574 CH47 (569), Police (17)
While it had only been a matter of time, I was happy to see that Manami/Lapras had completed her limit-breaking phase. I had expected her to be the next to do so, and she did not disappoint me. After quickly going over the rest of her status sheet, I shared the good news with her and declared that we would move to her place once I was done checking out the condition/status of the others.
Among them, Beldum and Squirtle stood out. They were the youngest and weakest, and their low stage was the reason why they were currently displaying the fastest progress speed amongst my Pokemon, though the effects of Utopia's upgrade and the establishment of a proper/genuine bond between us were certainly significant contributors to that speed.
Beldum was a single parameter away from finishing the second round of its limit-breaking phase. Meanwhile, Squirtle had actually started his second round at some point this week. Squirtle having completed his first round of LB actually meant that he was theoretically ready for his evolution.
However, when I brought it up, Squirtle said that he wanted to wait until he was done with his LB. I naturally respected his decision, and let the matter rest for now. Unlike Squirtle, Beldum belonged to a pseudo-legendary species, so it had yet to reach the optimal evolution point, and would have to wait until the (high) bronze stage before the matter of its evolution could be brought onto the table.
Anyway, I finally finished up the checkup routine, and as soon as I was done with the last one, I announced Manami's upcoming breakthrough over UtopiaFM. Following that we all made our way over to Manami's place. Since it was Manami's show, I settled on her shell/back, and let her lead the way.
Manami decided to head there the fun way, which meant that she slid along an ice path she made herself instead of using the stream that passed through pretty much every area/zone of Utopia. Mothra/Butterfree, who was sitting atop Manami's head, as well as Nyx/Umbreon and her Eevee Squad, who had joined me on Manami's back/shell, were certainly enjoying the ice slide.
They were whooping out of excitement, which was a bit funny since one of them could fly, and the others were quite fast. Yet, I understood why they were having fun since I too enjoyed the ice slide even though both those points applied to me as well. Manami being the lovely Pokemon that she was, actually made a few detours to prolong the trip to her place when she saw that the others were enjoying the ride.
When we made it to Manami's place, everyone else belonging to the main group was already there. Mothra and co thanked Manami for the ride before they got off and began to tell everyone how much fun they had getting here. Quite a few of the listeners got excited and asked Manami if she could bring them around for a spin as well.
Manami did not seem averse to the idea and actually looked over at me. She asked for my opinion, and seeing how some of the non-main team members were still on the way I told her to go ahead if she did not mind ferrying them around for a bit.
She didn't mind it, so we decided that until all prospective viewers arrived, Manami and the others could slide around for as long as she was fine with it. Midway through the wait, their ice slide turned into a slide race when Tiamat/Milotic and Abzu/Milotic volunteered to carry around some of the others who were waiting for their turn.
They seemed to have a lot of fun, so I let them carry on even after all the stragglers had arrived. They actually kept going like that for close to another hour before they had their fill, and once that was the case, I gave the racers some energy drinks, before telling everyone to form a circle around Manami.
While they did that, I hugged Manami and praised/thanked her for going along with the wishes of the others. I caressed her neck before I patted her head, which made her release a content thrill. Seeing that she was back to being in top form, I wished her luck before making room for our lucky mascot Fortuna/Togetic.
After Fortuna wished Manami all the best as well, the two of us retreated to the circle and I gave Manami the go-ahead. Seeing my signal, Manami initiated her breakthrough, and we all watched her as she began to break through to the dark gold stage.
A few seconds into her breakthrough, Manami lit up a bit which suggested that something nice was happening. Seeing how "soft/weak" the light was, I ruled out a modifier, so I assumed that she was either unlocking a second talent, or her existing talent was undergoing an upgrade. Honestly, the second option seems more likely, so I was inclined to believe that to be the case.
Regardless, everyone was excited when she began to shine a bit. The situation went on for half a minute when Manami suddenly lit up in a blue light. The blue light resembled the one Ignis had been engulfed in when he got blessed by Volcanion, but we were currently inside Utopia, which meant it couldn't possibly be a blessing from any of the water legends, so I concluded that it had to be an elemental blessing.
Going by the color it could have been either the water or ice element, but as I said, the shade was pretty much the same as the one caused by Volcanion, so I was confident that it was the water element and not ice. Still, regardless of the specifics, as soon as the blue light erupted, my Pokemon began cheering. There were envious exclamations, but I knew that each one of them was happy for Manami.
