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Roy's life at the Promise Gym followed a steady routine: martial arts practice during the day, Calm Mind meditation at night, and checking on each Pokémon's progress during his free time.
A week later, as Roy was heading to train, Elite Sebastian stopped him along the way.
Sebastian frowned and said, "Young Roy, is your Elekid truly that desperate?"
Roy didn't understand what he meant and looked puzzled.
"You don't know?"
Seeing Roy's confusion, Sebastian raised his eyebrows, became serious, and explained: "Your Elekid has been practicing extra sessions every night... One of my disciples told me yesterday that when he patrols at night, he keeps seeing Elekid in the high-voltage Charge room."
"Occasional extra training is commendable, so my disciple let it be, but doing it every night is excessive..."
Sebastian's expression conveyed genuine concern.
Roy understood this truth. He suddenly recalled that Elekid's requests for Max Revives had doubled over the past few days. Initially, Roy had assumed it was due to good progress with the "Lightning Armor" training. Unexpectedly, the young Pokémon wasn't resting at night, but secretly training instead...
This should be prevented.
But after considering it, Roy shook his head and said, "Don't worry about Elekid, Uncle Sebastian. It's best to let it continue like this."
"What?" Sebastian was stunned. Puzzled, he asked, "Doesn't Elekid get only three hours of rest daily? This level of training intensity is undoubtedly draining its life force. Don't you understand such a basic concept?"
Roy understood perfectly.
But he was accustomed to Elekid's extreme training methods that pushed its vital limits.
As long as the "alien lightning" problem remained unsolved, Elekid would need to maintain this life-burning training regimen.
Since it couldn't be changed, there was no point worrying about it further.
Roy said earnestly, "Please don't worry, Uncle Sebastian. To be honest, I have a method to replenish Elekid's vitality without leaving any side effects."
"Replenish vitality?"
Sebastian's face showed shock. At that moment, some of his doubts were immediately resolved, such as how Elekid was able to develop the lightning armor despite the torment from the alien lightning...
Sebastian looked around and, after ensuring no one was nearby, said seriously:
"Don't tell anyone about this."
Immediately afterward, he laughed and muttered:
"Good grief, you shouldn't have even told me."
Another scolding! The Grandmother Protection Association would certainly condemn this... Roy complained inwardly.
As mentioned before, he and Elite Sebastian were naturally allies. After spending time together, Roy had gained a decent understanding of Sebastian's personality.
With a foundation of trust established, exchanging secrets would only strengthen their alliance.
Moreover, Roy's method of replenishing vitality came from items exchanged through his system, which couldn't be taken by others. This was his greatest advantage.
Sure enough, seeing Roy's honest confession, Sebastian's expression became much friendlier.
He didn't ask about Roy's specific means of replenishing vitality—whether it was some kind of psychic ability or advanced technology—but repeatedly warned Roy not to reveal it carelessly.
Afterward, Sebastian shook his head, turned around, and left, muttering, "In all my years, I've never seen such a relentless Pokémon..."
Apparently, even this Fighting-type Elite was impressed by Elekid's desperate efforts.
After Sebastian left, Roy immediately showed a pained expression.
...pretending everything was fine while spending resources at an alarming rate.
Acknowledging Elekid's additional training also meant doubling its resource consumption.
The training intensity of each Pokémon had increased. During this period, Roy's points vanished like water, with daily consumption approaching 500,000.
Although popularity points were credited to his account daily, they would gradually decline after all.
He estimated his resources would only last about two months.
By then, winter break would arrive, bringing the national carnival month for young trainers across the country.
—The National College League.
"When the time comes, we must make a strong showing," Roy declared.
During the first week, Roy, Lucario, and Vulpix fully adjusted to life at the gym.
After Elekid's late-night training sessions were exposed, the other Pokémon showed a competitive spirit, becoming more rigorous in their own training regimens.
Driven by this atmosphere, even Vulpix, who typically disliked exertion, reduced her beauty sleep time to practice secretly.
Vulpix concealed her concerns, fearing Roy might not appreciate her if her strength progressed too slowly.
Regarding this, Roy simply said... go ahead and train!
After the fusion of the two worlds, Pokémon had become far stronger than during the original "Pokémon World" era. What was once considered "maximum level" was now merely the threshold of professional level, and improvement rates were astonishing.
