Pokémon: Starting From Zero as a Legendary Pokémon

"You both did very well."

Sora reached out, patting the heads of the two Pokémon on either side of him.

"Lilligant, you integrated V's power much better this time. You've improved a lot compared to before."

"And Ponpon—"

He turned to Ogerpon.

"Your strength completely exceeded my expectations."

As always, reality wasn't a game.

In Sora's view, many Pokémon abilities carried rule-like properties—almost like natural laws.

Simply put, they involved both mechanics and numerical scaling.

Abilities such as immunity to Fire-type moves or absorbing Water-type attacks to restore stamina belonged to the mechanics system.

But during his two years of observation, Sora had noticed something important:

Even so-called immunity varied significantly from individual to individual.

Take Fire-type immunity as an example.

A Pokémon might neutralize the Fire-type energy within a move—but the extreme heat generated by the attack itself could still exceed the body's tolerance.

Once the heat damaged the body, it was like cracking an invisible shield.

After that, the remaining elemental energy could penetrate.

In other words:

Every Pokémon's "immunity" depended heavily on body condition, physical resilience, and current limits.

The same principle applied to Ogerpon's Defiant ability.

The boost it provided was far stronger than what ordinary Pokémon could achieve.

Consider moves like Dragon Dance and Swords Dance.

Dragon Dance

Effect: Raises Attack and Speed by 1 stage each (≈ +50%)

Swords Dance

Effect: Raises Attack by 2 stages (≈ +100%)

Everyone knew that in games, stat boosts capped at 6 stages, turning an original Attack value of 100 into roughly 400.

A 300% increase.

In reality, that level of enhancement was already outrageous—like activating a quadruple power-up in a martial arts story.

But that was only theory.

Pokémon were living beings.

Their bodies had limits.

Six stages was merely an average ceiling.

Based on Sora's observation, during the fight with Lilligant, Ogerpon had triggered Defiant repeatedly.

The final boost she achieved clearly surpassed that theoretical limit.

"At least ten stages," Sora estimated, arriving at a frightening figure.

"In one minute, raising Attack to about 600% of its original value… No wonder she crushed the Loyal Three and even traumatized Pecharunt using just the Teal Mask."

The nickname "Little Kaido of Kitakami" was well deserved.

"And this probably still isn't Ponpon's true limit."

Those ten stages came purely from her ability.

"Ponpon, do you know the move Swords Dance?"

Sora wanted to continue testing while the current buffs were still active.

"Poné!"

Ogerpon nodded immediately.

Pokémon were fascinating creatures.

They didn't literally understand human language—

they intuitively grasped the intent behind it.

She might not know the move's official name, but the moment Sora mentioned it, she understood exactly what he meant.

"Poné~~"

Four translucent green swords appeared around her, then vanished.

Her aura intensified once more.

"It really works."

Sora was genuinely surprised.

Even now, she still hadn't reached her limit.

He also confirmed another insight:

In this world, ability boosts and move-based boosts belonged to separate enhancement systems.

Of course, that didn't mean stacking multipliers endlessly.

A single Swords Dance wouldn't multiply her 600% Attack by another 1.5 times.

"Going from 600% to around 650% would already be extreme."

He looked at her carefully.

"Ponpon, how do you feel? Can you continue?"

"Poné!"

She felt a bit heavier, but she could still push further.

"Alright. Continue then."

He added gently:

"If you start to feel uncomfortable, stop immediately. Understood?"

Following his instructions, Ogerpon performed Swords Dance again.

And again.

And again.

After eight consecutive uses, she finally shook her head, exhausted.

"That's enough."

Sora asked Victini to assess her current condition, then instructed Ogerpon to release all accumulated boosts.

"Poné~~"

The moment the enhancements dissipated, she dropped onto the ground, breathing hard.

The sight tugged at Sora's heart.

But Ogerpon wasn't fragile.

She was tough.

More importantly, discovering her own limits through this process filled her with excitement.

So… I can become this strong?

She looked up at Sora expectantly, waiting for his judgment.

"Eight Swords Dances… that should be eighteen stages of Attack."

He paused.

"No—wait."

Reviewing the data Victini provided, he frowned.

"The first ten stages from Defiant are correct. But the eight Swords Dances only added about 200% total. Shouldn't that be closer to 400%?"

He thought for a moment.

Then the answer clicked.

Ponpon's proficiency with Swords Dance is probably too low.

Stat boosts from moves weren't fixed.

Some elite Pokémon—like Cynthia's Garchomp—could gain the equivalent of four stages of Attack from a single Swords Dance.

Essentially double the normal effect.

And as move mastery increased, execution speed improved too.

A move that normally took two seconds might take 1.5 seconds—or even one second.

That meant in the same time window, Garchomp could perform two enhanced Swords Dances, each twice as effective.

Result:

Maximum offensive enhancement achieved in record time.

With Ogerpon, the situation was the opposite.

Because she hadn't battled regularly for years, her familiarity with the move was limited.

Each of those eight Swords Dances likely produced only half the normal effect.

"No wonder it takes her so long to perform one."

Both efficiency and speed were lagging.

"Well, that's actually normal."

Wild Pokémon often lost to trainer-raised Pokémon for exactly this reason:

Move proficiency.

In contrast, enhancement ceilings were mostly innate.

They were determined by natural potential, not training alone.

Ogerpon's maximum single-stat amplification appeared to be 14 stages—roughly an 800% Attack increase.

All Sora could conclude was:

The true value of a legendary Pokémon never disappointed.

At a fundamental level, they felt like entirely different lifeforms.

The gap was simply enormous.

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Pat reon Advance Chapters: /YonkoSlayer