After eliminating the female Squirtle, I continued to compare the two males with the respective "weak" aura and steel affinity. There were various points that spoke in favor of either Squirtle, and I had to admit that the idea of a potential steel-variant Blastoise was quite tempting, but I ultimately thought that choosing the Squirtle with the weak aura affinity would be better.
I simply had a better connection to aura in general. Not to mention that aura could be considered a superior energy type related to the fighting type and that any aura variants I came across so far had a superior racial value (BS) compared to their "regular" counterparts belonging to the regular type set, even if their status screen still showed them as fighting types.
Heck, even if we disregarded the chance of either of them achieving a variant/type shift, I was sure that I would have had an easier time bonding with the aura turtle than the steel one for obvious reasons. Forgoing even that, the aura turtle had the better potential of the two.
Actually, at this point, I was simply trying to justify my choice, so I went ahead and picked up Pokeball No.1. I had to bind it to me in front of the director, and after I did that, he allowed the other kids to choose their royal starter.
As for my Squirtle, I was going to delay his Utopia baptism until I was back home since I wanted to be physically present when it happened, so I had nothing better to do than to pay attention to the selection process in front of me.
I thought the director might add the two Squirtle I did not choose to their options, but he didn't. It seemed that the Squirtle were brought solely for my selection and that the leftover Squirtle had to be returned to the alliance.
Nonetheless, the Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle the trio were allowed to choose from had 5-star potential as well, so the hard work of these three had truly paid off anyway. The girl with the best "score" after mine went first, and she chose the Charmander.
The boy after her, chose the Squirtle, which left the Bulbasaur for the final girl. Once each one had gotten their respective "royal" Pokemon, I could not help but feel surprised because I could sense that all three of them were genuinely satisfied with their pick.
It seemed that each one of them had actually gotten the starter they wanted, which I honestly thought was unexpected, at least for the one that went last. All I could say was that the gal could be considered quite lucky to have gotten what she wanted. Well, that, or one, maybe even two of them did not care which one they got as long as they got one.
Anyway, once the selection process was over, the director congratulated us before we returned to the main hall and our respective seats. Since we did not take too long, we managed to catch the end of the choir's performance. Unlike the others, I did not want to go through the rows to reach my seat, so I let out a "See you later" before directly teleporting to my seat.
Mom quietly asked me how it went, while Dad listened in, and I shared that I was pretty happy with my pick before telling her/them that I would introduce Squirtle to them after I had introduced him to the rest of the team. They both nodded at that, and we focused back on the rest of the performance, which happened to end less than five minutes later.
Everyone applauded and the director once again stepped up to the podium. He thanked the choir for the wonderful performance, even though he missed most of it, before announcing that the diploma handover would now resume. That part took close to another half an hour before the last one of the graduates received their diploma as well.
Once the last student stepped off the stage, the director invited the school band onto the stage. They were going to put on a 15-minute performance for us, before the head boy, or former head boy considering that he had graduated with us, was going to hold a speech.
The school/director had initially asked me to give a speech as well since I was the best student along with all the other distinctions I had, but I declined because I found it too bothersome.
Anyway, the school band did their thing, and I could freely admit that they were pretty good. Moreover, since I did not have to leave the venue this time, I made sure to stream their performance to Utopia so that my Pokemon could enjoy it as well since I knew that they liked good music.
The band played three pieces, which took a bit less than 20 minutes in total, and once the applause, which they had definitely earned, subsided, the director thanked them for the brilliant mini-concert. After the school band vacated the stage, the director asked the head boy to come onto the stage for his speech, which he did under the applause of the guests.
I really liked his opening sentence which was "I'll keep it relatively short", which earned him a round of applause, and I kept track of the time to see if he would keep his word. Seeing how he finished his speech within 6 minutes, I viewed it as him having spoken the truth.
Once the roaring applause calmed down, he spoke up again, but not to start another speech as I was sure some feared, but to remind everyone that there would be a 90-minute-long break after the director's closing words to give everyone the time to go out for lunch.
