CH54 (284), Another One Joins The Golden Club

The fifth and final month of the fourth term began pretty great, by the end of Dialday of the first week I had successfully brought my victory streak at the Fight Club up to 25.

That meant that I could now challenge a Green Belt for the chance to advance to the rank of Green Belt myself, and before I went home I arranged the fight for Arcday.

I spent part of the weekend contemplating how I was going to win the challenge fights because if I had to be completely honest I was doubting my chances.

Oh, Tyson could certainly fight against and even defeat some Pokemon at the (low) gold stage, and even pose a decent challenge against (mid) gold stage Pokemon, but unfortunately, that was almost certainly not enough to win the challenge against a Green Belt for multiple reasons.

First of all, battles between Green Belts were 4-vs-4, which was the same for the challenge. Additionally, there was the chance that the Green Belt I had to face had one or more (high) gold stage Pokemon. Besides, even if he did not have (high) gold stage Pokemon, he could have multiple (mid) gold stage ones, which was also not something Tyson could beat.

This ultimately meant that unless I got super lucky and got assigned some freshly advanced Green Belt with only (low) gold stage Pokemon, I would not be gaining a Green Belt for a long while.

At least not, until Tyson broke through to the gold stage, along with Ali/Kirlia evolving and doing the same, as well as Anubis/Riolu joining them. With 3 Gold stage Pokemon, I could guarantee my success, and at the end of the global competition, I could choose someone that could become the 4th member of the Fight Club team.

Anyway, the weekend passed by pretty quickly, just as the Academy lessons, and I was currently entering the Fight Club. The promotion fight was scheduled for 2 p.m, so I still had 30 minutes until then. I chose to use that time to just sit in the waiting area and watch some of the ongoing battles shown on the screens placed there.

None of the fights were great, but some were interesting enough that I did not get bored while waiting for my match. Ultimately, the 30 minutes passed by and I heard the call for me coming from the speakers.

"Mikail Geo please head to Battlefield No.1 for your promotion battle. I repeat, Mikail Geo please head to Battlefield No.1 for your promotion battle."

I naturally followed the instruction and went to the room that contained Battlefield No.1. Unsurprisingly, it was room no.1, and it took me less than 3 minutes to arrive there by following the signs on the walls.

Upon entering the room I saw a lady that was seemingly in her late twenties, which meant that she could be anywhere between 30 and a few hundred years old. It was always fun for me that the possible age of a person could be so wide, but this also meant that the saying don't talk about the age of a lady was more significant in this place.

Anyway, after the whole introduction and rule exchange by the referee, we went to our positions. Once the signal was given, I let Tyson out, and surprisingly another Machoke appeared on the opposite side of the field.

The referee gave the signal to start the fight, and once the two Machoke clashed it became apparent that the opposing Machoke was at the (low) gold stage.

I quickly noticed that the two seemed to be evenly matched which was good for Tyson since this fight would count for his evolution battle count if he won.

Within the first 3 minutes, it became clear that Tyson knew more moves, which helped him establish a slight advantage. Nonetheless, Machoke dealt out as good as he took.

Honestly, it was the ultimate mixed martial arts fight with everything from punches, kicks, throws, submission holds, elbow blows, and even headbutts being part of the program. Not to forget that most attacks were moves, and Tyson occasionally added some electricity, ice, as well as fire into the mix.

Still, thanks to a Thunderpunch that managed to paralyze the other Machoke, Tyson managed to gain the upper hand, and at the 9th or 10th minute he successfully knocked out the other Machoke with a shocking hit to the head.

'Good Job, Tyson' I mentally praised him since I thought that shouting that out loud would be a bit disrespectful. Tyson who had gotten used to my mental presence, simply turned around and gave me a smile along with a thumbs up.

There was no time for more since our opponent had already recalled her knocked-out Machoke, and called out her next fighter, which was a Primeape. As soon as the referee gave the signal to resume the fight, the Primeape rushed at Tyson and upon clashing we learned that it was at the (mid) gold stage.

Unfortunately, Tyson was already somewhat exhausted after beating Machoke, so despite doing his best he lost after going all out for close to 4 minutes. I mutely recalled Tyson and whispered some praise before putting away his ball.

Honestly, calling out Anubis made no sense since it was simply asking for him to be abused to have him face a (mid) gold stage Primeape, so announced that I was surrendering.

April, that was the lady's name, seemed startled at my surrender, and even the referee asked if I was sure. Since I had no one that could resume the fight I confirmed my decision, and the referee declared the end of the match.

I thanked April for the fight and made my way out of the room. I headed directly to the signup desk and applied for my second challenge. After confirming that I wanted to use my second chance, I headed to the waiting room, where I called out Tyson to treat him so that he could battle at his best during the second fight.

It took 36 minutes for them to organize my second promotion battle, and it took close to 4 minutes for me to end up with another loss. I simply had bad luck, since the guy I had to face started the battle with a freaking (high) gold stage Hitmontop, so Tyson holding out for nearly 3 minutes was already pretty good. The additional minute was due to the referee's speech.

Unsurprisingly, I lost the third promotion match as well, but this time Tyson managed to take out two of the opponent's Pokemon, a Hariyama, and a Throh before he got taken out within seconds by the third one, a Bewear, due to his exhaustion.

Honestly, being hugged into unconsciousness was a funny way to lose, but I would never say that to Tyson. Still, in the end, I loose all three promotion matches, and my challenge counter reset. Besides, I decided to simply see the promotion battles as chances for Tyson to face off against gold-stage Pokemon since the number of Orange Belts with a gold-stage Pokemon was very low.

