Lin Fan looked at the Weedle for a long time, but ultimately gave up on the idea.
According to his memory, there should be no difference between male and female Weedle, and while he was curious how they would reproduce in that case, it was clear the Weedle couldn't perform self-division on the spot.
Lin Fan's gaze returned to the panel, staring at the characteristic column, deep in thought.
"Escape (characteristic)... a hidden characteristic. After evolving into a Beedrill, it becomes the Sniper, which isn't bad."
The Sniper: when a critical hit lands, the damage is 1.5 times the normal critical hit damage, meaning the damage becomes 2.25 times that of a non-critical hit.
However, this is a description from the game; in reality, there isn't such precise damage calculation.
According to Lin Fan's own understanding, a Pokémon with the Sniper is more likely to find an opponent's weak points, and its damage increases somewhat after landing a critical hit.
It's worth mentioning that characteristics are something Pokémon need to develop themselves; the deeper the development, the stronger the effect, and vice versa, even to the point of being almost non-existent.
Just like another characteristic—Weedle with Shield Dust evolves into Beedrill, and its characteristic changes to Swarm. When its HP decreases, the power of its Bug-type moves increases. Lin Fan once saw a powerful Trainer online who had developed this characteristic so deeply that he could activate Swarm at full health, and the boost was quite significant, making him very strong.
But comparatively, Lin Fan felt that the Sniper (characteristic)'s potential might be higher.
Because weaknesses, or critical points, have a somewhat ethereal feeling.
Generally, the stronger one's ability, the more weaknesses one can see. So, does such a level of ability exist where any Pokémon is seen as entirely composed of critical points, and every casual attack is a Dire Hit?
If so, does that also mean that after developing Sniper (characteristic) to its extreme, every attack can be judged as a Dire Hit, and then the damage is amplified by the power of the characteristic?
Although somewhat abstract, Lin Fan felt it was not impossible to achieve.
Being able to more easily see through an opponent's weaknesses is a mechanism, and the damage amplification after a critical hit is a numerical value.
Mechanism + Value = Overpowered, it just depends on whether he can utilize it.
Gazing at the Weedle not far away, Lin Fan shook his head helplessly.
"It's too early to think about these things now. First, developing characteristics is something Elite-level and professional Trainers consider. This little guy currently has no tendency to evolve. Instead of thinking about how to develop Sniper (characteristic), it's better to first think about how to use Escape (characteristic) to its fullest."
In the game, Weedle can evolve into Kakuna at Lv. 7, and then into Beedrill at Lv. 9. In reality, it has to wait until the energy inside the Weedle accumulates to a certain extent before it can cocoon and evolve.
Theoretically, the higher the Weedle's talent, the more energy it can store, and the later it evolves.
Evolving later isn't bad either.
Moreover, the later it evolves, the more time Lin Fan has to research the Escape (characteristic).
This is a very abstract characteristic. Its effect is to ignore any effects that prevent escape from the opponent, ensuring successful escape.
The so-called effects that prevent escape refer to things like Mean Look and Arena Trap, which can bind a Pokémon within a certain range.
If such skills or characteristics are not encountered, then Escape (characteristic) is as good as non-existent.
Lin Fan felt he could delve deeper into the efficacy of Escape (characteristic). Since it's called Escape (characteristic), it's quite reasonable for it to boost speed, right?
This guess was not unfounded. When he was at the breeding center, Lin Fan already felt that this Weedle's movement speed was a bit faster than a normal Weedle's. Whether this is truly the case still needs further investigation.
Perhaps a paper could be written. Xia Country provides significant subsidies for this type of research, and such a paper could potentially bring Lin Fan hundreds of thousands in income, which is a huge temptation for him.
Having made up his mind, Lin Fan temporarily set aside the panel and turned to study the Insect Plate.
When the Insect Plate had just acted, he vaguely sensed some information.
The current Plate seems to be only in its initial state, or rather, in a self-sealed state. Its true power has not yet been developed, and it only exhibits the first-stage effect of nourishing Pokémon and accelerating growth.
However, Lin Fan didn't think this was a bad thing. He remembered that in the anime of his previous life, a Heatran went berserk because it couldn't control the power of the Flame Plate.
In other words, Plates are not something just anyone or any Pokémon can control. Self-sealing is actually a good thing for Lin Fan and Weedle right now, because according to the information vaguely emanating from the Insect Plate, as Weedle's strength increases, the Plate's other functions will gradually unlock in the future.
