with Umbreon right beside him too.
"Ruu." Umbreon came over and rubbed against him as well.
Now the two little ones were competing for attention.
"All right, all right. We'll sleep together." Reiji had no choice but to hug one in each arm.
He found a compromise. He placed Dratini's gem nest beside him and let Dratini lie on it. That way, he could still reach over and stroke it. Only then did Dratini accept the arrangement.
"Can we sleep now?" Reiji collapsed back onto the bed, one clingy little Pokémon on each side, and felt completely helpless.
"Ruu." Umbreon lifted its head and glanced at Dratini. Its ruby-red eyes blinked, then it turned its face away with a stubborn little huff and rested its paws and head on Reiji's chest.
"Mrru." Dratini refused to lose. It coiled around Reiji's arm, stuck its tongue out at Umbreon, and settled quietly on Reiji's shoulder.
"Tch." Reiji placed his hand on the gem nest. Even if Dratini only touched it a little, that was better than nothing.
At last, he drifted into a deep sleep.
What neither Reiji nor the two Pokémon noticed was that Dratini's body began to glow white.
Even Dratini itself did not realize it was shining.
The light came quickly and vanished just as quickly. When it faded, many of the items inside Dratini's gem nest were gone, especially that Elite Four-tier scale.
Dratini had changed too.
It was bigger.
Longer.
Heavier.
Reiji slept until morning, when the weight on him made it hard to breathe. He woke from a nightmare with a start and finally saw what Dratini had become.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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