There is not much that needs to be said about the skill of camouflage. Among Aoki's Pokémon, Florges has mastered this ability to an impressive degree. She can alter her attributes based on the environment and surroundings she finds herself in. Florges has achieved such mastery that even without grassy fields or vegetation to assist her, she can still convert her typing to Grass-type. This allows Aoki to utilize Florges as if she were a true Grass-type Pokémon.
When transformed into a Grass-type, the moves Florges uses are nearly indistinguishable from those of an actual Grass-type Pokémon. All of this is made possible through the clever application of camouflage. If combined with the Adaptability ability, it becomes an overwhelmingly powerful combination. Not only does it allow moves to achieve their full intended effects, but it also doubles their power—a result that cannot be underestimated.
If this Dragalge could learn moves of other types and freely control its own type-shifting, then in simple terms, such a Pokémon would have almost no weaknesses. Every attack it uses would be twice as strong as normal. This would be the perfect synergy of abilities.
If Aoki could obtain a Pokémon with the Adaptability ability and have Gengar perform a trait swap, he could grant Florges this same effect. Even without the use of camouflage, the Adaptability ability would still be immensely beneficial for any Pokémon.
However, there was one major issue—according to the system scan, this Dragalge was extremely old and likely didn't have much time left. Only its Dragon typing had allowed it to survive for so long.
As Aoki locked eyes with the Dragalge, he quickly processed all of this information in his mind. This Dragalge was valuable—far more valuable than the Golbats or the Crobat that had been made from it. They had failed to utilize it to its fullest potential.
After a moment of hesitation, Aoki decided to attempt communication first. Using his psychic powers, he reached out to the ancient Dragalge.
"Hello, Dragalge. I am Aoki," he transmitted through Telepathy. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ noveⅼfire.net
A long pause stretched between them.
Finally, the Dragalge slowly uttered a single word:
Its voice was rough, as if it hadn't spoken in decades. Its communication skills had clearly deteriorated from disuse.
Unsure how to proceed, Aoki decided to ask directly—who had done this to it?
But the Dragalge did not answer. Instead, a ripple of emotion flickered in its otherwise calm eyes before it slowly closed them, as if unwilling to revisit painful memories.
Aoki could sense the bitterness in its heart.
No matter how fierce a Pokémon's temperament might be, being chained to a pillar for decades—or even centuries—while having its energy constantly drained was a torture beyond comprehension. Just imagining it was agonizing.
All of its edges had been worn away by time.
The Dragalge could barely remember why it had been imprisoned in the first place. Vague memories suggested it had led its kind in ravaging the seas, angering someone who should not have been crossed. Instead of killing it, they had imprisoned it.
But the Dragalge no longer remembered its captor's face.
In the first ten years of its imprisonment, it had been filled with hatred, struggling desperately to break free and seek vengeance.
By the twentieth year, it no longer cared for revenge—it simply wanted to see the ocean again, to check on its kin.
By the thirtieth year, it had given up hope entirely, wishing only for death.
Yet fate had played a cruel joke. Its Dragon typing, which granted it immense longevity, became its greatest curse. Even as its energy was constantly drained, it could not die quickly.
As the years dragged on, it stopped paying attention to the Pokémon that fluttered around it. They stared at it like hunters eyeing trapped prey, too afraid to approach directly, slowly siphoning its energy instead.
Eventually, the strongest among them—the Crobat—reached Champion-level strength after absorbing enough of its power.
When the Dragalge thought it would finally be put out of its misery, the Crobat still hesitated, too afraid to strike the final blow.
From that moment, the Dragalge stopped thinking altogether.
Now, the Dragalge let its memories flow freely, making no effort to hide or disguise them. It was showing Aoki its entire history.
Aoki stood motionless, observing.
The system scan revealed that while most of the Dragalge's Poison energy had been drained, its Dragon energy remained untouched. No one knew why its captors had only absorbed its Poison typing, but now, this made it an invaluable resource for any Dragon-type Pokémon seeking to purify their own energy.
The Dragalge seemed to sense Aoki's thoughts. It made no move to resist. Instead, it gave the faintest shake of its head—a gesture it hadn't made in countless years.
"Slowking," Aoki said after a long silence, "break the chains."
Though Slowking was surprised by the order, it obeyed without hesitation. Its psychic energy sharpened into a blade and sliced through the chains with a single strike.
Perhaps the chains could only absorb Poison energy, or perhaps Slowking's Champion-level strength was simply too much for them. Either way, they shattered instantly.
The Dragalge collapsed, its expression one of shock. Slowking's psychic power caught it before it could hit the ground, floating it gently before Aoki.
Despite its weakened state, the system scan still registered it at level 60. Pupitar could likely defeat it in a battle now. But the fact that it retained such strength after centuries of energy drainage was a testament to the immense Dragon power still within it.
Aoki took out a Poké Ball and pressed it against the Dragalge's head. A red light engulfed it.
Too weak to resist, it was captured instantly.
"Your worth is far greater than you realize," Aoki murmured to the Poké Ball.
Because in his eyes, this Dragalge's value was not something to be used up in a single moment.
A Dragalge that had once surpassed Champion-level was not so easily diminished, even after losing its former glory.