After settling Diancie and Magearna, Aoki once again summoned two Pokémon: Seadra and Vigoroth.
Both of these Pokémon are capable of evolving at any time, and they only truly become effective and undergo a complete transformation after evolving.
Previously, either there wasn't enough time to properly manage them, or they hadn't accumulated enough experience, so the decision was made to temporarily set them aside.
However, this setting aside ended up lasting several months.
Now that Aoki truly has free time, these two long-awaiting Pokémon can finally be arranged and planned for.
First up is Seadra.
As an indispensable member of Aoki's current rain team, Seadra's evolution into Kingdra will cause a qualitative change in the rain team.
Only a rain team with the Swift Swim ability can be considered a true rain team, capable of maximizing the advantages of the rain.
Although Aoki currently primarily uses a sandstorm team centered around Tyranitar and Slowking, to be fair, Slowking is actually more suited to be the second core of a rain team.
This is as previously mentioned: when Psychic-type Pokémon serve as the second or third core, they can achieve their intended effect as long as the right entry point is found.
Therefore, as soon as Seadra evolves into Kingdra, Aoki's rain team can instantly take shape.
Aoki hasn't forgotten that he also serves as the Gym Leader of Verdanturf Town, and the Verdanturf Gym is a Water-type Gym.
Although he ultimately became the Sandstorm Elite Four, he couldn't forget his original identity and responsibilities.
Moreover, everyone now knows that he specializes in and uses sandstorm lineups, so suddenly switching to a rain lineup would undoubtedly catch opponents off guard.
So Aoki directly took out a Dragon Scale, placed it on Seadra's head to stimulate the Dragon-type bloodline hidden within it, and also poured an entire pre-prepared aptitude potion into its mouth.
Seadra was instantly enveloped in evolutionary light, and then, under the influence of the mysterious energy, its body gradually began to change.
This scene made Vigoroth, who couldn't stay still for a moment, scratch its ears and cheeks, almost starting to evolve itself under Seadra's influence.
Fortunately, its willpower had been greatly trained over the years, and it managed to suppress the urge.
The Level 61 Vigoroth, after being captured by Aoki, showed no change in level, and even its strength didn't increase much.
However, its inclusion had a significant impact on all of Aoki's Pokémon.
It taught all of Aoki's Pokémon all the techniques it had mastered—all the techniques related to power, movement, and energy utilization that it had researched due to its inability to level up and its focus on refining actions.
This compensated for the lack of fundamental combat strength in Aoki's Pokémon during their rapid power growth.
Therefore, its addition was extremely important to Aoki.
It was precisely because of this that the condition Aoki had promised when he captured it would be fulfilled today.
After multiple in-depth discussions with Norman, Aoki learned a lot about the situation and status of Pokémon like Vigoroth and Slaking.
First, it can be confirmed that Slaking's Truant ability is an innate characteristic that emerges and transforms after Vigoroth evolves.
This is the biggest characteristic of this Pokémon; among all known Slaking, none have ever been seen able to remove this ability.
Therefore, it is almost impossible to maintain the boundless energy of Vigoroth after evolving.
However, Aoki learned from Norman that there is a way to prevent Slaking from being affected by the Truant ability when it needs to unleash its combat power.
But this requires Vigoroth to have sufficiently strong willpower, allowing it to resist the mental impact of its lazy instinct after resting for a long enough period.
Thereby, it can unleash extraordinary combat power within a special timeframe.
Aoki explained all of this to Vigoroth in detail, and now it still had the right to refuse to evolve.
"This is an Everstone. As long as you hold it, you can maintain your current body, and your strength increase won't cause you to evolve involuntarily anymore. You can freely improve your strength.
And this, this is a special aptitude potion I prepared specifically for you. Compared to the aptitude potions for other Pokémon, the potency of this one is more than three times stronger!
If you choose to evolve, of course, you should do it in one go to reach the limit of what you can achieve. I've analyzed it, and with your willpower, you can handle it!" Aoki said to Vigoroth seriously, placing the two items in front of it, hoping it would make the choice it most desired in its heart.
No matter what it chose, Aoki would support it and strive to improve its strength, helping it become stronger.
As for why it's a three-times potent aptitude potion...
Because, to a certain extent, aptitude potions enhance potential, or aptitude, by stimulating the hidden potential within a Pokémon's body.
All of Aoki's Pokémon use standard-dosed aptitude potions because that is the limit they can tolerate.
It is also because that is the limit their willpower can withstand, so a side effect of aptitude potions is that the Pokémon will be weakened for a period after use.
The duration of this weakness is largely related to the dosage of the potion and the Pokémon's own willpower.
Although Aoki has made multiple adjustments, the side effects have been greatly reduced, but their existence is still undeniable.
Why could Shelgon, after using the aptitude potion and evolving into Salamence, directly Mega Evolve and carry Aoki for long-distance flights?
It's because Salamence can be said to have the strongest willpower among all of Aoki's Pokémon, apart from Vigoroth.
However, Vigoroth's willpower, in Aoki's opinion, combined with the system's analysis, is estimated to be more than three times stronger than Salamence's, so the three-times potent potion Aoki provided is also a conservative measure.
Furthermore, it incorporated a large amount of high-purity energy materials, which can lead to a significant increase in the evolved Vigoroth's strength.
It had been accumulating strength for who knows how many years; even if not thirty or fifty years, certainly a decade or two. A surge in strength would only benefit it, not harm it.
The only thing to be careful about might be needing to calm down and thoroughly familiarize itself with the surging power, but what does Slaking have most after evolving?
Isn't it time?
After listening to Aoki's words, Vigoroth hesitated for a moment but quickly made its choice!
It grabbed the transparent potion emitting a faint glow from the ground and drank it all.
Seeing Vigoroth's action, Aoki smiled.
An Everstone and this special aptitude potion, which took him many days and a large amount of resources to produce, are not even on the same level of value.
Although he said it didn't matter, he secretly hoped Vigoroth would make this choice.
So, people are just so hypocritical; what they say is one thing, and what they think in their hearts is another.
But this is human nature.