[CONGRATULATIONS TRAINER ON COMPLETING GYM BOSS CHALLENGE 2/5!]
[THIS CHALLENGE IS AN OFFICIAL GYM BATTLE; VICTORY GRANTS A MINOR EXPERIENCE BONUS...]
...
[THE RIGHT EYE HAS ABSORBED THE EXPERIENCE]
[RIGHT EYE EXPERIENCE POINTS +10,000]
[ITEM OBTAINED: EVOLUTION STONE]
With these points combined, it was enough to raise Heart to level 30.
In Motomu's plan, once Heart reached level 30, its leveling could be halted.
After all, it cost 3,000 experience points per level now, and Big Eyeball needed to level up as well; the experience was clearly insufficient.
Once Heart reached level 30 and gained its third passive...
All experience would be funneled into Big Eyeball, pushing it to level 40 since it already had a solid foundation.
With a single thought...
Motomu allocated over 2,000 experience points, instantly boosting Heart to level 30.
[POKEMON: HEART]
[LEVEL: 30]
[TYPE: FIRE/FIGHTING]
[CURRENT EXP: 0/3000]
[STATS: HP: 120 | ATK: 20 | DEF: 120 | SP. ATK: 44 | SP. DEF: 38 | SPD: 5]
[IVS: 4/31]
[EVS: 0/100]
[NATURE: JOLLY]
[MOVES: MINIMIZE, ARM THRUST, FLAME CHARGE, LAVA PLUME]
[PASSIVE MOVES: ENLARGE AND HARDEN, PACIFISM]
[DESCRIPTION: EFFORT IS FUTILE BEFORE A PROVIDER]
Five active move options popped up one by one.
After a quick glance...
After Motomu replaced Lava Plume with Bulk Up, the move set finally looked exactly how he wanted.
Heart had fully transitioned into a support form, making its vital points indestructible while still maintaining overall combat utility.
"Check level 30 passive moves."
[DING]
[HEART HAS LEVELED UP. IT SEEMS TO HAVE GAINED A NEW INSIGHT]
[FIRE ELEMENT MESSENGER: FIRE ELEMENTALIZATION; ABSORB FLAME ENERGY TO GAIN EXPERIENCE]
[EVERLASTING FLAMES: THE POKEMON'S FIRE CANNOT BE EXTINGUISHED UNTIL STAMINA IS DEPLETED]
[FAIR PLAY: DAMAGE RECEIVED WILL BE SHARED EQUALLY WITH THE OPPONENT]
[REBELLION: THE POKEMON FLEES THE TRAINER TO TRAIN ON ITS OWN]
He read through them carefully.
Motomu's gaze lingered on the final option, Rebellion, for a long time in silence.
Had Heart, who had been pampered until now, finally decided to rebel?
Training itself without him having to worry seemed somewhat impressive on the surface.
However, all its combat Chakra came from him. If it rebelled now, that would be a nightmare.
Unlike Big Eyeball, Motomu couldn't see what Heart saw in real-time.
Heart had no field of vision.
If he were in the middle of a battle and Heart suddenly decided it wanted to fight its own battle...
His Chakra would be drained instantly.
At that point, his world would effectively come crashing down.
Besides, how was Heart, which had already transitioned into a support type, supposed to fight anyone?
He moved his eyes up to the third passive move.
Fair Play.
Damage received would be shared equally with the opponent.
Heart, with its maxed-out defense and Pacifism reducing damage by 90%...
Even if Heart were injured, the reflected damage from Fair Play would be negligible.
He wondered if emotional damage counted as damage.
Motomu moved on to the next move description.
Everlasting Flames.
The Pokémon's fire cannot be extinguished until stamina is depleted.
'What a pity,' Motomu sighed inwardly.
If this fire passive had appeared earlier, he wouldn't have made Heart a support.
The phrase 'cannot be extinguished' was on par with Amaterasu.
