"What's going on?"
Ethan looked suspiciously at Cacturne.
Could it be that, after absorbing a massive amount of Water-type energy, its roots' ability to absorb water had naturally strengthened?
Ethan pondered uncertainly. In truth, he had never really understood why Cacturne's roots had the ability to absorb water.
Although he could force an explanation based on a cactus's structure, Ethan had always considered it more like a special ability that needed to be developed.
However, its development had never been ideal, and it had never shown any progress... but now, unexpectedly, it seemed to have reached a huge breakthrough.
"The ability to absorb water..."
"Wait... if I really have to link Cacturne to Water-type energy... then it can only be that, right?"
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Ethan's eyes opened slightly, though his expression still showed doubt.
He then looked at Cacturne, and after that at Slowking and Kingdra. It seemed he needed to perform a test.
"Slowking, battle Cacturne for a moment."
Hearing Ethan's order, Cacturne froze for an instant, but soon its expression lit up with excitement and eagerness to fight.
In reality, as the second Pokémon to join the team, it had always been the second strongest, but ever since Slowking joined, it had been pushed down to third place. That was why it had long wanted to challenge him.
And now that it felt something inside its body had changed, its expectations rose even higher.
Very soon, the two Pokémon found a clearing and took their positions. With Ethan's command, the battle began.
Slowking knew that its Psychic-type moves were ineffective against Cacturne, who was a Dark type, so it attacked directly with Water-type moves.
Cacturne used Ingrain. Several roots quickly sprouted from the ground, forming a defensive barrier.
But even so, its strength was still slightly inferior to Slowking's, and it was soon hit by Hydro Pump.
However, what happened next left Ethan and all the Pokémon completely stunned.
After being struck by Hydro Pump, Cacturne's body glowed with a faint blue light— and it completely absorbed the attack!
"So that's what it was... the Water Absorb ability!"
Seeing Cacturne absorb Hydro Pump, Ethan's eyes shone brightly.
Cacturne had two possible abilities: one was Sand Veil; the other, its Hidden Ability, Water Absorb.
The effect of Water Absorb was that, upon being hit by a Water-type move, it not only took no damage— it actually recovered HP!
And now that Cacturne had absorbed Hydro Pump, it was clear that this was the Water Absorb ability.
"But... Cacturne clearly had Sand Veil. Why did it become Water Absorb?"
Ethan's eyes filled with confusion. Then he frowned and said, "Sandslash, use Sandstorm."
Hearing him, Sandslash nodded, dug its claws into the ground, and whipped up a fierce sandstorm that spread rapidly.
Cacturne didn't defend at all. It knew that its Sand Veil ability fully protected it from sandstorm damage.
But the next second, it felt the sand grains strike its body— and it felt pain!
Cacturne was completely shocked. Its Sand Veil ability had disappeared. It was actually taking damage from the sandstorm. Slight damage, yes, but it clearly felt it!
"Sand Veil disappeared?"
"Or rather... Sand Veil transformed into Water Absorb!"
Seeing this, Ethan immediately reached a conclusion.
Then he fell into deep silence, recalling the official description of abilities.
Abilities, introduced in Generation 3, were special powers each Pokémon possessed that produced effects inside and outside of battle.
A Pokémon could have several possible abilities: a first ability, a second ability, and a hidden ability. But it could only have one at a time.
A Pokémon could change abilities upon evolving, but the type of ability (first, second, or hidden) did not change except in special cases.
Since Generation 6, there was an item called the Ability Capsule, which allowed switching between a Pokémon's first and second ability.
However, hidden abilities could not be obtained or changed using an Ability Capsule.
Hidden abilities were introduced in Generation 5 as a new and special type of ability.
"So then... how exactly are hidden abilities produced?"
Ethan couldn't help but ask himself.
According to official information, hidden abilities simply "appeared," without a clear explanation of their origin.
But judging from what happened with Cacturne—its ability changing from Sand Veil to Water Absorb—it seemed that hidden abilities could indeed be activated later on.
Then... was it possible that...
Hidden abilities were, as the name implied, a special energy hidden within the Pokémon itself.
And under specific conditions, that hidden energy activated, changing the Pokémon's ability.
It was similar to Pokémon with regional forms, whose types could change in response to their environment.
Compared to that, activating a hidden ability wasn't too hard to believe.
"The hidden ability is a hidden power within a Pokémon. And some Pokémon that manage to activate it can pass it down to their offspring, giving rise to the concept of hidden abilities."
Ethan's eyes gradually brightened as he formed his theory.
After all, the Ability Capsule existed, which already proved that characteristics could be changed. So accepting this change in Cacturne wasn't difficult.
In a way, what had happened to it was almost as if... it had taken an Ability Capsule!
(End of chapter)