Akala Island, Wela Volcano Park, inside the volcano.
Bai Chen watched as Basarios dove into the lava…
and then slowly crawled back out, steaming all over.
The adult form of Basarios—Gravios—was known as "the bulwark of volcanoes."
A Gravios could enter molten rock with nothing but its body.
Their strength was directly linked to their internal heat.
And above the normal Gravios existed an even stronger subspecies: Black Gravios—
identical in appearance except for being pitch-black.
But their heat output and danger level were several times greater.
│ "Gravios' power scales with internal temperature.
The hotter their core, the stronger their Heat Beam becomes."
Basarios dragged himself to shore, clearly exhausted.
Bai Chen checked the time—
Basarios had stayed submerged for two full hours.
Considering Basarios' heat resistance was lower than that of a Gravios',
lasting this long was already an impressive feat.
│ "Rest for five minutes.
Then go back in.
After that, drink some magma with Ultra-Devour."
The training order delivered, Bai Chen let him rest.
When Bai Chen first caught him, Basarios was only level 36.
After weeks of nonstop training and battles, he had reached level 40.
A massive leap for a monster who once didn't even have a single master-tier skill.
But evolving into Gravios required hitting level 50—
And adulthood came with its own threshold.
│ "Monster growth is tied to levels.
The stronger the species, the higher the natural level cap."
For example:
Nergigante needed to reach level 60 to be a proper adult.
Basarios needed level 50.
After adulthood, levels no longer came free—
Only battles increased them.
Above level 50…
No monster was easy prey.
Leaving the Volcano
Bai Chen walked through narrow, heated passages,
and exited at the mountain's base.
Lillie was there, playing with Little Cosmog and her newly hatched Diablos—
now named "A-Meng."
When she noticed Bai Chen approaching, she stood up.
│ "Mr. Bai, how is Basarios?"
│ "Still training.
How long until Olivia's trial?"
│ "Tomorrow morning at nine."
Bai Chen checked the date.
He had been back for 27 days.
Of those, 19 full days were spent traveling across Alola,
collecting Z-Crystals one by one.
He now had 17 Z-Crystals.
Only Rockium Z remained.
│ "Once I get Rock Z, I need to prepare to return…"
Back in the Monster Hunter world,
the Investigation Corps had nearly located Zorah Magdaros.
When he returned, he would face a true super-elder.
Whatever rewards awaited would depend on strength.
Lillie also knew his departure was close—
But compared to the first time he left,
her heart was calmer.
Searching for Nergigante
│ "Where's Nergigante?" Bai Chen asked, looking around.
│ "I saw her playing toward the park earlier."
│ "The park? I'll go look."
It didn't take long.
He found Nergigante perched atop a lamp post,
staring down at a group of Pokémon.
They were white-and-brown,
two-legged dog-like Pokémon with long tails ending in paintbrush tips.
│ "Smeargle?
Why is she staring down a pack of Smeargle?"
Before Bai Chen could think further—
Nergigante leapt off the lamppost.
She shot straight into the middle of the Smeargle group.
One Smeargle—clearly the strongest—stepped forward,
its arm suddenly swelling,
muscles bulging to three or four times its size.
It swung a punch right at her.
Nergigante answered with a full-power Nergi Smash.
A dull bang—
Smeargle was sent flying like a rag doll.
Bai Chen froze.
│ "That… that was Nergi Smash!?"
│ "How can a Smeargle use Nergi Smash?"
Then it hit him.
│ "Sketch."
The god-tier move is unique to Smeargle.
Sketch could permanently copy any active skill.
If a Smeargle ever witnessed Groudon's Precipice Blades,
It could keep it forever.
Smeargle could not be stopped by type, race, species, or impossibility.
And Bai Chen?
His golden finger meant he could take Smeargle's Sketch
and give it to anyone he wanted.
Suddenly, everything made sense.
Nergigante wasn't attacking them randomly—
She saw they had copied her skill
and wanted Bai Chen to acquire it.
For days, she'd watched him struggle
to find ways to help her control her power.
She simply… took initiative.
Diplomacy, Not War
│ "Nergigante, stop."
She fluttered back onto his shoulder, giving a small growl—
│ "Awoo~"
("Hurry, copy it.")
