Pokémon Chronicles: The New Beginning

A faint green light suddenly emerged from the soil, enveloping Petilil's body.

You could see a new sprout quickly grow from its head, soon developing into a full leaf.

Petilil originally had three leaves, but they were picked by Uncle Darby before. Now, with the help of chemical fertilizer, they had regrown.

"The absorption effect is quite good."

Natsume nodded with satisfaction, feeling pleased.

The absorption efficiency of growth fertilizer depends on the Pokémon's aptitude, and Petilil's is quite decent.

With this, he could use growth fertilizer to quickly breed Petilil, allowing it to initially develop combat power.

Everything was progressing much more smoothly than he had imagined.

That night, Petilil quietly fell asleep in the flower pot.

It was the warmest bed it had ever slept in, leaving it with a smile on its face even in slumber.

During the night, it woke up several times, glancing over at Natsume sleeping on the nearby bed, fearing that everything would return to square one when it awoke. 

...

The next morning.

Natsume and Petilil woke up at the same time.

Although they had only confirmed their bond a few days ago, their understanding of each other was already quite high.

"The effect of the growth fertilizer is quite good."

After checking Petilil's growth carefully, Natsume nodded in satisfaction.

In the past few days, he hadn't directly started training Petilil, wanting to first build a solid foundation.

"Petilil~"

Petilil affectionately rubbed its leaves against Natsume's shoulder, its eyes filled with a hint of anticipation.

You want to start training quickly, huh...? Natsume pondered for a moment, then shook his head, "It's not the right time yet."

Seeing this, Petilil looked a bit disappointed and continued to express with action, "So when can I start training?"

"Let's wait for you to understand a move first." He smiled, ruffling Petilil's head, "Don't worry, it will be soon."

A move... Petilil tilted its head and thought for a moment, then suddenly a faint green light appeared around its body, appearing and vanishing in an instant.

"This is... the Absorb move?"

Natsume's eyes lit up; the Absorb move was indeed one of the easiest moves for Petilil to learn.

It seems Petilil has quite the talent, comprehending the Absorb move based on its understanding of strength, showing good potential right now.

After managing to draw out the move it understood, Petilil sighed in relief and looked at its... um, trainer, that's what it should be called.

"Alright, I get it. I'll prepare a training plan for you shortly."

"The Absorb move is definitely one that can be emphasized early in training."

Natsume nodded with a smile, recalling the information about the Absorb move in his mind.

The Absorb move, as its name suggests, allows one to absorb the opponent's physical strength to replenish their own.

Of course, the opponent isn't limited to just Pokémon; many things can serve as targets for the Absorb move, such as trees and soil.

While training the Absorb move, Petilil can also absorb energy from trees or soil to compensate for its own consumption.

If Petilil were to understand a highly consuming move like Growth or Tackle, he definitely wouldn't allow it to train with those.

Simply consuming potential without effective replenishment could lead to overtraining, which would be harmful to a Pokémon.

Although there is growth fertilizer to help replenish Petilil's energy, it is quite limited and not enough to support Petilil's intense consumption.

...

In the farm's backyard.

Petilil lay comfortably in a flower pot, burying its body in the soil.

After a day of training the Absorb move, it still felt physically strong, but mentally it sensed fatigue and needed a good rest.

"Today's training results are quite good."

"However, the combat power of the Absorb move is limited. While it can serve as a means of recovery, it cannot inflict effective damage on an opponent."

At the wooden table, Natsume held a feather pen and contemplated Petilil's next training plan on the white paper.

Petilil's base stats are primarily allocated to Special Attack, which will also be the main focus of its upcoming training.

Each Pokémon possesses different base stats according to their species.

Based on the characteristics of the species, Pokémon scholars categorize these base stats into physical strength, attack, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed.

Breeding Pokémon is the process of unlocking their own potential. Choosing the corresponding species direction for breeding can lead to significant results.

"Focusing on Special Attack, then on absorption-type moves." Natsume pondered to himself. Absorption-type moves refer to those that allow one to supplement their own strength by absorbing the opponent's physical strength.

The Absorb move is foundational, which can then be further developed into Mega Drain and Giga Drain.

Additionally, moves like Drain Punch, Draining Kiss, Strength Sap, and Leech Seed are also variations of the Absorb move.

"The effectiveness of Absorb, Mega Drain, and Giga Drain moves is related to the Pokémon's own Special Attack strength."

"Petilil's current strength is too weak to fully utilize these moves."

"It seems I need to have Petilil learn some status moves, like Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Leech Seed, and Toxic."

After some thought, he formed a general idea; status conditions in battles are considered support moves, enabling weaker Pokémon to overcome stronger ones.

Even Pokémon whose strength reaches Elite Level can lose a significant portion of their combat power if they fall under a status condition.

If the status is Toxic, as long as enough time drags on, even Elite Four-level Pokémon could face life-threatening risks.

Toxic... Natsume squinted as he recalled this move, significant in the study of Pokémon.

Hundreds of years ago during his lifetime, a ninja invented a special toxin that nearly all Pokémon could master.

Thanks to the Toxic move, this ninja became a famous Poison-type Pokémon Master, significantly enhancing the overall strength of Poison-type Pokémon.

Over the following hundreds of years, the power of the toxin merged into the genetic makeup of Pokémon, becoming one of their inherent talents.

This was a true man-made move, and it had a profound impact on the study of moves in later generations.

"Now is a thousand years ago. Although there are obvious differences between the two worlds, the Toxic move should not exist."

"In this situation, the opponent would have no way to defend against it, allowing for a completely unexpected effect, especially if the Toxic move is guaranteed to hit."

After much thought, Natsume confirmed the next move for Petilil to learn. However, gathering the materials needed to learn the Toxic move would be a bit troublesome.

"Petilil?"

On the other hand, Petilil also learned about the Toxic move from Natsume.

Once the plan was set, Natsume gave it the choice, and this feeling of being respected warmed its heart.

Although it heard that the process of practicing the Toxic move could be painful, Petilil nodded eagerly without hesitation.

It wanted to grow stronger and protect its trainer. The pain endured during practice was an essential trial on the path to freedom!

"Alright, the next thing to do is to collect materials to formulate the toxin." Natsume nodded in satisfaction, then began recalling the recipe materials.

Oran Berry, Qualot Berry, Kebia Berry, and Petaya Berry, along with venom from a Poison-type Pokémon, and some other supplementary materials.

Of course, this is the complete toxin recipe. After later modifications by the League, it is possible to replace one of the Poison-type fruit trees with a different toxin.

However, in that case, the effect of the formulated toxin potion would be somewhat weaker. Although it's still a Toxic move, the strength and effectiveness of the toxin will result in different outcomes.

Now that he had Oran Berry, he still needed the other three types of fruit trees or toxins from different Poison-type Pokémon.

As for those other supplementary materials, they aren't rare; usually, pharmacists have them in stock, but they do require a fair amount of money.

It seems he needs to find a way to make some money... Natsume fell into deep thought.