Regardless of how the new coloring came about, I had to say that the combination of Moka/Crobat's new black coloring and the white "fluff scarf" around her neck area looked pretty good. At least, in my opinion, it looked better than the original purple-white combination.
Anyway, I made my way over to Moka, who was looking at her wings in wonder. When she heard me stepping in her direction, she stopped and jumped me instead. As the distance between us shortened, I suddenly had the feeling that something in the impression/atmosphere Moka gave off had changed.
Still, that feeling vanished pretty quickly when she clung to my neck, hanging off my body, as she asked me nervously what I thought of her new color. She beamed happily when I told her that I thought that it looked great. I could feel her stubby little legs wriggling excitedly, but she did not let her happiness distract her from the important question and still asked me if I had an idea why she changed in the first place.
I honestly told her that I had some guesses but that I was not sure, so she, and the others who had gathered around us, urged me to check her status to get a clear answer. I nodded and while they excitedly discussed what the reason could be, I took a look at Moka's new/updated status sheet.
'Name: Moka
Species: Crobat
Gender: Female
Age: 12+ years
-
Type: Poison, Flying
Potential: Light Aurora (24.38%)*
{Light Aurora (13.01%) -> (13.77%) -> Deep Purple (68.77%) -> Light Aurora (24.38%)}'
Looking at the percentage besides her potential, there was no longer any doubt that she had unlocked a modifier, and I was really happy to see that the unlocking cost had been deducted first before the breakthrough bonus was applied since it reduced the total loss. Doing the math in my head, I figured out that we "saved" 15.61% thanks to that order, which was a rather significant amount for someone with light aurora potential.
Anyway, no longer able to keep my curiosity in check, I took a look at the modifier section.
'Genetic variation: Ancient Royal*
{Royal, Ancient}'
My first thought when I saw a black Crobat had been that Moka had become an alternate shiny or underwent a simple color swap, but it seemed that was wrong. This was the first time I saw the Ancient Royal modifier, but it was not hard to guess that Moka had unlocked the ancient modifier and that her two modifiers then combined into a single one.
To see the results of the combination I checked the description of the "new" modifier, and it appeared that it was not just the blend of the two titles. Modifiers were usually additive, and it seemed that the combination of the two modifiers did not change the boost Moka received. Ancient Royal still granted an overall boost of 50%, 25% from each of the "parent modifiers".
What the Ancient Royal modifier did, was to ensure that the effects of the Royal and Ancient genes did not clash, allowing for a smooth actualization of the gene/modifier effects. This point made me wonder if this modifier came about with the help of Utopia or if the combination/fusion was a natural process.
If it was the first, it meant that usually, certain modifiers could not simultaneously appear in a Pokemon, though the fact that the mutant gene did not appear kind of reduced the likelihood of this being the case. It was also possible that the odds of certain pairs were much more unlikely, which would support option two, and since unlocking two modifiers was already exceedingly rare, the odds were probably minuscule.
Regardless, this "fusion" between the two modifiers was also the cause of the color change Moka underwent. It led to a fusion/blending of the brown coloring the ancient Crobat variants showed with the original deep purple color that the royal variants of the species retained, resulting in a black Crobat that was slightly bigger than either variant and kept its white "fluff scarf" that it got due to the royal gene.
I was naturally happy with the smooth integration of her second modifier, and with the 50% bonus she held, Moka now tied with her little bro Bruce for the Pokemon in our family with the highest RV/BS at 802.5, at least until Bruce evolved to Crobat as well.
However, I had to admit that compared to Bruce's abnormal strength, I liked Moka's individual values more since they were more balanced, though her agility was still rather pronounced, which was fine since Crobat was supposed to be a speedy Pokemon anyway.
Anyway, having found the reason for her change, and read about its effects, I shared the great news with Moka and the rest. They were naturally thrilled to hear that Moka, like Mothra/Butterfree with her Queen gene, now possessed the equivalent of a Level 2 modifier.
Still, now that I thought about it, I could not help but wonder what would happen if either the royal gene or the ancient one got upgraded. Would the upgrade go smoothly? Would it result in any complications, or was it possible that this fusion cut off the possibility of advancement for either modifier?