It took some time, but eventually, the light died down, and Manami's breakthrough successfully ended as well. Once her breakthough was complete, Manami released a happy thrill while also briefly letting her aura loose.
I was honestly not all that surprised that the aura she was releasing was that of a (high) dark gold stage Pokemon. I already "knew", or rather heavily suspected that she had gotten a blessing, which would boost her starting parameters and consequently her starting point as well.
Regardless, I went up to her and hugged her neck before congratulating her on her successful breakthrough. Manami excitedly told me that she had felt as if she had been lovingly embraced by water during her breakthrough, and that she now felt closer to it than ever before.
I told her about the blue light that appeared sometime around the start of her breakthrough and she seemed happy to hear that it was not just her imagination. Having now practically confirmed that she had been blessed by water, I congratulated her on that as well, and she actually seemed happier about that than about her breakthrough.
Well, I could actually understand why she felt like that since she had essentially been acknowledged by one of the elements that made up her being, besides in my/our experience it was much harder to get a blessing than it was to unlock the other modifiers.
Anyway, right about that time, the others decided that they had given us enough time alone, and rushed up to congratulate her. They caught the part about the blessing and began to excitedly congratulate her on both her breakthrough as well as her blessing.
Still, now that I thought about it, this confirmed that at least the elements, and I was assuming most like the concepts as well, were capable of issuing blessings even inside Utopia. I had a pretty solid theory of why that was possible, and the answer was quite simple. Utopia did after all have a constant undetectable exchange/connection with the energy outside Utopia.
Back to the matter on hand. I saw the water Furret squeezing his way through the others and finally making it in front of Manami. He happily congratulated her on being blessed by water as well, and the two began talking about the feelings she had experienced during the blessing, while the others curiously listened in since they were interested in hearing about the whole thing as well.
I had one of my thought streams pay attention to them, while I used the moment to check out Manami's new/updated status sheet.
'Name: Manami
Species: Lapras
Gender: Female
Age: 15+ years
-
Type: Water, Ice
Potential: Deep Purple (45.48%)*
{Purple (62.69%) -> (65.48%) -> Deep Purple (45.48%)}
Genetic variation: Blessed by Water*'
It was a bit unfortunate that the potential bonus Manami received for her LB got halved due to her reaching the dark gold stage. Otherwise, her potential would have been pushed to light aurora. Instead, it was now closing in on the halfway point there.
Nonetheless, possessing deep purple potential was incredible as well, and as things stood, Manami would be able to join the aurora club upon breaking through to the platinum stage. Well, at least that was what should happen as long as nothing unexpected popped up.
Moving on, below her potential section was the proof that she had truly been Blessed by Water, which granted her an overall 25% boost. It also made it easier for her to progress in anything related to (liquid) water, which did not include things like ice or steam/vapor but it was still a nice bonus.
After verifying this, I shared the news with Manami as well as the rest, and she still expressed her happiness at the confirmation even though we had been pretty sure that she had been blessed. Anyway, after sharing the news, I continued to look through Manami's status sheet and quickly came across the reason she had shone at the start of her breakthrough.
'Abilities: Water Absorb, Hydration
Talents: True Water Absorb*
Affinities: Water, Ice'
As I had expected, her talent had gone through an upgrade, at least that was what I was presuming since Rain Absorb had been replaced by True Water Absorb. The name was quite a bit on the nose, and a quick look at its description showed that it was indeed a further expansion on Rain Absorb/Water Absorb.
True Water Absorb allowed its holder to absorb any form of water energy, including steam and ice, to heal themselves. It also passively granted an immunity towards water and ice energy, as well as any water-related weather conditions, such as Hail or any derivatives.
A quick look at her type relation section confirmed that Manami was now immune to ice energy as well, though seeing the now empty resistance sub-section looked a bit sad. Nonetheless, it would most likely have to stay like that for a long long time since there was no way that we would focus on training actual resistances before all her weaknesses had been taken care of.
