546 CH19 (541), Military (14)

Slowbro's request was something I had not expected at all, but it was definitely a pleasant surprise, and I naturally agreed to it. The Utopia treatment that he would receive could be seen as his reward for stepping forward.

Anyway, seeing no reason to delay the visit, I told Slowbro and indirectly everyone else as well, that we would be gone for a few minutes so that I could show him the place, and that we would return to this place afterward. I did that to avoid any panic or other negative reactions from either the Quagsire or Slowbro's group.

Slowbro nodded in understanding, so I just patted him on the shoulder and entered Utopia with him, Mothra/Butterfree, as well as Horus/Xatu. What neither of us expected was for Slowbro to light up after appearing inside Utopia and for him to suddenly start to grow.

It appeared that Slowbro was quite the lucky Pokemon, and I naturally immediately focused on the message coming from Utopia. I saw the confirmation that Utopia successfully unlocked a modifier for Slowbro during the optimization process.

The lucky guy not only got a potential boost but also got to unlock a modifier for free, and from the way he kept getting bigger, Slowbro either unlocked the Giant Gene or the Alpha Gene. Both were Level 2 modifiers, with the giant gene even having the potential to surpass that if the Pokemon's size increase went beyond 10x its original size.

However, that option, along with the regular giant one, got disqualified after Slowbro stopped growing once he reached a bit more than double his initial size. Nonetheless, he now struck a much more imposing figure with his close to 4 meters compared to his original 1.8 meters.

Slowbro was naturally in awe at the change he went through and curiously checked out his new body. There was no doubt in my mind that he had unlocked the Alpha Gene, but I naturally still had to confirm it with my own eyes, so I went up to him to tell him what exactly just happened.

After hearing more about the miraculous capabilities of Utopia, Slowbro showed an awed expression, and I saw his particular eyes light up when I mentioned that Utopia would raise the potential of any Pokemon that entered it for the first time. Slowbro no doubt realized what that meant for his own group, and his reaction showed the reason why he might have unlocked the alpha gene if it was not purely coincidental.

Anyway, I pat him on his belly, because his shoulders and head were out of reach, and told him to follow along so that I could show him around Utopia since that was why we came inside in the first place. Naturally, I also checked out his status sheet when I pat his belly.

'Species: Slowbro

Gender: Male

Type: Water, Psychic

Potential: Light Purple

Stage: Gold-Stage (high)

(Genetic) Modifier: Alpha Gene

Abilities: Own Tempo, Regenerator

Talents: Natural Leader

Affinities: Water, Psychic'

I was surprised to see that his potential had actually risen to light purple since I had honestly thought he would end up with a blue shade. I was not all that surprised that he was at the (high) gold stage, and the same was true when I got the confirmation that he had unlocked the Alpha Gene since I had already guessed that to be the case.

Still, it was great news, and with the 35% overall bonus the modifier granted Slowbro, his racial value went from 490 to 661.5, which catapulted Slowbro's racial value (BS) past the pseudo-legendary boundary, and to fourth place even among my Pokemon.

Only Bruce/Golbat, Stan/Gyarados, and Moka/Crobat, in that order, had a higher racial value than Slowbro. However, the difference between Bruce and either of the other three was massive. Still, Bruce was an anomaly, and Slowbro's new RV was impressive enough.

I was naturally super tempted to have Slowbro join my team, and in the face of such a modifier having to raise him until Stage 7 or even 8 to attain light aurora potential was more than worth it. I also did not mind that he, like Gwen/Gardevoir, would no doubt need more time to finish his upcoming limit-breaking phase. It was honestly a small price compared to the advantage his modifier would bring him during and after his eventual breakthrough.

Anyway, I showed him around the original/upper side of Utopia since that was where I placed his newly generated habitat, and Slowbro absolutely loved the environment. Even though he did not get to see much since I had promised that we would be back outside within a few minutes.

Still, the newly generated Slowbro habitat was naturally one of the areas I showed him, and he was doubly impressed with it since it was perfect for him and his species. He practically vibrated when I told him that this was where he and his group would stay if they really ended up joining.

When I added that the habitat would expand in size once it became necessary or if their strength improved his eyes began to literally shine. Similar to Mankey's case, I decided to wait for a few weeks before broaching the subject of me officially capturing him so that he and his kin could first enjoy the marvels of Utopia for a while.

Doing that also gave my Pokemon some time to prep him for the occasion. Still, that was best left for future me. In the present, we went back out, and honestly, after having witnessed the "birth" of Alpha Slowbro, the fact that the Quagsire refused me did not bother me anymore.

Nonetheless, I did enjoy their reaction when they saw a close to 4-meter-tall Slowbro suddenly appear close to them. Seeing the Quagsire that refused me having to crane its neck/head to gaze up at Slowbro in disbelief was quite satisfying. Not that anyone else was better off than it, regardless of their species. The Slowbro/Slowpoke could not believe the size of their fellow family member either.

