Read advance chapters for both of my work, exclusively on Patreon at - www.patreon.com/Sniperwoof
-----------------
After dealing with the matter of Celebi's three legendary cloned Pokémon, Sato continued his conversation with Professor Oak. This time, their discussion shifted toward the topic of Pokémon advancing to the Elite-Four level.
Professor Oak also realized that Sato might soon face even greater dangers. So instead of urging him to continue slowly building his foundation, he held nothing back and shared everything he knew about the process of a Pokémon advancing to the Elite-Four level.
Half an hour later, Sato ended the conversation with satisfaction and finally went off to eat, feeling reassured.
After finishing the matter concerning Zapdos, Professor Oak could continue appearing in Mauville City under the identity of Shinichi Ryuzaki without much issue. Still, for safety, he kept a low profile—changing into an inconspicuous outfit in a surveillance blind spot inside the Pokémon Center before quietly leaving.
Following the principle of convenience, Sato chose a nearby restaurant with a good reputation for dinner. However, with Swampert—the ultimate big eater—now in his team, the cost of the meal was anything but small. They nearly exhausted the restaurant's ingredients prepared for the next day.
When Sato left, the restaurant owner was grinning from ear to ear—though there was also a trace of shock in his eyes.
After dinner, Sato switched back to his identity as Tyler and began strolling through Mauville City's night market.
Originally, according to his plan, he was supposed to challenge Wattson the next day. But considering Wattson's current dispirited state, doing so would be rather inconsiderate—and it certainly wouldn't result in an exciting Pokémon battle.
So Sato decided to continue heading north. He would postpone the Mauville Gym challenge and instead head to Lavaridge Town to challenge the Lavaridge Gym. From what he knew, the Gym Leader there was Flannery's grandfather.
Flannery's grandfather was no ordinary person—he had once been Hoenn's Fire-type Elite Four member. He only retired due to old age. In terms of generation, he belonged to the same era as Professor Oak, Pryce, and Blaine.
Now, with the emergence of the "Legendary Beast Society," Sato began to feel that his situation was becoming increasingly precarious. He needed to strengthen himself as quickly as possible.
And the fastest way to do that was to push Swampert into the Elite-Four level.
Swampert had already reached level 67—only three levels away from the threshold. But Sato knew that these three levels were deceptively difficult. They blocked the vast majority of Pokémon, especially the crucial barrier between level 69 and 70.
Sato intended to use Swampert to challenge this retired Fire-type Elite, hoping to quickly push it to level 69. While training could increase levels, battling strong opponents was by far the most effective way to grow rapidly.
From Professor Oak, Sato learned that for a Pokémon to break through to the Elite-Four level, it must meet at least three conditions:
First, its level must reach 69.
Second, its control over its own attribute energy must reach Master-level.
Third, it must complete "energy infusion."
In fact, the first two conditions existed mainly to support the third.
Energy infusion was the process of qualitative transformation. In truth, this process began quietly from the moment a Pokémon was born.
However, the transformation was extremely slow. Only when a Pokémon's physical condition reached a certain threshold and its mastery over its attribute energy reached Master-level could this process accelerate.
Because of this, most Pokémon weren't unwilling to advance to the Elite-Four level—they were simply unable to complete the energy infusion step, leaving them stuck at level 69.
According to Professor Oak's research, the first condition primarily applied to ordinary Pokémon.
It was well known that each level-up improved a Pokémon's physical condition slightly. By level 69, most Pokémon had reached the physical threshold necessary to carry out energy infusion on their own.
Of course, there were exceptional Pokémon—like Swampert, with perfect IVs. Each of its level-ups brought far greater improvements than normal Pokémon.
As a result, while ordinary Pokémon might only meet the requirements for energy infusion at level 69, Pokémon like Swampert could meet them as early as around level 60.
And if such Pokémon had long consumed specialized Pokémon food, they might even meet the requirement as early as their mid-50s.
That said, completing energy infusion earlier was not necessarily better.
On the contrary, the stronger a Pokémon's physical condition before crossing into the Elite-Four level, the easier the breakthrough would be—and the greater the benefits gained.
This was why most Pokémon waited until they were on the verge of breaking through before undergoing energy infusion. Completing it too early would weaken the final result and prevent a perfect advancement.
If a Pokémon's body were compared to a container, then energy infusion would be like pouring energy into that container. The sturdier the container, the more energy it could hold.
And the more energy it absorbed, the greater the benefits it would gain during the tempering process.
Sato's Swampert had already met the first two conditions. Thanks to long-term consumption of specialized Pokémon food and the blessing of Kyogre, its physical condition was only slightly below that of true Elite-Four level Pokémon.
As for its control over Water-type energy, it was already approaching the level of an Elite-Four Zapdos' mastery over Electric energy.
Therefore, Swampert was now fully ready to begin preparing for energy infusion.
However, according to Professor Oak's findings, completing energy infusion was not something that could be done in a day or two.
If everything went smoothly, the process might take two to three months. If not, it could take years—or even a lifetime of being stuck at that stage.
This was because the process was extremely painful and dangerous. It was almost impossible for a Pokémon to complete it in one go. After each round of energy infusion, it needed time to adapt to its greatly enhanced body.
If anything went wrong during the process, the Pokémon could suffer severe damage. Before attempting energy infusion again, it would need time to recover.
The sign that a Pokémon had successfully completed energy infusion was simple:
A corresponding attribute energy mark would appear on its body, and it would resonate briefly with the surrounding attribute energy.
At that moment, the Pokémon would naturally step into the Elite-Four level—
Becoming a true Elite-Four Pokémon standing at the very peak of the pyramid.