NOVEL NEXT Chapter 311: A Glimmer of Hope
Since Arthur had brought Old Flame's mate out of the mountains, he naturally hoped to heal her wing.
Although he knew the chances of curing such a disability were slim.
Pokémon have a life force far greater than humans. Many injuries that would be fatal to a human are mere scratches to a Pokémon.
But regenerating a lost limb is still incredibly difficult.
Especially after so many years, the wound at the base of Old Flame's mate's wing had long since healed over.
If this were two hundred years ago, Arthur would have likely given up without hesitation, because there would have been no hope.
But now, he had traveled two hundred years into the future. He didn't fully understand how far human technology had progressed in this era, so he still held onto a sliver of hope!
In the following weeks, Arthur visited dozens of hospitals, traveling across nearly half the league, but the answer was always the same: there was nothing they could do.
Even modern medicine was helpless…
Just as everyone was beginning to lose hope, a doctor at a hospital in the capital proposed an unconventional solution.
"Perhaps you could try another method."
"What method?" Arthur asked eagerly.
The doctor replied with a question of his own, "Young man, have you heard of Mega Evolution?"
In that instant, everything clicked for Arthur.
Of course, there's that!
A Pokémon's evolution is a leap in its very life form. All hidden injuries, diseases, disabilities, and status conditions from before the evolution can be cured and removed in the process!
This was perhaps this world's unique gift to the creatures known as Pokémon!
But after a brief moment of excitement, Arthur immediately realized a new problem, and his spirits sank once again.
"But this Charizard… she's a long way from being able to Mega Evolve."
In reality, Mega Evolution isn't as simple as just having the stones. The Key Stone and Mega Stone are just catalysts. The Pokémon's own energy reserves, physical condition, and even its level of trust with its trainer all need to reach a certain standard. All three are indispensable!
Otherwise, why would they say that Mega Evolution is the supreme miracle born from the bond between a human and a Pokémon?
In this peaceful era, the control over Key Stones and Mega Stones had long been relaxed. You could buy them if you had the money. The Key Stone Arthur had brought into the mountains was purchased online.
But the number of Pokémon that had truly mastered the power of Mega Evolution was still incredibly small, as rare as a phoenix feather…
No matter the era, achieving this step was always difficult.
Although Old Flame's mate had been trained by a professional trainer and was not weak, she was clearly far from being able to Mega Evolve.
This made Old Flame and Specter, whose eyes had just been shining with hope, lower their heads once again.
But then, the doctor smiled.
"In this regard, don't you professional players have a unique advantage? I only suggested this plan because I saw you were a competitive player."
"What do you mean?" Arthur was confused.
The doctor said, "Don't you competitive players often use supplementary methods that tap into a Pokémon's potential to quickly raise its stats? I believe the jargon in your circle for this is… force-maturing?"
"Uh…"
Arthur suddenly felt as if his reputation had been tarnished…
To be honest, the reputation of the Kubfu competitive circuit was a bit of a mess right now. Even outsiders knew that professional players often force-matured their Pokémon.
But at this moment, Arthur had no time to criticize this trend.
He asked urgently, "Can you even force-mature a Pokémon to the point of Mega Evolution?"
The doctor replied, "That, I don't know. The consultants in your professional circle are more expert than I am in this area. You could go and ask them."
Arthur rushed back to the Sea Carp club without a moment's delay.
The news he received was a mixed bag.
The good news was: the method was feasible, and technically, it wasn't difficult. Many people in the circuit could do it.
The bad news was: all of the club's consultants, instructors, analysts, and management advised against it.
"When force-maturing a Pokémon, the higher you push the stats, the greater the cost, and the more severe the drain on the Pokémon's potential! More importantly, a truly top-tier Pokémon cannot be created by force-maturing alone. If the Pokémon's own combat awareness, reaction speed, move pool, and other soft skills can't keep up, there's no point in just creating a Pokémon with high base stats. Currently, this technology is most cost-effective when used on ordinary Pokémon to quickly bring them up to a professional combat level."
Boiling their words down, the core points were two: one, it's too expensive, and two, it's not worth it.
This was also the reason why you rarely saw force-matured Pokémon in main singles or captain-level battles.
The closer you get to the peak, the fewer shortcuts there are.
But Arthur still asked, "Specifically, how much would it cost to force-mature her to the minimum level for Mega Evolution?"
The team's technical consultant gave him a quote.
"About eighty million. And there's no guarantee of success."
Arthur instantly felt the pressure!
His current contract paid him an annual salary of only five hundred thousand.
Because when he signed it, he was just a fresh graduate from the youth camp. That price was already the ceiling at the time.
Even though he had quickly become famous this year and his income from endorsements had skyrocketed, it was still a long way from eighty million…
For the first time since his transmigration, Arthur truly felt it: he was broke!
He tentatively asked for a raise, and, as expected, received a unanimous round of comfort from the club's management.
And that was it… just comfort.
A raise? His contract still had a year left. A raise for what!
Now, Arthur couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
When he first entered the professional circuit, it wasn't for the money. It was just that he was good at it, and he wanted to win the championship to get the Rare Candy to repay his debt to Suicune.
But looking at it now, it seemed that you really couldn't do anything without money…
He didn't care if Old Flame's mate's actual combat power would be garbage after being force-matured. He just wanted to heal her disability.
And he had to heal her disability!
He had already made that promise to Old Flame!
A trainer can't lie to their own Pokémon. That was his principle!
After much thought, Arthur thought of a pair of friends.
A few days later, Arthur met with Ivy and Bianca at a coffee shop.
"Long time no see, Best Rookie. You've become famous again, you know~"
The moment they met, Ivy teased him with a gentle laugh.
"Long time no see, to both of you."
Arthur pretended not to hear her teasing.
Ivy and Bianca hadn't participated in the All-Stars. They had ditched the organizers for personal reasons, so it had indeed been a long time since they'd seen each other.
Only these two, with a family wealthy enough to easily buy an entire club, would dare to blow off the organizers like that. Rich and willful.
An ordinary player would never dare to refuse an invitation to the All-Star Weekend.
"So, little brother Best Rookie, what's so urgent that you had to see us?"
Ivy looked at him with a knowing smile.
Arthur got straight to the point.
"What do you think of me?"
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