CH42 (272), First Goal Achieved

I watched Riolu eat his curry with gusto, and gave him a cup of juice when he looked thirsty. Once he was done, I asked him whether he liked it or not, and he enthusiastically nodded his head before thanking me for the meal.

I levitated the used plate and cup over to me before placing them in an empty bag that I threw into my bag so that I could dispose of them later on. I might have done it like that to impress Riolu a bit.

Once that was taken care of, I released my aura to show that I was already at Tier 2, gotta impress Riolu after all, before getting straight to the point.

"Well, Riolu, I'm sure you and everyone else already knows why I have visited your home today, so I'll be straightforward. I spent the whole day interacting with a lot of Riolu, searching for the one that I felt could join my family and until now I was unsure which Riolu I should ask whether he or she was willing to join me.

At least, until now, I had not made a choice. Riolu I'd like to ask you if you would be willing to join me. If you join, you'll be part of a pretty big family, so you don't have to worry about being bored or lonely. I also promise you a lot of tasty food and the best supplements I can provide.

I'll do my best to help you get as strong as possible. I believe you can make it really far, and with my help, you'll definitely be able to make it even further," while I was doing my pitch I was releasing my aura, conveying my honesty since that was always a plus.

Riolu looked like he was open to the idea, but he seemed not fully convinced. A few moments later he asked that I release some of my Pokemon so that he could talk to them first before coming to a decision. On a side note, Riolu was already sapient, so I wouldn't have to wait for that to happen.

I acquiesced to his request and released Ali/Kirlia, Mothra/Butterfree, Nyx/Umbreon, and Enji/Arcanine so that Riolu could talk with them. I called out Ali because Riolu most likely knew that about the Ralts lines habitat, so him having joined me through the Academy should help Riolu come to a decision.

As for Mothra, Nyx, and Enji, that they would be gushing about how awesome I was, had nothing to do with it. Really, I promise. I had a logical excuse, I meant reason for that. Mothra was my strongest Pokemon, as simple as that. Well, the fact that she was this strong despite being a Butterfree was a pretty good point as well.

Nyx belonged to a Pokemon species that evolved after teaching a certain level of affection/relationship, so that was a plus for me, as well as the fact that she was pretty strong. There was also the fact that I had raised her from an egg, so that could count as another plus for me.

Then there was Enji, whom I also raised from an egg until now. He was strong, and since his line evolved through a trigger, he could somewhat demonstrate that I had the means to back my claims regarding the supplements.

Umu, those were the reason I called them out. It was not just so that they could gush over my greatness in hopes of their enthusiasm swaying Riolu's opinion in my favor through sheer cuteness/enthusiasm.

The five talked for a while, and a quick look at my watch told me that there were only 3 minutes until 6 p.m, so I started to get a bit nervous since I did not have much time left until Gallade appeared to bring me away.

Even those 3 minutes passed by and the quintet was still happily chatting, seemingly having forgotten that I was waiting for an answer. Gallade appeared moments later, and three Lucario also joined our merry band. Two of the Lucario were the ones that had welcomed me, and the third one was the (high) dark gold stage Lucario I had served curry.

Only the appearance of these big shots pulled the chatting quintet out of their zone. All six of us greeted Gallade and the Lucario. The quartet turned to me and asked me if I had found a Riolu that was willing to join me, and I looked at Riolu when they asked that.

The quartet followed my gaze and looked towards Riolu as well, who became a bit nervous due to suddenly being the center of attention. Mothra gave him an encouraging cheer and the other three quickly joined in.

That seemed to give Riolu a boost in confidence and he walked up to me and told me he would join. His declaration was met with cheers by my group and I hugged Riolu while welcoming him into the family. Mothra, Nyx, and Enji seemed to totally disregard the presence of Gallade and the Lucario since they rushed up to me to join in on the hug.

Ali was a bit more reserved, being more conscious of the quartet's presence before he just shrugged and joined in as well. Thankfully the quartet did not mind and just smiled warmly while watching us.

"Well, it seems Riolu decided to join me," I said with a bright smile before pulling out one of the FightBalls I made.

Riolu curiously looked at the ball before nodding, and after receiving the go-ahead I tapped him with the ball. The FightBall did its thing and Riolu got moved inside. Since Riolu was not fighting against the process there was no wiggling and the capture directly ended successfully with the establishment of the artificial bond.

I put away the ball and focused back on the Gallade and Lucario. They congratulated me and the Lucario encouraged/exhorted me to take good care of the "little" Riolu.

"Alright, it's time to go," Gallade said, which made the Lucario wind down. I thanked them for their hospitality before recalling Mothra and the others. Once I had done that, Gallade teleported us to Mr. Cameron's office.

"Welcome back, Mikail. How was it? I hope you found a partner," Mr. Cameron greeted me.

"Hello, sir. Yes, I thankfully managed to find a Riolu willing to join me," I returned with a bright smile.

"That's good," he gave me a nod and continued. "I'm happy for you. May you two always help each other and may your bond be a great one. Take good care of him and make sure you maintain a good relationship with him," Mr. Cameron added, and I thanked him for his nice words as well as advice.

After that I excused myself and we said our goodbyes. I made my way home where my parents were already waiting for me.

"How did it go?" Mom asked after I entered the living room and dad also looked curious.

"I got a Riolu," I answered happily and mom rushed up to me, pulling me into a hug. It was not as if she needed that as an excuse to hug the stuffing out of me, with how often mom was hugging me in general, so I was used to being hugged. It was not I disliked being hugged, so I returned her hug.

