Inside the Pokémon Battle Dome, Arthur conducted a check-up on Scizor, the evolved form of Scyther, with keen interest.
Compared to other recently evolved Pokémon, Scizor looked exceptionally healthy—like it could jump straight into battle without needing rest.
Arthur was still a little uneasy about how quickly it had evolved, but he couldn't help feeling pleased. While not identical, rapid evolution did align with the natural process of real Pokémon evolution—sudden, often restorative. The only thing it lacked was the signature flash of white light; instead, it still required a cocoon-like transition, even if only for a brief moment.
Now that he wasn't fixated on the specifics of Scyther's evolution, his mind drifted back to the concept of Trade.
Fortunately, his theory had proven true—trading away Scyther's Flying-type worked as expected. But this might only hold for certain Pokémon like Scyther. Others—Haunter, Kadabra, and... a few more he couldn't quite recall—seemed to retain their typing through evolution, even without needing an external item like Metal Coat.
The more he thought about it, the more his head throbbed.
No matter how he approached it, he couldn't figure out what Haunter 'traded' to evolve into Gengar.
Maybe it gave up Levitate—its ability? The idea sounded ridiculous, yet oddly compelling, especially if one assumed that all Trade Evolutions required giving something up in return.
Still, he had no way of testing the theory—there weren't even any Gastly nearby.
He could summon an egg and hatch one, but he felt hesitant. He already had Misdreavus, another Ghost-type, and he didn't want to double up on the same typing.
That was always his dilemma when building a team in the games. Sometimes he liked two Pokémon equally, but if they shared a type, he couldn't decide which to pick. Using both never felt quite right.
He knew that kind of thinking limited him, but still—there was a strange sense of satisfaction in having a team with all unique types. A kind of self-imposed harmony.
Maybe I should add Abra or Machop... Geodude's not bad either—I could use it as a dumbbell... He paused, smirking at the thought.
Arthur coughed, shaking the image of lifting Geodude weights from his mind and replacing it with something even better—Beldum-bbell.
Even the name sounded like "dumbbell." No other Pokémon was more perfect for the role than Beldum!
Then, a sudden realization struck him, and he facepalmed. Right—Rosaria's Bloodthorn can raise Trade Pokémon for me. I don't have to do it all myself!
Even if he decided to raise, say, a Gastly on his own, he knew how it would end. Eventually, he'd need data on other Trade-evolved Pokémon too, dragging him into a vicious, never-ending cycle of raising one after another just for the sake of theory-testing.
Better to just pick a Pokémon he actually wanted for his third partner...
The problem was, right now, he had no idea what that third Pokémon should be.
Or maybe I'll end up needing to raise something with a weird evolution condition again... Finizen came to mind—a dolphin Pokémon that required multiplayer conditions to evolve. But that felt like a distant concern for now.
"Sciz~!"
Scizor's voice—deeper and more resonant than Scyther's—pulled Arthur out of his thoughts.
"Oh—sorry, I spaced out," Arthur said, nodding before turning to Hector. "Congratulations, dad. Your Scyther evolved into Scizor, and it's in perfect health."
"This Pokémon is called Scizor?" Hector smiled, lifting his Pokédex to scan his newly evolved partner.
While Scizor didn't look quite as wild and feral as Scyther, it had a sleeker, more refined intimidation to it. Handsome, sharp—exactly Hector's aesthetic.
Lena and his mom also leaned in eagerly, peppering him with questions, their voices overlapping in a flurry of excitement.
But while all of them were distracted, Scizor slowly began to flap its metallic, translucent insectoid wings.
"Wait—don't move too much yet! You just evolved!" Arthur exclaimed, alarmed as he noticed Scizor's sudden movement.
But Scizor had already taken off—or rather, glided.
It drifted through the air for a short distance before landing solidly on the ground. Then, it turned to look at its wings, eyes narrowing with a strangely thoughtful, almost conflicted expression.
Scizor could feel its body becoming denser—tougher, harder, stronger. But with that newfound strength came a cost: its ability to fly was almost gone.
The realization left its mood conflicted. It knew that both it and its Trainer had chosen this evolutionary path, but the loss still stung. The sky was no longer its domain, and that hurt.
"Are you okay, Scy—no, I mean, Scizor?" Hector rushed forward, concern written all over his face.
