Chapter 37

Along with the first display of power, subsequent information gradually surfaced, filling in the unclear artifact effect.

'The old wood carving will respond to Pokémon of the corresponding image; one can only pray to the same type of wood carving once.'

'If the craftsmanship of making the wood carving improves and unique wood is used, then the number of times one can pray, or the content of the prayer, will also change.'

"The function of the old wood carving is... IV-grinding!"

Xiang Guangtai felt somewhat pleasantly surprised, but upon thinking that this thing also required ruin stones or ancient rocks for inlaying, the sense of surprise quickly faded away.

It is well known that Pokémon possess three types of data: Base Stats, Individual Values (IVs), and Effort Values (EVs).

Even in the real Pokémon world, Effort Values can be considered to have no upper limit... after all, my Pokémon is working especially hard, and no one can say anything about that.

However, Base Stats and Individual Values cannot be changed. The former is the fixed ability of a Pokémon's entire species category, while the latter is the innate strength of an individual Pokémon's own ability, which cannot be changed.

And among players, the number 31 is commonly referred to as "V," which is the maximum Individual Value.

In the entire world, to raise the corresponding Individual Value ability, one can only perform "Hyper Training," and it also requires consuming items called Silver Bottle Caps and Gold Bottle Caps.

"But wait, the one raised is the Attack IV?"

The pleasant surprise in Xiang Guangtai's heart had mostly dissipated. Only then did he realize that Petilil had made a wish, and the result was that her Attack IV was raised...

Xiang Guangtai was somewhat dumbfounded.

Pokémon's own understanding of power is very simple: it's just attack. Many of them cannot distinguish between physical attacks and special attacks, although there are a few that can, such as the Wobbuffet of the Team Rocket trio, which will choose different defenses based on the opponent's attack type.

"It seems I still need to find some unique wood and carve a few more wooden sculptures."

"Old wood—Pokémon of the same type can only pray to such a wood carving once. That is to say, even if a new wood carving is carved, it's impossible to pray again; one must use a wood carving made of other wood to pray again."

"Moreover, since the first one raised was the Attack IV, wouldn't it be better to go directly for the Hisuian form?"

The Attack IV was raised to the maximum, but Petilil's own Attack base stat was very low. Only by evolving into Lilligant, the Hisuian form, could she possess powerful attack power.

And regardless of moves, abilities, or versatility, Hisuian Lilligant was stronger than the original Lilligant!

"That's right... if I want to reclaim the habitat, I have to evolve into a powerful form."

"As for the Ability issue, it can be solved with items that change Abilities. Although I can't get them now, there's no need to rush."

"Petil~"

Petilil saw the change in Xiang Guangtai's expression, from happy to frowning deeply. She didn't know what had happened, but she felt that her power had increased significantly!

This feeling was extremely wonderful! However, when she went to touch the sculpture again, or even make a second wish, the sculpture would no longer give any response.

She looked at Xiang Guangtai again.

"Petil? (︵)?"

Did she make the wrong wish?

Petilil didn't quite understand.

And now that the prayer had ended, the ancient power contained within this sculpture had been exhausted; it could only be used to sell for some money.

"... Perhaps, wood carvings made of special wood can have a more powerful effect of displaying power, such as wood from peculiar forests like Ilex Forest, Viridian Forest, or the Eternal Forest."

Xiang Guangtai glanced at Petilil. She and Doublade were surrounding the wood carving, curiously poking at it.

By the way, Doublade also needed it... but Doublade's patterns were too complex, and Xiang Guangtai was still quite afraid of trouble.

Before praying for Doublade, he had to educate them on which abilities were important and should be raised first, and which abilities could be weaker...

"If I find stronger special wood to carve with, could I raise two, three, or even all Individual Values to the maximum at once?"

"Hyper Training is a mechanism that only exists in games; in the real Alola region, it's highly probable that such a thing as Hyper Training does not exist."

Speaking of which, his wood carvings were equivalent to the effects of Hyper Training and Silver Bottle Caps?

In that case, this thing could sell very well.

Although most Trainers probably didn't know about things like Individual Values—because even with a Pokédex, they couldn't read them, and in the anime world, there had never been a clear mention of Individual Values—there were some implicit expressions.

For example, Ash's Infernape: when it was still a Chimchar, the power of the flames displayed by its Blaze ability was terrifying. It was precisely because of this that it was noticed and caught by Paul.

Then it was very likely that this Chimchar of Ash's already had its Attack and Special Attack IVs reach the maximum when it was young.

A powerful individual, paired with a powerful ability, displayed extraordinary power, and then, added to that was the unlimited effort.

Of course, reality cannot be completely equated to the game.

"Petil~"

"Yo-p! Yo-wu!"

The voices of Petilil and Doublade pulled Xiang Guangtai back to reality from his thoughts. Looking at the two Pokémon with somewhat uneasy expressions, Xiang Guangtai hurriedly squatted down:

"Sorry, sorry, I was just a bit distracted."

"Petil~!" Petilil was asking if it was because of the wood carving.

"The wood carving... it can be considered a lucky strike. I'm not angry; on the contrary, I'm looking forward to it because you've become stronger." Xiang Guangtai stroked her leaves and encouraged her:

"You will become stronger, and then, fulfill your own wish. Of course, I also need to get a return in this process, and the stronger you become, the more return I get."

"Let's work hard together."

"Petil! Wawa! ()o☆!"

The sides of Petilil's skirt curled up like small fists, and her eyes also became determined.

Become stronger, stronger!

In this passionate emotion, the leaves on Petilil's head suddenly glowed. She recalled the brilliant sunlight that the wood carving had gathered just now; it seemed to have awakened some kind of power in her body!

The sun in the sky was also dazzling. After the rain, the sky cleared, and plants would grow more lush and sturdy!

"Petil!"

Petilil suddenly shouted toward the sky, and then, a large amount of sunlight gathered above her head. The intense light seemed to form a sun, and also like a light curtain, recreating the moment when the sculpture displayed its power just now!

The sunlight became intense!

This was the move "Sunny Day"!

And following closely, those sunbeams continued to gather on Petilil's head. A scorching heat formed a solar ring, enveloping Petilil within it, while Xiang Guangtai and Doublade retreated a certain distance, watching this scene with full attention!

That intense sunlight kept gathering, and after a period of charging, then—

Violently, it turned into a huge beam of light and erupted toward the sky!

Petilil had mastered the move "Solar Beam"!

"Sunny Day and Solar Beam are one. In Pokémon that can master both moves at the same time, learning Sunny Day often means they have learned Solar Beam, but the reverse is not true!"

"The surge in Individual Values allowed her to master some extraordinary power. But even if it was the Attack IV that increased, can she master Special Attack moves? Or perhaps the original accumulation was already enough, and now it's just erupting."

"Long-term battles have accumulated Effort Values, plus this lush land is also helping her."

Xiang Guangtai looked around his medicinal field.

It was the effort of knowledge + sweat, plus a little catalysis from the item, that achieved the current result.

This result was quite good!

However, all of this was seen by another Pokémon.

She saw the scene where Petilil learned Sunny Day and Solar Beam through work and exercise.

And on the roof of the workshop, a Pokémon with a grass-green body and small wings on its back appeared. She appeared quietly, flapping her small wings, with ripples of time radiating around her.

"Time?"

She giggled. This workshop looked like a lot of fun!

(End of chapter)