"Oh, it evolved!" Zinnia said enviously.
Since traveling with Gary, she had only seen his Pokémon evolve again and again, while her own hadn't evolved even once.
Vigoroth had been caught by Gary back when it was still a Slakoth, and now it had evolved all the way to its final form.
As the glow of evolution faded, Vigoroth's body continued to grow—quickly surpassing Gary's height by nearly two heads, standing close to two meters tall. Its body became wider, and its arms and legs nearly doubled in size.
When the light faded, what appeared was a Slaking that resembled a cross between a gorilla and a baboon.
After evolving, Slaking wore a perpetually lazy expression. It immediately lay flat on the ground, unwilling to move.
Compared to Norman's Slaking, Gary's Slaking clearly looked purer—more like the classic, wild-type Slaking described in old Pokédex records.
Gary activated the Eye of Insight to examine Slaking's stats.
[Potential: Champion]
[Ability: Truant (After taking an action, must rest for an extended time. The rest period is determined by the Pokémon itself.)]
[Moves: Scratch, Yawn, Slack Off, Headbutt, Amnesia, Slash, Night Slash, Counter, Swagger]
[TMs/Tutor Moves: Dynamic Punch, Ice Punch, Rest, Body Slam, Shadow Claw, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, Hyper Beam, Rock Slide, Power-Up Punch, Thunder Punch, Endeavor]
[Friendship: 255/255 (Max)]
What a luxurious moveset. Even without its Ability, Slaking's raw stats made it a monster. Unfortunately, its Ability held it back.
"Gary, why does Vigoroth become lazy again after evolving? It's just like when it was a Slakoth," Zinnia asked curiously.
She'd never seen a Slaking before, so this drastic personality shift surprised her.
"Just check your Pokédex entry," Gary suggested.
Zinnia immediately pulled out her Pokédex.
Pokédex: "Slaking, the Lazy Pokémon. Known as the laziest Pokémon in the world. If it eats all the food within its reach, it will only move when it needs to find more food."
"Ugh, so lazy!" Zinnia frowned. She didn't know much about Pokémon outside her favorites, but after traveling with Gary, she could tell he wasn't the type to raise weak or lazy Pokémon.
How could someone like Gary raise such a sluggish Pokémon? It didn't make sense.
"Even though Slaking is lazy, its raw stats far surpass Pokémon like Salamence," Gary explained calmly.
"Really? No way!" Zinnia looked skeptical.
Even though she didn't know every Pokémon, she knew Salamence was a pseudo-legendary. It was second only to Legendary Pokémon, and stronger than some Legendaries.
"Alright, time to get to training," Gary said, brushing aside the debate. Slaking's base stats were meaningless if its Ability limited its actions—and there was no way to prove them in battle right now.
Very few people knew that Slaking's total stats surpassed those of pseudo-legendaries. And even those who did know gave up on raising Slaking because of its Truant Ability.
"Okay, I'll go train."
Now that Vigoroth had evolved, Zinnia was eager for her Pokémon to catch up—especially Tyrunt, which she wanted to evolve into Tyrantrum soon.
Her technical-minded Eevee led Zinnia farther away for training.
Since Gary wanted Zinnia to build independence, they usually trained separately. This way, Zinnia's Pokémon could adapt to working on their own.
The main reason, though, was that Gary planned to try strengthening Slaking's Ability. If something unusual happened, it would be easier if Zinnia wasn't nearby asking questions.
Gary turned to face Slaking.
Slaking was lying on the ground motionless, half-opening its eyes, ready to fall asleep at any moment. Its old training gear had been broken during evolution; he'd need to order a new set later.
"I hope this works..." Gary muttered, praying inwardly. If the Ability Strengthening Stone didn't improve Truant significantly, the effort would be wasted.
He walked over, placed his hand on Slaking, and used the Ability Strengthening Stone.
[Ding! Ability Strengthening Stone used successfully.]
Suddenly, the once-lazy Slaking stood upright. Its drowsy expression sharpened into something more majestic—eerily similar to Norman's famously disciplined Slaking.
Gary quickly checked Slaking's data again.
[Potential: Champion]
[Ability: EX Truant (Active for one day, then rests for three days.)]
[Moves: Scratch, Yawn, Slack Off, Headbutt, Amnesia, Slash, Night Slash, Counter, Swagger]
[TMs/Tutor Moves: Dynamic Punch, Ice Punch, Rest, Body Slam, Shadow Claw, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, Solar Beam, Rock Slide, Power-Up Punch, Thunder Punch, Endeavor, Hyper Beam]
[Friendship: 255/255 (Max)]
He had expected a change in the Ability—but what did this mean? Slaking could now battle normally for a whole day, but then it had to rest for three full days afterward? Seriously? The most update n0vels are published on 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
"...Well, I guess it's better than nothing," Gary sighed.
Even though the EX Truant Ability let Slaking act freely for one full day, the three-day cooldown afterward was a huge downside.
No wonder Norman raised so many Slakings.
Gary finally understood Norman's secret: Norman must've found a Slaking with EX Truant and bred it to pass the Ability down. Some of the offspring would inherit EX Truant.
But even then, EX Truant was tricky. With such long rest periods, a Slaking only got to train about one-fourth as much as a normal Pokémon. Its growth rate would be painfully slow.
If Norman only had one Slaking with EX Truant, it couldn't fight back-to-back battles. After one match, it would need three full days of rest before it could battle again.
Gary had Rare Candies, so leveling up wouldn't be a big problem—but Slaking's practical use was still limited.
If he took Slaking to the Ever Grande Conference, it would only be usable on the first day—and then unavailable for the next three. He could only use it again on the fourth day.
"Oh well, it's still usable."
Gary was already imagining how shocked his opponents would be when Slaking hit the battlefield.
With Slaking evolved, only Lairon and Combusken remained to evolve. After that, Gary planned to add a Water-type Pokémon from Hoenn to his team—and his squad for the Ever Grande Conference would finally be complete.