All these were valid questions, but unfortunately, all I could do was wait and observe how the situation developed in the future, or rather during future breakthroughs. Putting those thoughts aside, I began to look through Moka's status sheet again, and I actually ended up directly coming across another change.
'Abilities: Infiltrator, Corrosion, Primal Grace*'
Talents: None
Affinities: Poison, Flying'
I directly noticed that Inner focus was gone, replaced by a new ability, and I had to admit that this was the first time I heard about Primal Grace, though it was not that hard to infer that it was connected to her new modifier.
Yet, I was pretty sure that Primal Grace was something Moka unlocked through luck since the ability was not listed as an accompanying one in the modifier's description. At least I was assuming that it would appear there if it was one, though I could be wrong since this was the first time something like this happened.
Regardless, Primal Grace was pretty much the same as Serene Grace, just with an ancient/primal touch instead of a serene one, and it also explained the initial feeling I had as Moka came closer before she shattered the atmosphere by acting cute/spoiled.
Still, the doubled likelihood of secondary effects taking place was definitely welcome since Moka had quite a few moves that could make use of that, and she showed her appreciation for the new ability after I shared the ability swap with her. Afterward, I continued looking through her status.
'Bond: Mikail (deep)*
Quirks: None'
After the third one, spotting the change became easier, so I had already felt the deepening of our bond. This just confirmed it for me, and I decided to move on first to get some more stuff to share.
'Parameters:
Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)*
Vitality: B
Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Energy Capacity: C
Energy Density: C'
Honestly, this had to be the most abnormal/advanced starting point I had ever seen, and I could not help but be impressed with it. I was not talking about her starting at the (high) dark gold stage, but her individual parameter values.
One of her parameters was already at the regular limit, with two more being only one improvement away from reaching that point. The rest of her parameters were all at C-value which was the starting point of the (high)-grade substage.
Honestly, with her start like this, Moka had directly jumped to the top spot among my Pokemon parameter/stage-wise, and while I was not sure if she could take Mothra's first place since that girl's arsenal was just too buggy, Moka stood a pretty good chance at beating both Horus/Xatu and Stan/Gyarados for second place.
When I shared the news with the others the crowd went full "ohhh" out of excitement and Moka seemed pretty proud of my assessment. Bruce rushed up to Moka and excitedly congratulated her on being the best, and I saw the glint in Horus and Stan's eyes when he said that. Moka seemed to notice their reaction as well since she gave the two a happy wave.
Mothra ignored the impromptu "rival moment" that just popped up and congratulated Moka on being awesome, though she did say that she would be trying to catch up to Moka stage-wise as soon as possible, showing that Mothra was not fully unmoved by the situation.
I did not mind this at all since some healthy rivalry would only help them get stronger faster, so I would not interfere in this unless the rivalry/situation turned in an unhealthy/harmful direction.
Anyway, after that "animesque" moment, I resumed looking through the rest of Moka's status sheet. The type relation section was next and it showed no changes at all, so I directly moved on to the next block, which was pretty much the last one.
'Masteries:
Poison E. Manipulation (Advanced)
Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Proficient) -> (Advanced)
----
Techniques:
-
Proficient:
Steel Slash (C, ++), Super Screech (C, ++), Sky Attack (+), Hyper Beam (+), Mean Look (+), Hypnosis (new), Giga Impact (new), Rest (new), Roost (new), Payback (new), Agility (new), Brave Bird (new)
-
Advanced:
Tailwind (+), Hurricane (+), Double Team (+)
-
Mastered:
Air Cutter (+)
-
Combos/Custom:
Super Screech (Proficient), Steel Slash (Proficient)'
I saw that both Moka's mastery and move section remained untouched by her breakthrough as well, though looking at her move pool, I decided that we should make some adjustments to her move training plans to make good use of the effect of her new ability. I made a note of some of the better moves with secondary effects that Moka had and increased their priority to ensure that they would be trained up first.
Anyway, after going through Moka's status, I told everyone that we would be moving to my place for the celebration, and celebrating was pretty much what we did for the rest of the day. Grouday was also spent inside Utopia with my Pokemon, and just like that, my plus-sized weekend was over.