Tyson would have to fulfill his evolution condition with the (low) gold stage Pokemon he could beat along with the occasional (high) silver stage Pokemon that managed to make him give his best.

Nonetheless, I was hopeful that he would be able to complete the battle count necessary for his evolution before my tertiary education began. However, even if that did happen, I did not know if he could fulfill the strength condition until then as well.

Tyson would probably need to finish the second round of his limit breaking to satisfy the strength condition, if not I hoped the completion of his limit breaking would be enough. I was hoping that he could evolve to Machamp before he broke through since it would give him a higher starting point due to Machamp's higher racial value.

Anyway, I got back into a routine after that day. The second week ended just like that, and the third week swiftly followed. The fourth week broke the grove I had gotten into, but I did not mind one bit since it was awesome news that broke the calm.

After coaching Sorrel and the others on Giratiday, I made my way to my last class. On the way, I checked up on everyone and I saw that it had finally happened.

Horus/Xatu's Vitality increased to SSS, which meant that Horus had officially completed his limit breaking. He could finally break through to the gold stage. I was giddy the whole time during the lesson, and as soon as the lesson was over I quickly made my way out of the academy.

I power-walked in the direction of our home but stopped at one of the more secluded parts of the way. After checking that no one was around I entered Utopia and headed directly for Horus.

Horus was already waiting for me. I saw and felt the excitement Horus felt at the moment, and he had every right to feel that way. I directly hugged him and praised him for working as hard as he had until now. Horus returned the hug and after we parted I called everyone over so that they could witness his breakthrough.

Once everyone, non-team members included, had gathered, I gave Horus the go-ahead, and he initiated his breakthrough. At first, the intensity of the breakthrough light was as usual, but after the first 3 or 4 seconds, it increased in intensity, nearly reaching the level that was prevalent during an evolution.

More energy from Utopia got funneled towards Horus, and the duration of his breakthrough began to exceed the usual breakthrough time. We were all excited since this only happened if a Pokemon was unlocking a modifier, or undergoing a variation.

It took close to a minute for the light to die down, which was longer than some evolutions took, and as soon as Horus was visible, our assumption got validated. He was looking quite different compared to how he had been looking before his breakthrough.

Horus was checking his body, and I as well as everyone else was doing the same. He had definitely grown a bit. Not by much, just 10 or so centimeters, but that was not the most obvious change.

No, that title went to his change in color. Horus was no longer green. The usual green parts of a Xatu had turned purple-ish instead. It was closer to medium purple, but not exactly that color tone. Nonetheless, that was the closest I could place the color.

Another change that I immediately noticed was that he had gained another long crest feather. Unlike the two he previously had, which grew out from the back of his head, the new one began on the top of his head, pretty close to the forehead. Still, it was also a long one, that went until roughly the middle of his back.

Just like the previous two crest feathers, the third one was red as well, and his new crest feather was not the only change that stood out. Horus, worthy of his name, had a new addition to his face, specifically to his eyes.

On, or rather under, his eyes lines greatly resembling the Egyptian "Eye of Horus" were visible in black. It kinda looked as if someone had added the mark using black eyeliner or ink. When he moved his wings I saw that the same had happened to the eyes of the cat-like head on his chest.

As for the final change, I only noticed that one when I began to step closer to him to congratulate him. Apparently, his feet had changed as well. Previously he had two toes, one at the front and one at the back. Now, he had three toes, two at the front and one at the back.

Anyway, disregarding his changes for a moment I swept Horus in a hug, and congratulated him for his breakthrough, as well as his new look. The others gave us 20ish seconds before they swarmed us to congratulate Horus as well, and while they were clamoring, I checked Horus's new status screen to see what exactly had caused his new look.

'Name: Horus

Species: Xatu

Gender: Male

Age: 9+ years

-

Type: Psychic, Ghost

Potential: Light Purple (3.76%) -> Deep Blue (73.76%) -> Purple (33.76%)

Genetic modifiers: Ghost-type variant, Ancient Gene

Abilities: Keen Eye, Synchronize, Magic Guard

Talents: Energy Sensitivity V.1+

Affinities: Psychic, Flying, Ghost (weak) -> (standard)

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirk: Observant

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (mid)

Vitality: D

Strength: D

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: D

----

Immunity:

Normal, Fighting

-

Resistance:

Poison (Minor), Psychic (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Ghost (Major), Dark (Major)

-

Standardized:

Electric (in-progress/?)

----

Condition: Healthy, Excited, Elated, Stunned

----

Masteries:

Psionic E. Manipulation (Advanced),

Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Proficient),

Ghost/Spectral E. Manipulation (Novice) -> Proficient

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Destiny Bond (new)

-

Beginner:

Guard Swap, Power Swap, Swift (+), Zen Headbutt (+), Aerial Ace (+), Heat Wave (+), Giga Drain (+), Thunder Wave (+)

-

Proficient:

Reflect, Light Screen, Wish, Psycho Shift, Confuse Ray, Leer, Peck, Night Shade, Gust, Flash, Miracle Eye, Rest, Steel Wing, Tailwind, Air Cutter, Double Team (+)

-

Advanced:

Shadow Ball, Air Slash, Protect, Calm Mind, Cosmic Power, Psychic, Roost, Future Sight (+), Ominous Wind (+)

-

Mastered:

Stored Power, Teleport'

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