The second reason was the practicality of Contrary + Leaf Storm not being as exaggerated as in the games.
In the games, as long as you have PP (Power Points), a Pokémon can use moves indefinitely. But in reality, that's just not possible.
After all, Pokémon are still living creatures albeit ones with special energy. They get tired too.
Take Leaf Storm for example it's a powerful Grass-type move with a base power of 130. Fully unleashing it requires an enormous amount of energy.
Let's use Blaziken as a comparison. A similar move would be Overheat. For the current Blaziken, using a fully-powered Overheat once is enough to completely drain it.
After using such a move, the Pokémon is basically left in a vulnerable state. Even attempting to use it a second time would take a long recovery period.
Otherwise, such powerful elemental moves wouldn't be called "signature finishers" or "trump cards." These kinds of moves are meant to be used only in extreme situations to turn the tide of battle, and are almost never used in regular battles.
Even if Contrary allows a Pokémon to turn the negative stat drops from such a move into stat boosts, it still wouldn't matter if the Pokémon doesn't have the energy to unleash the move in the first place.
Pulling off six Leaf Storms in a row like in the game is completely unrealistic. The move itself is meant to be a hidden trump card, not a routine offensive tool.
If Serperior were truly capable of that, Silas felt it'd be better off just spamming basic attacks instead no need to waste its potential on such inefficient tactics.
The third point comes down to move compatibility.
Snivy and its evolutions can learn Growth (boosts both Attack and Special Attack), Coil (focuses the mind to boost Attack, Defense, and Accuracy), Work Up (raises both Attack and Special Attack), Calm Mind (raises Special Attack and Special Defense), and Swords Dance (a powerful dance that greatly boosts Attack).
But if your Snivy has the Contrary ability, then these kinds of self-buffing moves are essentially permanently locked out.
Silas could just train his future Serperior to be highly proficient in these stat-boosting moves. In battle, it could strengthen itself reliably.
The effects of those moves are no weaker than what Contrary Leaf Storm can provide, and tactically speaking, they're more practical and sustainable.
Leaf Storm can still be held as a trump card for reversal situations.
Of course, this isn't to say that Contrary is useless it's just not as overpowered as it might seem at first glance.
After all, from another perspective, Contrary does have strategic value. It can discourage opponents from lowering your stats with debuffs since doing so would actually strengthen your Pokémon instead.
That alone can limit the opponent's choices.
But Silas believed more in strengthening himself. "What, three Dragon Dances and I still can't one-shot you?" That's more his style.
You can't rely on the opponent being dumb enough to keep throwing status moves at you. No one's that foolish.
Even without the Contrary ability, Serperior could still battle normally. Buffs and debuffs happen to everyone Blaziken fights the same way.
So for all these reasons, Silas was still very satisfied with his cute little Snivy not having the Contrary ability.
And when it came to its moveset, he was even more satisfied.
He had to admit, League-bred Pokémon were just different. In terms of inherited moves, they far outclass wild Pokémon.
In fact, Snivy even had more inherited moves than his Champion-tier Blaziken.
Of course, you couldn't directly compare the two. Different Pokémon had different breeding difficulties. The moves Blaziken inherited were far more troublesome than Snivy's.
Still, Silas was a bit puzzled. Based on his knowledge of breeding and genetics, he could understand inherited moves like Grassy Terrain, Magical Leaf, and Sweet Scent those likely came from Snivy's father being a Roserade.
But the last one—Natural Gift—was confusing. As far as he knew, Roserade shouldn't be able to pass that move down to a Snivy, right?
Was he remembering it wrong? No way…
Well, he decided to shelve that for now. He'd ask the Professor later. Maybe he just hadn't studied enough yet breeding theory wasn't his main area of focus anyway.
Snivy inheriting Grassy Terrain was a huge help in solving Silas' issue with long-term endurance. At the very least, now Snivy had a self-healing method for the wild. A pleasant surprise, to be sure.
While it couldn't be called a proper healer like Chansey, it was still very good.
Of course, he'd expected this all along—otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen a Grass-type starter.
Although terrain-setting moves were rare, for League-bred Grass-type starters, this one was basically standard.
As for Magical Leaf, it did a great job of fixing Snivy's early-game offensive weakness. With a base power of 60 and paired with Leaf Tornado, it was more than enough for early battles.
Not only that, but Magical Leaf was one of the rare few moves that never missed, thanks to its built-in energy lock-on system. That made it very valuable tactically.
As for Sweet Scent and Natural Gift, those were unexpected bonuses.
Silas thought about it—Sweet Scent was fine. It emitted a sweet scent and could be used as a support move. He already had some ideas and strategies for it and planned to experiment in future battles.
But Natural Gift now that was truly unexpected.
