CH48 (412), Brilliant Duo

I decided to use my second thought stream to check both status screens side by side since Seb and Gaia belonged to mirror species and I wanted to see how they compared to each other. Besides, looking through both simultaneously would prevent me from losing the suspense while checking the second status screen.

'Name: Seb

Species: Nidoking

Gender: Male

Age: 10+ years

-

Type: Poison, Ground

Potential: Deep Purple (8.72%)

{Light Purple (71.38%) -> (78.72%) -> (48.72%) -> Deep Purple (8.72%)}

(Genetic) Modifier: Royal*

Abilities: Poison Point, Rivalry

Talents: Keen Hearing

Affinities: Poison, Ground

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirks: Patient'

'Name: Gaia

Species: Nidoqueen

Gender: Female

Age: 10+ years

-

Type: Poison, Ground

Potential: Deep Purple (8.66%)

{Light Purple (72.16%) -> (78.66%) -> (48.66%) -> Deep Purple (8.66%)}

(Genetic) Modifier: Royal*

Abilities: Poison Point, Rivalry

Talents: Keen Hearing

Affinities: Poison, Ground

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirks: Curious'

Well, the first thing that obviously drew my eye, so to say, was the modifier section. Knowing, or at least heavily suspecting, that both Seb as well as Gaia had unlocked something in that direction, it was no surprise that I ended up checking out that part first, and I did not get disappointed.

It seemed my previous speculation of them unlocking the royal gene had not been wrong, even if the reason I thought I came to that conclusion ended up being wrong.

Apparently, it was not the color that was important to determine the modifier, but the symbol itself. It probably stood for royalty, even if I failed to recognize it. Well, at least I now understood what the thorny near-circle around their horns was supposed to be.

If I was not completely wrong, then those were actually thorny wreaths, and in some parts of the world, wreaths were used as objects that stood for royalty. Maybe the one that started that practice saw a pair of Royal Nidoking and Nidoqueen, and thought if the royalty among the king and queen species has that symbol to show their status, then I'll use it as well.

They probably left out the thorns since placing a wreath with thorns on one's head would have hurt. Why the Nido-pair's symbol had thorns, however, was pretty obvious, at least I thought it was. The thorns were due to their poison typing.

Okay, I had to admit that I could be wrong, but that was the only reason I could think of. Well, I spoke/thought too soon since the moment I thought that I got the idea that it may be linked to the spikes along their spines. Perhaps it was due to both factors, or maybe it was due to neither.

Regardless of which one it was, the fact remained that Seb and Gaia were now a Royal Nidoking and Royal Nidoqueen respectively. I directly shared the news with them and congratulated them on their new modifier/status.

I gave each one a hug and a pat on the shoulder before I had to make way for their excited parents, who began hugging their kids, happy to hear that they had become royals of their species. I just smiled for a bit, before focusing back on their status screens.

I took a look at their potential, and I had to admit that I was still a bit unused to seeing Seb having a slightly higher percentage than Gaia. It used to be the opposite for so long, that seeing it as it was now, felt a bit unusual even three months after it happened.

Seb seemed to have absorbed the supplements I gave them over the years better than Gaia. I liked to think it was due to the indirect influence of their quirks. Seb due to being more patient than the curious Gaia, simply trained for a bit longer than her, which helped him with absorbing the supplements a bit better than her.

As for their potential having reached deep purple, that did not surprise me, since I had expected them to reach it even after I suspected that one of them would unlock a modifier.

The only way they could have failed to reach deep purple potential was if they unlocked a Tier/Level 2 gene like the King/Queen gene, and if that had happened, I would still have thought that it was worth the additional potential loss.

As it stood right now, both were close to filling the first 10% towards aurora, and that meant that, as long as nothing came up, they would be able to reach light aurora potential once they broke through to the dark gold stage.

Anyway, nothing else had changed in the first part of the status screen, so I told the duo about their deep purple potential, which earned me beaming smiles and caused the others to congratulate the duo once more before I moved on to their parameter section.

'Parameters: {Seb}

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: B

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: D'

'Parameters: {Gaia}

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: D

Energy Capacity: D

Energy Density: C'

I had expected it to happen after seeing the royal gene, but it was great to see that both Seb and Gaia were directly starting out at the (high) gold stage. The 25% bonus to their racial values really came through for them, more so for Seb, who ended up having a better parameter average than Gaia thanks to his strength pushing into the B-value range.

Seeing the different focuses of their respective species was interesting as well. Compared to Nidoqueen, Nidoking was more focused on his offensive capabilities, including his agility, which meant his defensive ones, including his vitality, decreased to make up for the increase on the offensive side.

Nidoqueen was the opposite, with her defensive capabilities being the focus of her racial values. That did not mean that their other parameters/racial values were bad, on the contrary, both species had pretty good values across the board thanks to their relatively high total racial value.

