Pokémon: Dratini ★
Gender: Female
Type: Dragon
Ability: Marvel Scale (When afflicted with a status condition, Defense is increased to 1.5 times its normal value.)
Potential: Red
Base Moves: Wrap, Leer
Egg Moves: Extreme Speed, Dragon Dance, Dragon Breath, Dragon Rush
Auron's mental state collapsed. At first glance—shocking! A Shiny pseudo-legendary. It wasn't Beldum, but still—a Shiny pseudo-legendary! Who needed anything else?
After thinking it over for a moment, his mental state exploded.
What the actual—a Shiny Dratini? That means its final evolution would be a green Dragonite?
Auron slumped to the ground without any regard for his image. The people around him cast curious glances his way.
"Green! What the hell!"
Auron looked at Dratini's information again, on the verge of tears.
"If only you didn't have that star, that would be so much better. This... sigh..."
"What's wrong with you?"
Jace and Fugui leaned in together, looking at Auron sitting on the ground.
Auron gazed at Jace with melancholy eyes.
"Dratini. Do you like it?"
Both of them shuddered simultaneously. "Like it? How could we not like it?"
"What if it's also Shiny?"
"Holy crap!"
Both of them immediately crouched down beside Auron. After looking around cautiously, Fugui spoke.
"Wouldn't that be even better? What are you waiting for?"
"Exactly, exactly!"
Auron's eyes grew even more melancholic. He clutched his head in defeat.
"A green Dragonite..."
"Uh..."
Both of them fell silent at the same time. Indeed, among Shiny pseudo-legendaries, the one everyone probably wanted least was Shiny Dragonite.
After all, the appeal of Shinies was that unique, distinctive coolness. But Shiny Dragonite?
"Huh? Are you saying there's a Shiny Dratini in here?"
Auron looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "Yeah."
Jace was skeptical. "How do you know? Which one is it?"
Auron turned to look at Jace as if he were an idiot.
"Did you forget about my Aura ability?"
"Uh, right. So which one is it?"
Jace asked Auron with a sneaky expression.
But Auron had grown up with Jace—how could he not know what he was thinking?
"Hehe, don't even think about it. Even if it's a green Dragonite, I'm keeping it. Its color isn't great whether it's Shiny or not anyway."
Auron chuckled mischievously.
"Besides, worst case scenario, I just don't evolve it. A pink Dratini and a pink Dragonair—aren't they adorable?"
Jace spread his hands helplessly.
"Fine. I was hoping if you didn't want it, I'd take it. Tsk, tsk. A pseudo-legendary... I still don't have one."
Auron mimicked Jace's gesture and spread his hands as well.
"A pseudo-legendary? I don't have one either."
Auron gave Jace a little hip wiggle with a grin, then stood up and cradled the Dratini egg in his arms.
Hmm, I didn't find a Shiny Beldum egg, but a Shiny Dratini isn't bad either. Truly fragrant.
Auron held the egg and thought happily to himself.
There's still plenty of time. Let's keep looking—maybe I'll still run into a Shiny Beldum egg.
Cradling the egg, Auron continued forward, browsing through various Pokémon Egg information.
Pokémon: Mankey
...
Pokémon: Wurmple
...
Pokémon: Wooloo
...
Humming a tune, examining eggs, walking onward.
"Oh? This one's pretty good."
Pokémon: Abra
Gender: Male
Type: Psychic
Ability: Magic Guard (In battle, the Pokémon takes no damage from weather, items, Abilities, status conditions, stat changes, or recoil from moves other than Struggle.
Non-damage effects still apply: for example, the Attack reduction from burn, the turn counter increase from Toxic, and the power boost from Life Orb.)
Potential: Red
Base Moves: Teleport
Egg Moves: Confusion, Skill Swap, Psychic Terrain, Ice Punch
Actually, Auron had spotted another Abra egg earlier, but that one had the Inner Focus Ability—not ideal for a Sandstorm team.
"Come here, come here, Fugui. This one's your Pokémon. An Abra egg—a coverage attacker for your Sandstorm team."
Auron held his own egg and stepped back, turning to the side and gesturing for Fugui to pick up the egg in front of him.
"An Abra?"
Fugui was delighted. He asked while picking up the egg.
"Tsk, tsk. Who would've thought I'd be the first to get a Pokémon for my team composition?"
As he spoke, he raised an eyebrow at Jace beside him.
Neither of them was the type with social anxiety. On the contrary, Fugui even had a bit of social butterfly syndrome, so the two of them had quickly become familiar with each other.
"Pfft, what's the big deal? I have options too—I just didn't pick one earlier."
Jace tossed his head dismissively, speaking with pride.
"Hehe. Hehehe."
The only response was Fugui hugging his egg and giggling like an idiot.
Come to think of it, Fugui's situation was rather peculiar. Unlike Jace, who had been following Auron's plans since childhood—meaning Auron had always been the one strategizing his Sun team—Fugui was different.
Fugui wasn't Auron's childhood friend, nor was he particularly familiar with Auron. He'd only become a disciple because his brother told him to.
Then, after listening to Auron talk for a bit, he'd completely bought into Auron's team-building philosophy. Who knew where he got that confidence from.
"Alright, alright. There's still plenty of time. Oh, by the way—did you two bring your Pokémon?"
Auron patted Jace on the shoulder, signaling that it was still early and they had plenty of time to look at eggs.
Then a sudden thought struck him. He wanted to see how his disciple's battle capabilities stacked up. Even though Fugui had gotten into Shangjing University, Auron had never actually watched him in an exam battle.
"I'm not in a rush. Why are you asking if we brought Pokémon?"
Jace asked with some confusion, also growing wary. He didn't want to battle Auron right now.
As everyone knew, a themed team's combat power was at its peak only after it was fully assembled. Unlike Auron, whose team had no particular theme.
What's more, Jace knew his own combat ability was genuinely inferior to Auron's. So he'd already decided—if Auron wanted to battle him, he'd just say he didn't bring any Pokémon. Before his themed team was complete, he would definitely avoid fighting Auron.
"Master, I brought mine. What's up?"
Auron smiled and addressed Fugui.
"Nothing much. I'm just not very familiar with your abilities, and all my Pokémon are at home. So I was thinking of having you battle Jace while I observe."
Then he turned back to Jace. "So, did you bring yours?"
Hearing that it wasn't a battle against Auron, Jace immediately replied with a grin.
"Yep, brought them!"
He then shot Fugui a devious, smiling glance.
"Alright, let's finish picking eggs first. Then you two can have a battle so I can take a look."
"Sure thing!"
"Yes, Master!"
Fugui was also excited. He'd seen other people's masters battle their disciples to test their combat abilities and battle awareness.
But Auron had never challenged him to a fight, which had made him wonder—had he failed to earn his master's approval?
Unexpectedly, today Auron had granted his wish. And instead of fighting him personally, Auron had chosen an opponent who didn't look particularly strong.
I have to perform well and make Master see me in a new light.
Fugui thought to himself, also shooting a devious smile at Jace's back.