After all, that move wasn't normally on a Snivy's learnset. He'd never given it much thought before.
"Could this be useful in breeding techniques?" Silas pondered, recalling the effect of Natural Gift: depending on the held berry, it would produce a corresponding elemental attack.
"But what exactly is the core mechanism of the move? From the name, maybe it works by refining the berry's properties?
Wait, no—the move's condition requires the Pokémon to consume the berry, not just carry it. If you gave Snivy a berry of a different type, it'd probably hurt itself.
But what if we could externalize part of the move's process and apply it outside the body? Would that work?
Natural Gift should use a multiplier of 0.628 times a base value of 30. If you plug that into the Grass-type formula, and calculate using the energy fluctuation values of the most basic Grass-type berry—then…"
Silas furrowed his brows, doing intense mental calculations. His fingers moved in the air, pointing and tapping as if writing equations.
His strange behavior caught the attention of the four Pokémon nearby—Pidgeot, Blaziken, Snivy, and Boldore—all gathered around the large, rock-like Boldore, watching Silas as he leaned on it, whispering to one another.
Pidgeot: (snorting and pointing toward their Trainer) "What do you guys think is up with him?"
Blaziken: (shrugging) "No clue. Maybe he's cramping up again?"
Boldore: (slowly rotating a stone) "Boss is probably thinking about something."
Pidgeot: (snorts again) "I get the feeling he's thinking of some really weird stuff."
Snivy: "Weird stuff? Like what?"
Blaziken: "You know… like tying, binding, and then..."
"Thud!"
Silas landed a swift karate chop on Blaziken's shoulder. "You think I don't exist or something? Talking behind my back and even running over here to do it?"
He scooped up the little Snivy and playfully teased it. "Don't go picking up bad habits from this lot. I don't know where they learned to be like this."
As he said that, he threw a sideways glance at the other three Pokémon.
Pidgeot, Blaziken, and Boldore all smirked inwardly at the same time And you have the nerve to say that?
"Snivy! Snivy!"
Snivy happily chirped in his arms. It felt its Trainer and the senior Pokémon got along really well. The atmosphere reminded it of home, warm and cheerful.
Silas looked down at the adorable little Pokémon, momentarily putting aside his earlier calculations.
No rush anyway. With Snivy's current capabilities, it wasn't ready yet for the advanced use of Natural Gift he'd imagined. The top priority now was still raising its strength.
Being only level 7 wasn't the problem. This little one had just graduated from the baby stage not long ago, and with its Elite Four-level potential and his own training methods, it had all the tools to grow rapidly.
"You've got to become my main Grass-type, little one." Silas gently patted Snivy's head as he held it in his arms.
"Snivy!"
Snivy puffed up proudly—I'm super strong! Just you wait!
Silas smiled, amused as he played with the energetic Snivy. Good thing—it had the perfect temperament for battle.
If it were something like a Chikorita, which was relatively gentle, even if it didn't shy away from fighting and wanted to grow stronger, it still wouldn't have the same drive as Snivy had deep down.
To a large extent, a Pokémon's personality determined how strong it could eventually become.
"Hmph! Half for each means half for each! Gary, I will beat you!"
From a distance, Ash's voice rang out loud and clear.
With Silas's eyesight, he easily saw the two boys fighting over a Poké Ball, which they had split in half and each tucked into their pockets.
This must be their bond, Silas thought with a sigh.
Professor Oak, who'd been dragged outside by his grandson Gary, chuckled as he watched the two kids argue. Then he turned and noticed Silas and the Pokémon beside him.
His eyes lit up, and he walked over.
"Silas, these are your Pokémon, huh? They look great!" Professor Oak said as he approached, pulling a magnifying glass from the pocket of his white lab coat. He inspected each of the Pokémon closely, clicking his tongue in admiration.
"Oh! That Blaziken's growth rate is excellent. And this Boldore its body density looks impressive too."
Gary and Ash, like a pair of curious ducklings, followed right behind Professor Oak, studying the Pokémon up close.
They'd been itching to come over earlier, but they were too busy arguing to do so.
"Big bro, what kind of Pokémon are these?"
Ash tugged on Silas's sleeve, curiously pointing at the cool-looking Blaziken and the towering Boldore.
Even if his grades were poor, Ash still recognized Pidgeot, the final form of Pidgey a common sight in the Kanto region.
But the other two Pokémon were unfamiliar.
"This one's Blaziken—the final evolution of Torchic. Super cool!
And that one's Boldore—evolves from Roggenrola. Also really strong!
Ash, these were all covered in class. How do you not know this? Were you asleep in every lesson?"
Gary puffed up proudly as he lectured Ash, clearly enjoying his moment. But to Silas, it was nothing short of hilarious.
Ash's face turned beet red. "Shut up, Gary! I was just asking, that's all"
....
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