Compared to its previous form, Porygon2 had actually shrunk by about two sizes.
It looked far more polished and refined, like a high-end piece of industrial design.
But more important than its physical appearance was its internal hardware. Its evolution had granted it a significantly more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence.
Simply put, it had leveled up in three core areas: Learning, Emotion, and Reasoning.
It had taken a massive leap toward becoming a complete living soul.
Even its gaze had sharpened. The expressions flitting across its digital face were now remarkably human, no longer possessing that vacant, "blank slate" stare it had before.
It was a stark contrast to a certain "Husky-Dragon" whose brain seemed to shrink with every evolution.
"Ooh! The Virtual Pokémon, Porygon2! Congratulations, congratulations!"
Wattson and Watt clapped in unison.
The old man stroked his beard, a warm smile tugging at his lips.
"Hahaha! This brings back memories! I remember when Dr. Akihabara and I were discussing Porygon; he showed me the blueprints for Porygon2 as well. Even then, I thought it was a magnificent Pokémon".
"Hm?"
"Pory?"
Kashiwagi and the newly evolved Porygon2 turned to look at him simultaneously.
"Hahaha!" Wattson laughed, as if reading their minds.
"In my eyes, Porygon2 is easily on par with Rotom. But as an Electric-type Gym Leader, I have a personal bias toward Electric types."
"Plus, back then, a swarm of wild Rotom happened to be causing chaos in people's home appliances. I figured instead of just chasing them away, I'd catch them and put them to work for the citizens of Mauville—sort of a community service penance for their mischief."
Personal preference plus... a coincidence, huh? Kashiwagi thought.
The timing of those Rotom—arriving exactly when Akihabara and Wattson were about to collaborate—was almost too convenient.
It was hard to believe it wasn't intentional. But then again, the world is full of such dramatic ironies.
There was no point in dwelling on it now.
Kashiwagi looked at Porygon2. It had a look of sudden realization, as if a long-standing riddle had finally been solved—but that was it.
There was no lingering resentment, no complex "what-if" emotions regarding the twist of fate.
Before evolving, it cared so much... Kashiwagi mused. Now that its IQ has jumped, have its pursuits changed too?
Wattson broke the silence.
"Since Porygon2 has finished evolving, you should head to the Pokémon Center for a full recovery! I have other challengers waiting for their appointments! Farewell!"
The old man zoomed off with his usual gust of energy, Watt nodding politely before scurrying after him. It felt like a cutscene ending.
Kashiwagi watched them go, then suddenly let out a sharp grunt.
"Ungh!"
"Pory?" Porygon2 looked up with genuine concern.
"I'm fine. A certain big monster just reverted to normal."
He rubbed his temples and pulled out his phone to stop the timer.
From the moment Mega Evolution began to the moment it automatically timed out inside the Poké Ball, the limit was currently 34 minutes and 42 seconds.
Two weeks ago, they couldn't even hold the form for a minute. Including the time spent resting in the ball, Aggron could now sustain the state for over half an hour. The growth was undeniable.
In truth, Kashiwagi's understanding of Mega Evolution was still in its infancy. There was so much more power to tap into.
Increasing the duration was only the first step.
"Pory!"
Porygon2's cry snapped him out of his thoughts. He watched as the Pokémon poked its head into his pocket, then dissolved into a stream of data that vanished into his phone.
"Huh?"
Kashiwagi reached into his pocket—the Eviolite was gone. His phone's Pokédex automatically flicked to the Pokémon Status page.
As a piece of high-tech gear co-developed by researchers like Professor Westwood, the Pokédex did more than just list levels and moves. It could estimate a Pokémon's base stats, showing them as directional arrows on a hexagonal graph.
Porygon2's stats had skyrocketed. Kashiwagi recalled that Porygon's base total was under 400; Porygon2's was now well over 500.
In the world of competitive stats, a 100-point jump is the difference between "unusable" and "top-tier meta."
In the Move List, two new entries had appeared: Magic Coat and Hidden Power.