Bai Chen whispered back:
│ "Manners first, punching later.
We don't bully people unprovoked."
He took out a pile of Sitrus Berries—
leftovers from what Lusamine had gifted him earlier.
Using psychic power, he placed them before the Smeargle.
│ "Sorry—my partner gets curious.
She wasn't trying to bully you."
│ "Awoo."
Nergigante bowed her head.
The Smeargle, kind-hearted by nature,
quickly forgave her—
especially with snacks to ease their hearts.
Bai Chen sat down among them,
instantly blending into the scene.
Should He Capture One?
He watched the pack eat happily.
Part of him considered capturing one.
Smeargle could learn all four terrain-changing moves—
Misty Terrain, Grassy Terrain, Electric Terrain, Psychic Terrain.
He had planned to find a Ditto for this originally.
But Smeargle was clearly better.
Except…
│ "Their base stats are way too low."
With only 250 base stat total—
Even Little Cosmog, the team mascot, had 200.
The potential gap was enormous.
Even with god-tier skills, they didn't evolve,
and their stats limited their combat role.
His system couldn't change base stats—
Only add skills.
(Zinogre) had a path to 600–630 BST(Base stats).
(Basarios → Gravios) would hit 600+.
Both could rival true legendaries with the right skills.
But Smeargle?
Even if he gave them Legend Proof,
They'd still be weak.
And powerful skills needed high mastery—
too expensive to invest.
│ "If I only need Sketch…
I can just copy it.
No need to recruit one."
And so he waited.
After they finished eating,
He approached a Smeargle who still had a Sketch use remaining
and politely asked for a battle.
Smeargle, full of berries, agreed instantly.
One gentle beatdown later,
Bai Chen copied the skill.
[Skill Acquired:Sketch（Rare ★★★★★★★★）]
Yes—
Sketch was a rarity 8.
on par with legendary-exclusive moves.
│ "The low BST was their punishment for having a god-skill, huh…"
Excited, he opened the ability description.
Then calmed down.
Sketch — Strengths & Limitations
Yes, Sketch was powerful.
But it had rules.
① Sketch only copies active skills, not passive ones.
He could copy Basarios' Super Flame Cannon,
but not Nergigante's Super Incarnation of Power.
② Everyone except Smeargle can only use Sketch once.
Meaning each partner only gets one chance
to learn an impossible move.
③ It cannot copy skills above rarity 8.
So no copying mythical-tier actives.
│ "Still…
It fills the system's biggest weakness."
The system prevented learning impossible skills.
Sketch bypassed that restriction.
He immediately bestowed Sketch on Nergigante.
Excitement filled him—
│ "I thought I'd have to abandon the idea of your Primal reversion Form…
But now the possibility is back."
│ "Awoo?"
Nergigante tilted her head.
│ "You found a way to control my power output?"
│ "Before? No.
But with Sketch?
Yes."
He scooped her up, ecstatic,
and left all remaining berries to the Smeargle as thanks.
He returned briefly to the volcano
to let Lillie watch over the others—
Then he and Nergigante left for a full day.
That Night — Back at the Hotel
Lillie noticed Bai Chen's unusually good mood.
│ "Mr. Bai, did something wonderful happen? You look so happy."
│ "I finally found a way for Nergigante to control her energy output."
│ "Really!?"
Lillie's eyes widened.
She knew how much stress this issue had caused him.
│ "Really. Where's Zinogre?"
│ "Resting in the room."
Bai Chen ran immediately.
He dragged the minimized Zinogre to the hotel's Pokémon battle arena.
Both Nergigante and Zinogre returned to full size.
│ "Zinogre! Enter Supercharged Mode!"
Heaven's thunder crashed down,
And Zinogre's body crackled with lightning.
He stood cautiously—
feeling an even heavier pressure from Nergigante
than before she left.
Bai Chen positioned himself behind her.
The problem had always been—
Nergigante couldn't control the tier of her power release.
She jumped straight into berserk output.
But now?
There was a move perfectly suited
to regulate output levels.
Bai Chen inhaled deeply—
And commanded:
│ "Nergigante!
Use Shift Gear—
Enter First Gear!"
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