We had to vacate the premise during that time since the period was also supposed to give the hired staff enough time to change the setup of the main hall for the graduation party. The head boy thanked all of us for listening before making room for the director, who gave this closing speech.
Once he was done, everyone stood up and began leaving the place. Those that would return for the party went somewhere for lunch, while the others simply left, whether that was for home or somewhere else I did not know.
Meanwhile, my not-so-small group headed straight for my favorite restaurant in Pallet City. Though I made sure to call Aldini's ahead of time to ensure that they had enough space/tables for all of us. Thankfully, they were able to accommodate us, so we were able to enjoy some good food. Since the party/celebration only began at 2:45 p.m., we took it slow during lunch and ordered some additional dessert.
We left Aldini's restaurant roughly 10 minutes before the end of the 90-minute break, and we made it back to the trainer school's main hall 15 minutes later. No rule said that we had to be there at exactly 2:45 p.m. after all.
Anyway, there were tables/chairs to sit on, music provided by a DJ, a dance area, food/snacks as well as drinks, and a game area of sorts with games such as Twister, Charade, and so on. I hung out with the others until 5 p.m. That was when the DJ asked all graduates to gather on the dance floor for the group/graduation photo.
A photographer took a few photos of us before we separated once more. Still, the other guests and my group took that as the signal to take photos as well, so everyone began to take photos with the graduate they came here for.
I was pretty sure I had it worst, considering the size of my group. I had to take one photo after the other until everyone had a few photos with me, and it took nearly an hour until everyone was satisfied. Though it could have also been the dinner announcement that saved me.
Regardless, the celebration went on until 10 p.m., and we stayed until the very end. Afterward, we accompanied the others to the TeleHub. Only after everyone aside from Jessie, who was still staying in Pallet City, had left, did we leave the TeleHub. We naturally accompanied Jessie to her place before leaving for our own home, and it was already close to 11 p.m. by the time we made it there.
After promising my parents that I would show them Squirtle tomorrow and wishing them a good night, I went up to my room before locking the door behind me. Once I was alone, I went inside Utopia and appeared in front of my mansion.
Since it was already late, I did not bother announcing my arrival. Nonetheless, a few still seemed to have noticed it, because Horus/Xatu, Mothra/Butterfree, Enji/Arcanine, Gwen/Gardevoir, Ali/Gallade, and Tatsumaki/Alakazam showed up in short order. Still, they did so without making a commotion to avoid disturbing the others since some of the younger ones had gone to bed.
I greeted them all and once that was out of the way, and Mothra had settled on her favorite seat, my head, they all looked at me in anticipation as I pulled out Squirtle's Pokeball. I let Squirtle out under their watchful gazes, and he directly underwent the Utopia treatment.
My second thought stream saw a relatively small pond appear on the outskirts of the main landmass and moved it further inside so that Squirtle's pond was in the inner circle.
Meanwhile, Squirtle seemed to have noticed something had happened to him since he looked at his arms curiously. It took him a moment to notice me, the others, and his surroundings. He released a yelp of surprise when he did, and I just smiled before once more introducing myself along with the others to him.
Only after that had happened, did I explain to him where we were and what he just went through. Squirtle accepted the situation pretty swiftly, and I could not help but pat his shiny head in praise. I then addressed the others and told them to share more about Utopia and the others living here with Squirtle, while I went ahead and checked his status sheet.
'Name: N/A
Species: Squirtle
Gender: Male
Age: 2+ Years {2 years, 3 months}'
Well, apparently Squirtle had only turned two rather recently, which made him the second youngest of my Pokemon, with only Bruce being younger than him by a few months. Igneel/Charmeleon moved up to third place.
Anyway, moving a bit further down, I saw the point that I was really interested in, and I was not disappointed by what I saw at all.