Magic Coat allowed Porygon2 to reflect status moves back at the user. If an opponent tried to use Will-O-Wisp, they'd be the ones ending up with a burn. As for Hidden Power...
A window popped up—a notification from Porygon2.
"Hidden Power:Ground..."
Kashiwagi chuckled. The little guy had noticed him worrying about Aggron and "forcefully" redirected his attention, showing off just how powerful it had become after evolving.
It seems that the honest, unassuming "outsider" Porygon is gone for good... That bittersweet feeling of a child hitting their rebellious teenage years is really hitting home.
But this is the ultimate proof of synchronized growth.
Gaining raw power without the intellect to wield it is never a good thing.
No wonder Dr. Akihabara's assistant insisted on a high trust level before evolving; the personality shift is night and day.
Were those Porygon2 units sent out to capture Prototype Zero all at six hearts of trust? Probably.
Kashiwagi wasn't about to be stingy with his praise. He whispered to the phone:
"Looking at things now, you might actually be the most durable member of the entire team."
"P-pory!" A delighted chirp immediately rang out from the device.
He wasn't joking. Aggron, Steelix, and Blissey were all specialists—either extreme Physical tanks or extreme Special sponges.
Corsola had great dual defenses but was held back by her overall stamina. Ghost-types were generally glass cannons.
Milotic was a close contender, but as a final evolution, she couldn't benefit from the Eviolite, leaving her a step behind the boosted Porygon2.
The same applied to Hydreigon.
Mawile... well, Mawile was the only one on the team who couldn't take a hit, but that was fine; her job was pure destruction.
Once Porygon2's level caught up, combined with the sustainability of Recover, it would undoubtedly become the ultimate anchor.
It looked like a harmless toy, but the opponent's face would be priceless when they realized they couldn't even leave a scratch on it.
"Let's go. To the Pokémon Center," Kashiwagi said.
"Pory!"
Evolution doesn't magically heal all wounds—in the anime, just like the games, the physical damage and energy depletion remain.
....
Soon, they arrived at the Pokémon Center. He handed Aggron and Porygon2 over to Nurse Joy and found a seat to reflect on the battle.
The gym match highlighted a clear trend: his team relied heavily on Porygon's Trick Room to secure the initiative. Without that distorted space, someone like Mega Aggron could pressure an opponent like Manectric all day but struggle to land a finishing blow.
The reason was simple: Speed. If High Horsepower had been fast enough to hit before Manectric could trigger Protect, the match would have ended much sooner.
Kashiwagi's current roster leaned heavily toward the mid-to-low speed tiers. If he remembered correctly, he didn't have a single Pokémon with a base speed over 100.
While Trick Room was a solution, finding the window to set it up in a 1v1 singles match was much harder than in doubles.
Maybe the next capture should be a speedster, he thought.
His gaze fell on the Simulator's Reward Clues. He hadn't used one in a long time, partly because the current team was still growing, and partly because he was wary of the uncertainty.
Everyone has preferences; he didn't want to be stuck "force-feeding" a Pokémon he didn't actually like.
But now that Porygon2 had evolved, he decided that once the situation in Mauville was settled, he'd head back to the Dragon's Den to use a clue.
It would be the perfect place to train his Dragon Heart—that intense desire to understand and love all Dragon-types.
"Happy~!"
Blissey chirped happily as she brought his healed Pokémon back to him.
"Thanks, Blissey."
Kashiwagi recalled Aggron and let Porygon2 hover beside him. He needed to head to Dr. Nasu's lab to check on the status of Unit Zero and see if it had been captured.
Plus, he wanted to show the evolved Porygon2 to Dr. Akihabara. Who knows? The great inventor might just have a special "graduation gift" for them.
.....
"Dr. Akihabara is gone?"
Kashiwagi stared blankly at Inamura, the research assistant.
Inamura nodded. "Yeah. He said Prototype Zero escaped through the network into the neighboring Slateport City. He had to give chase immediately."
"This..."
Kashiwagi exchanged a look with Porygon2, both of them momentarily speechless.
