CH95 (459), So It Begins

We began discussing our next steps after lunch. Truthfully, it was pretty obvious what our next steps should be, so it did not take long for us to settle on our next course of action.

We first compiled all the data we gathered through the energy reader and sorted it by the reaction shown during contact. The catalog contained 22.225 items, and we had gone through each one of them. Sadly, only 800 of those 22.225 items actually showed a reaction on the energy reader when an Eevee came into contact with the item and tried to interact with it.

The other 21.425 items did not show any response at all, so we took them out of consideration for the next part of our research, which was seeing if coming into contact with multiple of the items would cause an evolution or not.

Still, it was not as if all 800 items that managed to elicit a reaction were equally "useful". In fact, merely 96 of them caused more than a slight twitch on the energy reader during their tests, and out of those 96, only 27 showed a reaction that was notable enough for us to consider basing our future evolution trigger research around them.

We used that difference to assign the items into three groups. The 27 objects with the greatest reaction formed group one, on which we decided to base the material side of our research on. The 69 items that showed more than a twitch, but failed to enter group 1, made up group two.

Group 2 was essentially where we would look first if we had to add another item into the mix whenever group 1 was not enough/the answer. The other 704 items made up group 3, which was kinda like the last resort group. Well, the last resort did not really sound nice. Those were the items we would have to use whenever groups 1 and 2 were not enough.

Anyway, during the second phase, we would be grouping items from these three groups together and see if they were able to trigger an evolution. We decided to limit the trigger groups to two items since any more than that would raise the number of possible combinations way too high.

I mean even after limiting the group size to two the total number of possible combinations was nearly 320k. If we had gone with 3 items instead of 2, that number would have directly gone up to 85 million. I believe it was obvious why we chose to go with 2 items per test instead.

Yet, even with just 2 items per group, the number of possible tests we had to perform was really high, so we made the obvious choice of starting with group 1 before moving down the ladder. If we were lucky enough, one of the earlier tests would work and we would find a combination that actually managed to trigger an evolution.

If not, going through all ~320.000 possible combinations could take somewhere between 300 to 400 days as long as each one of us managed to go through 30 to 40 combinations each day. 250 days if we managed to go through 50 per day, but to be perfectly honest I did not believe that to be possible, at least not for all of us.

Anyway, in case phase two ended up fruitless as well, we would analyze the results and determine which pairs had caused the biggest reactions before we started creating alloys with those two items to see if the alloys/fusions could trigger the evolution we wanted.

Concurrently, while we were working on the material side of our research, we would ensure that at least a third, if not half of the Eevee taking part in our project learned a steel-type move in case one of the conditions ended up being having a steel type move in the Pokemon's move pool.

It was a possibility none of us could deny, and we decided to let them keep training it even after they learned it in case a certain mastery was required since that was possible as well. After agreeing on all that we began dividing the work between all of us, and by the end of the rest of our work day we managed to go through the 351 possible combinations that were the result of the 27 items in group 1.

Sadly, none of the 351 combinations resulted in an evolution, but honestly, none of us were surprised by that. In the end, we had our energy readings, which we would need if it came to phase 3.

While I was focused on our lab project, and thought stream no.3 was working on converting my gaseous energy to a liquid state, thought stream no.2 was doing the usual, which was keeping an eye on Utopia and supervising the training of all my Pokemon.

Well, whenever they were training since there was no uniform time or period they all trained. Due to my control over Utopia, I was able to give them any instructions or tips I wanted, the same way I could do announcements throughout Utopia.

However, while I was able to keep track of multiple areas, kind of like one could watch multiple displays at once, I was only able to interact with one Pokemon at a time, unless they were in the same area and I addressed them in general. A general message throughout Utopia did not count since that was addressing everyone.

Anyway, since I was super occupied/busy the whole day, I chose to simply relax with my Pokemon for the rest of the evening/night, whenever I made it back to Utopia during the evening.

Throughout the rest of the week, we managed to go through the rest of the 4560 possible combinations of the 96 items in groups 1 and 2. Unfortunately, none of these 4560 combinations ended up working as we had hoped, so we were forced to extend our item pool to include group 3.

That officially increased the number of possible combinations to the 320k we had predicted potentially having to go through on Arcday but had hoped to avoid. Well, that didn't work out, so starting next Arcday, we would have to work through the super long list.

The best case scenario would be us stumbling onto the right combination at the start of this long undertaking, while the worst scenario would be failing to find a working combination even after having gone through all combinations since that would mean that we would have to go through phase 3.

Anyway, the second week began and passed and unfortunately, the quick success we were hoping for did not happen. Still, it was just the second week of phase 2, so there was no reason to write it off just yet. Frankly, I would still call it a quick success if we managed to get it right within three months, much less a few weeks.

Regardless, Arcday of the third week arrived, and by now 9 months had passed since the first of Toedscool's eggs had hatched. I was told that yesterday the last egg from the first batch had finally hatched. That one was somewhat of a late runner since even some from the second batch had already begun to hatch. Nonetheless, I still had not taken any of them into Utopia.

I initially planned to take them into Utopia after the 3 months minimum period that Professor Oak agreed upon passed, but at the moment their granny Vileplume and their uncles as well as aunts Gloom regularly brought them to their parents, which they could no longer do as regularly if I placed them inside Utopia.

Due to that reason, I decided to give them a 12-month period during which they got to see their parents each day, before asking Vileplume to slowly reduce the number of visits to once a week within a period of 6 months.

Once that 18-month period had passed, I would then take them inside Utopia and allow them to visit their parents once a week at the lab, but only after impressing upon them the need to keep quiet about Utopia. Me being a psychic would ensure that they stuck to the condition.

