CH36 (558), Police (6)

As soon as I gave him the go-ahead, Ignis/Gyarados initiated his breakthrough. I had expected him to shine a little bit since I knew his potential would be breaking into the normally fabled aurora realm, like many others in our family.

However, the intensity of the light he was giving off surprised me a bit since it exceeded the amount I had been expecting by a good amount. It seemed that Ignis had unlocked something, though I did not know if it was a comprehensive talent or a modifier of some kind.

Regardless of which one it was, it led to the breakthrough taking a bit longer than normal. Still, prolonged breakthrough or not, it did end in less than two minutes, apparent by the light that died down, and the dark gold aura/pressure Ignis was releasing. Yet, after checking out the now visible Ignis, I saw no changes that indicated that he had unlocked anything.

Leaving that aside, I made my way to Ignis' side and congratulated him on his successful breakthrough to the dark gold stage. I refrained from adding anything related to the Aurora Club since I did not know if he had unlocked something that might have cost him some potential points, costing him his Aurora Club membership.

While I was contemplating that, the rest of the Slytherin Six arrived, and Medusa/Gyarados lightly pushed me to the side and hugged Ignis. Well, more like entwined her neck with his, which was pretty much the hug equivalent to most serpentine species. That, and touching foreheads.

She then made room for the others to congratulate Ignis as well, and while they were doing that, I went ahead and looked at his new/updated status sheet.

'Name: Ignis

Species: Gyarados

Gender: Male

Age: 11+ years

-

Type: Water, Fire

Potential: Light Aurora (11.34%)*

{Deep Purple (41.17%) -> (42.69%) -> Light Aurora (11.34%)}'

Every time I saw it, I could not help but be extremely grateful for this gimmick by nature or Mew/Arceus. It took me 3 years of effort to raise Ignis' deep purple potential by only slightly more than 1.5%, which was already not bad. Yet, a single breakthrough bestowed him with a 160% boost.

Granted, that number got halved as soon as the Pokemon's potential stepped into the aurora spectrum, and halved once more if the breakthrough was to the dark gold stage, which was the case here, but even then the potential increase amounted to something that would have taken me decades if not centuries to achieve using my supplements.

Regardless of my awe toward nature's boons, seeing Ignis' potential section I knew that he had not unlocked any modifier since there was no potential loss.

'(Genetic) Modifiers: Fire-variant

Abilities: Intimidate, White Smoke, Moxie*'

A quick look confirmed that, so I moved down another line and saw that the third ability he unlocked after attaining light aura potential was Moxie. I was happy that his third ability was a good one since we had been unsure if he would get Moxie or something else due to his fire typing. White Smoke had set a precedent after all.

Still, with Moxie now confirmed, I shared the good news with Ignis and the rest. Ignis was quite happy to hear that he had finally joined the Aurora club and that his new ability was a useful one. I heard Aby(ss)/Gyarados say that she wished to get the same one as Ignis as her third ability with Ryujin/Gyarados agreeing with her, while Medusa and Jade/Gyarados refrained from joining them, which made sense since their offensive path was more inclined towards energy/special moves.

Anyway, while the others were busy, I continued looking through Ignis' status, and I stumbled upon a new addition right away.

'Talents: Steam Core*'

It seemed that this one was the most likely reason for the extra effects during Ignis' breakthrough, and while the name/title gave me an idea of what the talent might do, I still checked its description to get a proper picture of its effect.

Reading through Steam Core's description I was absolutely sure that the talent was responsible for the extra light since it did have an all-around effect on Ignis.

Steam Core was a passive talent that halved any damage that Ignis took from any foreign fire, ice, or water energy. It granted Ignis a practical immunity to (the effects) of hail, snow, cold, or burns, and made it easier for Ignis to combine water as well as fire moves.

It did have a single drawback though, which was a higher difficulty of learning and mastering ice-type moves. I was not bothered by that at all since it was a trade I would agree to at any time.

After reading about Steam Core's effect, I could not help but take a look at Ignis' type relation section since his fire and ice resistance were already at the major grade.

'Resistance:

Fire (Supreme)*, Ice (Supreme)*, Steel (Major), Bug (Minor), Fairy (Minor), Water (Minor)*

-

Weaknesses:

Ground (Minor), Rock (Minor)

-

Standardized:

Electric'

I would be lying if I said that I was not surprised at seeing the supreme grade, but I had honestly expected there to be a higher grade resistance than major simply because the jump from that to immune seemed a bit too steep.

