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Chapter 81: Mega Sceptile! King of the Forest!
🕑 Added 2025-08-23 21:37:22 +0000 UTCBOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!
Like a falling green star being ignited, a pure emerald light pillar containing endless vitality shot skyward, instantly swallowing Sceptile's slender form completely!
The light wasn't violent, but carried an incomparably sharp penetrating force, as if even the air was being sliced apart!
Within the light pillar, Sceptile's elegant silhouette stretched and sharpened at high speed, with the subtle "clang clang" sound of leaves rapidly growing and hardening into blades.
When this emerald radiance receded like a tide... Sceptile's appearance had undergone a complete transformation!
Its form became even more tall and lean, with lines flowing smooth as a blade's edge. The emerald leaves that originally covered its entire body had evolved into a more aggressive form, the sharp blades behind its arms gleaming with dark green coldness, while the thorn armor covering its body became wild and unrestrained, growing more razor-sharp protrusions...
Most striking was its massively enlarged tail—no longer an organ for balance, but a heavy, giant battle-axe covered in serrated leaf blades, dragging along the ground and radiating heavy pressure!
Not only that, the yellow circular structures on Sceptile's back became brighter, like cores embedded within, constantly absorbing surrounding light and circulating pale golden energy patterns around its body.
As if... this was Sceptile's true form—a real king of the jungle!
Amid this rising wild presence, a line of text shimmering with rainbow light appeared once more on screen.
[Sceptile evolved into Mega Sceptile!!]
The moment the colorful light faded, Mega Sceptile suddenly opened its eyes, slightly raising its head. Its golden pupils were sharp as a hawk's, contracted into thin slits, filled with the cold indifference and focus of a bloodthirsty hunter.
Just standing there... its entire body radiated an aura countless times more dangerous than Kangaskhan's earlier roar!
And immediately after...
Sceptile lightly raised one claw.
BOOM!!!
Violent air currents accompanied by deep green light suddenly burst forth from the leaves extending from its body, as if an entire forest was awakening and growing at its call!
The golden seeds on Mega Sceptile's back flashed violently, and all the air on the battlefield began swirling around it. Countless leaves condensed from the void, each sharp as a knife, brilliant as the finest jade!
This scene made Cynthia suddenly stare wide-eyed.
Her Champion's experience told her this wasn't Energy Ball at all!
But—Leaf Storm!!
This was among all Grass-type moves, one of the highest tier, extremely powerful techniques!
Moreover, this didn't seem like an ordinary Leaf Storm—the number of leaves now appearing around Mega Sceptile almost obscured her entire screen, forming a rolling green ocean...
The instant this ocean took shape, Sceptile's gaze sharpened and its claw transformed from ethereal to solid, suddenly clenching tight!
BOOM!!!!
The leaf tide instantly engulfed the opposing Mega Kangaskhan, like a brown pebble thrown into the ocean, gone in an instant—you couldn't even hear its roar...
Leaf Storm's tornado shot straight to the ceiling, refracting the overhead lights into mesmerizing green starfall.
All the audience could see was this emerald tempest, and at its center, that proudly standing green figure...
Within this storm, Kangaskhan's remaining half HP bar was completely emptied and vanished.
It let out an unwilling roar as rainbow light scattered from its body, returning it to its pre-evolution form. It fell to one knee, directly losing its ability to battle...
And Mega Sceptile's silhouette stood amid the falling leaves, spine straight, proudly receiving the light of victory shining upon its body, making its entire green armor gleam...
At this moment, Cynthia held her breath.
The livestream fell completely silent.
Everyone was immersed in the scene they'd just witnessed, unable to extricate themselves.
Until the game notification popped up with cheerful sound.
[Kangaskhan fainted!]
[Norman has no more Pokémon able to battle!]
[Strawberry Ice Cream won the battle!]
...
Only then did the livestream viewers wake as if from a dream.
There was no helping it—what they'd just seen was simply too overwhelming.
Unlike the shock brought by those legendary beasts they'd seen before, legendary Pokémon were after all mythical beings too distant from each individual.
Even seeing them in-game, besides shock and awe at these beasts' powerful strength, there weren't any other emotions.
But everything about Sceptile was far too close to them.
You have to understand—this Sceptile was one they'd personally watched Cynthia raise from a starter Pokémon to reach today.
Throughout the entire journey, Sceptile had been the least favored member of the team, yet at this final crucial moment, it burst forth with such incredible power!
