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Sato commanded just two Pokémon to take on four enemies. Among them, his Ariados was vastly out-leveled by three of the opposing Pokémon, and yet, they still managed to win.
To say this was a hard-earned victory would be an understatement. After this intense battle, the previously circling wild Pokémon finally backed off. Witnessing the defeat of Pokémon like Scyther, they swiftly scattered, no longer daring to test their luck.
In that moment, the once stifling air of danger began to lift, and the oppressive tension in Sato's heart eased considerably.
Once the battle ended, Sato quickly pulled out some healing sprays and medical bandages from his space backpack and began treating Arcanine, whose front limbs had suffered serious injuries.
Thanks to a Pokémon's natural resilience, and with timely treatment and bone realignment, Arcanine would likely make a full recovery after a good night's rest.
As for Ariados, it had mostly played a supporting role in the battle and hadn't taken much damage.
After treating his Pokémon, Sato turned his attention to the prisoners of war.
Right now, Zangoose, Scyther, and Kecleon were all tied up in Ariados's webbing, looking thoroughly dejected.
Among the three, Scyther was clearly the strongest, followed by Zangoose, and lastly, Kecleon.
But surprisingly, the one Sato found most interesting was the weakest of the trio: Kecleon.
And with good reason. This particular Kecleon had managed to sneak up on Sato without a sound and ambush him. Its Ability was an extremely rare Hidden Ability — Protean.
(Protean Ability: Changes the Pokémon's type to the type of the move it's about to use. The change lasts until it uses a move of a different type.)
On top of that, Kecleon also knew a fascinating move — one that, combined with its Ability, made it especially valuable in Sato's eyes despite its otherwise mediocre stats.
...….
Kecleon Data:
Pokémon: Kecleon
Level: 28
Type: Normal
Ability: Protean (Hidden Ability)
Gender: Female
Known Moves:Thief, Astonish, Tail Whip, Lick, Scratch, Bind, Shadow Sneak, Feint, Fury Swipes, Sucker Punch, Psybeam, Ancient Power, Slash
Egg Move:Trick
Tutor Moves:Skill Swap, Trick, Role Play
Held Item: None
IVs:
HP: 19/31
Attack: 26/31
Defense: 20/31
Sp. Atk: 23/31
Sp. Def: 20/31
Speed: 27/31
Overall IV Rating: Blue (Total IV: 135)
...….
Clearly, this Kecleon's individual values weren't much to look at, but its Protean Ability and knowledge of Skill Swap made it a rare and precious find.
There was no need to overhype Protean — the ability allowed a Pokémon to completely circumvent type disadvantages if it knew a wide array of moves. It could seamlessly become the type best suited to counter the opponent.
Currently, only two Pokémon species could have Protean as a Hidden Ability: the Kecleon line and the Froakie line. That alone made it extremely rare.
As for Skill Swap, a Psychic-type status move, it was just as precious. There were no Technical Machines for this move on the market — just like Outrage, it could only be learned through teaching.
From a value standpoint, it might not quite match Protean, but if used strategically, Skill Swap had the potential to completely flip a battle on its head.
(Note: Skill Swap — Psychic-type status move. Effect: Swaps the user's Ability with the target's.)
Now, with a Pokémon that possessed both Protean and Skill Swap, even if Kecleon wasn't the most gifted, Sato knew she was worth her weight in gold.
As he examined the data, Sato's mind began racing with possibilities. His gaze on the Kecleon grew more intense with excitement.
He knew just how powerful Protean was — not only could it eliminate type disadvantages, but it also allowed moves to benefit from the Same Type Attack Bonus (STAB) every time.
A Kecleon with Protean and Skill Swap might not be a fearsome fighter on its own, but it could grant Protean to other Pokémon, drastically boosting their power.
"This is interesting… incredibly interesting. To think I'd run into such a peculiar Pokémon. Protean and Skill Swap? This could be the foundation of a game-breaking strategy. If this works… I might just end up with a Pokémon on par with a normal legendary."
Sato's eyes burned with anticipation as a bold training plan formed in his mind — one that, once conceived, became impossible to stop.
Which type of Pokémon would benefit the most from Protean? As soon as the question popped into his head, the answer became clear: Normal-type Pokémon.
Yes. While Normal-types had no inherent strengths over other types, their advantage lay in their ability to learn a huge variety of moves — a perfect match for Protean.
Combine that with Protean, and you had something downright terrifying.
A Normal-type with Protean that knew many different types of moves wouldn't have to worry about type disadvantages. It could even switch its type mid-battle to counter its opponent perfectly.
In fact, when Sato realized this Kecleon had both Protean and Skill Swap, the first Pokémon that came to mind was none other than Slaking, a Normal-type with sky-high base stats.
After all, he was currently in a forest known for housing a large number of Slakoth. He had recently even encountered a particularly powerful Slaking.
But up until now, he had always dismissed Slaking due to one huge issue: its Truant Ability.
Still, Sato knew there were ways around that. Slaking's Truant Ability could be nullified with either the Gastro Acid move or Skill Swap. The former removed the Ability, while the latter could replace it entirely.
Between the two, the latter was undoubtedly superior — it didn't just remove Truant, it gave Slaking a whole new Ability.
And Slaking was a Normal-type Pokémon that could learn up to 14 different types of moves.
Now, with this extraordinary Kecleon in hand, all Sato needed was to capture a Slaking. Then he could use Kecleon's Skill Swap to grant Slaking the Protean Ability — turning it into a multi-type juggernaut.
A Slaking without Truant and with access to 14 types through Protean — how strong would that be? Wouldn't that make it a kind of budget version of Arceus?
Of course, just thinking about Slaking's lazy nature gave Sato a headache.
Truant wasn't even Slaking's biggest problem — its true issue was its deep-seated laziness.
To be blunt, 99% of all Slaking could be considered extreme couch potatoes, and the remaining 1% were just slightly less lazy.
Its inherent laziness was the real obstacle. Training a Pokémon like that to become strong would be a nightmare — the kind of challenge only a masochist would enjoy.
Still, Sato couldn't shake the thought: how could he raise a Slaking that had Protean but didn't suffer from laziness?
That was the question that had taken root in his mind the moment he saw Kecleon's data — and the foundation for a grand new training plan.