Anyway, my guess, and that of everyone else from what I read, was that the difference between the two genders was due to their role in their colonies. Nidoking was the main fighter, while Nidoqueen was the protector. Naturally, the protector had to be able to fight as well, which was why they still had good offensive values.

Now, looking at Gaia's inherent values was a bit, amusing(?) or sad(?), neither was not the right word, but the best ones I could think of t the moment, since she actually preferred energy/special moves over physical ones, even though her strength was inherently higher than her offensive energy capabilities. Truly, her preference could easily be noticed in her move section.

'Techniques: {Gaia}

{Nearly everything is new compared to the last status screen that contains a move section, so I won't bother with the usual (new, ...). That is something I only wrote for readers anyway, and Mikail does not see those additions, so the technique section is as Mikail sees it right now.}

--

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Flatter, Fury Attack

-

Beginner:

Scratch, Growl, Tail Whip, Dragon Pulse, Shadow Claw, Captivate, Superpower, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Scorching Sand, Rock Tomb, Rock Blast

-

Proficient:

Poison Sting, Fury Swipes, Helping Hand, Double Kick, Bite, Water Pulse, Shock Wave, Sunny Day, Taunt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Rain Dance, Thunder, Torment, Shadow Ball, Hyper Beam, Icy Wind, Brick Break, Sand Tomb, Stomping Tantrum, Chip Away, Body Slam, Surf

-

Advanced:

Poison Fang, Toxic Spikes, Endure, Focus Energy, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Protect, Sandstorm, Venoshock, Mud Shot, Dig, Crunch, Poison Jab, Iron Tail, Earthquake

-

Mastered:

Toxic, Earth Power'

'Techniques: {Seb}

{Same deal as with Gaia.}

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Flatter, Captivate, Fury Swipes

-

Beginner:

Leer, Peck, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Thrash, Surf

-

Proficient:

Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Helping Hand, Double Kick, Dig, Bite, Water Pulse, Shock Wave, Sludge Wave, Protect, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Flamethrower, Shadow Claw, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Smart Strike, Chip Away, Horn Drill, Supersonic, Crunch, Bulldoze, Rock Slide

-

Advanced:

Focus Energy, Toxic Spikes, Horn Attack, Endure, Poison Fang, Poison Jab, Sludge Bomb, Earth Power, Venoshock, Stomping Tantrum, Iron Tail, Megahorn

-

Mastered:

Toxic, Earthquake'

While Gaia had made sure that she trained up some good physical moves, her bias towards special ones could be seen from their number advantage starting from the proficient subsection.

The exact opposite was true for Seb, who had a distinct preference for physical moves, even if he had made sure to train up a few good special ones. Yet, physical moves had a distinct numbers advantage over special ones.

The most straightforward example of the difference in focus was probably their second mastered move. Gaia focused on Earth Power, while Seb focused on Earthquake. Furthermore, Gaia was currently focusing on training up Scorching Sand, while Seb wanted to raise Smart Strike to advanced mastery.

He wanted to see if he could somehow combine it with Megahorn since both used his horn as the attack medium despite their vastly different typing. I saw nothing wrong with the idea and supported his wish, proud that he had thought about it on his own. I always felt happy when one of my Pokemon showed initiative of their own like that.

Anyway, I jumped over their type relation section to get to the move one for a moment, so I went back to the proper order.

'Immune: {Seb, Gaia}

Electric

-

Resistance:

Poison (Major), Fighting (Minor), Bug (Minor), Rock (Minor), Fairy (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Water (Minor), Ice (Minor), Ground (Minor)

-

Standardized:

Psychic, Water (in progress)'

This part of the status screen was identical for Seb and Gaia. They both had the same typing and both focused on the same type while doing their resistance training. In fact, those two did their resistance training together, while encouraging and motivating each other. They could be truly considered ideal siblings in that aspect.

It had been more than three years since they managed to standardize their psychic weakness, and close to two years since they started to work on their water weakness. The water resistance training was going quite a bit slower than their psychic one did, but I was pretty sure that our bond and my high psychic capabilities/affinity had a hand in that one.

Regardless of that, they were consistently working on their water resistance, and I was sure they would succeed at some point, even if it took a few more years to do so.

Well, this only left their condition as well as masteries, and it was no surprise that both were identical. The "condition" aspect was easy since that one was pretty much the same for everyone who either evolved or broke through to the next stage.

I doubt I would come across any of my Pokemon that would show something other than Happy, Delighted, Excited, or Pleased in that section after a breakthrough or evolution. The only way that could happen was if the situation got triggered by a bad event, but I was hoping that would never happen to us.

I was not tempting fate here, just stating facts, so any metaphysical flags that were about to be raised better stayed down, or else I would pray to Jirachi to give the flag bearer really bad luck.

