97 CH35 (96), Dew City
The next morning I had Xatu Teleport me to our last stop so that I could finish the last 10 km before Dew City. After I called out Nyx, I decided to check them both, since it had been some time that I had checked their status.
'Name: None
Species: Xatu
Gender: Male
Age: 3+ years
Type: Psychic, Flying/Air
Potential: Light Blue (98.9%) -> Blue (6.42%)
Abilities: Keen Eye, Synchronize, Early Bird
Talents: Moderately increased energy sensitivity
Affinities: Psychic, Flying, Ghost (trace)
Bond: Mikail (weak)
--
Parameters:
Stage: Bronze Stage (high)
Vitality: A -> S
Strength: A -> S
Endurance: S -> SS
Agility: S -> SS
Energy Capacity: S -> SS
Energy Density: S -> SS
--
Resistance: Grass (Minor), Fighting (Major), Psychic (Minor)
Weaknesses: Electric (Minor), Ice (Minor), Rock (Minor), Ghost (Minor), Dark (Minor)
--
Condition: Healthy
--
Masteries: Psionic E. Manipulation (Proficient) -> (Advanced), Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Beginner)
--
Techniques: Leer (Proficient), Peck (Proficient), Night Shade (Proficient), Gust (Proficient), Confuse Ray (Proficient), Psycho Shift (Proficient), Wish (Proficient), Light Screen (Proficient), Reflect (Proficient), Cosmic Power (Proficient), Calm Mind (Proficient) -> (Advanced), Stored Power (Advanced), Protect (Advanced), Air Slash (Advanced), Psychic (Advanced), Shadow Ball (Advanced), Teleport (Advanced) -> (Mastered)'
Looking at Xatu's current status filled me with pride. The little guy had come a long way from the little Natu that I had met a few years ago. His potential had been boosted to blue during their time in Honey City, and since then, they had managed to increase it by about another 6%. The Psychic Seeds they had obtained played a significant part in it.
Xatu's parameters had already been trained high enough for him to gain the 2nd stage potential boost (80%) upon breakthrough since the average of his parameters was SS, but I was not planning to let him breakthrough yet. I had made him break through to the bronze stage prematurely, but I planned to have him gain the full potential boost this time around.
His moves saw no big difference because I had Xatu focus on only 2 moves outside of battle, which were Calm Mind and Teleport. Calm Mind was always useful for psychic-type Pokemon and had reached advanced mastery. I do not believe that I need to elaborate on the importance of Teleport.
He successfully reached the mastered grade for the move while teleporting me and my parents last weekend. Apparently, the added difficulty of teleporting multiple people for great distances helped his mastery increase. The increase in mastery of his psychic-type moves allowed his manipulation of psionic energy to increase as well.
He had reached an advanced mastery of psionic energy, which was pretty impressive. Those were the obvious changes to his status, but he had also gained quite a bit of battle experience since we started our trip to the coast. This was important, otherwise, he would be unable to utilize his full strength when necessary.
Anyway, Nyx had made good progress since the beginning of our trip as well.
'Name: Nyx
Species: Eevee
Gender: Female
Age: 1+ years
Type: Normal
Potential: Blue (26.9%) -> (38.21%)
Abilities: Run Away, Adaptability
Talents: Stealthy
Affinities: Normal/Neutral
Bond: Mikail (weak)
--
Parameters:
Stage: Bronze Stage (mid)
Vitality: E -> D
Strength: E -> D
Endurance: E -> D
Agility: D -> C
Energy Capacity: E -> D
Energy Density: E -> C
--
Immunity: Ghost
Resistance: None
Weaknesses: Fighting (Minor)
--
Condition: Healthy, Happy
--
Masteries: Neutral Energy Manipulation (Beginner)
--
Techniques: Growl (Beginner), Tackle (Beginner), Tail Whip (Beginner), Sand Attack (Beginner), Helping Hand (Beginner), Take Down (Beginner), Endure (Beginner) -> (Proficient), Baby-Doll Eyes (Proficient), Bite (Proficient), Copycat (Proficient), Baton Pass (Proficient), Dig (Proficient), Focus Energy (Proficient), Charm (Proficient), Shadow Ball (Beginner) -> (Advanced), Quick Attack (Advanced), Swift (Advanced), Iron Tail (Advanced)'
Her potential had increased by more than 10%, and while she had not reached the (high) bronze stage yet, she was not too far from achieving it. Nyx had increased all her parameters by a single value during this time, and I estimated that she should be able to reach the (high) bronze stage after another 2-3 months of training and battles.