Scizor had just evolved from Scyther, and it shouldn't be pushing itself too much yet. Hector remembered clearly—most Pokémon emerged from cocoons weak and disoriented. But somehow, his Scizor looked perfectly fine. It had even managed to glide a little.
As they witnessed firsthand, it hadn't lost flight due to weakness—it was simply the price of evolution, just as Arthur had explained.
"Sciz~or!" Scizor raised one of its crimson, metallic pincers, flexing it confidently to show it could move without pain or strain.
The only discomfort it had felt was the initial heaviness from becoming part Steel-type. Its speed had dropped compared to when it was a Scyther, but its defense—and striking power—had increased significantly.
Suddenly, Scizor pointed one of its pincers directly at Arthur, who was observing it with analytical interest.
"Me?" Arthur asked, blinking and pointing at himself in confusion.
Hector, having been Scizor's partner since it hatched, immediately understood the gesture. "You want to challenge Arthur's Misdreavus again?"
"Sci~!" Scizor nodded, taking a combat stance.
Arthur frowned slightly, his gaze sweeping over Scizor's body before locking onto its fierce, unwavering eyes. "You just evolved. You should rest today, and we can battle tomorrow." He tried to dissuade it gently.
"SCI!" Scizor snapped back, voice sharp with determination. It wasn't taking no for an answer.
Arthur still hesitated. "Are you sure you're okay?"
This time, it was Hector who replied. He tapped Scizor's shoulder with his knuckles—producing a crisp clank-clank sound, like striking solid metal. "It's fine. See? Scizor's body is completely ready for battle."
Arthur glanced between Trainer and Pokémon. He wanted to honor their shared conviction, but just to be sure, he began another detailed check-up—making absolutely certain that Scizor was truly ready for battle.
After checking Scizor over and over, Arthur tilted his head in confusion. Why is Scizor perfectly okay? Is it because it evolved so quickly instead of gradually morphing its body over days?
He had no idea if it was due to Trade evolution or simply because its total base stats hadn't changed.
Shaking his head, he decided it was pointless to overthink for now. Better to research other Pokémon with Trade evolution later.
For now, he just grinned. "All right, Misdreavus, you ready?"
"Mis~" Misdreavus floated around him in a playful dance, then smiled happily.
If it could defeat Scizor again—right after evolution—and crush its confidence, wouldn't that be a delicious, high-quality fear to absorb?
Envisioning a future in which Scizor bowed in trembling reverence, presenting its fear like a tribute, Misdreavus released a refined, lilting laugh—mischief cloaked in elegance—as it floated with quiet, regal grace.
It had learned this refined behavior from watching Rosaria in front of the Bloodthorn. Misdreavus thought it looked cool and beautiful—so it had taken to mimicking Rosaria's regal manner.
"Pika~Pi…" Pikachu stood beside Arthur, ears drooping.
"You want to fight too? Next time, okay, buddy?" Arthur leaned down to pet Pikachu's little head—and noticed its body gleaming with a metallic sheen. "Huh? Why does your body look like that?"
Pikachu quickly hid something behind its back, turning away and whistling innocently.
Misdreavus, all too familiar with its friend's habit of swiping things, slipped behind Pikachu and deftly snatched the item from its hands.
"Pi!?" Pikachu let out a shocked yelp, eyes wide as it realized the item it had just hidden was gone.
It was a bottle of metallic cream—the Metal Coat used earlier on Scyther's body.
Arthur accepted the Metal Coat, smiling at the proud Misdreavus. "Good job."
He rewarded it with some homemade candy.
Misdreavus's eyes curved into happy half-moons as it popped the candy into its mouth, looking utterly blissful.
Though it only needed to feed on fear to survive, it could still enjoy regular food—and it had grown quite fond of Arthur's homemade candy.
"Pika!" Pikachu felt betrayed and pounced on Misdreavus—but the ghost easily became intangible and dodged away.
Arthur scooped up Pikachu and gently pinched its cheeks. "Look at you. Want to evolve into Electric and Steel type, huh?"
"Pika!" Pikachu huffed, crossing its arms in protest, clearly feeling wronged.
For Pikachu, the idea of becoming a Steel type sounded pretty great. With metal teeth, I could crack open hard eggshells and try new kinds of boiled eggs—without worrying about breaking my own teeth!
