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At night, Jacob visited Maximus's office. Maximus was lounging on the sofa, his computer screen displaying the classic game "Legend," which was endorsed by a famous movie star.
"You're here?" Maximus noticed Jacob entering and gestured for him to sit on the sofa beside him.
"Master," Jacob greeted him respectfully.
Maximus smiled, quite satisfied with Jacob's acknowledgment of him as Master. He spoke slowly, "I've discussed taking you as my apprentice with Elder Scott. We won't bother with empty formalities, but there is one thing I must emphasize. Since I've accepted you as my apprentice, we are naturally family now. You must never betray your family in the future."
"Yes, Master," Jacob responded seriously. He deeply appreciated how well Maximus and his daughter Nina had treated him. Jacob would always remember their kindness.
"I heard from Nina about what happened yesterday. You need to be careful around Richard. He's lawless, vindictive, and narrow-minded. Be cautious when you go out in the future and avoid isolated places alone," Maximus warned. "He wouldn't dare to try anything in the capital while I'm around, but you must be vigilant elsewhere."
"Additionally, there are a few more things I want to tell you. The first concerns your Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, Dreepy." Maximus frowned, looking at Jacob with a serious expression. "Among all Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon, Dreepy and Metagross are the two most exceptional ones. They're also the most difficult to train because their evolution process is extremely challenging. Currently, there are two known evolution methods: competition and division."
"Let's discuss the first method, competition. If following this path, when Dreepy evolves into Drakloak, you must find another Dreepy."
Maximus's words made Jacob's heart sink. In the games, Pokémon like Dragonite could evolve simply by reaching a high enough level.
But this was reality, and Jacob had always been curious. After Dreepy evolved into Drakloak, there was always another small Dreepy resting on its head. Where did this little Dreepy come from?
Unexpectedly, he would need to find another Dreepy for evolution.
"If it evolves into Dragapult, does that mean we need two extra Dreepy?" Jacob couldn't help but ask.
"That's correct," Maximus nodded. "The process of Dreepy evolving into Drakloak is actually a competition between two Dreepy. The stronger one evolves into Drakloak, while the other loses its ability to evolve and remains a Dreepy forever. The same applies when evolving from Drakloak to Dragapult. This means if you use this evolution method and want your Dreepy to eventually become a Dragapult, you need to prepare three Dreepy in total. Only one can evolve into Dragapult, while the other two will always remain as Dreepy."
Jacob couldn't help but take a deep breath. Three Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon? Where could anyone find so many rare Pokémon? "What about the other method?"
"Don't rush, we'll get to that. Competition as an evolution method is currently more popular and represents the mainstream approach," Maximus paused deliberately, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and placed it back on the table.
Jacob understood the cue and picked up the kettle beside him to pour more tea for Maximus.
"Ahem, the other evolution method is even rarer, called fission evolution. As the name suggests, a Dreepy splits off a smaller Dreepy during its evolution into Drakloak, which then rests on its head. This small Dreepy also loses the ability to evolve. Similarly, when Drakloak evolves into Dragapult, it splits off a second Dreepy."
Jacob was confused upon hearing this. Wasn't this evolution method better? Why was competitive evolution considered mainstream? "Fission evolution only requires one Dreepy, so why has competitive evolution, which requires three Dreepy, become the standard?"
"Because of potential," Maximus looked at Jacob and said seriously. "Fission evolution requires a Dreepy with higher innate potential, making it difficult to cultivate and extremely rare for natural evolution. However, with competitive evolution, any Dreepy can evolve through the competition process."
"So, you need to prepare in advance and decide which evolution method to choose. If it's competitive evolution, you'll need to plan for obtaining the other two Dreepy ahead of time. As for which of the two evolution methods produces a better Dragapult, the academic community hasn't reached a consensus yet. Perhaps you could research this in the future," Maximus said jokingly.
Jacob sat on the sofa, contemplating which evolution path to choose.
"Actually, there's no need to worry now. Your Dreepy hasn't even hatched yet, so there's no point in being anxious. In fact, Dreepy's evolution is relatively straightforward—you need three at most. A Metagross is much more difficult to raise. A Metagross that undergoes competitive evolution requires four Beldum," Maximus added humorously.
After hearing Maximus's words, Jacob suddenly had an idea and made his decision almost immediately.
It had to be fission evolution!
"I've made up my mind. I must have my Dreepy undergo fission evolution!" Jacob declared firmly.
"Oh, are you certain? This may greatly extend your Dreepy's training period," Maximus looked at Jacob curiously, wondering how he had made such a quick decision when he was still hesitating moments ago.
A smile appeared on Jacob's lips. He firmly believed his decision was absolutely correct because in another region, there was a trainer named Steven who had a shiny Metagross capable of Mega Evolution.
If competitive evolution were the case, it would be impossible to explain why the four-legged Metagross gained eight legs after Mega Evolution—it could only be explained by fission evolution.
Another point supporting fission evolution was that if competitive evolution were the process, a shiny Beldum would need to evolve with another shiny Beldum to maintain its coloration. Otherwise, a Metang evolved from a shiny Beldum and a regular Beldum would have mismatched arms, one gray and one blue.
Based on this reasoning, Jacob was confident that fission evolution was the correct path!
"Just make your decision. There's one more thing. From now on, you can go to the restricted area to train every night. The Dragon-type energy there is stronger and more suitable for you," Maximus handed a key to Jacob. "I've also told Nina to remind you each night."
"Thank you, Master."
A day later, it was Saturday—time for another move-learning class. Since Jacob had missed last week's session, he hadn't heard Nina's explanation of the Dragon Claw technique. Fortunately, each move was covered for two weeks, so Jacob could catch up.
Among his three Pokémon, Grovyle couldn't learn Dragon Claw. Only Charmander and Noibat were capable of learning it.
Jacob couldn't understand why a Noibat with such tiny claws could learn Dragon Claw, while his Grovyle with its large claws couldn't.
"The core of the Dragon Claw technique is gathering Dragon-type energy in the hands, forming dragon-shaped claws for attacking. The key lies in harnessing Dragon energy and training the claw movements..."
Nina spoke slowly and thoroughly. During her explanation, she asked the veteran Kommo-o beside her to demonstrate. The explanation and demonstration took half an hour, after which everyone began practicing freely.
Perhaps to help Jacob catch up, Nina approached him and gave individual instructions to his Charmander and Noibat, while asking the Kommo-o to demonstrate the technique a few more times for the two small Pokémon.
In this way, Nina spent half an hour with Jacob, explaining the Dragon Claw technique in detail. She instructed both Charmander and Noibat to practice repeatedly before finally leaving.
Watching Nina walk away, Jacob thought to himself, "As a direct disciple, the treatment I receive truly is different."