Once she reached the (high) bronze stage, I would give her the go-ahead for her evolution. This meant that she would be a (high) bronze-stage Umbreon in 2-3 months, which was really impressive considering that she was less than 2 years old.
I had her focus solely on Shadow Ball during move training, and thanks to that she managed to raise it by 2 grades, to advanced mastery. All the battles she participated in helped her improve her mastery over Endure to proficient.
Satisfied with what I had seen, I started to whistle while walking towards Dew City. Nyx was hopping around happily beside me to the "heavenly" sounds I was producing. It took me an hour of leisurely walking to see the periphery of Dew City.
From the trainers I had battled on the way here, I had learned some interesting information, besides Dew City being a Tier 5 City. The most important thing I had heard was probably that Dew City had a Minor Water-type Gym and a Flying-type Hall. Additionally, it had a Flying-type Club.
Compared to the Grass Club in Leaf City that I could not take part in, because I didn't have any grass-type Pokemon, I could register for the Flying Club. Xatu, Pidgey, and Butterfree were enough for now, even if I couldn't use Mothra for this club as well.
I was sure that I would have more flying-type Pokemon, by the time I reached a high enough rank to need more. Anyway, once I was about to enter the city, I recalled Xatu and entered with Nyx by my side. We just kept walking around for about 2 hours to talk to pedestrians and to get an overview of the city as well.
While talking with the people on the streets, I learned stuff like, which ones were the best restaurants and where were they located? Which store has the best prices and which has the best selection? Where were the best places to rest and relax? Where was the Gym, Hall, and Club located? Important things like that.
After getting a relative overview of the place, I decided to check out the Gym first. After learning that the current Gym Leader was a woman called Mera, that had a Seaking with the King/Queen gene as her Ace, I asked her if there was a photo of the Seaking I could look at.
I was understandably curious what the Seaking was looking like. As if she was prepared, the receptionist said that they were selling photos of the Gym Leader and her Pokemon, since she was pretty popular. I paid 20 Poke for a photo that showed the Gym Leader together with her Seaking, which was pretty expensive in my opinion, but I was curious.
Looking at the picture I could understand why she was popular. Mera had long, red hair. A really pretty face, and a perfectly sculpted body. Her curves looked just the right amount of big to not look too big, and she seemed pretty tall as well.
A short question later I learned that she was 178 cm tall. In short, she looked like the woman of most men's dreams. I would give her a 10/10. After I was done looking at Mera, I focused on her Seaking, which I had totally not ignored because of her.
Just wow! Where do I begin to describe the thing? First of all, after comparing Mera and her Seaking, I could guess that it was about as long as her, but because of its width, it was bigger. Its body was not as round as that of a regular Seaking but overall still pretty round. The biggest difference was its horn and its colors. The black stripes and spots that were on regular Seaking were purple instead. Additionally, the part of the body that was normally white, was royal blue instead.
The position of the horn was slightly shifted upwards, and two much smaller horns were added below it. It looked much more impressive than a regular Seaking, and I was pretty tempted to get myself one as well. This was the influence the upgrade version of Mothra's royal gene had on Pokemon species, and I was impressed by it.
I had forgotten to check out all the modifiers I had inside my knowledge sea after Mothra had unlocked her royal gene. However, I made a mental note to look them and their effects up later. After I put away the photo, I asked the receptionist about the process necessary for the challenge, and she told me that it depended on what kind of Badge I wanted.
Apparently, even the qualification process changed according to the difficulty one chose. Those that wanted a 1-Star Badge had to beat a single Gym-trainer who had Pokemon ranging from the (low) iron stage to the (low) bronze stage, depending on the number of your Badges. The battle ranged from 2 vs 2 to 4 vs 4 according to the number of Badges as well.
The Gym Leader battle ranged from 2 vs 2 to 4 vs 4 as well depending on the number of Badges the challenger has. The strength of the alliance-provided team depends on that as well, ranging from the (mid) iron stage to (mid) bronze stages.
For a 2-Star Badge one had to beat 2 Gym-trainers with (mid) iron- to (mid) bronze stage Pokemon. The battle went from 2 vs 2 to 4 vs 4 according to the number of Badges as well. The Gym Leader used some of her own (high) iron stage to (mid) bronze stage Pokemon for the battle, which ranged from 2 vs 2 to 5 vs 5 depending on the number of Badges the challenger possessed.
For the 3-Star Badge, the number of Gym-trainers increased by one, while their Pokemon ranged from (high) iron- to (high) bronze stage. The versus battles stayed the same. The Gym Leader used some of her (mid) bronze to (low) silver-stage Pokemon for the battle, which ranged from 3 vs 3 to 6 vs 6. This was apparently how all Minor Gyms handled the challenges.
Frankly, the difference between what I just learned about Minor Gyms, and what I had learned about the procedure of Viridian Gym was enormous as far as the difficulty of the challenge went. Still, it was kinda obvious, since the Viridian Gym was part of the senior circuit, and Minor Gyms were part of the junior circuit. Besides, the Viridian Gym had given me the impression that it was hard even among Major Gyms.
I briefly wondered if I should give it a try, but the receptionist rained on my parade by pointing out that it was impossible to do the Gym challenge anonymously or with an alias. So, I thanked her for her time and left after looking around the building for a short while longer.
After leaving the Gym I made my way to a restaurant a few of the pedestrians had recommended. The restaurant was called "The Sea's Jewels", and it offered all kinds of seafood that catered to everyone. It had regular fish dishes in the lower-end price range and Pokemon dishes in the higher-end price range.
I ordered the "Golden Goldeen" for myself and the "Seaking Special" for Nyx. I also ordered 16 "Seaking Specials" for takeaway for everyone else, after asking if Pokemon of their species could eat it. Initially, they did not want to accept my takeaway order, because they apparently did not provide that service, but I managed to charm them into doing it anyway.
The taste was awesome, and the bill was "awesome" as well. Especially since I agreed to pay 20% more for the takeaway. After I paid the 9400, sorry, 11.280 Poke bill, I made my way to the Flying Hall next.
I checked out what kind of offers they had besides the whole challenge thing, and I was positively surprised that they offered care lessons, as well as some flying move guidance. I had seen stores/places that offered such courses as well, but the quality of the courses offered by an official Hall had to be better, at least I thought so.
I decided to make use of that for my flying types, mostly for Pidgey, since the others had their hands full with their current move set. I registered Pidgey for the Roost course and paid the 10.000 Poke fee. That was okay from what I heard about TM prices.
Afterward, we were guided to the Hall trainer that specialized in teaching that move. We spent around 3 hours with the guy, and at the end of it, he told us to return tomorrow for another session. Move courses compromised of 3 sessions that were 3 hours long and generally, that timeframe was enough for the Hall trainers to teach the move.
Still, in case the Pokemon did not succeed, one had to register for another course. However, if the Pokemon managed to learn it earlier they kept coaching, helping the Pokemon improve their mastery.
After I left the Flying Hall, I still had around 2 hours until dinner, so I decided to visit the Flying Club next. I talked to the receptionist and as expected the format was the same as in the other clubs. The first 3 trainer ranks were pretty different, and the ranks after that were the same as the in all clubs, just with a "Sky" in front of the title.
So the first 3 ranks were Bird Keeper (Rookies), Bird Collector (Juniors), and Bird Tamer (Seniors). After that came Sky Noble (Experts) and so on. Since I had enough flying types, I decided to register under an alias. I used Yuno for this identity.
Once I had registered, I decided to sign up for a battle. Since I was a newbie, I started as a Bird Keeper, which meant my opponent was pretty weak. He used a (mid) iron-stage Spearow, so I had Pidgey battle him, which she won pretty easily.
Seeing her fast win, I decided to sign up for another fight. That one was against a young girl that used a (high) iron-stage Taillow, but Pidgey won that one without too many problems as well. After that battle, I decided to leave the club, since the time for dinner was approaching. Once I was outside, I called out Xatu and had him Teleport me home.
-----------------------------
***A Big Thank You to Charles Yonts for becoming a Patron***
***A Big Thank You to coldpyr0 for becoming a Patron***
Advertising plug-in:
Help me stay motivated.
patreo*n/Azrail93
