Red felt like he was about to faint from happiness.
Among all Pseudo-Legendaries, his favorite had always been Larvitar.
Its overwhelming power, and a move pool so vast it made other Pseudo-Legendaries jealous—
(especially a certain Dragon-type Pseudo-Legendary that can't learn Dragon Dance)
Top-tier physical attack, an incredibly wide special attack coverage—even if you took a step back, it could still set up Stealth Rock and use Pursuit to annoy opponents endlessly.
With just these tools alone, even with a quadruple weakness and multiple double weaknesses, it still stood as one of the most popular Pseudo-Legendaries.
And if Tyranitar's Mega Evolution were discovered in the future, it might not even need that "one of."
On top of that, the Larvitar line's Sand Stream ability made Tyranitar the undisputed core of any sandstorm team.
"Wait… something seems off about Larvitar's ability…"
As Red calmed down, he suddenly noticed a small issue.
"Why does Larvitar have Sand Veil? Shouldn't it be Guts?"
Just as he was puzzled—
The little Larvitar patted its belly and suddenly burst into tears.
Seeing this, the group of burly Pokémon around it froze, completely at a loss.
Tyranitar thought for a moment, then somehow pulled out a chunk of iron ore larger than Larvitar itself and placed it in front of it—its personal snack.
Larvitar sniffed it, eyes lighting up, and immediately took a bite.
Crack!
A tiny tooth mark appeared on the iron ore—
Meanwhile, Larvitar's mouth turned Red and swollen.
Clearly, Tyranitar's snack was far too hard for a newborn.
Mudkip and Castform hurriedly offered their own snacks.
Mudkip placed a patch of turf rich in Water- and Ground-type energy in front of Larvitar.
Castform offered a small piece of cloud it had been saving, filled with Ice-type energy.
Looking at these "foods," Larvitar cried even harder.
Seeing this, Red sighed helplessly.
"I know you mean well… but maybe don't act on it just yet."
"Put your snacks away. Leave the babysitting to me."
He gently extended a finger toward Larvitar.
A warm green energy flowed into its body.
The comforting sensation immediately stopped its crying.
Red wiped away its tears.
"Hungry, huh? Try this."
He took a fragment of the eggshell from the incubator.
Larvitar sniffed it cautiously—then its teary face instantly lit up.
It grabbed the shell fragment and devoured it happily.
After eating all the eggshell pieces, Larvitar patted its belly with satisfaction.
Full and content, the newborn quickly grew tired. It closed its eyes and fell asleep, hugging Red's arm.
Thankfully, Red had trained his body since childhood, and with the boost from Viridian Power, holding a Larvitar weighing dozens of pounds wasn't an issue.
(Fun fact: Cosmog weighs 999.9 kg)
Looking at the sleeping Larvitar, Red finally relaxed.
Now that it was settled, he could finally examine the issue with its ability.
As everyone knew, a Pokémon normally had only one ability.
Larvitar's standard ability should be Guts.
But this Shiny Larvitar had its Hidden Ability—Sand Veil.
For most Pokémon, having a Hidden Ability was a good thing.
But for Larvitar, it was the opposite.
Because Tyranitar's Hidden Ability wasn't Sand Stream—
It was Unnerve, which was almost useless in comparison.
A Tyranitar without Sand Stream—could it still be the Desert Tyrant?
Just imagining it gave Red a headache.
So he immediately called out to the system.
"System, don't you think you owe me an explanation for this?"
[...]
After a full minute of silence, the system responded:
[Due to system oversight, two solutions are provided.]
[Option 1: Grant the host an Ability Swap Potion to restore Larvitar's original ability.]
[Option 2: As a Shiny Pokémon, Larvitar has the potential for dual abilities. If the host raises its IVs to Perfect, the system can grant it dual abilities.]
[The second ability will be Sand Veil.]
Red didn't hesitate for even a second.
"I choose Option 2."
Anyone with a brain would make the same choice.
Looking at Larvitar in his arms, Red knew exactly where to use the Evolution Potion.
Without hesitation, he took out the syringe.
[Evolution Potion: Randomly increases a Pokémon's IVs by 3–5 points]
He silently prayed:
"Five points… please be five!"
As he injected the potion into Larvitar—
A system notification sounded.
[Ding~ Injection complete. Larvitar IVs +4]
[Talent: Top (Atk: 30, Sp. Atk: 30, Def: 28, Sp. Def: 30, Speed: 26, HP: 28) Total: 172]
Its Defense and Special Defense each increased by 2 points.
The khaki armor on Larvitar's body visibly hardened, its durability clearly improving.
————————————
Meanwhile, in Pallet Town—
Professor Oak was enthusiastically examining a Jynx.
"Ring ring ring~~~"
The sudden phone call made him frown.
"Honestly, don't people know not to call when I'm doing research?"
He wiped his hands and picked up the phone.
"This is Oak Laboratory, how may I—"
Before he could finish, a trembling voice came through.
It was the bodyguard assigned to Gary.
"Professor! Something terrible has happened! Young Master Gary… he…!"
"Gary caused trouble again?" Oak sounded tired.
"No, Professor! Young Master Gary has taken a master! He's become a disciple of a Gym Leader!"
Professor Oak felt his vision go dark.
"WHO?! Who dares to steal from me, Oak Yukinari?!"
"It's… the Gym Leader of Songzao Gym. Red."