For now, it's better to focus on Weedle's strength growth.
Seeing Lin Fan arrive, Weedle happily ran over, climbed up Lin Fan's pant leg to his shoulder, and affectionately rubbed against Lin Fan's cheek, the previous events long forgotten.
Lin Fan checked the remaining time in the training room and said, "There isn't much time left, let's start the test."
He placed the Weedle in the training area, which had training dummies for testing strength, a track for testing speed, and an automatic ball launcher for testing reaction speed.
As for defensive capabilities, due to concerns that some customers might be overconfident and then demand compensation if their Pokémon were injured, this facility generally did not provide machines for testing defense.
However, these were already enough to test Weedle's strength, as even without testing, it was known that this type of Pokémon had very poor defense.
"Full power Tackle!"
Following Lin Fan's command, Weedle suddenly leaped high and plunged headfirst into the training dummy, piercing a small hole in it.
"Not bad!" Lin Fan's eyes lit up. Being able to pierce a small hole in a wooden training dummy with pure physical strength was already extremely good for a Pokémon in its early stages.
Weedle showed a proud smile. Of course, it had always trained itself well.
"Alright, next is speed." Lin Fan looked at the track. "Let's test endurance too, while we're at it. First, a 100-meter sprint, then a 1000-meter long-distance run."
Weedle nodded, earnestly following Lin Fan's instructions.
Standing on the track, its body slightly hunched, Weedle shot out like an arrow. After landing, it repeated the same motion, hopping forward.
Under Lin Fan's gaze, it reached the finish line in a short amount of time, panting heavily.
"Don't stop, take a few steps, otherwise it'll be worse." Lin Fan cautioned, his eyes flickering slightly.
Weedle was very intelligent, or perhaps it had developed this way of moving under long-term life threats; it was much faster than normal crawling, almost catching up to elementary school children, which surprised Lin Fan.
Otherwise, with Weedle's original crawling method of movement, it would simply be a target for others, only able to be helplessly toyed with.
As for the 1000-meter long-distance run originally intended for testing endurance, Lin Fan looked at Weedle's appearance and gave up on that plan.
It was better not to push the Pokémon too hard; he was afraid Weedle might just faint from exhaustion…
And just by looking at Weedle, he knew its endurance wouldn't be much stronger than its defense.
After a short rest, Weedle recovered its spirits, looking at Lin Fan with bright eyes, clearly ready for the next test.
"Quite diligent." Lin Fan smiled. "Alright, continue the test!"
...
An hour passed, and Lin Fan walked out of the training room with Weedle, a satisfied smile on his face.
Whether it was strength, speed, reaction ability, or skill mastery, Weedle had exceeded Lin Fan's expectations, bringing him great surprise.
Although it sounds a bit dark... a Weedle that could survive alone in the wild was indeed not simple.
Of course, the Plate's enhancement was also very important; it was clear that the transformed Weedle was much stronger than before.
"If a normal Weedle is considered at the bottom among beginner Pokémon, then my Weedle is among the stronger ones in the beginner Pokémon category." Lin Fan muttered to himself when his phone suddenly vibrated, and a message came through.
Likes Lucario: Tomorrow morning at 8 AM, at my family's dojo, Pokémon battle, see you there (●'◡'●)
Lin Fan hesitated, then turned to look at the Weedle comfortably squinting its eyes and enjoying the breeze on his shoulder. A smile appeared on his face, and he replied, "No problem."
He had been quite troubled by Su Ling's challenge at first... Indeed, the strength of one's own Pokémon is a Trainer's greatest confidence.
He looked up at the sky; the sun was already gradually setting in the west.
Having skipped lunch, he was already starving, but the Weedle beside him didn't care, as it was used to being hungry.
"I need to prepare food for Weedle soon too. I still don't know what flavors it likes."
Lin Fan rubbed his chin. Weedle's staple food in the wild was various leaves, but that was when food was scarce.
Since it was with him, it naturally couldn't continue as before, otherwise, people would say he was abusing his Pokémon.
"Let's just make do with dinner tonight. Tomorrow, I'll take you to choose your favorite food, how about it?"
Lin Fan turned his head to ask, and Weedle nodded indifferently.
Food? Enough to eat is fine, leaves are also very good.
Weedle looked at Lin Fan and let out a soft chirp.
What matters isn't what you eat, but who you eat with.