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As the sixth Pokémon to enter the team, the shiny Metagross was born with immense power, exceptional talent, and a temper that would flip the table at the slightest disagreement.
This bad temper hadn't improved much even now.
Regarding this point, Li Xiang felt that he himself, along with Incineroar and other troublemakers who constantly provoked it, deserved a large part of the blame.
Calling it a simpleton, a dining table, who wouldn't get angry?
He personally thought of these as affectionate nicknames, but the Metagross being addressed didn't appreciate them... most of the time, anyway.
And originally, this guy absolutely hated being called a dining table. But after arriving on the island, before Li Xiang started making wooden furniture, it had been shouldering the arduous task of serving as a table.
There was no other choice. That flat head of its was just too perfect, whether for chopping vegetables or holding dishes.
Metagross had never imagined that it would one day actually become a dining table, but the conditions on the island were tough, so it thought it could endure it for Li Xiang's sake. After all, it had been ranking up with him before.
It ended up being a table for about a week.
Only when Li Xiang got an idea from books read by Mewtwo, and asked Mewtwo to help create some simple and crude furniture, did Metagross finally break free from its furnishings duty.
It was certainly a new experience.
However, this prolonged period of humiliation, along with the frustration of not being able to play games, caused some of its moves to undergo changes.
Pokémon: Metagross
Gender: Genderless
Level: 54
Ability: Clear Body
Type: Steel / Psychic
Height: 180 cm
Moves: Iron Head, Meteor Mash, Bullet Punch, Psychic, Hammer Arm, Hone Claws, Earthquake, Magnet Rise, Iron Defense, Miracle Eye, Zen Headbutt, Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Flash Cannon, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Ally Switch, Self-Destruct, Stealth Rock, Bulldoze, Telekinesis, Icy Wind, Sludge Bomb, Psyshock, Explosion, Agility, Gravity, Steel Roller, Steel Beam, Body Press, Grass Knot, Cosmic Power, Shadow Ball, Sleep Talk, Expanding Force
...…
The moves it knew were varied, including physical attacks, special attacks, and even more. But in the vast majority of situations, it always used the same few moves.
The moves that changed were Zen Headbutt and Psycho Cut.
Coincidentally, both of these moves were somewhat related to the Pokémon's own will.
The changes weren't actually that drastic. Zen Headbutt symbolized Metagross's psychic power, which in the past was attached to its flat head.
When Metagross used this move before, if the opponent was a bit large, it would have to specifically move its two front arms to the back.
Now, because its psychic power was so vast, it had detached from its body and formed something like a light shield in front of it. It no longer needed to deliberately move its head forward; even if its fists were in front, it could still use the move.
This small change was immensely beneficial for Metagross, making it more suitable for its fighting style.
As for the other move, Psycho Cut. From the day it learned it, it had completed a transformation from Psycho Cut to a psychic spiked club. And after that transformation, it directly became psychic sword energy.
Not the pillar-type sword energy like Aegislash's, but something like floating cannons, or the flying swords in cultivation novels—swish, swish, swish blades of psychic energy. Very cool in execution.
Since Metagross's psychic waves were golden, the psychic blades naturally shimmered with gold. When they flew out, they were exceptionally dazzling.
Unfortunately, it could only create one blade at a time and couldn't produce more, making it seem a bit thin.
Yet it was still enough to make Aegislash envious. What Aegislash loved most was releasing sword energy.
Coincidentally, it also knew Psycho Cut, so it resolutely devoted itself to the bright path of releasing sword energy.
Li Xiang was happy to see this happen. Aside from that, there was also Psychic Shield among its moves.
Unlike the counterfeit Aura Shield, the Psychic Shield's damage absorption capacity was far stronger.
With the past few months of diligent practice, its resilience was still improving.
It might not be long before its defensive capability surpassed that of Protect, though its energy consumption was much higher than Protect's.
However, it wasn't affected by Taunt, which had both advantages and disadvantages.
Punch-type moves hadn't changed much, and its driving speed, among other things, remained the same. It consumed Psychic-type candies, with a bit of Steel-type.
Fortunately, Psychic was the second most abundant type after Fire. It still had many Steel-type candies left.
In internal battles, it was hard-countered by Incineroar. Even with Miracle Eye, it wasn't very useful. It couldn't take Incineroar down in one go and couldn't withstand Incineroar's moves.
Fighting Lucario, it often got its moves baited, and its reactions weren't as fast as Lucario's. While it had Earthquake on its mind, Lucario often stepped on its head.
But if it landed Bulldoze on Lucario, victory was basically assured—provided it landed.
Against Greninja, it relied more on luck. It needed to find the real body among three identical-looking Pokémon.
Initially, it would imitate Incineroar, observing which of the three was more easily forgotten to identify the real one. But because Greninja got smarter and turned off its own invisibility, it had to revert to a game of rock-paper-scissors. Guess right and win, guess wrong and lose.
When fighting Rotom, it finally regained the prowess of a pseudo-legendary. Rotom couldn't do much to it, and it could very arrogantly take that guy down.
