Chapter 229: Fast Start Snivy!
Snivy nodded. It turned to face the rock and waved its small arms. From the yellow collar-like protrusions on its neck, glowing, dreamlike leaves shot out, flying straight at the target.
SWISH!!! —
CRACK!!! —
The leaves slammed into the rock, gouging out a depression. The power wasn't weak.
Kenji glanced at it, getting a rough idea of the damage output of this Magical Leaf.
"Come out, Gyarados."
"ROAAAARRR..."
A red light flashed, and Gyarados's massive body crashed onto the training field, letting out a thunderous roar.
Snivy shrank back, timidly moving closer to Kenji.
Gyarados looked terrifying. Even knowing it was a teammate, Snivy couldn't help but feel fear.
Kenji comforted Snivy first, then turned to Gyarados. "Gyarados, use a very low-power Water Gun on Snivy."
Kenji gestured with his fingers to emphasize "small." Even with Storm Drain, it was better to be cautious.
Gyarados glanced at the tiny Snivy, grunted, and looked troubled.
After a moment, it opened its huge maw and spat out a pathetic squirt of water that looked more like drool than an attack.
The carefully restrained Water Gun landed on Snivy's head.
Snivy covered its head. It didn't know why Kenji ordered Gyarados to attack it, but out of trust for its trainer, it didn't dodge.
When the water hit, Snivy was surprised to find it felt no pain.
The Water-type energy contained in the attack didn't hurt it; instead, it was absorbed into its body.
But as the energy entered, Snivy suddenly felt a wave of weakness. It felt like the absorbed energy was sapping its strength.
"Snivy, use Magical Leaf on that rock again."
Snivy fired another volley of Magical Leaf at the stone.
Crack crack crack...
The leaves hit the rock, chipping it again.
But this time, looking at the damage, it was obvious that the second Magical Leaf was significantly weaker than the first.
Just as I thought.
Kenji confirmed his suspicion. The effect of Storm Drain was inverted by Contrary. Instead of raising Special Attack, it lowered it.
Before, Storm Drain was barely acceptable.
Now, on Snivy, it was a pure debuff.
Kenji recalled the Storm Drain Snivy into its ball and returned to his room to continue the Star-Up process.
Since the second Ability was affected by Contrary, many abilities like Lightning Rod, Moxie, or others that raised stats upon meeting conditions would be detrimental to Snivy.
...
Ding!! Congratulations! 2-Star Snivy has awakened the Second Ability: Stench!!
...
Ding!! Congratulations! 2-Star Snivy has awakened the Second Ability: Drought!!
Ding!! Congratulations! 2-Star Snivy has awakened the Second Ability: Inner Focus!!
Kenji synthesized Snivy after Snivy to 2-Stars, but none of the abilities felt right. Something was missing.
Until...
Ding!! Congratulations! 2-Star Snivy has awakened the Second Ability: Slow Start!!!
"Hmm??"
Kenji instantly perked up, staring at the notification.
Slow Start. In the games, it halves the Pokémon's Attack and Speed for the first five turns. In this world, it was modified to five minutes.
Normally, if a Pokémon rolled this Ability, Kenji wouldn't even look at it twice. It was garbage.
Five minutes was enough time for most battles to end.
But on Snivy, the situation might be different.
Since the second Ability is affected by Contrary...
Would Slow Start be inverted by Contrary into doubling Attack and Speed for the first five minutes?
Kenji put a mental question mark on this hypothesis.
If true, that would be equivalent to starting every battle with +2 Speed and +2 Attack.
What does +2 Speed and Attack mean?
It means starting the battle with a free Dragon Dance x2. Garchomp would cry tears of envy.
Although most Serperior builds in the games focused on Special Attack due to the synergy between Contrary and Leaf Storm (which sharply lowers Sp. Atk, thus sharply raising it with Contrary), Serperior's base Attack and Special Attack were actually identical at 75.
Moreover, in this world, there was no four-move limit. A two-stage boost to Attack was huge for Serperior.
And more importantly, the two-stage Speed boost.
Kenji hurriedly recalled Snivy and went back to the training field to test his theory.
A short while later, Kenji confirmed it with immense excitement.
Slow Start WAS affected by Contrary!!
It had transformed from "Slow Start" into Fast Start.
With this confirmed, there was no hesitation. Kenji proceeded with the Star-Up. Soon, Snivy reached 4-Stars.
[Snivy] (4-Star)
Gender: Female
Level: 24
Type: Grass
Base Stats Total: 488
(HP: 70, Atk: 70, Def: 88, SpA: 70, SpD: 88, Spe: 100)
Abilities: Contrary, Slow Start (Inverted)
Moves: Magical Leaf, Leech Seed, Glare, Sweet Scent, Tackle, Leer, Vine Whip, Wrap, Slam, Mega Drain, Bullet Seed
Potential: Limit
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