[A/N: It has been a while since I have had a conversation here in Webnovel. A lot of things happened in these past two months. I know I have not been consistent in my updates recently but there are reasons for it.
My country went through a Genz revolution, I tried to shift to a new job but was fired because I couldn't even step in because of the destruction the revolution caused. Then I had to work really hard to get a new job which I did.
Then I had to find a new place for my new job because the job place was quite far from my previous place. Finally, I am settled in a new place with a new job. It had been a rollercoaster for me.
So, I hope that you will start to support me like always and the chapters will be regular from now on.
Please subscribe to my pa-treon channel. Pat-reon is the only thing that motivates me to write more. Its progress has declined since I have been so inconsistent for the past few months. The link to the pat-reon is bellow:
https://www.--patreon.com/c/TheSilverPrince1
delete the '--' after 'www.'
Pat-reon has more than 60 advanced chapters and you can also access some short stories related to the novel. Eternely hoping for you support.
Now, for the chapter...]
---
Axel came running to see a glowing Aron. It was filled with white light, and the white light was more intense than Axel had imagined. For some reason, this looked like a rank-up process from rare rank to elemental rank.
The aura that Aron was flaunting was over the top. What had happened? Still, it was good news. So, he was eagerly waiting in anticipation. Aron's size started to grow as the light surrounding it started to expand.
After 7 minutes, the glow finally dimmed and….
ROOOOARR!
In its complete glory, Axel and the rest could see Lairon. It appeared larger than its regular counterparts, and its body had a slight greenish shine. It seemed to have been mutated in some way.
Axel's eyes lit up after seeing this. A mutation in Pokemon during evolution or rank-up was not unheard of. It was rare, but there were cases of such a thing happening. One of the prime examples was his own Shedinja. It was mutated when it evolved.
But not all of the mutations were good. Some of them were extremely bad and disadvantageous to Pokemon. Axel didn't know if this mutation was good for Lairon.
As he stepped closer,
ROOOARR!!!
Lairon gave a small grunt to Axel, telling him to step back. It seemed that the rush of evolution had clouded its judgment. Axel could take control of Lairon from other Pokemon, but he decided to give it some time and waited.
Lairon closed its eyes and started to grunt, shaking its head. It was trying its best to control the rush of evolution. It ran ahead and smacked the trunk of the tree.
BANG!!!
BANG!!!
For some reason, the tree was extremely strong to withstand the charge of Lairon. Finally, it calmed down.
Axel went near to it and asked, "So, how do you feel, buddy?"
It looked at Axel and gave a low shout.
Rarrrrr!
Saying that it was okay.
Let me see how much you have changed. Axel opened the status page of Lairon.
---
Pokemon's name: Lairon
Pokemon Nickname: N/A
Pokemon Rank: common rank
Pokemon Tying: Steel/Rock
Ability: Sturdy (45%)
Hidden Ability: Heavy metal (50%)
Potential: Red (Advanced)
Health: 5000/5000 Attack: F
Agility: F Defense: F
Sp. Atk: F Sp. Def: F
Moves:
Active move: Head Smash (C) (Lvl 27), Iron Head (C ) (Lvl 29), Autotomize (G) (Lvl 31), Stone edge (U) (Lvl 19), Metal sound (C) (Lvl 23), Bullet seed (G) (Lvl 38), Iron defense © (Lvl 25), Earthquake (U) (Lvl 16), Heavy slam (Lvl 1)
Passive move: Greater shield (Stage I) Grassy field (Stage I)
Hidden Power: Grass (65%)
---
To his surprise, Aron had learned a new passive move. Its health had massively increased to 5000. 5000 health points for a common rank Pokemon was unheard of. It had also learned the move 'Heavy Slam', but what interested Axel was the passive move 'Grassy Field'.
---
Grassy Field (Lairon)
Stage I: A grass-type aura surrounds the user. This aura becomes active when the user is fighting against an opponent. It absorbs a particular portion of damage for the user. The more damage it absorbs, the thicker the grassy aura becomes.
---
The passive move was impressive.
'This must be due to those mineral rocks that it had been eating.'
There were no other explanations for it. Even the hidden power typing mastery had been raised to 65%. That was huge for a common-rank Pokemon.
But the passive move was very confusing for Axel. The description stated that the grassy aura would become thicker and thicker as it absorbed more damage. But how would that work? If it continued to be thicker, there must come a point when Lairon may not be able to move due to the weight of the grassy aura.
'Was the passive move incomplete?', thought Axel.
Axel shook his head. The system was never wrong with these types of things. It always provided complete information.
"System, does this mean that one day, Lairon would not be able to move due to the thickness of this grassy aura?", asked Axel.
Axel was half-expecting not to receive a response, but he was surprised again when the system responded.
---
Ding!
The host is wrong. Not only will Lairon not be able to move due to the thickness, but it will also die due to suffocation. The grassy aura has the power of absorption. So, as it grows, it would not only absorb the impact from the opponents, but it would also absorb the infinite energy near it. This would make Lairon weaker and weaker, and finally, it might not be able to breathe correctly, and would die a horrible death.
---
"What the fuck? Then why did you let it learn this passive move?"
---
Ding!
The system is not responsible for teaching the move. It would only enhance what the host's Pokemon is trying to do. Additionally, the mutation of Pokémon is not always a positive development.