'Immune:
Water, Ice*
-
Resistance:
None*
-
Weaknesses:
Grass (Minor), Fighting (Minor), Rock (Minor)
-
Standardized:
Electric, Rock (in progress)'
Anyway, this was an incredible upgrade, and I was convinced that True Water Absorb was what had triggered the blessing. I went ahead and shared the very good news with the others before I continued looking through the rest of Manami's status sheet.
'Bond: Mikail (deep)*
Quirks: Optimistic
----
Parameters:
Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)*
Vitality: A
Strength: C
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: C
Energy Density: C'
By now I was able to feel it when a bond got elevated to the deep grade, so I was not surprised to see it displayed on her status since I had felt our bond deepen. Similarly, I already knew that she was starting out at the (high) dark gold stage.
Nonetheless, seeing the exact situation of her parameters gave me a rather pleasant surprise. Manami was my second Pokemon to start with an A, though she fell slightly behind Moka/Crobat with her overall start. That did not change the fact that Manami had a brilliant start as well, and she actually directly jumped to third place among my dark gold Pokemon, at least parameter-wise. Stan/Gayardos and Moka were the two that were above her.
Still, with Manami joining the dark gold club, I now had 6 Pokemon at the dark gold stage, with 3 of them actually being at the (high) dark gold stage. Forget about qualifying for the Ace Class as a trainer, with this lineup, I actually qualified for the Elite Class title, at least as far as Pokemon were concerned.
There was more to it than just the Pokemon aspect, but it was unbelievable that me and my Pokemon had managed to reach this point before I even started my journey.
Anyway, I glanced through the rest of Manami's status sheet and saw that nothing else had been affected by her breakthrough, though I paused a bit at her move section to consider our next step move-wise.
'Techniques:
-
Novice:
Outrage (new)
-
Beginner:
Sleep Talk (new)
-
Proficient:
Avalanche (++), Icy Wind (++), Confuse Ray (+), Hyper Beam (++), Dream Eater (++), Frost Breath (new), Freezing Pump (C, new)
-
Advanced:
Surf (+), Whirlpool (+), Sparkling Aria (+3)
-
Mastered:
Hydro Pump (+)
-
Combo/Custom:
Freezing Pump (Proficient)'
Manami had been working on Outrage, and we had been planning to keep working on it until she reached proficiency before moving on, but considering the effects of her blessing, I decided to talk to her about the issue at some point during her breakthrough celebration. We would have to discuss whether she should leave Outrage alone for now and focus on raising the mastery of some of her water-type moves instead.
Anyway, since I was done checking Manami's status sheet, I told everyone that it was time to head to my place for Manami's celebration.
---------------------
---------------------
This part is purely to display Manami's status screen in one piece and does not count toward the word count.
'Name: Manami
Species: Lapras
Gender: Female
Age: 15+ years
-
Type: Water, Ice
Potential: Deep Purple (45.48%)
Genetic variation: Blessed by Water
Abilities: Water Absorb, Hydration
Talents: True Water Absorb
Affinities: Water, Ice
-
Bond: Mikail (deep)
Quirks: Optimistic
----
Parameters:
Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)
Vitality: A
Strength: C
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: C
Energy Density: C
----
Immune:
Water, Ice
-
Resistance:
None
-
Weaknesses:
Grass (Minor), Fighting (Minor), Rock (Minor)
-
Standardized:
Electric, Rock (in progress)
----
Condition: Healthy, Thrilled, Excited
----
Masteries:
Water Energy Manipulation (Advanced)
Ice Energy Manipulation (Advanced)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
None
-
Novice:
Outrage
-
Beginner:
Growl, Sleep Talk
-
Proficient:
Shock Wave, Thunderbolt, Sheer Cold, Thunder, Body Slam, Protect, Safeguard, Dragon Pulse, Endure, Perish Song, Smart Strike, Mega Horn, Zen Headbutt, Iron Head, Avalanche, Icy Wind, Confuse Ray, Hyper Beam, Dream Eater, Frost Breath, Freezing Pump (C)
-
Advanced:
Ice Shard, Ice Beam, Rest, Water Pulse, Life Dew, Brine, Mist, Sing, Psychic, Blizzard, Hail, Freezing Rain (C), Hyper Voice, Surf, Whirlpool, Sparkling Aria
-
Mastered:
Water Gun, Rain Dance, Hydro Pump
-
Combo/Custom:
Freezing Rain (Advanced), Freezing Pump (Proficient)'
-----------------------------
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