Heck, I still thought that even the jump from the 8-times resistance granted by a supreme type resistance to immunity was too great, so I suspected that there might actually be another grade after supreme, though it was naturally possible that I was wrong with my assumption.

Regardless, seeing Ignis gain supreme fire and ice resistance along with a minor water resistance due to his new talent was quite impressive, and I shared everything I learned so far with Ignis and the others. The news took all of them by surprise, and Ignis was visibly happy with his lucky draw.

They decided to test his supreme resistance a bit by firing some fire as well as ice moves at him and asking him how he felt compared to before. I watched them do that while using a thought stream to continue looking through Ignis' status sheet.

'Affinities: Water, Fire, Flying/Air (budding)*'

I saw that Ignis had actually unlocked a budding flying/air affinity, and I could frankly say that this was something I had not expected. The only thing I could think of was that steam was a gas that could easily be used to fly. Well, that, along with steam displacing the air in the atmosphere when it got used.

Regardless of the actual reason, it was a fact that he now had an in with the flying/air affinity. We could now work on improving that, taking back at least a part of what he lost due to his fire-type variation.

Anyway, I briefly stopped their experiments to share the good news with Ignis, who seemed to be happy with it. He actually turned to Stan/Gyarados to ask him to teach him how to fly using flying energy once he managed to gain a corresponding manipulation ability and raised it a bit.

I smiled at his enthusiasm and Stan's swift acceptance, before my thought stream focused back on checking the rest of Ignis' status sheet.

'Bond: Mikail (deep)*

Quirks: Slightly Passionate Training Enthusiast

----

Parameters:

Stage: Dark Gold Stage (mid)*

Vitality: D

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: D

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: D'

There were no surprises in the next bit. Our bond upgrading to deep was to be expected and I had already felt the change shortly after his successful breakthrough. As for his parameters and stage, without a modifier that affected his racial values, they looked as I had expected them to, so I had already known that he would start at the (mid) dark gold stage with these parameters.

Ignis only had to raise another two parameters to reach the (high) dark gold stage, though which ones remained uncertain since all four parameters were pretty close to one another in progress speed.

That being the case, I did not stop and looked through the rest of Ignis' status sheet. His masteries remained unaffected by his breakthrough, as did his move section.

'Techniques:

-

Novice:

Diamond Cutter (C, new)

-

Beginner:

Thunder Fang (new)

-

Proficient:

Fire Fang (new), Thrash (+), Ice Beam (+), Thunder (new)

-

Advanced:

Scorch Pump (C,+3), Aqua Tail (+), Fire Blast (+), Surf (+), Solar Beam (+)

-

Mastered:

Flamethrower (+)

-

Transcended:

Hydro Pump (+)

-

Combo/Custom Move:

Scorch Pump (Advanced), Diamond Cutter (Novice)'

I had thought that he might have suddenly gained/comprehended a steam-related move, but it seemed my wishful thinking got the best of me in this case. Honestly, the closest moves related to Steam Ignis currently had were Scald and Scorch Pump, but that might change now that he had gained Steam Core.

Nonetheless, since I was done checking Ignis' status, I silently watched as Ignis and the others finished checking his newly upgraded resistance. I had to say, while it was a "mere" doubling of his resistance from 4 times to 8 times, the practical effect was quite impressive.

Moves that previously would have caused a little bit of damage now merely tickled Ignis, and that reduction applied to all damage types. Each type was reduced by roughly a grade with life-threatening damage becoming serious damage and so on.

Anyway, once they were done with their tests, I took out our party set and declared the start of Ignis' celebration right then and there. We spent the rest of the evening celebrating, and at the end of the day, after I declared the end of the party, Ignis approached me with a request.

He asked if we could make a trip to the ocean side so that he as well as the others, who apparently had a similar wish, could go out to the ocean and let loose since it had been some time since we last went to the beach or out to the ocean.

While Utopia's water system was good enough, it was not extensive enough for Ignis and the other water types to fully let loose, whether that be simply swimming at full speed or trying out their moves at full power. Well, the last one was more because they did not want to destroy their home even if it would repair itself.