---
'Damn!!! What am I going to do now?', thought Axel.
This was the first time he had faced such a situation. He was not ready for it.
'This mineral rock is a curse, not a blessing. I didn't know that it had just capabilities.'
---
Ding!
The host discovered the new function of the mineral rock.
---
'Don't worry. Calm down. Calm down. Weedle.. weedle.. weedle…'
After saying Weedle more than 50 times, he finally calmed down. Axel considered his Pokemon as his family. He had seen them grow up. So, obviously, he had an attachment to them and didn't want them to die so early.
'If the grassy aura accumulates, there must be some way to release it, right? Like the 'Bug knight' of Beedrill that would use the power of 'Bug house' or how Togekiss uses 'Stored power' to its advantage.'
After the initial celebration, Axel finally told Lairon the problem that he was going to face.
"So, I am thinking of teaching you the move 'Substitute' and let you transfer the excess energy from grassy aura to that substitute."
That was one way to deal with it. Another way was to fire a concentrated beam of grass-type energy from that thick grassy aura that would accumulate.
Learning the move 'Substitute' and then leveling up and upgrading it would take a long time, and Lairon didn't have time. So, first, they decided to use the second method.
First, he told the Staraptor to attack Lairon while Lairon used 'Iron Defense'. The thickness of the grassy aura didn't increase so much, and it was not even noticeable at first, but it was there.
"Now, Lairon!! Try to feel that excess energy from that grassy aura and fire 'Bullet seed' towards Staraptor.", said Axel.
Lairon closed its eyes, but it just could not feel the connection between the excess energy from the grassy aura. It fired up 'Bullet seed,' but it didn't come from the excess energy.
"Don't give up so fast. These things take time. First, try to meditate and feel the connection of excess energy from the grassy aura.", said Axel.
Even after four hours of meditation, I still couldn't feel the connection.
"What should I do?"
He was missing Red right now. If Red had been here, he would have given him some advice on how to proceed further. The worst part was that he couldn't even panic in front of Lairon, because that would make him even more nervous.
Not knowing what to do, he decided to talk to the leader of the tribe, thinking that maybe he might have some idea, but he was proven wrong.
So, he decided to talk to Togekiss.
'Axel, I believe that the reason Lairon could not make any connection might be due to 2 reasons. First, since it is only a common rank Pokemon, it doesn't have a good level of mastery over infinity energy and grass-type energy. So, it could not make that connection.
The second reason is that this grassy aura is not a part of itself but a foreign substance that has latched onto its body. Like a virus. So, it could not make that connection.'
After thinking for some time, Axel believed that those two might be the only reasons why it was becoming unsuccessful.
'Unless Lairon is hit by something, that grassy aura would not develop. So, we have plenty of time. Even if we cannot find the solution in this world, we can find it within ourselves. So, I don't think there is anything to worry about.'
Togekiss was doing its best to calm Axel, and it was doing a perfect job. After thinking from a different angle, Axel realized that it was not a problem he could solve.
Axel and Togekiss came up with the idea of letting Lairon learn 'Calm mind'. Typically, Lairon would not have learned this move, but since they were in a different realm and desperate, they thought it was worth a try.
Lairon also surprised them and learned the move in 3 days.
"Now, listen to me very carefully. You will first try to level the move 'Calm mind' to level 40 and focus on increasing your mastery of infinity energy. Take it slow. There is no need to hurry. Also, until we sort it out, you will not engage in any physical training or fight with any Pokémon. Do you get me?"
Lairon nodded its head. It knew that Axel was saying it for its benefit, but if it just sat out here and did nothing, it would be the weakest of the group. Still, it followed Axel's commands.
This was going to be a long process. So, Axel decided to take it slow. After thinking for some time, he decided to plan for Pawniard's training.
After looking for some time, Axel felt that it needed to learn status moves that would improve its speed. It had 'Swords Dance' to increase its attack, and it had plenty of physical attack moves.
So, Axel decided to teach it 'Agility'. This would be a challenging move to learn, as it was a psychic move, but Axel believed that the speed boost from agility would help it a lot.
Also, Axel decided to teach it 'Dark Pulse'. He realized that it didn't have a special type of attack. If a time comes when it is needed, 'Dark pulse' might be helpful.
Now, the only thing that it needed was combat experience. Axel had a perfect plan for it.
###
"Can you select an uncommon rank Primeape for my friend here? It needs some experience in fighting.", asked Axel.
Axel looked at Togekiss, and finally it turned and said, 'The leader says that it would be happy to do it.'
Well, that was easy. With every fight, Pawniard would get stronger. This was due to its passive move, 'Warrior's pride'.
This passive move had a 50% chance to permanently boost its stats and 100% to recover part of its health and stamina if it was on the verge of losing the battle.
Axel had tried to check the effect of this passive move, and it was real, but he soon realized that the move would only activate if Pawniard felt the hunger to beat its opponents. The feeling should be powerful.
So, when it would train with its seniors, such as Staraptor or Togekiss, even though it reached the state on the verge of losing the battle, the passive move would not activate.
Meanwhile, Togekiss turned towards Axel and said, 'The leader says that the Bisharp tribe has arrived recently in the vicinity of this forest.'
"Really?"