Ignoring the stamina limit, with this passive, every one of his basic fire attacks would essentially be Amaterasu.
In large-scale fire techniques, as long as a single spark ignited the enemy, he could simply wait for them to burn to death.
Much like how Hidan could kill anyone once he got a drop of blood, Everlasting Flames was a god-tier skill for kiting and auxiliary combat.
Unfortunately, he had already chosen Pacifism, which locked Heart's attack power at 10%.
Amaterasu was strong partly because of its extreme temperature.
But current Heart... forget grilling meat, it would struggle even to boil water.
With damage plummeted, the situation would be disastrous upon encountering a strong enemy.
If a fire attack landed, the opponent might just find it warm and comfortable.
Or the opponent might lose a layer of skin, and the flame would just fall to the ground.
Even if it hit a vital spot, who knew how much Chakra it would drain to actually burn them to death?
He might run out of Chakra while the opponent was still alive and kicking.
Motomu scrolled through the system notification list.
His eyes flickered to the very top.
It was a golden option glowing with light.
Its glazed radiance was more blinding than the sun Motomu had faced while backstroking earlier.
Looking closely, the description for Fire Element Messenger was only two short lines.
Fire Elementalization.
Absorb fire to gain experience.
'Fire Elementalization... does this mean physical attacks and fire techniques can no longer harm the Pokémon?'
He wasn't sure if water attacks would deal extra damage or what other effects there might be.
Of course, none of that was the main point.
The most important part was the 'absorb fire to gain experience' bit.
From the moment the awakening system appeared until today...
Motomu's Pokémon had encountered exactly 24 passive moves.
This was the only move that allowed for experience gain through means other than combat.
And it was as simple and crude as gaining it from fire.
Just a moment ago, he was thinking about cutting off Heart's experience supply and stopping its growth entirely.
To think that when faced with a dead end, the Pokémon would find its own path forward.
Big Eyeball fought through life-and-death struggles, painstakingly saving up experience just to gain a single level.
Meanwhile, Heart, which was about to live a pathetic life after its funding was cut, could now level up continuously just by lying in a fire.
If Big Eyeball found out about this, it would probably dock 100 EV points on the spot in a fit of rage!
This move had to be chosen while sitting up.
He needed to be solemn and serious. If the system sensed he liked this kind of option, maybe it would offer more.
Checking that no one was around the river...
Motomu, having finished washing off Big Eyeball's slime, went ashore, put on his clothes, and hurried into the woods.
Within the dark forest under the setting sun, a breeze carrying the fragrance of soil and grass blew through, drying the water droplets on the tips of Motomu's hair.
The listless chirping of small animals reached his ears.
"Blegh!"
The serene atmosphere was shattered by the sound of Motomu retching.
A pulsing heart was yanked out of his mouth.
Motomu mentally confirmed the selection for Fire Element Messenger.
The heart in his hand suddenly transformed into an orange-yellow flame, illuminating the forest.
Motomu gave it a squeeze; his fingers sank right in.
The texture of the elementalized Heart felt like a warm slime squeeze toy.
It was warm and felt quite nice to the touch.
Circulating his cultivation technique, fire ignited in his palm, enveloping the Heart.
Holding the posture, he waited for several minutes.
[DING]
[YOUR POKEMON HAS GAINED EXPERIENCE]
Motomu frowned. 'This slow?'
Five minutes and not even a single point of experience was added?
Or was the rate of experience gain related to the temperature of his flames?
But the current temperature was already as high as his Great Fireball Technique.
If he wanted higher temperatures, he could only find them at a blacksmith's shop.
Motomu wasn't in a hurry; he could take his time.
He also wanted to test another effect of elementalization.
He deactivated the elementalization.
Motomu drew a kunai and stabbed it into the heart in his hand with all his might.
He unleashed his full strength.
*Thwack!*
A force capable of shattering a three-meter-tall rock with a single punch was concentrated at the tip of the kunai, barely managing to pierce the surface of the heart.
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