'Type: Water
Potential: Light Purple (12.8%)*
{Blue (52.8%) -> Light Purple (12.8%)}'
Squirtle's potential had actually risen to light purple, and if everything went smoothly, his potential would reach the light aurora grade during his breakthrough to the silver stage. Still, for now, he was part of the purple/6-Star club, which was already quite impressive. Quite happy with that, I continued moving down the status sheet and stumbled upon another pleasant surprise.
'(Genetic) Modifier: None
Abilities: Torrent, Rain Dish
Talents: None
Affinities: Water, Aura*'
I had expected his aura affinity to get upgraded at one point, but to see it happen this soon was definitely a pleasant surprise. I could not help but wonder if I would stumble upon any further surprises.
'Bond: Mikail (artificial)
Quirks: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Iron Stage (mid)
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: D
Energy Density: D
----
Resistance:
Fire (Minor), Water (Minor), Ice (Minor), Steel (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Electric (Minor), Grass (Minor)
-
Standardized:
N/A
-
Resistance Training:
N/A
----
Condition: Healthy, Curious'
----
Masteries:
Water Energy Manipulation (Beginner)
Aura Manipulation (Novice)*'
Yet, I saw nothing unusual until I came across his mastery section. Actually, I wouldn't call it unusual per se since his affinity got upgraded to the standard grade and I knew that he knew Aura Sphere. Still, I was happy to see that he had unlocked Aura Manipulation.
As for his Water Energy Manipulation, I was not surprised that it was only at the beginner grade due to Squirtle's age. There was no way for him to have learned too many moves at his age, much less raised them to a high mastery level, considering that most of that time was spent in his stageless/youngling phase.
A look at his technique/move section did confirm that, though I had to admit that his move section did not look bad all things considered.
'Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
N/A
-
Novice:
Bite, Rapid Spin
-
Beginner:
Aura Sphere, Tail Whip, Withdraw
-
Proficient:
Bubble, Water Gun, Tackle
-
Advanced:
None
-
Mastered:
None'
3 proficient-grade moves, along with 3 beginner-grade moves, and 2 novice moves were quite good for his age. Not to mention that one of those beginner moves was Aura Sphere.
He had a decent base to work with, and I was confident that we could expand his move pool a decent bit by just focusing on the moves he knew since quite a few of them had an upgrade version, such as Bubble Beam or Aqua Tail.
Anyway, I was pretty happy with everything I had seen, and I shared the news with the others before praising Squirtle for the hard work he'd done so far. Squirtle seemed both bashful and happy at the praise. Still, it was already quite late, so I told him and the others that we would hold his official welcome party the day after tomorrow since we would be getting another newcomer tomorrow.
Afterward, I led Squirtle to his new home/habitat, and the others tagged along as well. Squirtle seemed quite surprised at his new place and I could feel as well as see that he was definitely pleased at being able to live there. We spent another 30 minutes hanging out there before we separated for the night. The others went to their respective homes/habitats, while I left Utopia and laid down on my bed.
---------------------
---------------------
This part is purely to display Squirtle's status screen in one piece and does not count to the word count.
-
'Name: N/A
Species: Squirtle
Gender: Male
Age: 2+ Years {2 years, 3 months}
-
Type: Water
Potential: Light Purple (12.8%)
(Genetic) Modifier: None
Abilities: Torrent, Rain Dish
Talents: None
Affinities: Water, Aura
-
Bond: Mikail (artificial)
Quirks: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Iron Stage (mid)
Vitality: E
Strength: E
Endurance: D
Agility: E
Energy Capacity: D
Energy Density: D
----
Resistance:
Fire (Minor), Water (Minor), Ice (Minor), Steel (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Electric (Minor), Grass (Minor)
-
Standardized:
N/A
-
Resistance Training:
N/A
----
Condition: Healthy, Curious
----
Masteries:
Water Energy Manipulation (Beginner)
Aura Manipulation (Novice)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
N/A
-
Novice:
Bite, Rapid Spin
-
Beginner:
Aura Sphere, Tail Whip, Withdraw
-
Proficient:
Bubble, Water Gun, Tackle
-
Advanced:
None
-
Mastered:
None'
-----------------------------
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