Still, it was interesting to see the effects of Natural Leader appear as soon as we appeared in front of the other members of Slowbro's line, at least I thought that was it. It was a subtle thing but the way the other Slowbro behaved once the alpha approached them made me think that it might be related to the talent that came with the alpha gene.

Well, it might have also been them being intimidated by Slowbro's new size. Regardless, in the end, they acted respectfully towards Slowbro, and every single member of their group chose to defer to Alpha Slowbro's decision, so when he said that they were migrating to Utopia, the other Slowbro and the Slowpoke complied without a fuss.

I was a bit surprised that neither of them asked Slowbro how he had suddenly more than doubled in size, but I thought they might be keeping their curiosity in check since others were present as well. Not that that made much of a difference since Quagsire actually brazenly came up to Slowbro and inquired how he turned into a giant.

Thankfully, Slowbro used the cover story I prepared for him and said that he ended up growing after eating a fruit we stumbled upon that mysteriously emerged on the mysterious island I brought him to. It sounded rather suspicious, but this was a magical world with weird stuff happening every so often, so all Pokemon present were simply in wonder at that. They began to marvel at what kind of place could produce such a fruit.

Nonetheless, after perfunctorily answering Quagsire, Slowbro turned to me and requested that I move him as well as all his kin to the mystery island/Utopia. I agreed, and after confirming that there was nothing they had to/wanted to bring along, I moved all Slowpoke/Slowbro that had gathered around us to Utopia, leaving Mothra, Horus, and me alone with the Quagsire.

While thought stream no.2 noted that Slowbro's grouping consisted of 146 Slowpoke and 13 Slowbro, I came face to face with Quagsire, who studied my face intensely. We stayed like that for around half a minute, before Quagsire put on an indulgent smile and asked me if the offer to pay a visit to the mystery island/Utopia was still on the table.

I thought about it for a bit before declaring that he/Quagsire could only take a look if his whole group migrated there. The ball was now on my side, and I was no longer as keen on getting them to join Utopia, so Quagsire had to play according to my rules if he wanted to enter Utopia. After all, Slowbro had already proven that I had told the truth about the mystery island/Utopia.

Well, Quagsire proved that temptation/greed could turn even nice species/Pokemon aggressive if the stake was big enough. Quagsire turned a bit aggressive and "asked" me to bring it to the island without agreeing to my condition.

Mothra and Horus did not take kindly to its behavior and consequently warned him to take heed of his behavior. Their display of might was enough to intimidate not only the one in front of me but all Quagsire and Wooper in the area.

In the end, their action was enough to snap Quagsire out of it, and it actually apologized to me/us, before excusing itself for a moment, which it used to convene a meeting with some of the other Quagsire. Their debate became rather animated, and by the end, it became obvious that their discussion had resulted in their group splitting in two.

Close to half of the 25 Quagsire that partook in the discussion sided with the Quagsire I communicated with, while the other 14 sided against that one. The leaders of the respective groups shouted for everyone to gather behind them, and my group watched as all the Quagsire and Wooper in the underground came/pond moved in their direction before splitting up and converging around the leaders of the two sides/groups.

As far as I could see, once no more Pokemon joined either side, the two sides were roughly equal in size, with each group being about 800 members strong. There was about one more minute where nothing was said before the two leaders explained why exactly they had asked them to gather.

Once the explanation was done, some shifts happened on each side, though the opposing side ended up gaining quite a few more members from the supporting side than they lost to it. Once the side changes stopped, the pro-migration side had less than 600 members, while the other side was about 1000 Pokemon strong.

I was honestly surprised at the rather democratic way the Quagsire had handled the whole situation. Conversely, the pro-migration group leader coming up to me with his group following behind him and asking my Pokemon, ergo Mothra as well as Horus, to fully and openly display their might for all Pokemon following him to see was something I was much more accustomed to.

I knew that he requested that to show his followers our might and to give them a sense of security to prove that they were not making a false decision by following him instead of staying at their current home. We obliged with his request. In fact, I even went beyond that and called out Stan/Gyarados, Tiamat/Milotic, and Manami/Lapras so that they could join Mothra and Horus in the power display.

All five of them displayed their full power, and it was rather impressive. Their performance certainly impressed everyone present, and even the boss Quagsire seemed to not have expected that kind of display since I could feel and see its shock. Either way, it turned around and asked its group if they were convinced.

The answer it received was pretty much unanimous, and the leader turned back to me with a satisfied nod. It then asked me to move them all to the mystery island, and after they lined up as I asked them to, I relocated them to Utopia, leaving me/us alone with the 1000ish Quagsire/Wooper that had chosen to remain here.

That group seemed to be slightly discontent with me seeing how they were all frowning/staring at me. Though none of them dared to act out of line with Mothra, Horus, Stan, Tiamat, and Manami by my side. Still, seeing how I was not welcome, I/we left the underground cave/pond, and since I had completed my target I made my way back to the border camp.

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