Arcday morning saw me heading to the Police HQ once more, and luckily enough Officer Carter informed me that I was being transferred to the patrol unit, which meant I would be going/patrolling around Celadon City to ensure that everything was in order. Oh, and I would be dispatched to places if I and my partner/team happened to be the closest one to the dispatch location.
While heading to the patrol unit, I could not help but wonder which group I would be assigned to. As far as I knew, patrol officers traveled around in different 4 ways, in cars, on bikes, on Pokemon, or on foot.
As luck would have it, I was informed that I had been assigned to the patrol group that patrolled on foot. The officers in this group were usually assigned to the crowded parts of the city such as the central area, and the shopping/restaurant districts in the inner/other areas.
Usually, patrol teams were made up of 2 officers, but citing that I was a rookie, I was assigned to an established two-man team instead of being assigned as a partner to a "lone" officer. That said I was introduced to my new/temporary partners, Officer Klein and Officer Grozz, who honestly did not appear all that enthused with being assigned a hanger-on.
Still, despite that they remained polite while they shared their usual stomping grounds/patrol routes, along with what to pay attention to while walking down the route. The route itself was in the central area, so we simply left the station on foot and walked to the official start of their patrol route.
Unofficially, the road from the Police Station to the starting point was also included in their patrol, so Officer Klein and Grozz used that stretch to actively exemplify what to watch out for and why. No idea if it was because this was my first patrol or not, but only a few minutes after we made it to the district we were supposed to patrol we came across a snatch-and-run.
My first thought was to immobilize the guy using telekinesis, but I stopped myself since according to the rulebook, using supernatural abilities on regular people was not allowed unless they posed an active threat or were about to perform an action that would turn them into a threat.
While I was recalling that, Officer Klein shouted "Freeze, CCPD", which the thief ignored, causing him to groan and complain about why no one stopped when he said that, before he and Officer Grozz took off after the thief.
The reason he shouted that phrase first was because according to the rulebook, he/an officer had to give the perpetrator a chance to give himself up peacefully first before taking physical actions.
Honestly, officers had to follow quite a few rules, with some of them being rather restrictive, but in turn, the police force enjoyed a very good reputation along with the close to complete trust of nearly all civilians/humans.
---------------------
---------------------
This part is purely to display Moka's status screen in one piece and does not count toward the word count.
'Name: Moka
Species: Crobat
Gender: Female
Age: 12+ years
-
Type: Poison, Flying
Potential: Light Aurora (24.38%)
Genetic variation: Ancient Royal
Abilities: Infiltrator, Corrosion, Primal Grace
Talents: None
Affinities: Poison, Flying
-
Bond: Mikail (deep)
Quirks: None
----
Parameters:
Stage: Dark Gold Stage (high)
Vitality: B
Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: A
Energy Capacity: C
Energy Density: C
----
Resistance:
Grass (Major), Fighting (Major), Bug (Major), Poison (Minor), Fairy (Minor)
-
Weaknesses:
Ice (Minor), Psychic (Minor), Ground (Minor/if hit), Rock (Minor)
-
Standardized:
Electric
----
Condition: Healthy, Delighted, Happy
----
Masteries:
Poison E. Manipulation (Advanced)
Flying/Air E. Manipulation (Advanced)
----
Techniques:
-
(Unofficial) Initial:
None
-
Novice:
Quick Guard
-
Beginner:
Absorb, Confuse Ray, Astonish
-
Proficient:
Bite, Haze, Gust, Wing Attack, Endure, Acrobatics, Swift, Sludge Bomb, Aerial Ace, Taunt, Giga Drain, Uproar, Crunch, X-Scissor, Shadow Ball, Heat Wave, Dark Pulse, Steel Slash (C), Super Screech (C), Sky Attack, Hyper Beam, Mean Look, Hypnosis, Giga Impact, Rest, Roost, Payback, Agility, Brave Bird
-
Advanced:
Poison Fang, Venoshock, Leech Life, Air Slash, Poisonous Leech (C), Screech, Supersonic, Protect, Cross Poison, Toxic, Steel Wing, Tailwind, Hurricane, Double Team
-
Mastered:
Air Cutter
-
Combos/Custom:
Poisonous Leech (Advanced), Super Screech (Proficient), Steel Slash (Proficient)'
-----------------------------
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