Such a powerful contrast and impact naturally struck everyone's hearts.
When they came back to their senses, tsunami-like chat messages naturally erupted wildly across the screen!
[LazyWriterZ: Apologize! Who just said my Sceptile bro was weak? Who said it? Damn, apologize to King Sceptile!]
[PhainonsNewmom: Holy crap, I thought that Kangaskhan's evolution was already cool, but THIS is what you call cool! That Leaf Storm effect... my god, it's even more exaggerated than the Leaf Storm effects I've seen in Champion matches.]
[SpicyLemonade: I hereby solemnly declare that I have never disparaged Sceptile in this livestream or in life, never participated in any inappropriate comments about Sceptile. I have always been a loyal Sceptile fan. Please take note.]
[imamartlol: So what exactly is this Mega Evolution? It can actually make Pokémon evolve into completely new forms and unleash this kind of battle power??]
...
Amid this tsunami of chat, the game had returned to the Gym room interface.
Norman stepped forward to Cynthia's character, smiling as he spoke.
"Child, though I've said it many times, I must say it once more—I'm truly proud of you from the bottom of my heart."
"The bond between you and your Pokémon actually transcended the limitations of Mega Evolution. This is truly incredible... even I can't accomplish this. No, I've never heard of anyone who could accomplish this."
As Norman spoke, the rainbow light around Mega Sceptile suddenly scattered and disappeared like Kangaskhan's earlier, turning into light particles dispersing in the air, while Sceptile returned to its original form.
Only then did Cynthia snap back from her earlier shock and pressed the interaction key toward Norman.
"So what exactly was that evolution just now?"
She was really quite eager to get an answer to this question.
Norman glanced at Cynthia's character and pulled out from his chest the diamond-shaped crystal he'd displayed during battle. A close-up image of this crystal appeared on the game screen.
He began explaining:
"Mega Evolution is an incredible phenomenon that transcends Pokémon's normal evolution, allowing Pokémon to evolve into completely new forms while gaining tremendously powerful strength..."
"To make Pokémon complete Mega Evolution in battle requires them to wear their species' corresponding Mega Stone, while the trainer must possess a Key Stone. Under these conditions, the trainer and Pokémon must be completely in sync mentally before they can complete this evolution in battle and unleash these two items' power."
Speaking to this point, Norman's tone carried amazement: "And you, child, accomplished this miracle without a Key Stone. This is the first time I've seen such a thing—before this I'd never heard of anyone who could make their Pokémon complete Mega Evolution without relying on a Key Stone..."
"Perhaps it can only mean one thing—that the bond between you and your Pokémon has become unbreakably strong. It was this bond that activated Sceptile's hidden power!"
Hearing this, Cynthia couldn't help but pause slightly, turning to look at Sceptile on screen, feeling some special emotion flowing in her heart...
The power of... bonds?
For many people, this term might be quite abstract, even somewhat impossible to directly understand.
But she knew what was most important between trainers and Pokémon.
Whether trust or encouragement.
Fighting together, working hard together...
Everything could actually be encompassed by this term.
—"Bonds"!
As her emotions surged, she saw Norman before her speak again.
"But child, I must remind you—to fully unleash Mega Evolution's power and make it a stable battle technique, you need a Key Stone to create a more stable and solid connection between you and your Pokémon."
"Only by possessing a Key Stone can you more easily master this special power..."
He held up the Key Stone in his hand and shook it, looking somewhat regretful.
"This type of stone is quite rare, and once someone uses it, it binds with the trainer and can't change owners again. Otherwise I'd really want to give you the Key Stone directly, my child."
"But don't worry, I've already asked someone to help you search for a suitable Key Stone."
"His name is Steven, and he's also our Hoenn region's Champion. You've definitely heard of him, right?"
Cynthia couldn't help but pause. Heard of him? More than that!
Her character in-game had already met him, and in the real world she and Steven were old acquaintances.
But she didn't think the real-world Steven could produce something like a Key Stone.
At this moment, Cynthia had calmed down somewhat from the shock brought by the game's earlier performance.
The idea of Pokémon evolving again was simply too incredible and incomprehensible.
Right now, she couldn't help but deeply doubt the reality of this evolutionary display. This type of evolution probably didn't truly exist in the real world, right?
Perhaps this was like those Rare Candies and those strange medicines—fantasy unique to this game?
After this battle, Cynthia had figured out something important.
While previous settings like weather, terrain, and abilities were real, that didn't mean everything in this game would follow reality...
