Unown A had actually created a Moltres?
Shiro scanned it several times with his psychic power before rubbing his eyes twice to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"Lar..."
The Larvesta in his arms nervously buried its head deeper into his chest.
The Moltres floating overhead looked exactly like a real one. Its body was covered in blazing, flame-like feathers unique to the legendary bird. Although its level was somewhat lower, it had still reached the Master-level.
Just the natural pressure radiating from a Legendary Pokémon, combined with the rising temperature around it, was enough to bring beads of sweat to Shiro's forehead.
But the moment the fake Moltres opened its mouth, the illusion fell apart. 'Hahahaha... As expected of me, A! Turning into a scruffy firebird is easy!'
Moltres A raised its head, flapping its wings repeatedly like a sparrow while letting out a series of bird cries. It quickly landed on the ground, waddling its hips like a big rooster as it walked up to Shiro.
It spread its wings proudly. 'How is it? Pretty awesome, right?'
Resting a hand on his chin, Shiro carefully examined it before asking, "What are the requirements and limitations of this transformation?"
'Umm…' Moltres A tilted its head in thought before transforming once again.
A few seconds later, a majestic Entei stood before him. It opened its mouth and said, 'At least changing into that dumb bird or that dumb dog is super easy!'
"..."
Shiro swept it with his psychic power again and frowned thoughtfully.
Though its appearance had changed, this Entei was still Level 71, just entering the Master-level. That seemed to be the limit for the combined power of the four Unown. Furthermore, they could only transform into relatively weaker Legendary Pokémon like the three Legendary Birds and the three Legendary Beasts.
Even if they possessed the corresponding authority, the authority of the legendary birds and beasts was only mediocre, which clearly failed to meet his expectations.
To call themselves a fragment of the world's origin, and this was all they could do?
'We've never been Pokémon that specialize in combat!' Entei A protested as it bounced around like Growlithe. 'There are only four of us right now. This is already much stronger than before. Back then, even if all our partners gathered together, we'd only…'
It suddenly stopped speaking, then shook its head twice and examined itself with its psychic power. 'Something's wrong... that's not right…'
Shiro asked, "What's wrong exactly?"
'I can feel it…' Entei A muttered. 'Originally, even if all twenty-eight of us gathered together, the strongest Legendary Pokémon we could become would only barely reach the Legendary-level. But now... I feel like twelve partners would be enough, and we might even be able to go all the way to the end.'
"Anything else?" Shiro asked again.
Entei A thought for a while before continuing. 'In the past, if we didn't transform into Pokémon, the four of us didn't really have any other abilities. But now, it seems like we can control certain special things. For example... battle mechanics.'
Shiro frowned. "What do you mean?"
'Things like Mega Evolution,' Entei A explained.
Shiro froze for a moment before instantly understanding.
Battle mechanics referred to Mega Evolution, Dynamax, Z-Moves, and similar powers.
The problem was that each of those mechanics normally required many conditions. For instance, Mega Evolution needed a Mega Stone, a Key Stone, a strong bond between trainer and Pokémon, and it also consumed the trainer's stamina.
Dynamax could only be used in the Galar region because only Galar possessed the abundant Dynamax Energy produced by Eternatus.
As for Z-Moves, they required Z-Crystals. There was no need to think twice about it. Z-Crystals definitely couldn't be obtained through normal means.
"A, are you saying you can temporarily replace the conditions required for Mega Evolution?" Shiro found it somewhat unbelievable. "Even the conditions for Dynamax?"
'That's right.' Entei A nodded.
Shiro immediately took out his Dynamax Band and asked carefully, "Do I still need the band?"
Entei A shook its head. 'You don't need anything.'
Without another word, Shiro put the Dynamax Band away and called Gengar over.
Looking at the strange and powerful canine sitting on the ground, Gengar almost mistook it for a giant Growlithe. Feeling intimidated, it timidly hid behind Shiro, only poking its head out to peek.
Shiro pulled it to the front before extending his arm. Unown A understood immediately. Their coordination was flawless.
The Entei it had transformed into instantly became transparent before disappearing completely in the blink of an eye. While Gengar was still rubbing its eyes in confusion, an identical Dynamax Band suddenly appeared around Shiro's wrist.
Boom!
Crimson light burst from the nearby ground.
"Dynamax!"
With Shiro's shout, countless streams of deep red energy rose from the glowing earth. They coiled around the bewildered Gengar like giant dragons.
In just a few seconds, Gengar rapidly expanded several times over, instantly taking on its Galarian Gigantamax form.
The ground transformed into an enormous crimson pool. Half of Gigantamax Gengar's body was submerged beneath the pool, leaving only its upper half exposed. Yet even that upper half was unimaginably massive. Its enormous open mouth and hill-sized body towered over everything around it.
"Gennngar..."
Closing its mouth, Gengar stared blankly at its companions, who now looked several times smaller than itself. The whole situation felt incredibly strange.
After standing there in shock for a few moments, Shiro quickly waved his hand. "A! Cancel it!"
In an instant, the power rapidly flowed out of Gengar's body. It frantically waved its arms, but its body continued shrinking. Finally, it dropped onto the sand with a thud.
Beside it stood Unown A, leading the other three Unown.
"Not bad." Shiro gave an approving nod.
While the combined strength of the four Unown hadn't reached his expectations, being able to replicate these battle mechanics was already more than enough.
After all, openly using an Entei or Moltres transformation would inevitably attract unwanted attention from those who coveted Legendary Pokémon, while Mega Evolution and Dynamax were much more natural. Among the League's upper ranks, they were no longer considered major secrets.
Taking advantage of the remaining time, Shiro continued running experiments with Unown A, testing various theories and possibilities.
For example, using Mega Evolution and Dynamax at the same time.
Unfortunately, it failed.
The reason was that the two powers couldn't perfectly coexist.
'Our Dynamax is something we imitate,' Unown A said uncertainly. 'If the Mega Evolution also came from us, then using both at once should probably be possible.'
To begin with, no one had ever seriously considered combining Mega Evolution and Dynamax simultaneously.
"Fair enough." Shiro had expected that possibility, so he wasn't too disappointed.
At their current level, the difference between Mega Evolution and Dynamax might not seem especially obvious. But once all of his Pokémon reached even higher levels, everything would change.
Aa things stood, even four or eight Unown combined could only reach the Master-level. On the other hand, if a Master-level Gengar could use both Mega Evolution and Dynamax simultaneously, it might very well step into the Legendary-level. Its combat power would be in an entirely different league.
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