As if sensing Pikachu's thoughts, Arthur pulled its favorite boiled egg from his spatial waist bag and handed it over. "Go wait on the side, alright?"
"Pika~" Pikachu happily accepted the boiled egg and scampered off, ready to watch the battle.
After storing the half-used Metal Coat back in his spatial bag, Arthur moved toward the flat arena—still being repaired by a magic circle, restoring it to pristine condition.
Pokémon battles inevitably damaged the arena, so a self-repair system was essential.
Once the arena was fully repaired, Hector and Scizor took their positions opposite Arthur and Misdreavus, ready for battle.
Lena stepped forward once again as referee. "This will be a one-on-one battle! The side whose Pokémon faints or can't continue will be declared the loser!
"Battle—begin!"
"Misdreavus, Astonish!"
"Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
Arthur clicked his tongue in mild annoyance at his miscalculation—he hadn't expected his dad to open with a newly learned move like Bullet Punch.
Before Misdreavus could react, a blurry figure of red metallic insectoid steel appeared in front of it, crimson pincers gleaming with metallic light.
Ora ora ora ora!
A storm of punches, like bullets, rained down on Misdreavus, seizing the initiative!
Though this wasn't a game where Bullet Punch had priority and always struck first, the move still boosted Scizor's speed enough to outpace Misdreavus's reaction and land the opening hits.
However, the flurry of punches only managed to connect two times before Scizor lost its balance and flew past Misdreavus, crashing headfirst into the ground and sliding awkwardly across the arena.
For a moment, silence fell over the Pokémon Battle Dome.
Misdreavus was stunned, staring at Scizor with its head buried in the dirt and legs flailing in the air.
"S-Scizor?!" Hector shouted, shocked at the unexpected sight.
Arthur was momentarily stunned too, then realization dawned.
Light Metal!
Scyther's ability had changed from Swarm to Scizor's hidden ability, Light Metal, which halves its weight during battle!
Because Scizor had familiarized itself with its new, lighter weight before the fight, it lost balance the instant the battle started as its weight abruptly dropped.
Ironically, half of Scizor's weight was almost identical to its old Scyther form.
It had gotten used to the new weight—only to revert to the old one mid-battle.
Luck was cruel.
Arthur looked at Scizor, who had been pretending to be dead, and pondered quietly.
During the earlier check-up, he had scanned Scizor with his Pokédex, but due to an oversight, he assumed its ability had remained the same.
It seemed Hector hadn't noticed the change either.
In every Pokémon, their genes weren't completely fixed—mutations could occur just like in ordinary animals. But during the template phase, Arthur tried to guide all mutations toward positive outcomes.
Obviously, that was impossible to guarantee, but he did his best.
It might have been easier if his Pokémon were created fully formed instead of growing through the egg phase. The egg phase was unpredictable, and unless he directly interfered with life inside the egg—a risky move he preferred to avoid—it was hard to influence what mutations might arise.
He never expected a mutation to occur during Scyther's evolution, especially one that would change its ability like this.
Perhaps the Trade evolution had stimulated the mutation?
The more he learned about Trade evolution, the more it felt like a never-ending research topic—one without a clear end.
After a long moment of awkward silence, Scizor finally stood, its expression unreadable.
Calm and composed, Scizor walked back toward Hector, then turned to face Misdreavus, raising its pincers in challenge.
So you're just going to pretend nothing happened? Arthur nearly laughed. "Dad, check Scizor's ability."
Hector pulled out his Pokédex, scanned the new ability, and sighed.
He hadn't noticed the change before!
Scizor turned to its Trainer and threw a little tantrum. "Scizor!" I looked at the Pokédex with you earlier, but I'm illiterate! You should've read it carefully, you stupid Trainer! I lost my coolness again!
Hector scratched his head and laughed embarrassedly. "Sorry, my fault…"
He quickly waved his hand and changed the subject. "Anyway, let's battle again!"
After Lena repeated the rules, both sides acted as if it was Scizor's very first battle since evolving.
"Misdreavus, Astonish!"
"Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
Arthur's eyelids twitched. I thought you'd change move, but you're doing the same thing!