To be honest, Kashiwagi had mentally prepared himself for a long, drawn-out war of attrition. He'd imagined scenarios where Unit 1 and the other Porygon2 units were turned against them by the rogue AI.
He pictured himself—fresh off his victory at the Mauville Gym—leading a counter-charge with a swarm of Rotom and his newly evolved partner to save the day and finally capture the glitch.
The script was written! Unit Zero, where are you?!
You're not even in Mauville's network anymore!
Kashiwagi thought that if he were Ash Ketchum, that epic plotline probably would have triggered.
Unfortunately, he wasn't... This was a classic case of "all bark and no bite."
Sigh.....
Thinking back, Unit Zero probably just happened to encounter Porygon last night while searching for a specific target. Thinking Dr. Akihabara was closing in, it sent out a phantom projection to test the waters.
When Porygon fled, the AI assumed it went to call for backup, so it hacked the surveillance cameras all the way to New Mauville—only to realize Porygon wasn't looking for the Doctor, but was just with a random Trainer.
And then it just... bailed?
Kashiwagi spent ten seconds theorizing. Whether he was right or not was anyone's guess; he'd have to ask Zero itself to be sure.
"Thanks for letting me know..."
He nodded to Inamura, preparing to leave with a slightly disappointed Porygon2.
While the Pokémon hadn't imagined a grand action movie scenario like its Trainer, it had hoped for a word of praise from its creator.
After working so hard to evolve, it wanted to show off its "homecoming" success.
"Ah! Wait! I almost forgot! My apologies!" Inamura suddenly called out. He ran into another room and returned with a square, silver-grey hard drive.
"Dr. Akihabara said if you showed up, I should give this to you."
"Did the Doctor mention what's on it?" Kashiwagi asked, taking the drive.
Inamura shook his head.
"I'm not sure... he didn't tell me, just said to make sure you got it."
"Alright then."
Kashiwagi gave a polite nod and left the institute with Porygon2. Once outside, he looked at the drive.
"Do you think this is a 'Dubious Disc' to make you evolve into Porygon-Z? I remember the Doctor saying he'd been tweaking the patches... and he did bring out Unit 0 this time..."
Porygon2 shook its head decisively.
"Pory!"
"Eh? Why not?"
[Because given the Doctor's personality, he wouldn't just hand over something that important and dangerous without a word. He'd definitely give it to you in person and lecture you on every safety protocol first.]
Porygon2 spoke through the phone's speakers. Back when it was a Porygon, it usually communicated via text—a method that wasn't hard, just tedious.
The evolution had granted it much higher processing power; in its own words, its "graphics card and CPU" had received a massive upgrade. Tasks that used to be a chore were now effortless.
Reading a hard drive was child's play now—it didn't even need a computer.
Porygon2 hopped out of the phone. A long, thin slot manifested on its chest, perfectly sized for the drive.
"Pory!"
"Whoa! You have a built-in port?"
Kashiwagi was stunned. In response, Porygon2 began manifesting various ports across its smooth surface: USB, DisplayPort, a disc drive, and several slots Kashiwagi didn't even recognize.
It even turned its tail into a multi-functional plug for direct hardware connection.
Of course, for a digital being that could simply "hack" into data as a ghost in the machine, physical plugs were only for extreme cases or hardware that blocked wireless entry.
Still, it was impressive—you certainly didn't see these "quality of life" features in the games.
"Pory!"
Porygon2 chirped proudly. It was still discovering the new features its upgraded "hardware" provided.
Once the drive was inserted, Porygon2 dissolved back into a stream of data—a mix of sonic, electric, and light waves—and zipped back into the phone.
"Even the physical hard drive turned into a digital stream..."
Kashiwagi muttered, completely baffled by the physics of turning matter into data.
On the phone screen, a notification popped up.
[Specialized Porygon-version of the move 'Substitute': 'Multi-Tasking'? It allows the Substitute to possess the same consciousness as the original, use moves, and achieve a true one-into-two split... ]
Hiss! Holy Miltank!
Kashiwagi stared at the text, sucking in a breath of cold air.