Chapter Thirty-Three: By Force

“Nidor, Nidor, Nidor!”
Watching this blue Nidorino, endlessly circling around Ivysaur, hopping and shouting energetically, Am finally understood...

It wasn’t a rare case of a Nidorino “bullying” a female, but rather... a shiny Nidorino!

Shiny, also known as “flash,” refers to a rare phenomenon where a Pokémon’s body color differs markedly from the usual individuals.
Shininess itself isn’t hereditary—it only appears with an extremely low probability during normal breeding.

For Nidorino, once it becomes shiny, it changes from a dull pink to a deep blue, making it look quite similar to a Nidorina at first glance!

Ivysaur watched this bouncing Nidorino with some distaste, flicking it away with its vine whip and casting a disdainful look.

Misty, slightly embarrassed, said, “So it’s a shiny Nidorino? I thought it was a Nidorina…”

Had they known it was simply a natural competition for mating rights, Misty and Am wouldn’t have intervened.

“But its color is already strange, and it doesn’t look very strong, so no wonder it was attacked before,” Misty observed sympathetically, gazing at the Nidorino.

An outlier in a group is always easily ostracized—especially now that spring has come and Nidorino are particularly irritable toward their own kind!

“My Garlic isn’t interested in you… Come, let me check your injuries first.” Am glanced at Nidorino, suddenly his eyes lit up, and he moved closer to investigate.

“Nidor!” Nidorino clearly had little patience for Am, baring its teeth.

But Ivysaur, nearby, swung its vine whip twice in the air, and Nidorino immediately behaved, even putting on a pleasing expression.

That’s right, Garlic is female, and… Ivysaur belongs to both the Monster Egg Group and Plant Egg Group, while Nidorino is in both the Monster Egg Group and Field Egg Group—they share the Monster Egg Group and are within the range of possible mates!

Am placed his hand on Nidorino’s head, unconcerned as its horn slid between his fingers.

Nidorino, out of Ivysaur’s view, gave Am a covert glare of defiance, then suddenly hesitated and finally quieted down…

It was Am’s “animal empathy” at work, communicating directly with Nidorino.

Like other communicative abilities, this transcended language, allowing Pokémon to accurately understand Am’s intentions.

The more open a Pokémon was to Am, the clearer and more precise the information it transmitted—when completely unguarded, Am could synchronize their thoughts entirely, to the point of full possession.

Currently, Nidorino was wary of Am, but…

Am still managed to learn its basic situation!

This Nidorino, since its days as a Nidoran, had always had a rough time.

Not only was it shiny, but also rather scrawny; even its ability was the rare “Vital Spirit,” unlike other Nidoran whose usual ability was “Rivalry”—in the games, “Vital Spirit” is Nidoran’s hidden ability, and in the Pokémon world, individuals with hidden abilities are generally very rare.

Effectively, it was a frail, out-of-place weakling…

Ordinarily, it managed, but come spring, when other Nidorino grew excited, it became the target of bullying.

Especially if it was mistaken for a Nidoran female—those fights finished, and when the others saw it was a horned male, their tempers flared even more!

In terms of individual values, this Nidorino wasn’t actually low—about +6%, considered high among wild Pokémon.

Its scrawniness was due to its low physical attack and high special attack…

The “Vital Spirit” ability wasn’t bad; it boosts attack but lowers accuracy. Yet, with this Nidorino’s poor physical attack, the benefit was small, and the sacrifice large!

Moreover, “Vital Spirit” came with a provocation effect—raising the chance of encountering wild Pokémon, making it somewhat “annoying.”

“How about coming with me? In the wild, you’ll always be the weakest Nidorino,” Am said to Nidorino.

Though he spoke aloud, the primary communication was through animal empathy.

Nidorino looked at Am with a doubtful gaze—he was weak now, but would following Am really make him stronger?

Misty, overhearing, exclaimed, “Eh? Are you sure you want to catch this Nidorino? It seems…”

Pokémon don’t always understand human speech, especially wild ones, but they can sense human emotions. Hearing Misty’s tone, Nidorino immediately glared at her—feeling looked down upon.

Misty wasn’t very knowledgeable about poison-type Nidorino, but from its appearance alone, she could tell its physical attack was lacking!

Yet physical attack is the most important attribute for Nidorino, or rather, Nidoking.

Among the Nidorino Am had previously treated, there were stronger and more promising ones; one even managed to take on several Nidorino before losing.

But Am hadn’t shown much interest then…

“Is it just because it’s shiny?” Misty eyed Am curiously, wondering when he’d become so focused on appearances.

Besides, shiny doesn’t always mean more beautiful—it’s just… flashier.

Of course, when catching a Pokémon, affinity is most important. If you truly connect, nothing else matters much. But now… Misty could clearly see that Nidorino didn’t seem particularly drawn to Am either.

“It’s true, its physical attack is low because it excels in special attack, and… its ability is Vital Spirit,” Am explained.

“Vital Spirit? I remember… When Nidorino evolves into Nidoking, its Vital Spirit becomes Sheer Force, right? But even so… a Nidoking specializing in special attack is just too odd,” Misty clearly felt it was too forced.

“Nidor, Nidor!” Nidorino’s eyes grew defiant.

But Misty’s point was valid—Nidoking, in its final form, has a base stat total of 505, not high but not low, and its combat-ready physique gives it some popularity among trainers.

But of those 505 points, 102 go to physical attack, while special attack is only 85…

It’s not that 85 special attack is very low, but… using a special attack build wastes the 102 points in physical attack, making Nidoking’s effective stats barely over 400!

Yet Am clearly didn’t mind. With Sheer Force, and individual values skewed toward low physical/high special attack, this kind of Nidoking was rare.

Sheer Force’s effect is to nullify the secondary effects of moves in exchange for a 30% power boost—so moves that can cause paralysis, burn, freeze, etc., lose their extra effects but hit harder!

“A Nidoking with Sheer Force shines best using special attack moves—it can learn many practical special moves across various types,” Am emphasized.

“Nidor, Nidor…” Nidorino didn’t really understand, but sensed Am was speaking up for him, and responded with an air of “isn’t that obvious?”

Indeed, Nidoking can learn many powerful special moves, most with secondary effects, which combine well with Sheer Force’s power boost!

In the games, Nidoking with Sheer Force built for special attack often appears in PVP…

“I know Nidoking theoretically learns a lot of special moves, but… without extra training, only Earth Power counts as a special move, right?” Misty reminded.

Exactly—in this real world, raising a Pokémon isn’t just about clicking buttons, so a special attack Nidoking is much harder to cultivate. With normal growth, apart from Earth Power, Nidoking won’t naturally awaken any special moves—it needs extra lessons!

But Am clearly had confidence…

Originally, Nidorino hadn’t planned to agree immediately, wanting to ponder a bit longer, but Misty’s reasoning provoked him instead!

“Nidor, Nidor!” Nidorino, full of fighting spirit, nudged Am with everything but its horn, signaling its determination to become stronger.