Once again, before Misdreavus could react, a blurry figure of red metallic insectoid steel appeared in front of it, crimson pincers gleaming with metallic light.
Ora ora ora ora!
A storm of punches, like bullets, rained down on Misdreavus, seizing the initiative!
Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Arthur quickly shouted, "Misdreavus, force the Astonish!"
Enduring through the metallic storm, Misdreavus's shadowy form suddenly grew, looming large and intimidating before Scizor's yellow metallic eyes.
Illusion or reality—it didn't matter. The Astonish struck true, forcing Scizor to flinch and halting its storm of punches.
"Scizor, keep the momentum! Bullet Punch!"
"Misdreavus, Confuse Ray!"
Instinctively, before Scizor could land the first punch, it shut its eyes to avoid the swirling orb of eerie, glowing light. Its punch missed as Misdreavus floated away effortlessly.
Though Bullet Punch was a powerful move, Hector's Scizor had Light Metal instead of Technician, so its power wasn't boosted as much as it could be.
Still, unlike in the games where Light Metal was nearly useless, in reality it significantly increased Scizor's speed. Though it didn't quite reach Scyther's level, the weight reduction made Scizor more agile and fluid, able to keep pace with the rhythm of battle.
"Scizor, Double Team!"
Scizor's form blurred, creating two perfect clones that surrounded Misdreavus.
Normally, it could only manage one clone, but thanks to Light Metal, it produced two—just like when it was Scyther!
"Misdreavus, Mean Look!"
Misdreavus suddenly narrowed its glowing red eyes, its shadowy gaze intensifying as it stared down all three Scizors.
The Double Team illusions momentarily vanished as Scizor was forced into a brief pause. Mean Look's effect prevented Pokémon from fleeing and could briefly halt movement-related actions, though it didn't cause a full flinch.
As a result, Scizor's clones quickly began to re-form.
But that brief pause was enough for Arthur and Misdreavus to spot the real Scizor!
"Misdreavus, Astonish!"
"Scizor, Bullet Punch!"
All three Scizors rushed forward in unison, their pincers gleaming with metallic light, aiming to strike Misdreavus at the center.
The punches from the two Scizors on the sides passed right through Misdreavus's form, but the one in front—the real one—landed solid blows. Still, Misdreavus braced through the storm of pain and retaliated with Astonish!
Once again, its shadowy form expanded to an intimidating size, trying to flinch Scizor.
This time, however, Scizor stood firm—it did not flinch.
A storm of punches hammered down on Misdreavus, keeping it on the defensive.
"Misdreavus, Confusion!"
Arthur knew Psychic-type moves wouldn't be effective against Scizor, but he hoped the confusion effect would give him an edge.
He had originally planned to have Misdreavus spam Growl to lower Scizor's greatest strength—its Attack stat—but he noticed that each time, Scizor's punch landed squarely on Misdreavus's mouth.
It was as if Scizor was deliberately trying to silence it, wary of falling victim to another Growl spam tactic.
And he'd be right.
Now that I have Bullet Punch, I'll shut that mouth for good! Scizor thought, focusing relentlessly on Misdreavus's mouth, refusing to let it get a single Growl out.
Misdreavus focused its psychic energy and sent it piercing into Scizor's mind.
The mental intrusion gave Scizor a brief headache, but thanks to its natural resistance, it barely acknowledged it.
Unfortunately, the attempt to confuse it failed.
Arthur shifted tactics, trying different approaches—but nothing worked.
What Light Metal? This is more like Super Luck!Why is there no confusion, no flinching—nothing!? he grumbled inwardly.
In the end, Misdreavus couldn't withstand the relentless barrage of Bullet Punches and collapsed, eyes spinning, no longer able to continue the battle.
Lena raised her hand. "Misdreavus is unable to battle. Scizor wins!"
"We did it, Scizor! Our first win against Arthur!" Hector laughed, rushing forward to hug his partner before raising a triumphant fist.
Though a bit awkward and embarrassed, Scizor lifted its pincer and bumped it against Hector's with a quiet sense of pride.
Arthur sighed, then smiled as he approached Misdreavus. "You did great, Misdreavus. We'll win next time."
"Vu~" Misdreavus gave a weak smile, then puffed its cheeks in a small pout.
It had failed to savor Scizor's delicious fear of defeat!