CH53 (575), End of 2184 (1)

Since I now had confirmation that Utopia could help the old Raticate, making him viable for my protection/guardian plan, I went all out to persuade Raticate to join me, and he actually ended up catching me off guard by agreeing as quickly as he did.

I did not even get the chance to tell him that I would do my best to help heal any injuries that he had. Raticate agreed to join as soon as I said that I would bring him to a place full of energy where he could stay in peace and enjoy a virtual paradise as far as safety as well as comfort were concerned.

Honestly, his sudden agreement took me off guard forcing me to interrupt my sales pitch. I mean I was using my aura to portray that I was genuine in my words, but I had expected to have to persuade him. However, Raticate ended up breaking my flow by expressing his willingness to join.

"I haven't even told you yet what I want in return for providing such an environment," I could not help but say to Raticate, who gave me a nonchalant look. "I don't care," Raticate said with a slight shrug. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm old and dying," he added sarcastically.

"I can feel my strength wilting, and I've got a few moons in me at most. I doubt that you're going to demand anything that can make my situation any worse," Raticate said in a tone that showed me that he had already accepted his impending death.

Still, no matter his tone, I could sense his emotions, and even though I could feel that he did truly accept that he would die soon, I could also feel that deep down he was bitter about it.

"You can't know that," I said almost reflexively, which had him raise an eyebrow. "Though I guess you're right this time," I admitted afterward, and I could feel his satisfaction at my admittance.

Nonetheless, considering the plans I had for Raticate, I felt that being upfront about them would be for the best, so I went ahead and told him my conditions anyway.

"I have a bunch of Rattata, and Raticate in my care, along with some other Pokemon. I want you to safeguard them, and if possible, guide the Rattata on occasion," I began to share what I wanted him to do.

"Are you messing with me? Did you not hear the part where I said that I am old and dying? Why would I waste my energy and time on doing any of that?" Raticate interrupted me and I could feel some anger as well as indignation at my words, which was a marked difference compared to his previous indifference.

"You didn't let me finish," I rebutted, and he gave me a look that screamed, "Well, go on then", so I did. "In return for your service, I'll do my best to heal any injuries and diseases you are currently suffering under, along with doing my best to mitigate any of the consequences of your old injuries. That should give you a few extra years at least," I told him a variation of what would happen once Utopia got to work, without going into detail or mentioning the extent of the healing he would undergo.

"Alright, go ahead," Raticate simply answered once I was done. I nearly retorted with a "You sure?", but let it be, and simply pulled out a Common Ball. "Don't resist," I warned Raticate before touching him with the ball, triggering the capture mechanism.

Raticate did not resist at all, resulting in an instant capture. I let him back out since I wanted to check his status before he went through the Utopia treatment. Naturally, that was not what I told Raticate. I pat him on the shoulder and asked him if he had anything that he wanted to take along before we left.

"There's nothing to take," Raticate rejected, and I nodded. "If you say so," I accepted his refusal. I then gave him a last pat to invoke his status sheet before I recalled him. I put his ball away for now and resumed my walk to the steakhouse I had initially been heading for, while I had one of my thought streams check Raticate's status sheet.

'Name: N/A

Species: Raticate

Gender: Male

Age: 411+ years

-

Type: Normal

Potential: Deep Yellow (70.89%)

(Genetic) Modifiers: None

Abilities: Guts

Talents: None

Affinities: Normal

-

Bond: Mikail (artificial)

Quirks: Tenacious, Hardworking

----

Condition: Dying, Depleted Body, Weakened by Age, Hopeful

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: C

--

Masteries:

Normal Energy Manipulation (Advanced)

----

Techniques:

-

Proficient:

Tail Whip, Take Down, Assurance, Sucker Punch, Laser Focus, Double Edge, Super Fang

-

Advanced:

Tackle, Focus Energy, Pursuit

-

Mastered:

Quick Attack, Scary Face, Hyper Fang, Bite, Crunch'

His age and condition confirmed that Raticate was nowhere near his maximum potential lifespan in age and that his body was in a poor state due to injuries and over-drafting. Once Utopia took care of those problems, Raticate's leftover lifespan should instantly jump from months to decades. If I was not wrong the number should be somewhere around 80-90 years.

Lifespan aside, his ability was a surprisingly good fit, at least name-wise as far as I was concerned, but it was his quirks that showed just why he was able to break the (soft) stage limit set by his potential. I had seen during my check before his capture that Raticate had deep yellow potential, but seeing that it was at 70% made me pity Raticate a bit.

If he had been a bit luckier and found some good potential boosting materials, he might have been able to raise his potential to light green, which would have made his training efforts easier, and depending on how early that had happened, he might have been able to break through to the next stage, granting him a longer lifespan.

I guess, I would not have come across him in that case, so his average/bad luck ended up being better for me, though I was not sure if he did not have good luck after all since he ended up getting my attention.

Anyway, philosophical questions aside, I was not sure if it was due to his age, or because he was unable to raise his parameters any further, but a complete row of Cs showed that Raticate was currently at the bottom rung among the (high) gold stage Pokemon/Raticate, though his move pool likely helped him compensate for his parameters a bit.

