"Alright, watch closely."
The Poké Ball in Tim Wynn's hand released a beam of red light. The light condensed into a tall, sinuous figure.
"Dragonair?!" Jace Rowan blurted out in shock.
Pokémon: Dragonair
Gender: Male
Type: Dragon
Ability: Shed Skin — Sheds its skin to sometimes heal status conditions.
Potential: Red-tier.
Base Moves: Wrap, Leer, Twister, Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Substitute, Dragon Dance, Ice Beam, Dragon Pulse, Agility, Slam, Aqua Tail, Hyper Beam, Flamethrower, Earthquake.
Egg Moves: Dragon Breath, Aqua Jet, Mist, Water Pulse, Haze.
Ignoring the way Serena Elm seemed entranced by the Dragonair, Auron Vale asked,
"Not bad. When did it evolve?"
Tim straightened up with pride.
"It's been a week. He's been home learning new moves since then. Come on, Auron — let's battle. I want to see exactly how big the gap between us is now."
Auron spread his hands helplessly.
"My Pokémon are all at home learning moves too. Haven't you noticed I haven't brought them with me for a while?"
Tim deflated instantly. "Alright… fine."
Auron smirked and stirred the pot.
"Well, if you're bored, why not battle Jace instead?"
Jace ignored Tim's hopeful look, raising a hand as if to ward him off.
"No thanks. Once my Growlithe evolves into Arcanine, then we'll fight. If you're bored, battle Serena instead."
Tim lost the rest of his motivation.
"Not now. My Dragonair's still working on Thunderbolt. Once he's mastered it, then I'll fight her."
"Hmph, you can wait then," Serena huffed. "I'll evolve my Shellder into Cloyster in the meantime. I've already got a Water Stone ready." She clearly didn't believe a single Thunderbolt would be enough to beat her.
"Hey, Auron," Jace cut in. "I've heard before that evolving a Pokémon too early with a Water Stone, Fire Stone, and so on isn't a good idea. Something about it not reaching its full potential?"
He'd been considering evolving his Growlithe early, but that rumour had always stuck in his mind.
Auron thought about it. In his past life, back in the games, this had been a common debate. For example, most trainers wouldn't evolve a Growlithe until at least level 45 so it could learn Flare Blitz. Shellder was usually left until level 56 to learn Shell Smash.
But later, Nintendo had changed the mechanics — Arcanine could learn Extreme Speed and Flare Blitz immediately upon evolution, and Cloyster could get Shell Smash the same way.
"It's fine to evolve them now," Auron said. "Both your Growlithe and Shellder are well-trained enough to use a stone. Just… ask them first. If they don't want to evolve, don't force it."
"Of course."
"Obviously," Jace and Serena said at once. Neither of them was the kind of heartless trainer who'd ignore their Pokémon's feelings.
"Good. So when are you thinking of evolving them?" Auron asked.
"I still need a Fire Stone," Jace admitted, scratching his head. "I'll check with my dad or my aunt. If they don't have one, I'll buy it myself — then I'll evolve Growlithe."
"As for me," Serena said, "probably in the next few days. I want Shellder in a good mood first."
"Alright, so… meeting over?" Auron asked, seeing that there was nothing more to discuss.
These days, since everyone's Pokémon were learning new moves, they hadn't been gathering at the Battle Center after school. Usually they just met up briefly at the gates before heading home.
"Fine, I'm heading out then," Tim sighed. His whole reason for today had been to challenge Auron, but without Auron's Pokémon present, it was pointless.
"Bye!" ×3
Tim headed for the back gate, where his family's driver usually waited. (His dad had donated a library to the school, so Tim was allowed to use that gate. Traffic was far worse at the front.)
Serena waved and went off in a different direction — her home was nowhere near Auron's or Jace's.
On the way home, Jace said,
"I overheard my aunt telling my mom that a Pokémon Secret Realm is about to open. One of the Elite Four is already in Vantora."
"So soon?" Auron asked.
"Yeah. It's not confirmed, but it'll probably be either next week or the week after. Should we tell Tim and Serena?"
Auron gave a wry smile.
"Tell them what? Invite them to come in with us?"
"Yeah."
"Alright, then answer me this: with our current strength, is the Secret Realm dangerous? Can we even keep ourselves safe?"
Jace looked serious.
"If it's a medium-danger zone, we can barely manage. If it's high danger… maybe not."
(Secret Realms are classified into Low, Medium, High, and Extreme danger levels.)
(The Realm's 'Guardian' is ranked from D to SS tier; the weakest known is a D-tier family of Oddish.)
(A Guardian's strength doesn't always match the danger rating, but a strong Guardian can raise it. For example, an A-tier gentle Bayleef in a grass-type dominated realm might only make the area medium danger if left alone. But a B-tier Primeape leading a realm full of fighting-types could easily make it high danger.)
(These ratings aren't exact — they're just warnings to keep underprepared trainers out of deadly situations.)
"You know all that, and you still want to bring them?" Auron said dryly. "Honestly, I'd planned to go alone — not even take you."
"Why not?" Jace asked.
"I just want to take a look. I've never seen a Secret Realm before. My plan was to hang around near the entrance, and run if things looked bad. The more people I bring, the more unpredictable it gets. What if I want to stay near the gate, and you suddenly run deep inside? Do I follow you or leave?"
Jace looked disappointed. "Alright… so should we still try to go in as soon as it opens?"
Auron gave a sly smile.
"Of course. In fact, I've already got a plan. We're going to…"
(End of Chapter)
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