Shelgon had already got its evolution conditions. There were basically 4 conditions for Shelgon's evolution.
Mastering ability Mastering hidden ability Getting all the stats to S rank Leveling up 'Headbutt' to level 40.
The last 2 were easy but the first 2 were extremely hard. It must be noted that leveling ability and hidden ability to 100% and then mastering it took a long time cause it took time for any Pokemon to understand their ability and hidden ability. Abilities and hidden abilities came from their biology, ancestral bloodline, and their innermost desires. Axel found this out after a lot of reading and research.
By now, all of Shelgon's stats were now in S rank, it had also leveled up 'Headbutt' to level 40.
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Headbutt (Shelgon) (Level 40): There is a lower chance of receiving recoil damage from the attack and the power of the attack has increased.
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Unlike in games, 'Headbutt' had a massive chance to cause recoil damage to the user as the user is directly hitting the enemy with its head. However, after the level-up, the chances of it had decreased.
Shelgon had also mastered 'Rock head' to 100% and 'Overcoat' to 99%. Axel could also tell that its ridges were very strong and elastic at the same time.
Axel wanted its ridges to be perfect and powerful enough and now he was satisfied with the progress.
"Shelgon, get ready to fight Meg now.", said Axel.
They were now making camp to rest for the night and it was already evening. For a long time, Shelgon and Nidoking had been training where Shelgon would use moves like 'Thrash' and 'Dragon head' to train its 'Rock head' while Nidoking would use 'Sandstorm' for it to train on 'Overcoat'.
This was also helpful for Nidoking as Nidoking also had its own training which Axel had designed for it.
"Shelgon, first use 'Dragon head' and then use 'Thrash', Meg use 'Sandstorm' and block it.", said Axel.
A common-rank Pokemon like Shelgon would not be able to do any damage even if it uses powerful moves like 'Thrash'. Attacking with the full power of 'Thrash' while the opponent would not move would naturally cause recoil damage to the user.
Its head and neck area glowed as it charged toward Nidoking in a fierce sandstorm. It had dealt with the storm multiple times, so it knew how to tackle it. It used its other senses and closed its eyes as its whole body glowed in white light.
BANG!!!!
Nidoking blocked the attack but Shelgon came again for more. After using the moves 2 more times, it became confused. But it didn't give up. After training on 'Thrash' multiple times, it had been used to being confused. It took a deep breath and tried to concentrate its mind in a single direction. The storm was heavy and Shelgon had to give it all to just not be blown away.
Due to its heavy body, it was able to do it but the power of tier 2 king-rank Pokemon could not be underestimated. Even after using 'Overcoat', it was affected. It had been doing this same exercise for many days now and today, it wanted to beat this storm. Its head and mind were spinning after using 'Thrash' and it tried to forge all this confusion. Finally, it was able to do it. It was finally free from the confusion.
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Ding!
Overcoat has been mastered to 100%
Ding!
Rock head has been mastered. The defense of its head and skull had massively increased and there is a high chance of not getting confused while being hit on the head.
Ding!
A tremendous achievement. A common rank Pokemon has mastered its ability. Rewards will be given. Calculating reward.....
Ding!
Reward calculated: Its ridges are now in a perfect stage in its current form.
Ding!
Thrash has leveled up to 45. The user can let go and use the move with full power.
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A lot of notifications came which surprised Axel. 'Rock head' had been fully mastered and Shelgon also received a reward for it. Axel knew why it received the reward.
When a Pokemon was not completely evolved, it was not considered an adult. It would not be mature and its brain and its whole body would not have been fully developed. So, mastering ability and hidden ability would be almost impossible as this would require a lot of patience, hard work, and also brain work.
Thrash had also leveled up 45 which made Axel very happy.
When the rewards of perfect ridges came, Shelgon began to glow which surprised all of them. All of them concentrated on Shelgon to see what was happening.
"Meg, cancel the storm.", said Axel, and the storm suddenly died down. It looked like the storm never came. This was the level of mastery that Nidoking had.
It looked like a minor evolution and after the glowing stopped, everyone could see that the Shelgon was a bit different. It looked the same but there was some shine on its body and its ridges looked somewhat different.
Axel went near Shelgon and started to touch and feel its ridges. The feeling of the touch was completely different. It was hard but also flexible.
"Hey buddy, how do you feel?", asked Axel.
"Shel.. Shelgon!!!", shouted Shelgon in a happy voice.
"Haha, nice. You are one step closer to evolution. Let's have a party tonight.", said Axel.
He went to the camp and started to prepare the food by himself for Shelgon and others.
"Hey Axel, can you tell me what exactly happened?", asked Ron.
After spending some time with the team, Axel came to know that Ron was a dragon-type specialist. Now even if a trainer is a dragon type specialist, they would have other Pokemons too to take care of the weakness of dragon types. However, Ron only had dragon-type Pokemons and he believed that dragon-type Pokemons could do anything.
