Chapter 29: Daily Training
Of course, for the great creator god Arceus, base stats were just a number. If it wanted to, it could probably have 7,200 base stats, not just 720.
But even so, his Gyarados's future stats would completely dominate a lesser Legendary.
On the living room floor, the Magikarp stared with wide, unblinking eyes, its expression one of pure shock and disbelief. It couldn't comprehend what this human had done to it, or how it had gained so much power in such a short amount of time.
Kenji could see the shock in its eyes and couldn't help but chuckle. He knelt, trying to connect with it again. "I know you want to get stronger. If you stick with me and do as I say, I promise you, I won't just help you evolve into a Gyarados. I'll help you become the strongest Gyarados in the world."
As he spoke, Kenji slowly reached out his hand, moving to pat the Magikarp's head.
It was hard to say if his words had moved the fish, or if Beedrill had simply beaten the respect into it, but this time, the Magikarp didn't resist. It just lay on the floor and allowed Kenji to stroke its head.
After a moment, Kenji smiled, satisfied. He recalled the Magikarp to its Poké Ball and headed for the door.
He had skipped lunch, and with all the excitement of the fusion, he'd forgotten about dinner entirely. Now that the work was done, his stomach was loudly protesting.
He called a taxi and went straight to the Pokémon Center, handing Magikarp's Poké Ball over to the nurse. Its body was covered in old injuries, likely from a life of recklessly training and fighting. To make sure these old wounds didn't hinder its future growth, Kenji requested a full, deep-healing treatment.
While the Magikarp was being treated, Kenji went out and grabbed a quick dinner at a nearby restaurant. By the time he finished, it was just in time to pick it up.
The next morning, Kenji arrived at the Edgecliff Gym as usual, but this time with two Poké Balls on his belt. He ran into Melody almost immediately.
"Hey, Kenji! Why do you have two Poké Balls? Did you catch a second Pokémon?" she asked, her eyes lighting up with curiosity.
Melody, as another S-Rank student, had also received early admission offers from the top universities. Unlike Kenji, she had chosen to accept the offer from Imperial Academy. After receiving her own temporary license, she had officially become the trainer of her second Pokémon: the Pidgeot her father had lent her.
Kenji nodded. "Yep. That's why I wasn't here yesterday. I was out catching this little guy."
"What is it? What did you get?" she asked.
"Char-char~" Charmander chimed in, trotting over with an equally curious look on its face.
Seeing their excitement, Kenji didn't bother being mysterious. He unclipped the new Poké Ball and tossed it.
"Go, Magikarp!"
With a pop, a beam of red light shot out, and a large, red fish landed on the training room floor, where it began to flop around uselessly.
Melody's eyes went wide, her expression frozen in surprise.
"Magi... Magikarp??"
Kenji smiled, having fully expected this reaction. It wasn't every day you saw a trainer who had willingly chosen a Magikarp as a partner. The few who did were usually chasing the bubble-like fantasy of one day evolving it into a Gyarados—a dream that almost always burst.
"Char?"
Charmander cocked its head, its two little arms held up. It cautiously crept closer, staring at the flopping fish.
"..."
Magikarp's mouth opened and closed. Its vacant, fishy eyes suddenly locked onto the curious Charmander.
The next second, the Magikarp slammed its body against the floor, using the momentum to launch itself into the air. It aimed itself straight at Charmander and rammed into it.
Thwack!
Charmander, who had obviously not been expecting an attack, was knocked flat on its butt. Its expression shifted from curiosity to shock, then to a mix of hurt feelings and pure anger.
"Charmander!" Melody cried out, startled, though she wasn't particularly worried. It was just a Magikarp, after all; it wasn't like it could do any real damage.
Kenji, on the other hand, just felt exasperated. He'd forgotten that this Magikarp was a battle-hungry maniac that had been willing to take on his Beedrill.
"CHAR-CHAR-CHAR!!!"
Charmander scrambled to its feet, its tiny claws balled into fists, and started shouting at the Magikarp. Although Kenji couldn't understand Pokémon, he could guess it was probably cursing up a storm.
"Okay, okay, calm down, sweetie," Melody said, scooping up her Charmander and stroking its head to console it.
Charmander slowly quieted down, though it continued to glare at the Magikarp.
Kenji walked over and gave the Magikarp a light knock on the head as a scolding, then apologized to Melody and Charmander on its behalf. Melody, however, just laughed it off as a harmless squabble.
A few minutes later, Leo arrived and had the exact same, baffled reaction to seeing the Magikarp. After a brief chat, the three of them split off to begin their respective training regimens.
Beedrill's training was now almost entirely self-sufficient. In just a few days, it had already begun to master the critical move Swords Dance. Agility and Aerial Ace were also progressing steadily. With its [ULTIMATE] potential, Kenji was sure it would master all three in no time. Its level had only increased by one, as its focus had been entirely on learning new moves.
For his new Pokémon, Kenji headed to the gym's dedicated aquatic training area. It was a massive pool, more than large enough to train even a full-sized Gyarados.
He released the Magikarp. The moment it hit the water, it became visibly more active. This was, after all, its home turf.
Compared to Beedrill's complex schedule of learning new techniques and specialized drills, Magikarp's training plan was simple and unrefined. It was pure, brute-force conditioning: swimming against a high-powered artificial current to build its strength, speed, and endurance, and practicing climbing the training waterfall to build its explosive power.