While the list of his moves was not large, his mastery over the ones he had was pretty good, considering his status as a wild Pokemon, along with his low potential. His quirks really showed their influence in this section as well, and I had to admit that Raticate had focused on a practical set of moves to master.

Having finished looking through the status sheet, I could freely admit that I was looking forward to the change in Raticate's status sheet along with his reaction after Utopia was done with him. I was also interested in the physical change he would no doubt go through due to gaining a second wind. I mean, his new/recovered lifespan would have to show somehow.

Anyway, I made it to the Steakhouse and ordered 12 servings of the steak for myself, while ordering 2 servings each for Mothra/Butterfree and Hades/Gengar. Each serving was around 500 gr, so I ended up eating 6 kg of meat. Not to mention that there were also mashed potatoes on the side.

Honestly, eating like this made me order a salad just to give myself the illusion of a balanced meal. Not that I really needed to do it since I got what I needed from the berries I ate, as well as the OO juice I regularly drank.

Nonetheless, once I was done eating, I settled the bill and stepped outside the restaurant, before teleporting to my dorm room. From there, I entered Utopia. I then pulled out the Common Ball with Raticate inside it and noticed Hades leaving my shadow. He said he was curious about the change Raticate would undergo.

Meanwhile, Mothra urged me to release Raticate from her perch atop my head, so I went ahead and let Raticate out. Raticate had no time to react to his new environment before Utopia did its thing, and we got to witness the changes happening to his body.

Raticate's greyish and mat fur regained its color and life. Additionally, his body became fuller, causing his body to expand just a tiny bit. Soon enough the optimization process was over, and Raticate was curiously checking out the changes in his body.

While he did that I went up to him, with Hades tagging along. Hades laughed at Raticate's disbelief, catching his attention. I had to chuckle as well, and when Raticate looked over, I could not help but tease him a bit. "So, how is it? I've kept my promise to heal you up right?"

"What, why, how?" Raticate eloquently returned full of surprise as well as incredulity, causing Mothra, Hades, and me to chuckle. Still, I did not leave him hanging and gave him the standard abridged explanation of Utopia.

Raticate actually cried when he heard that the barrier that had been slowing him down before fully keeping him from advancing had been pushed back, opening the way for him to the next stage. He only had to worry about the barrier once he managed to knock on the door to the (high) dark gold stage.

That did not dampen Raticate's exhilaration at all. No one on our side, including me even though I could sense/feel emotions, could really comprehend how Raticate felt. Hades and especially Mothra had no idea what it was like to be slowed down by their potential, so they could not really understand Ratictae's feelings. They simply felt happy for him.

In short, we could not really understand what my/Utopia's actions meant for Raticate, so I was a bit taken off guard by the attitude Raticate showed me after he understood just how much I helped him. Raticate treated me so warmly that one would think that I was his closest family member.

I could feel a cocktail of positive emotions coming from Raticate, and he came up to me, stood up (on his feet), and actually bowed to me while thanking me for granting him a new lease on life, before sitting down on his ass and just laughing happily for a while, releasing his emotions.

I went up to him and patted him on the back, telling him that he was welcome and that I was just keeping my promise. I naturally used the chance to check his new/updated status sheet since I was curious to see how the changes had been reflected on it.

'Name: N/A

Species: Raticate

Gender: Male

Age: 411+ years

-

Type: Normal

Potential: Green (30.89%)*

{Deep Yellow (70.89%) -> Green (30.89%)}

(Genetic) Modifiers: None

Abilities: Guts, Hustle*

Talents: None

Affinities: Normal

----

Condition: Healthy, Happy, Shocked, Elated

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: B*

Endurance: B*

Agility: B*

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: B*'

The obvious one was the potential increase that each optimization caused. I had already known his potential would rise to green, so no surprise there. His green potential also granted him access to a second ability, and I was happy that it ended up being Hustle instead of Run Away since I felt that it would have been a bit unfortunate for someone like Raticate to have an ability like Run Away.

I was happy to note that his condition had changed from "Dying, Depleted Body, Weakned by Age" to "Healthy", and I could not help but be amazed when I saw that the majority of his parameters had actually risen after those debilitating status/physical condition had been taken care of.

It was great to see that my theory on the impact of Utopia's optimization on old Pokemon proved to be true, at least as far as the ones that had not reached their potential maximum lifespan was concerned.

Anyway, after giving Raticate some time to vent his emotions, I led him to the Rattata/Raticate living inside the main space and introduced the two sides to each other. When they learned that Raticate would be their guardian in the future the Rattata and Raticate welcomed him warmly. I also called the others over to introduce them to one another.

I spent the rest of the evening inside Utopia, and the next morning I headed to the Police HQ for my last day there. Maybe it was because this was my last day, but we did not get assigned any missions, so I spent my whole shift at the HQ.

Another thing that gave me that impression was that some of the partners I had during the last six months came to the SPU over the course of my shift to wish me all the best and to say their farewells. At the end of my shift, they gathered at the SPU once more. They then along with Officer Jenny, and Chief Junsa gathered together to send me off.

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

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