Since Ron was so crazy about the dragon-type Pokemons, he knew a lot about dragon-type Pokemons. Kizaru had also learned a lot about dragon-type Pokemons from Ron.
So, Ron was curious as to what happened to Shelgon. It looked the same but also a bit different from other normal Shelgon. He asked Axel's permission to check Shelgon and found out that its ridges were completely different from other Shelgon.
"What do you mean, Ron?"
"Axel, I also have a Salamence with me and I have also seen other Shelgon in my life. I know for sure that the ridges of your Shelgon are entirely different than others. So, what did you do, and how it it change so drastically?"
Axel stared at him when he asked the question.
"Hey, I know that this might be your secret and I don't want to pry but I am just so curious about it."
It was bad manners to ask for the training plans of other trainers, so Ron knew that he was asking a lot.
Axel wanted to share but he knew that he could share the secrets of the system with Ron. So, he took a different route.
"Alright, I will tell you. You know that ridges are very important to Salamence and its species."
Ron nodded his head.
"I have been thinking a lot about how to make perfect ridges for Shelgon before it evolves to Salamence. I have been using the paste and also training it but I knew that it would not be enough.
So, I concentrate on its ability and hidden ability."
"Ability and hidden ability?"
"Yes. Since its ability and hidden ability change multiple times when it evolves from Bagon to Slamence. From Bagon to Salamence, it abilities are: Rock head and Intimidate while its hidden abilities are: Sheer force, Overcoat, and Moxie.
Among them, 'Rock head' and 'Overcoat' are defensive ability and hidden ability. I believe that if I could let Shelgon master both of them, then its ridges would be perfect."
"Really? But that is insane!!!", shouted Ron. By this time, all of them were hearing this conversation and all of them were thinking the same thing.
Mastering ability and hidden ability was very hard and it took years to do it. Axel was saying that he wanted his Shelgon to master both of them when it was not even in its fully evolved form. That was indeed crazy.
"No, it is not crazy. Just think about it. 'Rock head' prevents recoil damage while 'Overcoat' gives it protection from weather moves. Both of these properties would in turn make the ridges stronger if they are mastered. Just now, Shelgon mastered both of them, so a mini evolution occurred and now its ridges are perfect."
That was what Axel truly thought. The system would not give such a reward just like that. A lot of conditions had to be fulfilled to receive such a reward. Even though Overcoat was not fully mastered/evolved it was still mastered to 100% which Axel believed was enough to have perfect ridges.
"Axel, I must say that even though you are very young, you are very talented. I have decided. I am going to catch another Bagon and then train it on the same principle.", said Ron.
He wanted to see what would happen if he was also able to accomplish it. Ridges were a major part of Salamence's power.
"Are you sure? I am not going to tell you how to master ability and hidden ability in a short time. You might not be able to do it.", said Axel.
"I know and I won't ask it. I also have my dragon pride."
"Good, then let me help you a bit..", said Axel and he told this theory about everstone and how to stop the Pokemon evolution temporarily.
Unlike in the games, everstone was permanent, but Axel with Mark had found a way to make it temporary. Ron was very happy with the information.
"Axel, if you need any help in dragon-type Pokemons, just tell me. Today, you have got yourself a real friend.", said Roy shaking Axel's hand.
Roy was very grateful to Axel for sharing such secret information and he said to pay back the favor in the future.
The party went on for the whole night and everyone slept except for Axel. Axel was sitting in a meditating position and he was meditating and trying to improve his aura powers.
A while back, Axel had mastered 'Enhance stamina' and now he was looking to master 'Sleep suppression'. 'Sleep suppression' was one of the 5 requirements to gain 'Enhanced survivability'. To master 'Sleep suppression', Axel had to work normally and not sleep for 5 straight days.
This was very hard to do. When he tried it the first time, he didn't sleep for 30 hours and after 30 hours he started to have hallucinations. He looked at Frank and saw that Frank's face had turned into a demon. He screamed and told Frank to get out.
He didn't know what had happened and then he realized that it was a hallucination. This was the side effect of not sleeping. At first, he thought that mastering this would be easy but then he realized that the side effects of not sleeping were numerous and also dangerous.
Some of them were:
Depression, hypertension, chances of memory loss and heart attack, hallucination, mood changes, weight gain, blurred vision, poor balance, reduced immunity, paranoia, anxiety, and many more.
After reading from the tablet, Axel came to know that he could not just achieve it with only not sleeping. He would have to meditate and revolve his aura powers in his body to do it.
There was a set of exercises to do all this. After training on it for some time, Axel could not be awake for 2 days without any side effects. He also learned when to stop this madness so that things like hallucinations would not happen again.