The Dark Stone

After dealing with the matters in the new Sub-Ecopark, Yuga noticed that it was getting late, so he left the Ecopark along with Audino.

However, after leaving the Ecopark, Yuga and Audino went to the Pokémon Center to retrieve the Darumaka, Darmanitan, and five Swampert that had been temporarily placed there.

In the morning, before Yuga reached the Verdanturf Town, Darmanitan and Darumaka had somehow gotten into a fight with the five Swampert living in the Grassland Sub-Ecopark's lake, resulting in injuries for many of them.

To prevent any further accidents, Audino had taken them all to Joyka's place for treatment. As Audino was in a hurry to return to welcome Yuga, it temporarily left Darmanitan, Darumaka, and Swampert in Joyka's care.

After retrieving them all, Yuga sternly reprimanded them and then sent them back separately to the Grassland and Volcano Sub-Ecoparks.

In the future, they would live in different Sub-Ecoparks, and it wouldn't be easy for them to meet and fight again.

In the evening, after dinner, Yuga released Absol and placed a pitch-black stone in front of it.

This stone had been discovered by Absol in the nest of a Mandibuzz, and it emitted a strong Dark-type energy fluctuation.

Yuga had promised Absol that he would return this item to it upon returning, and if it weren't for Absol's reminder, he might have forgotten about it.

Since Mandibuzz was also a Dark-type Pokémon, finding such an item in their nest wasn't particularly surprising.

Yuga placed the stone in front of Absol and asked, "Do you know what this thing is for?"

Absol nodded, then lowered its head, revealing the Seed of Unknown hidden on its forehead.

The Seed of Unknown gradually appeared on the bone armor on Absol's forehead, then stuck to the black stone. The stone seemed to melt as if it were a dark ooze, and it flowed into Absol's forehead like a dark stream of light. The Seed of Unknown once again hid within Absol's forehead.

Excitement filled Absol as it raised its head and let out a long howl. Countless black mists began to surge from its body, like black flames burning intensely.

Following that, a blue light appeared on Absol's forehead, and colorful spiral patterns flickered. Absol entered its Mega Evolution form.

Seeing the majestic Mega Absol, Yuga was greatly surprised.

"Absol! Can you control Mega Evolution on your own?"

Absol nodded, then exited its Mega Evolution form and, to Yuga's astonishment, completed Mega Evolution once again. The process was incredibly smooth, without any hesitation.

Yuga hadn't expected the black stone to have such a significant effect. It was truly an unexpected delight.

Absol's original level was 52. After becoming Mega Absol, its strength steadily entered the pseudo-Elite level range, which was a noticeable increase.

Satisfied, Yuga patted Mega Absol, but it was so tall that Yuga could only settle for patting its thigh.

The original Absol was already quite tall, but Mega Absol was even taller, making it appear like a small mountain in front of Yuga.

Following that, Yuga conducted an experiment with Mega Absol to determine how long it could maintain its Mega Evolution.

Practical testing showed that, as long as Mega Absol didn't sustain too heavy injuries, it could maintain its Mega Evolution state continuously. This was quite different from ordinary Mega Evolutions.

As explained by Elite Four Siebold, regular Mega Evolutions had a time limit, and Pokémon would revert from their Mega Evolution state once that time was up. Severe injuries or losing their ability to battle could also force them out of that state.

When Mega Absol exited its Mega Evolution, Yuga used his Insight ability to observe it. He found that the black stone had brought more than just the ability for Absol to control Mega Evolution freely.

...

<<Mega Absol (King's Rock)>>

Type: Dark

Gender: Male

Ability: Pressure

Potential: Indigo

Level: 52

Moves: Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Psycho Cut, Future Sight, Snarl, Sucker Punch, Dark Pulse, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, Throat Chop, Perish Song, Night Slash.

...

Absol's potential changed from blue to indigo without Yuga's knowledge.

Absol was Yuga's first captured Pokémon and the first one with a blue potential Yuga had ever obtained. Since following Yuga, its potential hadn't undergone any changes. However, today, its potential finally upgraded.

With this potential upgrade, Absol became the strongest member among Yuga's main Pokémon.

Previously, Florges might have had a fair chance against it, but now, that would be highly unlikely.

And this was without even considering its Mega Evolution.

Besides the potential upgrade, Absol also awakened two new moves: an intermediate-level move called "Night Slash" and a rare category move called "Perish Song."

Speaking of Perish Song, it was a move that could rival Future Sight in terms of its difficulty to learn and rarity.

Let's start with Future Sight.

Yuga had been a Pokémon Trainer for quite some time, encountered many Pokémon, but apart from his own Chimecho and Absol, he had never seen a third Pokémon capable of using Future Sight.

Especially Chimecho, it had only learned it thanks to Deoxys's Energy Core. Absol, on the other hand, had genuinely grasped it himself.

One of the most famous places for Future Sight was the Anystar City Gym in the Kalos region.

It was an old-style Gym, and its Gym Leaders, from generation to generation, were Psychic-type trainers. Both the Gym Leaders and their Pokémon could use Future Sight.

Especially in cases of impending major threats in the Kalos region, Gym Leaders from Anystar Gym could issue warnings through Future Sight.

While Yuga's Absol could occasionally catch glimpses of the future with Future Sight, it was far from reaching the level of those Gym Leaders.

The current Gym Leader of Anystar Gym was Olympia, and she held significant prestige in the Kalos region.

Now, about Perish Song.

Yuga's Gengar also knew this move. According to Gengar, it had learned this move while in the Ghost World, and it couldn't be used as a reference for regular Pokémon learning it.

This move's effect was to make all Pokémon or humans who heard it fall into a near-death state after some time.

This wasn't just a fainting like when losing a battle, but a true near-death state, similar to Dragonite's condition when it was severely injured and untreated, rather than a coma-like state from losing the ability to battle.

In other words, this move was a double-edged sword. It could destroy both enemies and the user itself.

So, even though Gengar knew this move, it had never used it.

However, this move wasn't invincible. Its effectiveness depended on the user's strength.

For example, if Absol tried to use this move to die together with a Legendary Pokémon, it would be simply a fantasy.

¤

The author did indeed forget about Darmanitan and Darumaka, thanks to a reader's reminder, I've added a brief explanation of what happened to them. Although it might seem a bit forced, I hope you can forgive this adjustment.