Anyway, with Ignis paving the way, the others also came forward and requested the same. Obviously, I told them that it was no problem, and promised them to do that on Dialday. The next three days passed by without anything noteworthy happening at work, though I did ask for an update on the theft/kidnapping case on Palkiday before leaving the HQ for my prolonged weekend.

The answer I got was a bit surprising since the case was apparently still ongoing. They did not tell me more than that, but it seemed that either a complication arose, or I was overestimating the efficacy of the CID. Sadly, there was not much I could do, so I was forced to let the matter go.

The next day, I fulfilled my promise and first headed to Coral City before heading straight to the coast from there. I went for one of the remote/unused beaches before calling out all my water types. Everyone cheers once they feel the seawater around them, but their cheers get interrupted when Ignis suddenly starts to shine in a red and blue light.

It merely took less than 30 seconds for the light to die down, but that did not change the fact that it came out of nowhere and that the sudden light show took all of us off guard. I would be lying if I said that the situation did not make me a bit nervous, though I made sure to remain calm and collected.

As soon as the light died down, I appeared at Ignis' side and checked his status sheet to see what just happened and to confirm that he was fine. I read through his status, and could not help but fall into a momentary stupor, unable to believe what I was seeing.

I subconsciously looked around for a moment before my mind started to work properly again, and I directly retreated to/entered Utopia with everyone in tow. Naturally, everyone was bewildered by my actions, and I did not blame them since my actions must have appeared quite sudden in their eyes, but considering what I had seen it was a necessary move, at least in my opinion.

Only after we were inside did I take another look at Ignis's status sheet to confirm that what I had seen was real, and there it was in all its glory.

'Name: Ignis

Species: Gyarados

Gender: Male

Age: 11+ years

-

Type: Water, Fire

Potential: Light Aurora (11.69%)

(Genetic) Modifiers: Fire-variant, Blessed by Volcanion*'

There it was, the first blessing bestowed by a legendary to one of our family members. While this was definitely a boon, so something good, it was also undeniable proof that we had attracted the attention of one of the legendaries. Hence my momentary disbelief and "immediate" tactical retreat.

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

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

This part is purely to display Ignis' status screen in one piece and does not count toward the word count.

'Name: Ignis

Species: Gyarados

Gender: Male

Age: 11+ years

-

Type: Water, Fire

Potential: Light Aurora (11.69%)

(Genetic) Modifiers: Fire-variant, Blessed by Volcanion

Abilities: Intimidate, White Smoke, Moxie

Talents: Steam Core

Affinities: Water, Fire, Wind (budding)

-

Bond: Mikail (deep)

Quirks: Slightly Passionate Training Enthusiast

----

Parameters:

Stage: Dark Gold Stage (mid)

Vitality: D

Strength: C

Endurance: D

Agility: D

Energy Capacity: C

Energy Density: D

--

Resistance:

Fire (Supreme), Ice (Supreme), Steel (Major), Bug (Minor), Fairy (Minor), Water (Minor)

-

Weaknesses:

Ground (Minor), Rock (Minor)

-

Standardized:

Electric

----

Condition: Healthy, Pleased, Happy

--

Masteries:

Water Energy Manipulation (Advanced)

Fire Energy Manipulation (Advanced)

----

Techniques:

-

(Unofficial) Initial:

N/A

-

Novice:

Diamond Cutter (C), Steam Eruption

-

Beginner:

Thunder Fang

-

Proficient:

Tackle, Flail, Bounce, Bite, Dragon Rage, Whirlpool, Twister, Ice Fang, Scary Face, Brine, Crunch, Flare Blitz, Endure, Dragon Pulse, Hyper Beam, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse, Iron Tail, Iron Head, Muddy Water, Summer Rain (C), Fire Fang, Thrash, Ice Beam, Thunder

-

Advanced:

Splash, Swift, Aqua Jet, Water Pulse, Waterfall, Dragon Dance, Heat Wave, Rain Dance, Sunny Day, Fire Spin, Lava Plume, Scorch Pump (C), Aqua Tail, Fire Blast, Surf, Solar Beam

-

Mastered:

Water Gun, Scald, Flamethrower

-

Transcended:

Hydro Pump

-

Combo/Custom Move:

Summer Rain (Proficient), Scorch Pump (Advanced), Diamond Cutter (Novice)'

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

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