Chapter 380 · Shelgon, Combusken, Kirlia

[Pokémon: Great Tusk]

[Type: Ground, Fighting]

[Level: 45]

[Potential: Champion]

[Ability: Protosynthesis (In harsh sunlight, its highest stat—excluding HP—increases by 30%. If its highest stat is Speed, it increases by 50%.)]

[Moves: Horn Attack, Defense Curl, Rollout, Sunny Day, Bulldoze, Taunt, Rapid Spin, Brick Break, Stomping Tantrum, Knock Off]

[Taught Moves: Dig, Rest, Hyper Beam, Body Slam, Stone Edge, Headlong Rush, Rock Slide]

[Friendship: 220 (max 255)]

[Held Item: Soothe Bell]

"You can only learn this many moves?" Gary sighed. He had thought Great Tusk would be able to learn far more.

"I can't even teach it Fire Blast?"

Gary scratched his head. Great Tusk could learn Headlong Rush, but Fire Blast was out of reach.

Not that Fire Blast would've been much use for Great Tusk, but it still felt a little disappointing that its move compatibility was somewhat limited.

"Donphan!!"

Great Tusk itself was a little overwhelmed. Learning seven new moves all at once was unprecedented. It had only managed to master about ten moves on its own so far, and now it suddenly knew seven more. It didn't know what to think.

"This is my ability. I can help Pokémon unlock new moves, but for now, that's as much as I can awaken for you," Gary explained.

"Donphan!"

That's enough! Seven moves were plenty. Great Tusk was more than satisfied.

"As long as you're happy with it."

Gary smiled and released the rest of his Pokémon for training. Great Tusk joined them in their practice.

Gary surveyed his team. After more than a week of effort, their levels had steadily risen:

Breloom - Level 32Grovyle - Level 34Bagon - Level 27Lairon - Level 38Vigoroth - Level 25Ralts - Level 22Torchic - Level 17

Torchic had reached Level 17 but hadn't evolved yet—it was about to evolve any day now.

Ralts, too, was overdue for evolution at Level 20, though Gary hadn't bothered using Rare Candy to force it.

He then turned his attention to Bagon, who had grown slowly over the past few months but had finally reached Level 27.

"Bagon, come here."

"Baa!" Bagon trotted over.

Bagon had always dreamed of flying and trained diligently every day.

Gary placed a hand on its thick skull and used three low-grade Rare Candies, boosting Bagon to Level 30.

"Baa!!"

Bagon was startled by the sudden level jump, but moments later, its body began to glow with the light of evolution.

In a burst of energy, Bagon's body grew larger and stronger. When the light faded, a Shelgon, wrapped in a protective shell, stood in its place.

"Hum! Hum!"

Shelgon was overjoyed. It had longed to evolve, and today its dream came true.

"Now, ease up on the intense training for a while. You'll need time to build up your strength," Gary advised.

"Hum!"

Shelgon nodded obediently. It trusted Gary completely and would follow his instructions without question.

[Pokémon: Shelgon]

[Type: Dragon]

[Level: 30]

[Potential: Elite]

[Ability: Heavy Metal (Doubles the Pokémon's weight)]

[Moves: Leer, Ember, Headbutt, Scary Face, Crunch]

[Taught Moves: Shadow Claw, Body Slam, Rest, Rock Slide, Dragon Pulse, Fire Blast, Headlong Rush]

[Friendship: 255 (max 255)]

Gary taught Shelgon Headlong Rush, a move it couldn't learn as a Bagon but could master in this form.

Once it evolved into Salamence, it would be able to learn moves like Stone Edge and Hurricane as well.

After using Rare Candy so many times, Gary noticed something:

When Rare Candy raised a Pokémon's level to its evolution threshold, the Pokémon would always evolve immediately.

That meant both Ralts and Torchic, who had been holding back their evolution, could evolve right now if he used Rare Candy.

"Ralts, Torchic, come here," Gary called.

"Raa!"

"Keh!"

The two Pokémon jumped happily toward him.

They'd seen Gary's "magic" at work and were eager for their turn.

Gary placed a hand on each of their heads and used a low-grade Rare Candy on them.

"Raa!!"

"Keh!!"

Just like Shelgon, their bodies began glowing with the energy of evolution.

Ralts grew taller, transforming into Kirlia, resembling a young girl. However, because this was a Shiny Kirlia, the usual green parts of her body were blue, and the horns on her head glowed a vibrant red.

Torchic, too, grew taller and stronger. His lower body developed powerful legs, and he evolved into Combusken, gaining tremendous kicking power.

[Pokémon: Kirlia ♀ (Shiny)]

[Type: Psychic, Fairy]

[Level: 23]

[Potential: Elite]

[Ability: Telepathy (Anticipates enemy moves and increases evasion chance)]

[Moves: Growl, Teleport, Disarming Voice, Confusion, Hypnosis, Psybeam, Life Dew]

[Friendship: 205 (max 255)]

[Pokémon: Combusken]

[Type: Fire, Fighting]

[Level: 18]

[Potential: Elite]

[Ability: Blaze (When HP falls below one-third, Fire-type moves deal 2.25× damage)]

[Moves: Scratch, Ember, Quick Attack, Detect, Sand Attack, Flame Charge, Aerial Ace, Double Kick]

[Friendship: 160 (max 255)]

Kirlia and Combusken didn't yet have full friendship with Gary, since they had only recently joined the team and hadn't been taught any advanced skills yet.

Now that they had evolved, Gary no longer held back. He placed his hands on them and began teaching them new moves.

Combusken's movepool was vast—he learned twelve new moves in one go, and his friendship with Gary maxed out immediately. Once he evolved into Blaziken, he'd be able to learn even more.

In comparison, Kirlia's movepool was smaller—she learned five new moves, but her friendship also maxed out. After evolving into Gardevoir, she would eventually learn Hyper Beam as well.

With three evolutions in one day, Gary now had three more powerful Pokémon capable of taking on gym challenges.