As Gastly consumed Clefairy, Gastly's body swelled significantly.
But as time passed, Gastly gradually shrank.
Ace found a rock to sit on, released Mewtwo, and asked, "Gastly has swallowed Clefairy. When will it evolve?"
"It should be after it finishes absorbing it."
Mewtwo looked at Gastly, feeling a little emotional, marveling at how fast Ace's actions were.
Gastly absorbed at an extremely fast rate. After an hour, Gastly returned to its normal size.
Once the absorption was complete, Gastly raised its hands, feeling the difference in its body. In the next instant, the light of evolution appeared around Gastly.
"Is it happening?"
Ace was a little excited, wondering how strong this Gengar, evolved in such a way, would be.
The light dissipated, and a shiny Gengar appeared before Ace.
"...Something's not right?"
Ace scrutinized Gengar, feeling that after Gastly evolved into Gengar, it didn't seem as strong as he had imagined.
Pokémon: Gengar
Gender: Male
Level: 46
Ability: Cursed Body
Shiny Ability: Soul Absorption
Nature: Timid
Potential: Low-grade
Egg Moves: None
Moves: Confuse Ray, Lick, Hypnosis, Mean Look...
Note: Soul Absorption: Absorbs soul fragments of defeated Pokémon, which can increase ability strength.
[Folded...]
Seeing Gengar's potential drop to low-grade, Ace's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Could it be..."
Ace quickly contacted the system and had it scan Gengar.
"Scanning..."
"Scan complete."
"Upon judgment, the Clefairy Gengar consumed was of low-grade potential. Affected by it, Gengar's potential has decreased."
"..."
Ace felt like crying without tears. No wonder the evolution method for Gastly into Gengar in the future was almost exclusively through trade.
Letting Gastly consume wild Clefairy was simply a gamble.
If it had consumed a high-potential Clefairy, it might have been a pleasant surprise, potentially increasing Gastly's potential by leveraging the Clefairy's higher potential.
But if, like Ace, it consumed a low-potential Clefairy, then Gastly, which originally had good potential, would see its potential decrease, and there would truly be nowhere to complain.
"Rather than gambling, it's better to choose a safer option, I guess..."
Ace gave a wry smile, but he didn't need to worry too much. After all, with the potential enhancement ability provided by the system, as long as he had enough mission points, he could raise Gengar's potential.
A potential increase would be a surprise; a decrease in potential for Ace simply meant working harder for a bit longer.
So, feeling more confident, Ace preferred this evolution method over trade evolution.
"Come back, Gengar."
Ace recalled Gengar, then said to Aerodactyl and the others, "Next, let's go to Viridian Forest. I need some 'test subjects'."
"I hate experiments."
Mewtwo frowned slightly. The word "test subjects" clearly brought back very bad memories for Mewtwo.
"I hate experiments too."
Ace said with extreme calmness, "Because there can be no mistakes, otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable."
"That's your will, it has nothing to do with me."
Mewtwo glanced at Ace, then automatically entered its Poké Ball, no longer bothering with the matter.
Ace looked at Mewtwo's Poké Ball, seeing the Friendship value of only 20, and gave a bitter smile in his heart.
Clearly, the Soothe Bell was far less effective on a legendary Pokémon like Mewtwo than it was on Victreebel.
As night deepened, Aerodactyl grabbed Ace and soared into the sky, rapidly flying towards Viridian Forest.
Crobat followed closely. They were no longer the trembling novices entering the forest they once were.
With just a Crobat, Ace was more than capable of sweeping through the entire Viridian Forest!
The next morning, Ace walked out of Viridian Forest, yawning.
"Giovanni's leftover stuff is truly wonderful. Once I've experimented and confirmed the idea works, then Wartortle's Triple Bubble tactic will be complete."
A drowsy Ace, carried by Aerodactyl, quickly flew towards his residence.
A week later.
In Ace's third-floor laboratory, a strong scent of blood permeated the air. Ace looked at the Minidragon neatly dissected on the operating table, then picked up some oddly colored small fleshy spheres soaking in a nutrient solution nearby.
"It's about what I expected. These are the energy organs within Minidragon. Relying on them, various elemental moves can be released."
Ace's eyes sparkled as he said, "Theoretically, Triple Bubble is a bubble that fuses three elements, corresponding to Grass, Water, and Fire. This means that by integrating Grass-type and Fire-type energy organs into Wartortle's body, we can use that as a foundation to create Triple Bubble."
If any other experts specializing in biology had heard Ace's words, they would have certainly thought Ace was insane!
Theoretically, Ace's idea was feasible, but no one crazy enough had ever tried it.
Because, putting everything else aside, just the rejection reactions and post-operative complications from incorporating energy organs from other Pokémon would be enough to kill the recipient!
However, Ace felt it was worth a try.
What gave him such confidence was the existence of the system.
The Perfect Body Repair, a BUG-like ability, allowed Ace to boldly attempt the experiment. Even if the experiment failed, he had a failsafe to ensure Wartortle would be in no danger whatsoever.
After mentally simulating the surgical procedure and ensuring there were no issues, Ace called upon Victreebel and Gengar as assistant Pokémon. Wartortle, looking utterly bewildered, lay on Ace's operating table.
"Gengar, use Hypnosis. Victreebel, inject Sleep Powder."
Hit by a double attack, Wartortle didn't even last a second before falling into a deep sleep on the operating table.
"Surgery... begin!"
Ace quickly used a scalpel to cut open Wartortle's body and a pry bar to open its shell.
Blood splattered. Ace sped up; he didn't have much time!
"Gengar, hand me the red one."
Ace precisely located a void within Wartortle's body, a spot he had identified after three days of studying Wartortle's anatomy diagrams.
As Gengar handed Ace the bottle containing the nutrient solution, Ace roughly shoved the Fire-type energy organ into the void.
He stitched it up, then immediately cut open the other side, and the Grass-type energy organ was instantly inserted.
Stitching, shell re-positioned, Ace immediately recalled it into its Poké Ball.
Five mission points were consumed, and the system took over, rapidly healing the alarming injuries on Wartortle's body.
"Body repair complete. Total repairs..."
As each item of body repair was reported, Ace's lips curved into a slight smile.
Even after the system finished its report, Ace still hadn't heard "abnormal organs excluded."
"Hahahaha! It succeeded!"
Ace excitedly waved his hand, his exhilaration evident!
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