Although Roy didn't understand the specific reasons behind this, one thing was clear.
With the integration of the worlds, as Pokémon's strength had greatly increased, their demand for "energy" had also skyrocketed. In today's world, if you wanted to make Pokémon stronger, resources were essential.
Without resources, even talented trainers could hardly progress.
Of course, resources alone weren't enough. Pokémon couldn't absorb 100% of the resources without proper training.
The dedication of his Pokémon pleased Roy immensely, as it meant none of the points spent on them were wasted.
The second week at the Promise Gym passed safely in this state of 'accumulation.'
It wasn't until the third week that a major breakthrough occurred.
It was Elekid.
With training intensity that would shame even an Elite, and consuming resources that accounted for 40% of Roy's total Pokémon points...
It finally completed the "Lightning Armor" that Professor Christian had conceived.
When he heard the news, Roy was preparing to rest. Suddenly excited, he led his entire team to the training room of the gym.
"Come on, show me," Roy said expectantly.
"Blay!"
Elekid responded enthusiastically and immediately released the divine thunder within its body.
Humm!
Electric arcs... No, violent high-voltage currents erupted from every part of Elekid's body, enveloping it from head to toe.
In this state, Elekid's body appeared to be covered with a layer of blue lightning armor.
Truly worthy of the name 'Lightning Armor.'
Most striking were the black lines on Elekid's body, which had transformed into a blue-white lightning color, flickering in a pattern of alternating light and dark.
"This is..."
The glowing, flickering textures gave Roy a strong sense of déjà vu.
This feeling was powerful because he had seen this phenomenon before—in Zekrom, the possessor of "Divine Thunder."
The Dragon of Ideals, Zekrom, had two exclusive moves:
[Fusion Bolt] and [Bolt Strike].
The former was Zekrom's technique for releasing all its lightning in the form of 'alternating current' in one massive burst.
It was an extremely powerful ranged attack.
The latter was Zekrom's melee move that covered its entire body with powerful electric current, enhanced its physical performance, and overwhelmed opponents.
When using [Fusion Bolt] and [Bolt Strike], Zekrom's tail, resembling an electric generator, would emit a brilliant blue light, and various parts of its body would also glow with blue fluorescence.
The principle behind this was exactly the same as the [Lightning Armor] proposed by Professor Christian—allowing high-voltage current to envelop the body.
The lines on Elekid's body weren't stable and flickered continuously, but the principle behind this phenomenon was undoubtedly similar to [Overdrive Mode].
Or perhaps...
"The Lightning Armor is a lower-grade version of Overdrive Mode."
Roy reasoned.
The reason for the lower grade was that Elekid couldn't fully control the 'Alien Lightning' and was merely releasing it in a crude manner.
Roy found it difficult to judge how the strength of the Lightning Armor compared to the original [Overdrive Mode], having never seen Zekrom himself.
But at the very least, when Zekrom entered this state, it didn't drain its health.
Elekid, on the other hand, was constantly losing vitality.
"How long?" Roy asked.
"Blay!"
Elekid assessed its physical condition and responded with a number.
"The limit is three minutes?"
Roy looked surprised.
Goodness, was Elekid turning into an Ultra monster?
"Waaaar~"
Wartortle gazed enviously at Elekid wrapped in the Lightning Armor. It looked so impressive and stylish, perfectly hitting Wartortle's aesthetic preferences.
Of course, Wartortle was naive but not foolish, knowing that as a pure Water-type Pokémon, it couldn't replicate this technique.
So, Wartortle looked at Roy eagerly.
The meaning was clear.
Boss, please give me a similarly cool transformation sometime.
"Next time, definitely next time," Roy said casually.
He opened his system panel and examined Elekid's current information.
After three weeks of arduous effort and considerable expense, Elekid's progress could only be described as Extreme Speed. Its improvement had broken all previous records in Roy's team, reaching a B-level comprehensive evaluation.
And now with the [Lightning Armor] mode, it had elevated its overall rating to B+ level.
Considering that Electric-types had an advantage over Water-types, in terms of battle strength, Elekid had surpassed Wartortle.
Hiss
Roy gasped.
This Pokémon was becoming so formidable, it was almost frightening.
Next to him, Lucario frowned, keenly aware that its status as the team's strongest member was being threatened.