"No problem at all. First off, Ampharos is different from other Dragon-types—its evolution cycle is really short. Then there's the Dragon typing it gains after Mega Evolution, which gives it resistances to Water, Fire, and Grass. Sure, it picks up a Fairy weakness, but that's absolutely worth the trade."
Tim's eyes lit up the moment he heard that. He stared at Auron eagerly. "Tell me more. I want to hear the details."
Never mind anything else—just the short evolution cycle alone had completely hooked Tim. After all, his Dragonair still hadn't evolved into Dragonite yet.
"Alright." One look at Tim's expression told Auron exactly what had gotten him excited.
Still, Auron didn't mention the other condition for Mega Evolution—friendship level. But if Tim really decided to go with Ampharos, Auron would definitely explain it to him then.
"So, Mega Evolution significantly boosts Special Attack, and also raises Attack, Defense, and other stats somewhat. The tradeoff is that Ampharos's Speed drops a bit."
Tim waved dismissively. "Minor issue. Ampharos isn't fast to begin with. A little slower doesn't matter. What else?"
Auron smiled to himself. The kid had no idea how much difference a few extra Speed points could make—enough to outpace a huge number of Pokémon.
"There's also the Mold Breaker Ability after Mega Evolution. It effectively counters opponents with Lightning Rod."
"On top of that, the stat boosts from Mega Evolution give Ampharos solid bulk. Electric plus Dragon typing means double resistances to Flying, Steel, Water, Fire, and Grass, plus a quadruple resistance to Electric. That makes Mega Ampharos seriously tanky."
"As for offense, the Electric typing can put pressure on Ice-types that threaten Dragon—since Ice and Water have always gone hand in hand. And since Ampharos has potential as a mixed attacker, it can also run Fire Punch to deal with pure Ice-types."
"The downside is that against Dragon's biggest nemesis, Fairy-type, there isn't much Ampharos can do. But you have Dragalge, which can cover that weakness to some extent."
"Also, adding Ampharos to your team gives you another Mega Evolution option. Since Mega Evolution has a cooldown—you basically only get to Mega Evolve one Pokémon per full battle—having more choices is always better."
Tim thought it over carefully before finally looking up at Auron.
"Alright, I'll go with Ampharos."
Auron smiled at him. "You sure you don't want to think about it more? Ampharos isn't necessarily the optimal pick."
Tim shot him a resentful look. "You pulled this last time too. I hesitated, and the Exeggutor egg was gone."
"Fine, fine. If you've decided, then hurry up and pick it. And stop looking at me like that—it's creepy."
Auron shuddered and waved him off, putting some distance between them.
"Hehe, you got it."
Tim grinned and happily scooped up the Mareep egg Auron had picked out.
Pokémon: Mareep
Gender: Female
Type: Electric
Ability: Static (30% chance of paralyzing an opponent on contact.)
Quality: Orange
Base Moves: Tackle, Growl
Egg Moves: Electroweb, Heal Bell, Iron Tail, Signal Beam.
"Hehe, my team's almost complete. Just one more to go."
Watching Tim grin like an idiot, Auron asked curiously, "Are you planning to round out your full team today?"
"Obviously." Tim answered without hesitation—but immediately lost his confidence. "Well, if I'm lucky. If not, then whatever."
"Alright." Auron nodded, then looked at the others. "You all thinking the same thing?"
Lucas chuckled happily. "If we can, that'd be great."
Auron nodded, then turned to Serena.
"I still want the really pretty one you mentioned."
"Sure. We'll look around, and if we can't find one here, we'll head over to my mom's shop. She's got a few."
Serena's face flushed red the instant she heard that, her mind clearly going somewhere else. "Huh? We're going to your mom's place too?"
But Auron had already turned away, looking toward Simon and Lena.
Seeing that Auron wasn't paying her any attention, Serena rolled her eyes in irritation and cursed internally: *Hmph, my sister was right—you really are completely clueless!*
Auron had no idea what was going through Serena's head. He hadn't even fully caught what she'd just said.
"What about you two?"
Lena glanced at Simon. After Simon nodded, Lena spoke up.
"We'll see how it goes. Ghost-type Pokémon are pretty rare. We don't expect to fill out a whole team today."
After looking around at everyone, Auron finally nodded. "Alright, got it. I'll do my best to find something suitable for each of you, but if I really can't, there's nothing I can do about it."
"But at minimum, everyone gets at least one. Full team battles start next semester, and time waits for no one."
"Works for me."
"Sounds good."
"OK."
"Hehe, I already hit the minimum! The rest is on you, Auron."
Auron shot Tim a cold look. "Fine. But whether or not we find a second Pokémon, I'm eating at Emperor's Flame Sichuan today."
Tim sucked in a sharp breath. "Bro? You're going that hard?"
Auron grinned. "Heh. You're the only rich kid here. Of course we're fleecing you. Right, guys?"
"I agree!"
"No objections."
"Hehe, I'll invite Jace too."
Tim glared at Lucas, who'd spoken last. Damn it—Emperor's Flame was expensive enough already, and now they were adding another person.
Emperor's Flame was the Dragon Kingdom's most upscale Sichuan restaurant. Bar none. The prices were steep, especially here in the capital. Rumor had it that their chefs were regularly called upon to cook for state banquets, so the food was exceptional.
"Fine! No problem—it's just one dinner at Emperor's Flame. My treat!"
In the end, Tim gritted his teeth and accepted. It wasn't that big a deal. Just a month's allowance, that's all.
"Haha, perfect. Now that you've said that, my motivation just skyrocketed. Let's keep looking."
Auron laughed and clapped Tim on the shoulder before swaggering ahead to continue browsing.
Normally, Jace was right there to act as the shield. Now that Jace happened to be absent, how could Auron possibly pass up the chance to fleece Tim?
"Hm? Wait—this egg?"
Suddenly, Auron stopped. He stared intently at an egg sitting on the display shelf, its surface marked with brown cloud-like patterns.