After all, at its core this was a game, and games' biggest feature was being filled with all sorts of things that didn't exist in the real world, right?
That said, Cynthia still felt somewhat shocked at this moment.
Because this game's author not only had incredibly rich knowledge of real-world Pokémon, but even their creativity and imagination in fantasy aspects were exaggerated beyond belief... quite admirable.
But speaking of this, Cynthia had to start thinking about another problem.
But if everything in this game wasn't necessarily real...
Then could she still trust all the information about Team Aqua and Team Magma, and even Ultra Wormholes?
At this moment, Cynthia fell into deep thought.
...
After Norman finished sharing information about Mega Evolution, he followed normal procedure and gave Cynthia the Petalburg Gym Badge.
With this, Cynthia had completed collecting more than half of the eight badges. As long as she could obtain the remaining three badges, she could challenge this game's ultimate goal—the Pokémon League.
Besides this badge, Cynthia's team level cap had also directly increased to as high as level 50. According to Cynthia's guess, this level should be sufficient to let most late-blooming pseudo-legendary Pokémon complete evolution—also good news.
Beyond this, Norman gave two other things. One was a TM for the move "Giga Impact." This move's power was clearly demonstrated in the recent battle, and for Normal-type Pokémon especially, learning this move would be like adding wings to a tiger. Under STAB boost, this would become an incredibly terrifying burst technique.
Though it had the negative effect of one turn of recharge, Norman had already proven one point in the recent battle—this negative effect wasn't unsolvable.
As long as the timing and method of use were appropriate... this side effect's problems could be completely avoided.
The other thing Norman gave was a clue to the HM "Surf."
Following Norman's description, Cynthia quickly left the Gym and found a small wooden house on the left side to enter. Inside sat the family of that youth "Wally" whose first Pokémon Cynthia had helped catch at the Petalburg Gym entrance.
As Cynthia entered the room, a bearded man stepped forward first.
"Hello, I'm Wally's father. You must be Norman's child—truly a young hero."
"Here, your father already spoke with me in advance. This is for you."
He handed a TM disc to Cynthia, and a notification appeared.
[Congratulations, you obtained HM "Surf"!]
Wally's father's explanation continued.
"After your Water-type Pokémon learn this move, they'll be able to carry you freely sailing across seas and rivers, letting you reach many previously inaccessible places and better explore this world."
"Besides that, this move can also deal good damage in battle. You'll have to try the specifics yourself."
"Oh, and my Wally is also preparing to challenge Norman's Gym. You might encounter each other eventually... That kid has always looked up to you as his idol. If you meet him someday and he challenges you, please go easy on him..."
Cynthia nodded at Wally's father through her character, thanked him, and left the room.
Regarding whether the Ultra Wormhole information clues from earlier were real, she'd already made up her mind.
Anyway, besides this game, there was no other way to obtain more information about Ultra Wormholes. She could only say it was better to believe it existed rather than not.
She just hoped that in this regard, the author hadn't relied on pure imagination.
...
Next, after brief consideration, Cynthia directly taught the HM "Surf" to Pelipper, replacing its "Water Pulse" move.
Originally Cynthia just wanted Pelipper to use this move to carry her across rivers and oceans.
But after learning it, she was surprised to discover from the move panel that this move actually had 90 power! Exceeding Water Pulse by a full third!
Not only that, this move was actually an AOE technique in double battles that could attack both opponent Pokémon simultaneously, with 100% accuracy.
If there was any drawback, it was that when used in double battles, this move would also damage your own other Pokémon.
But this drawback was obviously manageable. For example, Ludicolo with its Grass/Water typing—even taking a Surf from Pelipper probably wouldn't lose much HP.
But with Pelipper's Special Attack, using this move in rain weather could probably deal devastating damage to both opponent Pokémon directly.
In short, this move's potential battle effectiveness far exceeded Cynthia's expectations for an HM move...
At this moment, the chat also began discussing this new HM move.
[SlimNeez: Another godly technique! Looking at it this way, most HM moves really are useful in battle...]
[GetoWasRight: Right... except Cut and Rock Smash, those have too low power, purely for navigation...]
[s4intzer0: They can work for early game transition since you get them early.]
[WONDAWAE: Do you think there'll be other stronger HM moves later?]
Comments
Magus
thx
Dave
It’s should be Wally, not Brendan
Fire_Fox2590
And so the Christmas Tree is born.
