After all that fuss, the Energy Crystal still went to Zoroark. But since it was decided by drawing lots, no one had any complaints.
Under the watchful eyes of the other Pokémon, Zoroark carefully swallowed the crystal. Unfortunately, there was no visible change on the surface, which left the others a little disappointed.
Sato wasn't worried. Back when Ariados consud the Poison-type Energy Crystal, the effects had taken ti to show.
Compared to a short-term boost, Sato valued long-term, permanent enhancents much more.
After that, Sato had Sharpedo transferred back over and gave it the Water-type Energy Crystal.
"Let's test these two ga Stones... do you feel anything?"
Once Sharpedo had swallowed the Water-type Energy Crystal, Sato presented the two newly obtained ga Stones, holding them in front of it.
"Shar!"
Still buzzing with excitent from the crystal, Sharpedo's eyes were imdiately drawn to what Sato held.
One ga Stone was a mix of blue and yellow; the other was black and red. Sharpedo stared intently at the blue-yellow one, sensing a powerful, familiar force inside it calling out to it.
Seeing this, Sato's eyes lit up. He handed the blue-yellow ga Stone to Sharpedo and said, "Let's give it a try!"
"Shar, shar!"
Sharpedo gently took the ga Stone in its mouth, afraid it might accidentally bite too hard and damage it.
"Sharpedo, ga Evolve!"
A brilliant, multicolored light burst forth as the ga Stone and Key Stone extended glowing beams that connected in midair.
A special kind of energy passed between Sato and Sharpedo. As the recipient, Sharpedo was instantly enveloped by the rainbow-hued light.
Soon, all the light was absorbed by Sharpedo. When it reappeared, its form had changed drastically.
Its size hadn't increased much -it still retained its general shape- but now, on both sides of its snout, rows of sharp, saw-like teeth had erged.
And those teeth had only one purpose: to attack.
According to what Sato rembered from his past life, Sharpedo's Ability also forcibly changed to Strong Jaw.
This Ability boosted the power of any biting moves by 50%.
Combined with the newly grown serrated fangs, Sharpedo's offensive power couldn't just be called strong anymore... it was terrifying.
Sharpedo twisted and turned to admire its new body. The sheer power it now felt made it eager for a fight.
"Congratulations!"
Sato carefully avoided the teeth as he reached out to touch Sharpedo's snout. Unlike Houndoom after its ga Evolution, Sharpedo showed no resistance at all.
Truthfully, Sato had fully understood Houndoom's reaction at the ti. After suddenly gaining such imnse power, that overly intelligent Pokémon had started questioning everything.
'Did Sato still have the strength to command it? Did he still deserve to be its Trainer?'
That was Houndoom's pride. Being so smart, it wasn't willing to follow a weak Trainer.
Besides, by the ti Sato captured it, Houndoom had already been highly independent; capable of leading a pack on its own.
But Sharpedo was different. Despite its vicious-sounding na, this particular Sharpedo had a completely different background.
---
Back in its own school¹, it was just an unremarkable little Carvanha. Before it could grow, it had been scooped up by humans and thrown into the Goldenrod City Ga Corner, treated like a token prize.
It barely survived, cramd into a shallow tank with a bunch of others... until the day Sato, carrying the aura of Dark Energy, appeared before them.
The hidden potential within that Carvanha granted it a sharp sensitivity. To it, the Dark Energy radiating from Sato was irresistibly enticing.
'Take away!'
Carvanha barely managed to open its eyes to look at Sato. In that fleeting mont of eye contact, it seed to see excitent and emotion flashing in Sato's eyes.
'Will he really take away?'
Before it could think further, a Poké Ball was tossed in its direction. Carvanha, having seen a few capture scenes before, instinctively knew what this ant.
It closed its eyes and quietly awaited the destiny that Arceus had prepared for it.
"Shar-shar!"
---
The three of them rested well for two days in Lilycove City. After confirming that Joseph and Mark were completely fine, they decided to continue their journey toward Mt. Pyre.
Although the helicopter had dropped them off a little farther out, it still brought them significantly closer to their destination.
Setting off west from Lilycove City, they had just entered the outskirts when Sato noticed sothing was different... more lively than usual.
"How many challengers have we run into already?" Mark asked, glancing at Arbok, who was now too exhausted to move, and muttered a bit of a complaint.
"Seventh. There really are a lot of Trainers in this forest."
Joseph responded while sending out Chansey to use Heal Pulse and help Arbok recover.
"My cutie's all worn out. If we run into any more challengers, I'm leaving them to Boss Sato."
"Weren't you the one who jumped at the chance to battle just now? Thanks, Chansey."
"Chansey!"
"Okay, okay, I admit it! I'm just the mascot, battling is still Sato's job!"
As the two joked around, a sudden rustling ca from the grass nearby. But by now, they were used to it.
Soon, a green-haired Trainer erged slowly, wearing the latest red Elite Trainer Uniform from the League.
The Elite Trainer Uniform was a recent creation by the Pokémon League, part of a system to evaluate Trainers. Those who passed would receive a personalized uniform and a rank badge to match.
If you ran into soone in the wild wearing that uniform and a rank badge on their chest, it at least ant their main team of six had all reached the Elite level.
"Up for a battle?"
Sato casually held up a Poké Ball, issuing a challenge to this red-and-green-clad Trainer.
The Trainer looked Sato up and down; he was younger, wore no Elite Trainer Uniform, and had no badge.
This battle would be boring.
Just as he was about to decline, Sato had already thrown the Poké Ball. Ariados appeared between the two.
Elite-level!
The red-green Trainer froze for a mont. Such a young kid already had an Elite-level Pokémon? That was rare... but clearly, he had picked the wrong opponent!
It was easy to guess that this Ariados was Sato's strongest Pokémon, and probably had just barely broken through to Elite level. No wonder the kid was eager to battle.
The Trainer figured he had pretty much guessed it all. For ambitious newbies like this, he didn't mind giving a proper lesson.
Sato frowned slightly at the Trainer in front of him. Watching him alternate between smirks and giggles... was this guy going crazy before the battle even started?
"Kid, I'm Elite Trainer Xander Bell. I accept your challenge! Co out... Glalie!"
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¹. What do you call a group of sharks?
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