“Not bad.” Xiao Mao hadn’t actually fought the Aggron, he had just used “Mouth-遁” to convince it beforehand. He would still have to continue fighting later.
“So, which Pokémon are you going to transfer over?” Professor Oak asked.
“Crobat,” Xiao Mao said.
“Crobat...！Your Golbat evolved.”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, I was just wanting to research how much noise the Crobat's wings make when it flies. Get it transferred over here quickly.”
Thus, Xiao Mao sent Crobat to Professor Oak’s lab and received the Aggron from him.
Xiao Mao picked up the Poké Ball and took a look at Aggron’s stats.
【Pokémon: Aggron ♂】
【Type: Ground, Rock】
【Level: 45】
【Potential: Quasi-天王】
【Ability: Lightning Rod (Attracts Electric-type moves to itself, taking no damage but increasing Special Attack instead.)】
【Moves: Tackle, Stomp, Take Down, Horn Attack, Stomp, Rock Blast, Drill Run, Head Charge, Arm Hammer.】
【Friendship: 115 (Max 255)】
“Why is it the Lightning Rod ability...”
This Aggron had great stats overall, but its ability was a bit underwhelming. Ground-type Pokémon were naturally immune to Electric-type moves, and while Lightning Rod absorbed electricity to boost Special Attack, Aggron was a physical attacker with very low Special Attack.
Luckily, the Pokémon Company would be able to develop Ability Capsules later on, so this ability wasn’t too much of a concern.
“Nagi, do you want to watch me fight Aggron?” Xiao Mao asked.
“No need, you guys fight. I need to watch over Eevee,” Nagi said.
Nagi's Eevee had also reached level 26. Because she wanted to evolve it into a Sylveon, she would be watching over it during the day.
“Okay, I’ll head out.”
Xiao Mao waved his hand and went outside to the hunting area. He found an open field and released Aggron.
“Roar!” Aggron looked around at the environment, then turned to Xiao Mao, signaling for him to quickly release his Pokémon.
“Don’t worry, my strength won’t disappoint you.” Xiao Mao took the Poké Ball from his belt and tossed it out.
Bang!
“Kamee!”
Blastoise appeared from the Poké Ball.
“Roar!!”
Aggron instantly became alert. It had never fought Blastoise before, but it could feel the strong aura of water emanating from it. It was undoubtedly a Water-type Pokémon.
A Pokémon that could grow to level 45 in the wild had naturally encountered Pokémon that countered it and knew what its weaknesses were.
“Aggron, you still want to fight?” Xiao Mao asked.
“Roar!!”
Aggron roared. How could it retreat because its opponent was its counter?
A rock materialized in front of Aggron. It then lifted the rock with one hand and threw it at Blastoise.
“Hydro Cannon!”
Blastoise's two cannons fired two silver beams of light, instantly shattering the rock and hitting Aggron. It was super-effective, but Aggron still managed to withstand the damage thanks to its incredibly high defense.
“Roar!!”
Aggron roared, the drill on its forehead spinning rapidly as it charged forward.
“Courage is commendable, but it won’t work this time.” Xiao Mao praised inwardly, then commanded, “Water Gun!”
“Kamee!”
Boom! Boom!
Blastoise’s two cannons each shot out a Water Gun, two streams of water bursting forth, instantly forcing Aggron back. It flew over ten meters before stopping.
After being hit by the water blasts, Aggron instantly lost consciousness.
It wasn’t just that it was 4x weak to Water-type moves, but it also had very low Special Defense. Water-type Pokémon were Aggron’s biggest counter.
The scales of victory had been tipped in Blastoise’s favor right from the start of the battle.
Blastoise LV41—42!
Blastoise leveled up by 1 during the battle.
“Come back, both of you.”
Xiao Mao recalled Blastoise and Aggron. He went to the hall of the hunting area and used the healing machine to treat Aggron.
Then, he went outside and released Aggron.
“Roar…!” After the battle, Aggron kept its promise and agreed to become Xiao Mao's Pokémon.
“You’re going to be a great addition to the team. Here, you can carry this.” Xiao Mao took out a Soothe Bell.
Aggron didn’t know what it was, but it took the Soothe Bell and put it in its item space as instructed.
Then, Xiao Mao placed his hand on Aggron’s body and taught it Thunder, Rock Tomb, and Brick Break.
“Roar!!!”
Aggron was stunned after suddenly gaining three new moves, its eyes filled with disbelief.
“I told you I would help you grow stronger. Now you believe me?” Xiao Mao smiled.
“Roar!!”
Aggron nodded excitedly.
You should have said you were capable of this earlier! Why even bother fighting?
Even though he had taught Aggron three new moves, Thunder wasn't very useful since it was a Special Attack move. Even if Aggron used it, the damage it dealt wouldn't be significant.
However, Aggron had a wide movepool, able to learn moves with reverse typing. It could even learn moves like Hydro Cannon, Ice Punch, and Blizzard.
“Keep training hard, and you'll evolve soon enough.” Xiao Mao said.
Initially, Xiao Mao wanted to evolve Aggron into a Mega Aggron as soon as possible, but he remembered the system's task. It required him to catch and raise an Aggron, not a Mega Aggron. If he evolved it prematurely, he might not complete the task and would have to find another Aggron. So, he wasn't in a hurry to evolve Aggron until the task was complete.
“Roar!”
Aggron nodded, indicating that it would train hard.
“Heh, go take a rest.” Xiao Mao smiled and recalled Aggron.
“Next up is Pidgeotto.”
The only Pokémon left on Green’s team were Arcanine and Pidgeot.
Growlithe could evolve into Arcanine anytime, and Pidgeotto was currently at level 32, 4 levels away from evolving.
Before challenging the Vermilion Gym, Xiao Mao planned to train the Pokémon he currently had, especially Pidgeotto, Growlithe, and Eevee.
Growlithe and Eevee were lagging behind the rest of the team in levels. He had to train them more rigorously.
A week later.
Xiao Mao and Nagi arrived at the city of Fuchsia City.
Fuchsia City was a medium-sized city in the Kanto region. It was surrounded by dense forests, making it a suitable habitat for Bug-type Pokémon.
The reason Xiao Mao and Nagi were here was, of course, because Fuchsia City had a Gym.
During the past week, Xiao Mao’s Pokémon had all grown stronger.
Blastoise LV42—43!
Exeggutor LV36—38!
Pidgeotto LV32—33!
Growlithe LV25—30!
Eevee LV25—30!