Dad patted me on the shoulder, congratulating me. We moved to the couch and they asked me to tell them about my experience since they were curious about how the habitat was.

I began telling them about my visit and when we came to the part where I was cooking curry they remembered that it was high time for dinner since it was already 7 p.m. Still, they insisted that dinner could wait a bit more and that I should finish my recounting, so I did.

While I was finishing my recount, I was using my parallel thought process to hand out dinner inside Utopia. By the time I told them how I called out Mothra and the others to persuade/entice Riolu, I was done handing out dinner to the Utopia inhabitants.

Once I finished my tale, my parents asked to see Riolu, so I called him out and introduced them to each other. Mom asked if Riolu wanted to join us for dinner, but Riolu shook his head saying that he was still full from the curry, so I recalled him and we moved on to the kitchen.

Mom reheated the food and I helped her set the table. The dinner was nice, and after we had eaten our fill, I helped mom clear the table. We once more moved to the living room and talked about the state of things. At around 10:45 p.m, I wished my parents goodnight before I moved to my room.

I locked the door behind me and called Riolu out before I gave him a rundown of Utopia via telepathy. He was as expected flustered after hearing about Utopia and its capabilities, but he was also really excited.

Anyway, he was made privy to Utopia's existence I moved him there. He went through the standard optimization process, and a habitat got created for him. He was moved there, and I chose that moment to enter Utopia as well.

I saw him checking out himself, likely having noticed some changes that had happened to him. The most likely candidate was his potential, at least if it had managed to reach light purple since an improvement from one color shade to another could be felt by the Pokemon when it happened.

I went ahead and checked his status screen to see what had changed, and to take a look at his full screen for the first time.

'Name: None

Species: Riolu

Gender: Male

Age: 8+ years

-

Type: Fighting

Potential: Blue (58.67%) -> Light Purple (18.67%)

(Genetic) Modifiers: Blessed by Aura

Abilities: Inner Focus, Prankster

Talents: Auralize

Affinities: Fighting, Aura

-

Bond: Mikail (artificial, weak)

Quirks: None

----

Parameters:

Stage: Bronze Stage (mid)

Vitality: D

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: D

Energy Density: D

----

Immunity:

None

-

Resistance:

Bug (Minor), Rock (Minor), Dark (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Flying (Minor), Psychic (Minor), Fairy (Minor)

-

Standardized:

None

----

Condition: Healthy, Curious, Excited

----

Masteries:

Fighting Energy Manipulation (Proficient)

Aura Manipulation (Proficient)

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Helping Hand, Close Combat, Sword Dance

-

Beginner:

Feint, Nasty Plot, Quick Guard, Copycat, Reversal

-

Proficient:

Endure, Foresight, Quick Attack, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Rock Smash, Bullet Punch, Bite, Work Up, Counter, Screech, Force Palm, Crunch, Bulk Up

-

Advanced:

Aura Sphere

-

Mastered:

N/A'

Well, the first thing I noticed was his age. He was a bit older than I had expected. I thought he was about 5 years old, but him being 8 could explain why he was not among the Riolu playing/relaxing in the recreational areas. He was probably training or resting at home.

A quick look at the move section confirmed that he had been diligently training for a few years. Anyway, I focused back on the first half of his status screen. The typing was the regular one, so I moved on to his potential, and I was happy with what I was seeing.

His potential had directly risen to light purple, which was pretty good. With this, he had joined the ranks of Pokemon with 6-star potential. Additionally, this meant that he would, if he went through the complete limit-breaking training, reach light aurora potential upon breaking through to the gold stage, which was more than enough in my opinion.

Well, at least it would be like that if he did not unlock a gene or two which would cost him some potential. Still, the most that would happen was that the moment would be delayed, since him reaching light aurora potential as long as he followed my training regime was inevitable. The rest of that column remained unchanged.

Our bond being artificial and weak right now was no surprise as well. His parameters on the other hand were a pleasant surprise. His Strength and Agility were at C-value, while the rest was at D-value. He was only missing two more parameters at C-value to reach the (high) bronze stage, which supported my diligently training theory.

His elemental column was the same as that of any other fighting type, and his mood was relatable considering what he had just gone through. His masteries were another confirmation of his diligence, with both being at proficient mastery.

His move column was also a testament to his diligence and proof that he had not wasted his last few years. He had actually raised Aura Sphere to advanced mastery, which kinda explained his proficiency at aura manipulation, if one added his talent into the mix.

I did not doubt that the instruction of some Lucario played a role in him having a move at advanced mastery, on top of the multitude of moves at proficient mastery, but it was still an impressive achievement. He knew some pretty good moves and seeing that he actually had 14 moves at proficient mastery left me with nothing to complain about.

I would most likely have him focus on Bulk Up and Work Up once he raised Close Combat and Sword Dance to beginner mastery. Other than that I would be focusing on helping him reach the (high) bronze stage first.

Anyway, once I was done checking Riolu's status screen, I confirmed to him that his potential had reached light purple, aka 6-stars, which made him laugh happily.

I then accompanied him to his home in the middle of his habitat, which was a small hill with a cave that had a bed made out of soft soil and foliage, after Riolu confirmed that his new home and bed were to his satisfaction I wished him a good night before I left.

I would do his introduction to everyone else along with the family/group photo tomorrow, along with his celebration. For now, it was time for me to sleep as well.

-----------------------------

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