Aside from that reminder on Arcday, nothing out of the ordinary happened throughout the rest of the week. Sadly, the same was true for the first half of the fourth week as well, but thankfully that monotony I had fallen into got interrupted by none other than Optimus/Butterfree on Palkiday.

After I entered Utopia that evening he came up to me with an excited Mothra/Butterfree in tow, along with a lot of their enthusiastic Butterfree minions who chose to tag along. Optimus asked me to check his status screen and I naturally did. I saw that he had managed to complete his limit-breaking, which meant that he was ready for his breakthrough to the gold stage.

When I told him that, Mothra as well as the minions began to cheer, and Optimus began to happily thrill/laugh as well. I naturally made the announcement and told everyone that wanted to witness the breakthrough to gather at Mothra and Optimus' shared area.

We went there as well and waited for the others to come over. I was a bit surprised when Parvati/Beedrill and Prime/Beedrill came together with their Beedrill minions, but I should have kinda expected that. Anyway, the atmosphere was buzzing due to excitement, and once I was sure that no one else was joining, I asked everyone to gather in a circle around Optimus.

I gave him some encouragement before I joined the others in the circle and Optimus initiated his breakthrough as soon as I gave him the thumbs up. The breakthrough went pretty smoothly, even if it took a bit longer than usual. Through, the difference was not so much that I would say that he had unlocked a modifier, so I was unsure whether he had unlocked something or not.

Nonetheless, I went up to him and hugged him while congratulating him for joining the golden group. Right as I finished my sentence we were hug-rushed by Mothra and then dog-piled by the other Butterfree under the encouragement of Mothra.

I could not help but laugh at the Butterfree pile I was buried under. They only made space after the others joined us to congratulate Optimus as well, and I chose that moment to check his new status screen.

'Name: Optimus

Species: Butterfree

Gender: Male

Age: 9+ years

-

Type: Bug, Flying

Potential: Light Purple (76.86%)*

{Deep Blue (0.02%) -> Deep Blue (16.86%) -> Light Purple (76.86%)}

Genetic variation: None

Abilities: Compound Eyes, Tinted Lens

Talents: Effect Spore*

Affinities: Bug, Flying

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirks: Hardworking

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (mid)*

Vitality: E

Strength: F

Endurance: F

Agility: E

Energy Capacity: D

Energy Density: D

----

Resistance:

Grass (Major), Fighting (Major), Ground (Minor), Bug (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Fire (Minor), Ice (Minor), Flying (Minor), Rock (Major)

-

Standardized:

Electric*

----

Condition: Healthy, Happy, Delighted

----

Masteries:

Bug E. Manipulation (Advanced)

Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Proficient) -> (Advanced)

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

String Needle (C)

-

Novice:

N/A

-

Beginner:

Tackle, Whirlwind, String Whip (C)

-

Proficient:

Bug Bite, Harden, Roost, Rage Powder (++), Mega Drain (+), Shadow Ball (+), Giga Drain (new), Powder Bomb (6 RIV, C), Powdered String (8 RIV, C), Powdered Web (8 RIV, C)

-

Advanced:

Electroweb, Bug Buzz, Psybeam, Air Slash, Tailwind, Confusion, Signal Beam, Quiver Dance, Psychic, Gust, Toxic (+4), Hurricane (+3), Teleport (++), Powder Bomb (3 OV, C), Protect (++), Powdered String (6 OV, C), Iron Defense (+), Powdered Web (6 OV, C)

-

Mastered:

Sleep Powder, Stun Spore, Poison Powder, String Shot (+)

-

Combo/Custom:

Powder Bomb (3 Original variants, Advanced/6 Rage inclusive variants, Proficient), Powdered String (6 OV, Advanced/8 RIV, Proficient), Powdered Web (6 OV, Advanced/8 RIV, Proficient), String Whip (Beginner), String Needle (in progress)'

The first thing I looked at was his potential, and I saw the confirmation that Optimus had finally joined the purple club and that he was not that far off from the actual purple shade. As it stood, he would reach deep purple upon breaking through to the dark gold stage, which was something almost no one would believe considering his starting point.

Yet, here he was now, a Pokemon with the fabled 6-star potential. While this may not seem as impressive as some of my other Pokemon who already have light aurora potential, it was a big milestone for Optimus and no one was taking this from him or looking down on his accomplishment.

I saw flowers bloom when I shared the good news with him and Mothra along with everyone else cheered for him. The next part of his status ended up surprising me a bit though since he had actually unlocked a talent, which explained the slightly longer breakthrough.

Effect Spore was pretty much the same as the ability which had the same name. Contact with Optimus could cause either paralysis, poison, or sleep, but unlike the ability effect spore, Optimus could control whether he wanted the talent to take effect or not and even if he wanted all three options to possibly trigger, or just a select one.

Honestly, I was not really surprised that he had unlocked a talent like this since his main focus move-wise had been the powder/spore moves for a long, long while. He had so many custom/variant moves based on those powder moves that his unlocking such a talent actually kind of felt right.

When I told him that along with his new talent he actually laughed and the others joined in knowing exactly what I was talking about. Anyway, looking at his parameters, he was starting at the (mid) gold stage. No real surprise there.

No, it was the next part that gave me another pleasant surprise. It had happened a few times before for others, but his breakthrough had actually pushed his electric resistance to completion, meaning Optimus had successfully standardized his electric weakness.

He looked extremely happy when I shared that with him, and he actually made a joke by saying that he was now free from "Thorture", which caused everyone to lose it. I could not help but laugh as well, and I honestly could not believe none of us had thought of that one before this.

Anyway, the rest of his status screen was unchanged by his breakthrough, so I focused back on everyone and declared the start of his celebration/party.

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