"Oh, by the way, your birthday present is in the innermost bedroom. Go get it," Nina reminded him before he left.
"Remember to open it after you get back, okay?" Nina said with a playful smile, looking at Jacob as if hinting at something.
"Ahem... Alright." Hearing those somewhat familiar words, Jacob coughed twice to cover his embarrassment and walked toward the innermost bedroom.
Nina was clearly still bothered by what had happened with Julia that afternoon.
Entering the bedroom, Jacob immediately spotted the birthday present on the bed. It was a beautifully wrapped box that looked rather small.
Although Jacob was curious about what was inside, he suppressed his curiosity, took the gift, and planned to open it when he returned home.
"I'm leaving now," Jacob said.
"Mm, go ahead. I'm going to wash the dishes," Nina replied, then started clearing the dishes from the table.
Jacob watched Nina busying herself, quietly walked up behind her, and wrapped his arms around her slender waist.
"What are you doing... I need to wash the dishes," Nina gently nudged Jacob with her elbow.
"Just let me hold you for one minute, then I'll go," Jacob said softly, holding Nina gently. After waiting a minute, he lightly kissed her cheek before letting go and striding toward the door. "I'm leaving."
"Mm."
...
It was already eleven at night when Jacob arrived in Black Dragon City.
The evening breeze blew through, bringing a cool sensation to the otherwise sweltering Black Dragon City.
Jacob, wearing a Ditto Mask, now appeared as a middle-aged man in his forties.
He walked along the road, checking the rewards for the [Savior] mission.
"Number of people saved: 99%. Rewards issued."
Jacob felt a slight twinge of regret that the number of people saved wasn't 100%, but he had done his best. Under those circumstances, being able to save 99% of the people was already an excellent outcome.
"[Ditto Mask] (Gym Leader level) upgraded to [Ditto Mask] (Champion level)"
"Reward: Technical Machine [Dragon Dance]"
"Reward: Item [Bottle Cap] x6"
"Reward: Item [Power Weight]"
[Bottle Cap]: When used on a Pokémon, one of its Individual Values can be raised to maximum. (In the games, the effect is to give it to the person responsible for Hyper Training, allowing them to perform Hyper Training on a Pokémon that has reached a certain level, raising one stat to its maximum value. In this story, using the Bottle Cap boosts it directly.)
[Power Weight]: A Pokémon holding this item has its Speed halved in battle, but its growth rate doubles.
...
The moment he received these rewards, Jacob immediately had all the Pokémon that could learn Dragon Dance master the move.
Next, regarding the use of the Power Weight and Bottle Cap, Jacob pondered for a long time before finally deciding to give the Power Weight to Shelgon.
This was because Shelgon is a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon with the longest growth cycle. Unlike Drakloak, it didn't have the core energy of the Prison Bottle to accelerate its growth, making its development quite slow. Therefore, Jacob decided to have Shelgon hold the Power Weight to speed up its growth and help it evolve sooner.
Finally, the use of the Bottle Cap was the real challenge, and Jacob found himself wracking his brain.
First, Jacob's system couldn't display the Pokémon's various Individual Values, which made him struggle with deciding which stats to use them on.
Second, six Bottle Cap could be used on a single Pokémon simultaneously, allowing one Pokémon's six IVs to reach their peak—essentially creating a perfect specimen.
Alternatively, they could be used on six different Pokémon for a more balanced improvement across his team.
Because of these two factors, Jacob was conflicted about how to use the Bottle Cap.
After much deliberation, he finally decided to use the six Bottle Cap separately, giving five Bottle Cap to Noivern and one Bottle Cap to Cinderace!
Jacob had his own reasoning for making this decision.
Among all of Jacob's Pokémon, Noivern, Cinderace, and Rotom had the lowest potential, and only these three Pokémon were at the Elite level.
Rotom hadn't hatched yet, so it wasn't a concern for now. The only two Pokémon that needed improvement were Noivern and Cinderace.
Especially the old veteran Noivern, who had paved the way for Jacob's Trainer journey. As the strength of the other Pokémon grew, Noivern had gradually been relegated to a supporting role.
Whether it was the Shiny special attacker Charizard, or the offensive powerhouse Sceptile, Noivern couldn't compete.
Not to mention the team's sole designated ace, the Master level Drakloak.
Moreover, as Fraxure and Shelgon's strength increased, Noivern would eventually be surpassed by them as well.
This was something Jacob couldn't prevent. Even if he tried his best to help Noivern train, other Pokémon were also training hard. When everyone was working diligently, the gap in natural talent was difficult to bridge.
However, Jacob had never forgotten about Noivern. Now that there was an opportunity to help Noivern improve its potential, Jacob naturally wouldn't pass it up. He immediately thought of Noivern.
Not giving up on any Pokémon was Jacob's principle. Once he caught them, he had to be responsible for them.
...
By the time Jacob arrived at the hotel from the airport, it was already 11:50 PM.
Jacob checked in using his disguised identity and booked a luxurious room.
Entering the room, Jacob first released Cinderace, then took out a Bottle Cap.
"Do you want to use a Bottle Cap on Cinderace?"
"Yes."
"Please select one of Cinderace's stats to enhance."
...
Jacob was conflicted once again. Cinderace most needed Speed and Attack, and now he could only enhance one of them, making it difficult for Jacob to choose.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Jacob finally decided to enhance Speed.
"Enhance Speed."
"Speed IV enhancing..."
"Enhancement complete..."
"Cinderace's potential has been raised to Champion level."
...
After its potential was enhanced, Cinderace became very excited, constantly hopping on its two feet, seemingly wanting to vent the surging power within its body.
"Alright, Cinderace, hold on for now. We're in a hotel. You can have a proper battle when we get back," Jacob said with a smile, stroking Cinderace's head.
Jacob comforted Cinderace for a while, gently stroking its soft fur, which carried a hint of warmth and felt as comfortable as a plush toy.
After this, Jacob released Noivern.
Compared to Cinderace's single stat enhancement, Noivern's five stat enhancements were truly a grand gesture.
Jacob was also curious: if enhancing one stat could raise Cinderace's potential from Elite level to Champion level, then following this pattern, could enhancing five stats directly boost Noivern's strength to Legendary Pokémon level?!
Of course, Jacob thought it was unlikely. If it really had such a powerful effect, the system definitely wouldn't be generous enough to reward six at once.
"Do you want to use Bottle Cap x5 on Noivern?"
"Yes."
"Please select five of Noivern's stats to enhance."
"HP, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed."
"HP IV enhancing..."
"Defense IV enhancing..."
"Special Attack IV enhancing..."
"Special Defense IV enhancing..."
"Speed IV enhancing..."
"Enhancement complete..."
"Noivern's potential has been raised to Master level."
...