Chapter 84: A Pseudo-Legendary at Last
After the battle ended, the pure white light of evolution enveloped Will's body, just as he had expected.
The figure within the light began to change. While most Pokémon evolutions involve getting taller, in Will's case, he was getting shorter. He was, however, getting much wider.
In a few moments, the beautiful, elegant, and noble Dragonair was gone. In its place stood a giant, chubby, orange baby.
"Dragonite~~" the evolved Will roared excitedly, stomping on the spot. He looked down at himself, and then froze.
So big!
So round!
Will looked down, bewildered, and poked his new belly with a finger.
Boiing~
It even had a sound effect?!
Will: ...
He looked closely and found he couldn't even see his own fingers anymore.
"Oh my god, what happened to my figure?" Will's face went pale. He quickly opened his personal status screen.
"900 kilograms?!"
His face turned white, and his eyes rolled back; he almost fainted. This wasn't a dragon. This was clearly a pig.
But then his gaze shifted upwards, and seeing his new height, he found it wasn't so hard to accept. He was a bit fat, yes, but he was also tall! Aside from the Alpha Dragonite, you couldn't find a second one this tall in the entire Dragonite Valley. If he were to get the "Alpha" designation, he might even surpass the chief. And were there even higher designations above Alpha? The Alpha Dragonite was one thing, but what kind of designation did that underground ruler, the Tyranitar, have? Will remembered the chief saying that even he had to look up to that Tyranitar.
But he also clearly remembered that the Tyranitar had no clan, which meant it couldn't get the "Alpha" designation. So where did its massive size come from? Will had no idea.
Pushing those thoughts aside, Will began to estimate his height-to-weight ratio. The Pokédex values for a Dragonite are 2.2 meters and 210 kilograms. He was 6.6 meters and 900 kilograms.
"Waaaaah, I'm a fat dragon," Will wailed, on the verge of tears. You didn't even need to do the math; it was obvious at a glance. He tried to cry, but no tears came out; instead, a stream of snot ran from his nose.
Will casually picked up a passing Furret, held it to his nose, blew forcefully, and then tossed it aside to continue observing his status screen.
"Hey..." the bewildered Furret looked at the sticky liquid on its tail, then looked at Will in anger. But when it realized that even standing up, it wasn't as tall as this fatty's leg, it turned and ran away, dejected.
"My potential turned to Gold... wait a minute..." Will noticed the change in his potential, and then suddenly frowned.
He thought back to his potential as a Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill in his past life, and then to his potential as a Dratini, Dragonair, and now Dragonite in this life. He had a sudden realization.
"This potential... isn't it just Base Stat Total?!"
Will's eyes widened. The levels were divided by every 100 points of BST: White, Green, Blue, Purple, an unknown tier, and Gold. A Dragonite's 600 BST had just entered the "Gold" tier!
However, this wasn't something he paid special attention to. He didn't believe a Pokémon was bound by its potential. BST only determines a Pokémon's floor; its ceiling is determined by itself and its Trainer.
His gaze moved down. He couldn't help but smile at his new Dragon/Flying typing. It wasn't the best combination, but it was pretty good. Immune to Ground. 2x resistance to Fighting, Bug, Fire, and Water, and 4x resistance to Grass.
It's worth noting that in the future Era of Leagues, Fighting, Water, and Fire would be popular types. But in this Era of Primal Beasts, none of them were popular. Instead, Bug-type Pokémon were everywhere, as they were easier for humans to approach, capture, and raise. As for its weaknesses, it was 2x weak to Rock, Dragon, and Fairy, and 4x weak to Ice. The old saying still held true: a 4x weakness to Ice is the mark of a true powerhouse. And in this era, Ice-type Pokémon were even rarer than in the future.
A Pokémon like Dragonite was destined to shine brightly in this Era of Primal Beasts, forging its name as a pseudo-legendary.
Next was his ability, Inner Focus, which was unremarkable in the games. There, it just prevented flinching and being intimidated. Its practical effect in reality was hard to say, but it probably just meant a strong mind. In any case, it had to be better than its simple game effect.
Then he got to the part that confused him. Wrap, Leer, Twister, and Thunder Wave had all vanished from his skill list.
"That's bullshit, I haven't forgotten them," Will said, getting anxious. He walked over to a tree to test it. Leer was unimportant, but the other three were very useful. Wrap was for making Thunder 100% accurate. Twister was versatile. And Thunder Wave was a reliable paralysis move. He wasn't about to just lose them.
Bzzzt. He raised a hand, and an invisible current of electricity shot towards the tree trunk.
"See? I still remember it," he frowned and looked at his status screen again. His eyes widened. The screen had changed, and Thunder Wave had reappeared in his skill list.
"I see," now he understood.
Some Pokémon forget certain moves upon evolution, while at the same time, they awaken other moves from the depths of their memory. In the games, you had to use the "Move Relearner." But Will was different. He had a human's soul and a powerful memory system. He could instantly recall and re-master these four "forgotten" skills. He tested the other three, and sure enough, all four were back in his skill list.
"I should be able to learn some new skills too," Will murmured.
He recalled that he should be able to learn Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Extreme Speed just by remembering them.
"I'll figure it out when I get back to the Dragonite Kingdom. If not, I can go back to Dragonite Valley to learn. At my current speed, it shouldn't even take an hour to fly there," Will said, looking at the two small wings on his back. Then he looked down and patted his "Duang~ Duang~" belly.
Can I even fly with this thing? A doubt crept into his mind. He tried to flap his small wings, and the next moment, he was in the air. Thanks to his past life experience flying as a Beedrill, he quickly got the hang of it. He didn't feel his flight was affected by his weight at all.
"Nite~" Will flew around excitedly, waving his new arms and legs. He didn't know how he had survived the last two and a half years without them.
And finally, his eyes fell on the last move on his list: Hurricane. As a Flying-type, it was a bit funny that this was his only Flying-type move. But this was a big one, with a power of 110 and a chance to confuse the opponent.
Although a Dragonite's stats leaned towards being a physical fighter, Will's own personality leaned towards being a mage. He felt it was a waste of his flying ability not to attack from a distance. He had won countless battles in Mt. Silver this way. Those melee-only Pokémon were just sitting ducks against him.
"Nite~" Will flapped his wings in the air and sent a ferocious storm towards the forest.
Wherever the hurricane passed, it was like a bulldozer had plowed through, ripping leaves from the trees and sending countless innocent Pokémon and small animals flying. The invisible gales even tore bark from the tree trunks. Both its power and its range were absurd.
Strong!
~~~
Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
~~~
Every 5 new reviews = 1 extra chapters
Every 150 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter