610 CH83 (605), Rangers (5)
'Name: Po
Species: Pangoro
Gender: Male
Age: 10+ years
-
Type: Fighting, Dark
Potential: Light Aurora (75.78%)*
{Light Aurora (21.41%) -> (21.57%) -> Deep Purple ( 91.57%) -> Light Aurora (75.78%)}'
Well, his physical changes had already implied it, but Po had suffered a potential loss during his breakthrough which prevented his potential from advancing to aurora, which basically confirmed that he had unlocked a modifier of some kind. Still, as I said, his physical changes had indicated as much, so no real surprise there.
Nonetheless, potential loss or not, seeing how Po was missing less than 25% for the next step, he was practically guaranteed to attain aurora potential during his next breakthrough. Well, unless he ended up unlocking something again, but we'd cross that bridge when we got there.
Still, regardless of whether the gene he unlocked was some alternate shiny gene or an upgrade to the shiny gene, according to the 30% potential loss Po suffered, the modifier still fell under the category of a level 1 gene, which meant that the modifier provided a maximum overall boost of 25%. Moving on to the next section shed some light on the matter.
'(Genetic) Modifiers: Lustrous*'
This was the first time I/we came across this particular modifier, but there was no doubt that it was what caused Po's color change, and going by its title I was inclined to believe that it might be the upgrade of the shiny gene whose existence I was theorizing. A quick look at its description confirmed that assumption.
I was sure that it was not just a simple alternate shiny title since the overall boost it provided was 25%, which was 10% higher than the one granted by the shiny gene. I was honestly relieved that the Lustrous gene did not follow the example of the ancient and royal gene because if it had, the losses would not have justified the gains, at least not entirely.
Had the Lustrous gene followed their example and doubled its boost compared to the shiny gene, it would have granted its holder a 30% boost instead of 25%, which would have pushed the gene's classification to Level 2. That would have meant that unlocking it would have cost 60% since Po would have unlocked the gene from the get-go without a base to upgrade.
Now, others might disagree, but a mere 5% boost increase in exchange for a 30% "price" increase was not worth it. At least the others that ended up with level two modifiers such as Mothra/Butterfree and Moka/Crobat enjoyed a 50% boost in return for the 60%/75% they had paid in total to gain that modifier, which in my opinion was much more reasonable.
Anyway, the Lustrous gene's 25% overall boost put it on the same "level" as the royal as well as ancient genes, and I made sure to share the good news with Po and the others. Po did not mind the fact that he did not attain aurora potential. He was quite happy with his new gene, and everyone marveled at the fact that Po had unlocked a modifier none of us had heard about before.
I listened to their discussions while looking through the rest of Po's status sheet. The next few sections remained unchanged, right up until his parameter section.
'Parameters:
Stage: Gold Stage (mid)*
Vitality: C*
Strength: A*
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: D*
Energy Density: D*'
We already knew his starting point due to the undulations he was releasing, and I had to say that it was unfortunate that the boost from his new Lustrous gene was not enough to push him to a (high) golden start. Looking at his starting parameters, it was obvious that it had been a close thing.
4 of his 6 parameters started out a grade higher than they would have without the modifier, and he currently only needed one more "upgrade" to advance to the (high) gold stage. Considering the available options, we would obviously focus on his agility for that, and I honestly did not think it would take all that long for him to take the next step.
Still, putting that aside for now, I moved on to his type relation section. I was willing to admit that I was hoping that Po got lucky with this one, and I could not help but be happy when I saw that Po did get lucky.
'Immunity:
Psychic
-
Resistance:
Dark (Major), Rock (Minor), Ghost (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Fairy (Major), Flying (Minor)
-
Standardized:
Fighting*'
The fighting type resistance he had been training for the last 2ish years benefited from his breakthrough and got finalized, getting rid of Po's weaknesses, or at least one of them. He still has two more of those, and compared to the fighting one, his (Major) weakness to Fairy-type energy presented a bigger problem.
Dealing with (Major) weaknesses was a major pain, and I would have to make sure to deal with his (Minor) flying-type weakness first before we could start anything major. Regardless, everyone who heard about any successful standardization was extremely happy, and Po was no exception.
While everyone was congratulating Po on getting out of being beaten up for a while, I finished up the rest of his status sheet.
'Techniques:
-
Novice:
Revenge (new), Foul Play (new)
-
Beginner:
Throat Chop (new), Snarl (new)
-
Proficient:
Parting Shot (++), Rest (+), Dig (+), Scary Face (+), Endure (new), Close Combat (new), Dragon Claw (new)
-
Advanced:
Drain Punch (+), Thunder Punch (+), Fire Punch (+), Ice Punch (+)'
He was only a single fighting type move away from raising his corresponding manipulation mastery to the advanced level, so Po and I would have to discuss whether he would focus on that for a while, or if he would focus on Dragon Claw first. Dragon Claw, like Thunder Punch and Co profited a lot from Po's Convert talent, giving him long-range options of various types. That they looked quite cool was a bonus.
Anyway, once I was done with Po's status sheet, I brought out the things we needed for the party, and we celebrated Po's breakthrough as well as his luck. The next morning I left Utopia since it was Arcday which meant that a new period of patrols had arrived. After meeting up with Senior Ranger Elisabeth in front of the Ranger HQ, we made our way out of Rose City and headed for our new patrol grounds, where we spent the next three weeks until our next break.
The first week we were in some kind of turbo mode, going through the whole area in just 4 days, which was around a fourth of our usual time. Once Elisabeth had gotten a picture of the whole area, she told me the changes that had happened since she was last here. Some Pokemon/groups had moved or rather had been forced to move, while others were gone entirely.
There was a small flight of Swellow/Taillow that had settled in, which was a bit unusual since this area was outside their usual relocation zone. Swellow/Taillow usually preferred to settle down in the western part of Kanto, or the central part outside of that. I mean sure, they could fly and could hence be seen all across the northern continent, but the eastern part of Kanto was not among their first choice for locations to settle down.
This naturally roused my curiosity a bit, so on Mewday of week 2, which was week 4 as far as the month was concerned, I investigated why the flight had chosen to settle down in this area. Uncovering the reason did not take me all that long, and honestly, the reason why they stopped here made perfect sense. It was because the leading Swellow along with a not insignificant portion of the flight got hurt in a confrontation against a murder of Fearow/Spearow close to this place, so they stopped in this area to recover from those wounds.
As for why they stuck to this place after they recovered from their wounds, that was a bit funny, at least in my opinion, though Ranger Elisabeth seemed to find it sweet instead. They stuck around because the leader fell in love with one of the Pidgeotto living here, and he was trying to win her over. Seeing how the leader insisted on sticking around, the rest of the flight did as well.
Anyway, that interesting bit aside, we dutifully continued our patrol and I made sure to keep an eye on the Pokemon we came across to see if someone fit for recruitment was among them. On Kyoday, two hours after lunch, I got some pretty good news from Igneel/Charizard, who managed to advance to the (high) silver stage during his training session.
Unfortunately, I was unable to congratulate him in "person" since I still had 9 days before I could enter Utopia once more, but I made sure to do so through my earth clone, which was the best substitute I could muster. I naturally made sure that my "absence" did not stop Igneel's party from happening, and I was there through my earth clone, so one could say I was not truly "absent" after all.
Nonetheless, Igneel's case did not end up being the only one. On Grouday of week 3 of our patrol (week 5 of the month), 1 day before our break, we found out that Freyja/Lopunny was done with her limit-breaking phase. When I told her that, Freyja insisted on waiting until tomorrow since that was when my week-long break would begin, which would allow me to be present in person for her breakthrough.
I agreed to her request, though I had my suspicion that she did not want to get her pre-breakthrough and post-breakthrough hug from my earth clone. Jokes aside, after we returned to Rose City on Arcday, which happened to be the last day of the month, I entered Utopia as soon as I was alone.
My Pokemon were already waiting for me, and once the greetings were out of the way, we headed towards Freyja's place. I naturally did not forget to make the announcement over UtopiaFM before that. We followed our standard pre-breakthrough protocol, following which Freyja initiated her breakthrough.
She did light up a bit during the process, but that was normal since her potential was slated to advance to light aurora, though the light did get a bit brighter midway through her breakthrough, so there was a chance that she had unlocked a talent of some kind.
Anyway, once her (mid) silver undulations began to spread, I made my way over to Freyja, who was curiously checking out her body. I hugged her and congratulated her on reaching the silver stage, before making some room for Melinda/Mienshao and Po, who had been following right behind me. The others joined in as well, and while they were busy, I took a look at Freyja's status sheet.
'Name: Freyja
Species: Lopunny
Gender: Female
Age: 7+ years
-
Type: Normal, Fighting
Potential: Light Aurora (77.34%)*
{Deep Purple (93.71%) -> (94.68%) -> Light Aurora (77.34%)}'
Seeing the percentage behind her new light aurora potential, I could not help but smile since she was not far off from the next step, which was guaranteed to happen during her next breakthrough unless Freyja ended up unlocking a level 2 modifier. Still, it was something she could easily afford since she could simply attain aurora potential during her breakthrough after that.
Anyway, as usual, achieving light aurora potential meant that she had gained a third ability. I could freely admit that I had been wondering if she would get the ability of her mega form due to the similarities between the aura variation and the mega evolution, or some other mysterious ability that was hidden in its genes/body since Klutz did not exist. Looking at her ability section, I got the answer to that.
'Abilities: Cute Charm, Limber, Scrappy*'
Unfortunately, it seemed like I would not be able to find out if there was a 3rd ability hidden somewhere within Lopunny since she had unlocked Scrappy after all. Well, admittedly Scrappy was not a bad ability to have, and in Freyja's case, it was actually a pretty good ability to have.
Being able to hit ghost types with normal and fighting energy may not seem all that of a great ability if one could just use moves of other types instead, but not only did Freyja currently have a rather severe lack of those, but due to her typing, normal and fighting moves received a STAB bonus, making them stronger than any other move she could have used instead.
That it also helped her against Intimidate was a nice bonus, though I was curious if Scrappy would work against other similar talents such as Enji's Alpha's Presence. I would have Enji and Freyja test that at some point after the party.
Anyway, aside from her new ability, it appeared that Freyja unlocked a talent as well, and from its title alone, I would say that it seemed to be a talent derived from her Limber ability.
'Talents: Supple*'
Looking at Supple's description, I had to say it was a pretty good talent that would be useful, and while I would not rate Supple on the same level as the top talents we had seen, it was still a great one since it allowed Freyja to do a multitude of things.
Supple not only allowed Freyja to ignore recoil damage but also prevented her from flinching as well as from freezing up after a demanding physical action on her part, such as Giga Impact, which I would make sure she learned after this.
If Supple's effect had been limited to just that it would have been a pretty good talent, but it was the next bit that made the talent a really great one. Supple also reduced any physical damage Freyja took by 20% by allowing part of the damage to disperse across her whole body through her supple muscles.
At first sight, the talent seemed to have some overlapping points with Melinda/Mienshao's Flowing Like Water talent, but there were obvious differences, especially with the last bit.
Regardless, I shared the good news with Freyja as well as the others, and predictably she was very happy to hear that she had gained such a good talent. Everyone made sure to congratulate her on her luck, and I continued to look through the rest of her status sheet.
There were no further changes until her parameter section, which in itself had no surprises for me as well since her undulations had already revealed her starting point, though as always I made sure to check out the starting partners as well.
'Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)*
Vitality: E
Strength: C
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Energy Capacity: E
Energy Density: D'
Freyja had a nearly perfect average start as far as the (mid) silver stage was concerned, and looking at her starting parameters, it would take some time for her to advance to the (high) silver stage. Well, considering her potential and RV, it should not take that long since she was only at the silver stage.
The rest of her status sheet after that remained unchanged as well, so I stopped focusing on it and began taking out everything we needed for Freyja's party, though I did not forget to make a mental note that learning Giga Impact should be Freyja's priority for the next while.
'Techniques:
-
Novice:
Circle Throw (new)
-
Beginner:
Protect (new), Low Sweep (new), Low Kick (new), Close Combat (new)
-
Proficient:
High Jump Kick (new), Force Palm (new), Drain Punch (new)
-
Advanced:
Mach Punch (new)
-
Mastered:
Aura Sphere (+)'
---------------------
---------------------
This part is purely to display Po and Freyja's status screen in one piece and does not count toward the word count.
'Name: Po
Species: Pangoro
Gender: Male
Age: 10+ years
-
Type: Fighting, Dark
Potential: Light Aurora (75.78%)
(Genetic) Modifiers: Lustrous
Abilities: Iron Fist, Mold Breaker, Scrappy
Talents: Convert
Affinities: Fighting, Dark
-
Bond: Mikail (strong)
Quirks: Mischievous (benign)
----
Parameters:
Stage: Gold Stage (mid)
Vitality: C
Strength: A
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: D
Energy Density: D
----
Immunity:
Psychic
-
Resistance:
Dark (Major), Rock (Minor), Ghost (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Fairy (Major), Flying (Minor)
-
Standardized:
Fighting
----
Condition: Healthy, Delighted, Thrilled
----
Masteries:
Fighting Energy Manipulation (Advanced)
Dark Energy Manipulation (Proficient)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
None
-
Novice:
Entrainment, Revenge, Foul Play
-
Beginner:
Stomping Tantrum, Protect, Throat Chop, Snarl
-
Proficient:
Leer, Tackle, Taunt, Karate Chop, Low Kick, Bulk Up, Circle Throw, Low Sweep, Payback, Crunch, Bullet Punch, Work Up, Slash, Vital Throw, Body Slam, Hammer Arm, Mega Punch, Brick Break, Parting Shot, Rest, Dig, Scary Face, Endure, Close Combat, Dragon Claw
-
Advanced:
Arm Trust, Comet Punch, Sky Uppercut, Night Slash, Drain Punch, Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, Ice Punch
-
Mastered:
N/A'
---------------------
'Name: Freyja
Species: Lopunny
Gender: Female
Age: 7+ years
-
Type: Normal, Fighting
Potential: Light Aurora (77.34%)
Modifiers: Aura-Variant
Abilities: Cute Charm, Limber, Scrappy
Talents: Supple
Affinities: Normal, Aura, Fighting
-
Bond: Mikail (weak)
Quirk: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Silver Stage (mid)
Vitality: E
Strength: C
Endurance: D
Agility: C
Energy Capacity: E
Energy Density: D
----
Immunity:
Ghost
-
Resistance:
Bug (Minor), Rock (Minor), Dark (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Fighting (Minor), Flying (Minor), Psychic (Minor), Fairy (Minor)
-
Standardized:
None
----
Condition: Healthy, Excited, Delighted
----
Masteries:
Normal E. Manipulation (Proficient)
Aura Manipulation (Proficient)
Fighting Energy Manipulation (Proficient)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
N/A
-
Novice:
Entrainment, Circle Throw
-
Beginner:
Splash, Flatter, Double Edge, Protect, Low Sweep, Low Kick, Close Combat
-
Proficient:
Pound, Swift, Foresight, Defense Curl, Baby-Doll Eyes, Charm, Draining Kiss, Double Kick, Double Hit, Endure, Jump Kick, Baton Pass, Headbutt, Agility, Bounce, Healing Wish, Play Rough, Dizzy Punch, High Jump Kick, Force Palm, Drain Punch
-
Advanced:
Power-Up Punch, Quick Attack, Mach Punch
-
Mastered:
Aura Sphere'
-----------------------------
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