"Anything else?"
Paul asked.
When he took back Grotle earlier, he already knew it had mastered quite a few new moves—Earthquake, Stone Edge…
But those weren't what he was looking for right now.
"Raaaaaa!"
With another heavy stomp, the ground in front of them split apart, releasing a surge of red and white energy. The power was undeniable.
Earth Power!
"Anything else?"
Since Torterra could naturally draw energy from the earth, learning Earth Power after evolving wasn't surprising.
"Huff…"
This time, Torterra remained still, but the massive tree on its back swayed despite the absence of wind. Countless glowing green leaves shot out, forming a whirling storm that shredded the scattered boulders ahead.
Leaf Storm!
The howling winds swept through, reducing the stone fragments to dust and returning them to the earth.
"Anything else? Anything deeper than just new moves?"
Paul was still unsatisfied.
Back when it was just a Turtwig, it had already mastered Razor Leaf and Magical Leaf with exceptional proficiency. Learning Leaf Storm now was simply a natural progression.
Then, a green glow radiated from Torterra's body. Several red-tinged energy chains shot out from three nearby stones, striking the ground some distance away.
Giga Drain!
"Anything else?"
It already knew Mega Drain, and even before evolving, it had just learned an enhanced draining technique. Mastering Giga Drain upon evolution was expected.
"Raaaa…"
Torterra pondered for a moment. These four moves were all it had newly acquired after evolving—nothing more.
However… something felt different.
"Raaa… Raa… Raaa… Raaaaa…"
It activated Growth while communicating with Paul.
"You're saying that your Growth move has evolved? That it now enhances not just offensive power but also defensive power?"
With his keen analytical skills, Paul quickly reached this conclusion.
A stat-boosting move that enhances so much at once—overpowered, wasn't it?
Yes.
But it made sense.
Ordinary Growth simply consumes stamina, energy, or nutrients to increase power.
However, Torterra's Growth had incorporated far more than just stamina, energy, and nutrients—it now drew strength from grass, life, earth, nature, the sun, and multiple other sources.
With all these combined, quantitative accumulation led to qualitative transformation. Upon evolution, it finally broke through its former limits—a logical progression.
The drawback?
Because the power sources were now too varied, the original effect of Growth doubling in power under strong sunlight had been lost.
"Raaaa…"
However, in response to Paul's statement, Torterra nodded—then shook its head.
"You mean… this still isn't the limit? That once you fully master your body and the different energy sources, even after reaching the maximum six-stage stat boost, you'll still be able to keep growing beyond the normal limits?"
Even Paul found this hard to believe.
"Raaaaa!"
Torterra gave a firm nod.
In both reality and the Pokémon games, there was always one fundamental rule: stat boosts could only go up to +6 or down to -6. That was the absolute limit a Pokémon could handle.
But Torterra's response was clear—
+6? Who decided that? It can keep going!
Even if each additional stage required more time and had diminishing returns, Torterra could continue strengthening itself!
Of course, it wasn't there yet. It still needed time to fully master its body and all these energies.
But even so, if this ability could only be grasped at an Elite Four or Champion level, it was still a terrifying breakthrough!
"Keep pushing forward. Strive to become the strongest Grass-type Pokémon!"
Paul gazed at Torterra with an intense fire in his eyes.
For other types, he wouldn't be so sure.
But when it came to Grass-types—aside from Arceus with the Meadow Plate, and based on his memories from his past life—Paul couldn't think of anyone who could surpass Torterra in the future!
Calyrex? Zarude? Shaymin? Kartana? Virizion? Wo-Chien? Or even Celebi?
Compared to Torterra, they were all nothing special!
"Raaaaa!"
Torterra just grinned and rubbed against Paul affectionately. If Paul was happy, so was it.
"Whew…"
Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Paul steadied his excitement.
Strength was something to aspire to, something to dream of. But above all—it was something to work for.
He had to take each step with a solid foundation, growing stronger bit by bit.
"We'll train here for the next two days—focus on mastering the new draining abilities and perfecting your Growth technique."
Although Torterra had also learned Forest's Healing, that was more of a side effect of its accumulated training rather than a completely new ability. That didn't mean there wasn't still room for improvement.
Its draining techniques could be refined to enhance Growth's absorption properties and maximize Giga Drain's efficiency.
Just imagine—
In battle, a single Giga Drain could restore nearly all the damage inflicted. Or perhaps the move wouldn't deal much damage, but it would siphon an overwhelming amount of energy from the opponent.
As for Growth, Paul still wondered whether it was possible to apply the move to Pokémon of other types. The likelihood of success was low—but what if?
"Raa…Raaa…"
Torterra nodded obediently.
"Communicate with each other and help Torterra adjust to its new body."
Paul turned to his Pokémon, who were curiously observing Torterra and gave them space to interact.
The moment he finished speaking, a flash of yellow dashed forward, and in the blink of an eye, it sprawled comfortably on Torterra's back.
"Woo~"
Ninetales lay lazily atop Torterra's shell, basking in the sunlight with a content expression.
"Gaaa~"
Gabite curiously approached Torterra and poked its shell with its claw, eager to test its new defenses.
Meanwhile, Metagross remained motionless in its original position, its red eyes glowing faintly.
It was calculating—why had this turtle grown so large upon evolution?
Yet, the more it calculated, the more it realized that even its supercomputer-like brain lacked the processing power to fully understand.
"Aye! Aye! Vireee!"
Electivire, meanwhile, sneaked up beside Torterra and gave it everything it had, attempting to lift it.
After several tries, it discovered that the deeply rooted Torterra was completely immovable. Without hesitation, Electivire made an announcement:
"From now on, Torterra is my best bro! My sworn brother!"
Though, deep down, Electivire had also secretly listed Torterra as the strongest rival in their team.
Can't move it, can't lift it, sky-high defense, high attack power, quick recovery, and it's a Ground type on top of all that.
Other than speed, it had practically maxed out every stat. How was it supposed to beat that?
No matter how hard Electivire racked its brain, it couldn't think of a way to defeat Torterra.
Or rather, even if it could defeat it now—what about the future?
Every single move Torterra used could deal serious damage to it, yet its strongest electric attacks were completely useless!
Unlike Electivire's frustration, Froslass simply floated quietly beside Paul, watching the camaraderie among the team with a gentle smile.
"Keep training—master all your abilities."
"Eeno~"
During this short break, Paul didn't reprimand Froslass. Instead, as if remembering something, he crouched down in front of her and rummaged through his backpack.
Under Froslass' curious gaze, Paul finally pulled out a red-and-yellow gradient Focus Sash and tied it around her neck like a scarf.
"A Focus Sash. As long as you're at full health in battle, you won't be knocked out in one hit."
Unlike in the games, in reality, a Focus Sash didn't disappear after one use—it would only be lost if damaged.
Compared to other held items, Froslass was best suited for the Focus Sash.
As long as she wasn't taken out in one blow, she would always have unlimited potential.
"Eeno~"
Froslass looked down at her new accessory and covered her mouth, giggling softly.
After letting his Pokémon interact and rest for a while, Paul started the next round of training.
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