'Condition: Healthy, Happy, Excited {Seb, Gaia}

----

Masteries:

Poison Energy Manipulation (Advanced),

Ground Energy Manipulation (Beginner) -> (Advanced)'

Anyway, back to the last section left. Well, their masteries were inherently linked to their move section, and both had raised a sufficient number of ground moves to advanced mastery, so it was normal that their Ground Energy Manipulation had risen to advanced mastery as well.

After confirming that nothing had changed there due to their breakthrough, I focused back on the others. Mom and dad were expecting me to come home tonight, so starting Seb and Gaia's celebration right now was not a good idea.

Instead, I congratulated the duo once more, before I pulled out enough snacks and drinks to last an hour, which I swiftly began giving out to everyone present. Then I shared that we would have to push the celebration to tomorrow since I had to hurry toward Hope Town, and thankfully, neither Seb nor Gaia minded waiting until tomorrow.

After giving the duo a last pat, I left Utopia with Gwen/Gardevoir, Tatsumaki/Alakazam, as well as Horus/Xatu and made my way home. I made sure to place them back inside Utopia afterward so that they could rejoin the others.

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

The chapter ends here. This section simply has the status screens in one piece to make it easier to look at, if someone wants to come back to the chapter just to look through the status screens.

-------

'Name: Seb

Species: Nidoking

Gender: Male

Age: 10+ years

-

Type: Poison, Ground

Potential: Deep Purple (8.72%)

Genetic variation: Royal*

Abilities: Poison Point, Rivalry

Talents: Keen Hearing

Affinities: Poison, Ground

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirks: Patient

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: B

Endurance: D

Agility: C

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: D

----

Immune:

Electric

-

Resistance:

Poison (Major), Fighting (Minor), Bug (Minor), Rock (Minor), Fairy (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Water (Minor), Ice (Minor), Ground (Minor)

-

Standardized:

Psychic, Water (in progress)

----

Condition: Healthy, Happy, Excited

----

Masteries:

Poison Energy Manipulation (Advanced),

Ground Energy Manipulation (Advanced)

-

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Flatter, Captivate, Fury Swipes

-

Beginner:

Leer, Peck, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Thrash, Surf

-

Proficient:

Poison Sting, Fury Attack, Helping Hand, Double Kick, Dig, Bite, Water Pulse, Shock Wave, Sludge Wave, Megahorn, Protect, Ice Beam, Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Flamethrower, Shadow Claw, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Fire Punch, Smart Strike, Chip Away, Horn Drill, Supersonic, Crunch, Bulldoze, Rock Slide

-

Advanced:

Focus Energy, Toxic Spikes, Horn Attack, Endure, Poison Fang, Poison Jab, Sludge Bomb, Earth Power, Venoshock, Stomping Tantrum, Iron Tail

-

Mastered:

Toxic, Earthquake'

-------

'Name: Gaia

Species: Nidoqueen

Gender: Female

Age: 10+ years

-

Type: Poison, Ground

Potential: Deep Purple (8.66%)

Genetic variation: Royal*

Abilities: Poison Point, Rivalry

Talents: Keen Hearing

Affinities: Poison, Ground

-

Bond: Mikail (strong)

Quirks: Curious

----

Parameters:

Stage: Gold Stage (high)

Vitality: C

Strength: C

Endurance: C

Agility: D

Energy Capacity: D

Energy Density: C

----

Immune:

Electric

-

Resistance:

Poison (Major), Fighting (Minor), Bug (Minor), Rock (Minor), Fairy (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Water (Minor), Ice (Minor), Ground (Minor)

-

Standardized:

Psychic, Water (in progress)

----

Condition: Healthy, Happy, Excited

----

Masteries:

Poison Energy Manipulation (Advanced),

Ground Energy Manipulation (Advanced)

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Flatter, Fury Attack

-

Beginner:

Scratch, Growl, Tail Whip, Dragon Pulse, Shadow Claw, Hyper Beam, Captivate, Superpower, Fire Punch, Ice Punch, Thunder Punch, Scorching Sand, Rock Tomb, Rock Blast

-

Proficient:

Poison Sting, Fury Swipes, Helping Hand, Double Kick, Bite, Water Pulse, Shock Wave, Sunny Day, Taunt, Flamethrower, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Rain Dance, Thunder, Torment, Shadow Ball, Icy Wind, Brick Break, Sand Tomb, Stomping Tantrum, Chip Away, Body Slam, Surf

-

Advanced:

Poison Fang, Toxic Spikes, Endure, Focus Energy, Sludge Bomb, Sludge Wave, Protect, Sandstorm, Venoshock, Mud Shot, Dig, Crunch, Poison Jab, Iron Tail, Earthquake

-

Mastered:

Toxic, Earth Power'

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

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