Against Aegislash, the battle was somewhat difficult. The opponent's type disadvantaged it, and its only way to hit Aegislash was with Ground-type moves.
It couldn't withstand Aegislash's Blade Forme Shadow Ball, which was the most fatal issue. But if it did launch an Earthquake, there was a chance both would be knocked out simultaneously. Metagross often did this.
Therefore, the number of draws between the two was relatively high.
"Alright, find yourself a tree to sleep under. I'll call you when it's time."
Li Xiang patted Metagross's head. The essential oil generally needed to sit for an hour before being rinsed off, and no residual water stains could remain.
"Metagross."
Metagross responded, its four legs moving nimbly across the ground as it went off to find a place to sleep.
It was the heaviest member of the household, weighing over six hundred kilograms, even more exaggerated than Snorlax's weight.
With such good potential but unable to learn Heavy Slam, Li Xiang had no idea what Game Freak was thinking.
"Sword, come!"
Li Xiang called out loudly, summoning Aegislash, who had been enjoying the impact of the water current in the middle of the river.
A flash of silver light, and a giant sword descended from the sky, landing in front of him.
"Just because you like the water here doesn't mean you can rush into it every day. Don't you know water corrodes metal?"
Li Xiang knocked on Aegislash in dissatisfaction. If it were ordinary metal in this state, it would have rusted long ago. It was fortunate they were Pokémon, allowing them to endure until now.
Aegislash squinted its eye and didn't answer. This was the only pleasure in its sword life, and it didn't want it taken away.
It obediently lay down. It knew it was massage time now.
Li Xiang first wiped the water off this guy, then applied the essential oil. Maintaining a sword did require oiling, but that kind of oil was different from what Pokémon needed.
Among all the Pokémon, Aegislash had lived the most purely over the past six months.
Every day, besides eating, fighting, and sleeping, it would occasionally pretend to be an unremarkable rock in the river, feeling the sheer joy of life-giving water flowing over it.
At night, it served as a lamp, dispelling the darkness for Li Xiang.
It didn't have many desires… Until Metagross's Psycho Cut turned into psychic sword energy.
Aegislash loved everything that could be called a sword. After learning there was a sword named Excalibur, it tirelessly imitated it.
It took a long time to finally complete that lightsaber triggered by reciting poetry.
After learning about flying swords from cultivation novels, it actively moved closer to that ideal, having Li Xiang ride on it.
Now that it had seen this psychic sword energy, how could it not be enticed?
Unfortunately, its mental state fell short of Metagross's, and it temporarily couldn't grasp the knack, unable to incorporate it for its own use.
This disappointed it somewhat while also stirring up its determination to work hard and strive.
"Lift your hand."
Li Xiang's voice sounded in its ear. Aegislash solemnly exposed its "armpit," allowing itself to be cleaned.
Psychic sword energy, it was definitely going to learn it!
Seeing its expression, Li Xiang pursed his lips. What could he say to a fool who only loved swords?
Pokémon: Aegislash
Gender: Female
Level: 52
Ability: Stance Change
Type: Steel / Ghost
Height: 180 cm
Moves: Iron Head, King's Shield, Shadow Sneak, Sacred Sword, Throat Chop, Swords Dance, Fury Cutter, Magnet Rise, Head Smash, Solar Blade, Psycho Cut, Shadow Claw, Rock Slide, Shadow Ball, Gyro Ball, Close Combat, Flash Cannon, Destiny Bond, Phantom Force, Iron Defense, Sleep Talk, Air Slash, Shock Wave, Aerial Ace, Wide Guard, Double Team, Hidden Power (Ice), Brick Break
...….
Its move pool was quite monotonous. Apart from King's Shield, it didn't rely on other status moves.
But precisely because of King's Shield, it was vulnerable to Taunt. Once hit by Taunt, it was doomed. If it couldn't take out its opponent in one strike, the outcome was sealed.
Therefore, whenever Incineroar and the others fought against it, no matter how the battle started, they had to use Taunt. They would basically not play without using Taunt.
In terms of move usage, it wasn't particularly singular. Under Li Xiang's deliberate control, it would use Iron Head while holding up its shield, delivering a stunning impact to the opponent.
When using Flash Cannon, it would fire a thick beam like a floating cannon.
Under Aegislash's conscious control, blade-type moves would all turn into sword-energy beam-like forms.
However, recently it had been learning about the Sword of Damocles. This was a sword technique that descended from the sky, using gravitational acceleration to increase the power of its moves.
Crucially, Aegislash relied on Li Xiang the most during battles.
Greninja could fight without needing his commands at all. Corviknight only needed the sound of a whistle. Incineroar needed eye contact.
But Aegislash alone, without Li Xiang shouting "Sword, come!" or reciting mood-setting poetry, could not fully exert its strength.
It was quite ridiculous. It could do without commands but absolutely could not do without poetry.
Without poetry, its combat effectiveness would drop by at least twenty percent depending on its mood, and could decrease by as much as fifty percent.
After getting thoroughly thrashed by its companions for an entire day because of this, Li Xiang really didn't know what to say.
It was simply too bizarre.