Pokémon: Shiny Metang (Dark Blue)
Gender: None
Level: 30
Types: Steel + Psychic
Ability: Clear Body
Held Item: Occa Berry
Egg Moves: None
Basic Moves: Confusion, Metal Claw, Magnet Rise, Take Down, Pursuit, Bullet Punch, Miracle Eye
Learned Moves: Gravity, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Zen Headbutt
TM Moves: Protect, Psyshock, Hidden Power (Flying), Hyper Beam, Earthquake, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Brick Break, Rock Slide, Substitute
"..."
Upon seeing Metang's data in the system, Cain remained silent for quite a while.
What is this? Is this the true strength of an heir to a great family?
Metang is a Pokémon with rather unique evolution conditions. A Beldum can only evolve into Metang when it encounters another Beldum, and both Pokémon must be at the appropriate level to fuse and evolve into Metang.
For Metang to evolve into Metagross, another Metang is also required, making it arguably the most complex evolution process among all pseudo-legendaries.
Because you need at least four Beldum to achieve it, and each Beldum must meet a minimum quality, or else Metang's quality may decrease upon evolution.
But looking at Steven's Metang, what has Cain seen?
Shiny?
A shiny Metang is even rarer, as it requires two shiny Beldum to evolve! And this shiny Metang is of dark blue quality, meaning that both previous shiny Beldum were also of no less than dark blue quality.
What a great benefactor!
Even Cain, with all his experience, couldn't help but feel like cursing.
It's worth noting that this is only a Metang. When Steven became Champion, he had a Metagross by his side—and it was a shiny Metagross!
What does this mean? It means that Steven had, from the beginning, four shiny Beldum and, knowing Steven's character, he surely ensured the quality did not diminish. This implies that the four shiny Beldum were at least of dark blue quality.
Among Cain's Pokémon, the highest quality is his light blue Sneasel and Skorupi. The others, like Murkrow and Slowpoke, are of green and dark green quality, which represents a significant difference.
Look at that series of learned moves; each one holds substantial value. This complete set of moves is worth at least several million.
Of course, for someone who has had four shiny Beldum, those millions are just a small expense.
Cain took a deep breath and reminded himself that all this had nothing to do with him; he just needed to focus on doing his job well.
Steven, noticing Cain staring at his Metang, waved his hand in front of his face and said, "Uh, I still don't know your name. I'm Steven, Steven Stone."
Cain, snapping out of it, looked at Steven with a strange expression before answering, "Cain, no last name."
Not having a last name implies having no family, which in turn means Cain is just an ordinary person.
However, Steven didn't think much of it; for him, ordinary people and members of small families weren't very different.
"Hello, Cain, nice to meet you." He extended his right hand as a formal introduction.
Cain shook his hand briefly and sat back down, as he had suddenly stood up in excitement.
Steven also sat beside him and gently stroked his Metang, as if he were touching a precious treasure.
The Hoenn region is the only known region in the Pokémon world that is home to two species of pseudo-legendaries: Metagross and Salamence.
A Dragon-type Pokémon being a pseudo-legendary is no surprise, but Metagross has earned this title for its rarity and unique evolution method, combining four Pokémon without imperfections, resulting in a high base stat value.
"What are your requirements?" Cain asked, trying to calm himself down.
Metang is a Pokémon that could normally grow strong simply by eating enough metal, without needing Pokéblocks.
However, although it could grow strong this way, it wouldn't stand out among pseudo-legendaries.
After hearing Cain's question, Steven thought and replied, "I'm not a breeder, so I don't understand much, but my goal is for Metang to gain strength without gaining too much weight, and above all, for its toughness to be maintained."
This requirement was already a challenge for Cain.
What is Metang's weakness?
Its weight!
Weight is one of its main characteristics, as Beldum start eating metal from birth and continue doing so even after evolving into Metagross, as metal is essential for them.
Steven's demand is for Metang to grow without gaining weight, or even to grow stronger without becoming heavier.
To achieve this, one would first need to understand what trace elements Metang needs for growth, which could optimize its development, and which would increase its weight.
However, Metang has a very rare hidden ability called Light Metal.
This ability halves the Pokémon's weight and can only be found in Beldum, Metang, Metagross, and Scizor.
Oh, and it can also appear in one of the Regis, Registeel.
This hidden ability is more common in Beldum, but it becomes very rare in Metang and almost non-existent in Metagross due to its fusion evolution method.
For Metang to have the Light Metal ability, both Beldum must have it; if only one has it, Metang's ability is random with a 50% probability.
Similarly, for Metagross to have the Light Metal ability, at least one of the Metang must have it.
Since Steven's Metang is shiny, obtaining the Light Metal ability is even less likely.
However, Cain knows a method to temporarily change Metang's ability to Light Metal.
Imagine a Metagross that is normally slow but suddenly becomes extremely fast; this would catch any opponent off guard. And if we add speed to Metagross's great strength, this Pokémon could become one of the most outstanding pseudo-legendaries.
(End of chapter)