Pokémon: Virus Evolution

No wonder people are more prone to catching colds and falling ill when they are weak—physical health and resistance to viruses are directly proportional.

The more injured a person or Pokémon is, the more susceptible they are to infection.

Lucius could feel it. After Mightyena was wounded, the speed of his own infection accelerated several times over, quickly completing the final stage of erosion.

Level Up.

Host: Lucius

Virus Type: Progenitor Virus

Hosts Infected: 1/2 (Mightyena)

Level: Lv3

Vitality: 632/632 (172 base vitality, 460 vitality boost from host)

Adaptability: Tier 2 (Can survive in host state for 24 hours in a stable environment, can persist long-term within the host, can adapt to drier conditions)

Evolution Progress: 4%

Abilities:

Increases host brain activity by 39%

Enhances host cellular activity by 37%

Strengthens host muscle resilience by 30%

Improves host energy endurance by 22%

Boosts host agility by 16%

Active Skill: Venomous Plague (Inflicts 10-50 vitality damage per second based on infection severity)

Mission: Infect more than 20 life forms (9/20 completed)

Available Evolution Path: Progenitor Virus - Toxic Spikes Form (Secretes toxins that damage host cells; enhances infection rate by 10% on Poison-type beings)

Now at Lv3, Lucius gained an ability that increased the agility of his host. In other words, the Progenitor Virus could now enhance all aspects of a host—vitality, strength, defense, special attack, special defense, and speed. This was undoubtedly beneficial for the host, but it also carried hidden dangers.

Even though "Venomous Plague" was his only skill for now, Lucius never forgot his true nature:

The Progenitor Virus.

A biological weapon that once nearly destroyed an entire civilization in another world.

Strengthening the host was beneficial, but if the host lost control, it would become a monstrously powerful abomination.

As the enhancement ratios increased, so did the risk of collapse and mutation.

Each upgrade notification came with an ominous warning: If enhancements exceed the host's biological limit, it may result in host collapse or unknown mutations.

Lucius' realization didn't come suddenly. The biggest change in this level-up wasn't just the agility boost—it was in the host status:

Hosts Infected: 1/2 (Mightyena)

The number of available hosts had increased.

This meant increased transmissibility.

A virus is most terrifying in three aspects: incubation, transmission, and lethality.

Incubation is a survival strategy. The virus strengthens its host not out of kindness, but to build a more resilient vessel for itself.

The stronger the infected Pokémon, the stronger the virus becomes.

Now, with the level-up to Lv3, even though only one additional host slot had been unlocked, Lucius was certain that as he completed objectives and leveled up, the Progenitor Virus would become increasingly contagious.

In Resident Evil, there were cases where a strain of the Progenitor Virus, the Ouroboros Virus, was launched into the stratosphere via missile to spread through atmospheric circulation, attempting global infection.

For now, Lucius had control over his infections, but what if he later lost that limitation? If the virus became airborne, contact-transmissible, or bloodborne like the T-Virus, wouldn't it trigger an uncontrollable epidemic?

Lethality was the final, inevitable feature of any virus.

In Resident Evil, the T-Virus could enhance cellular regeneration, causing a corpse's cells to continue dividing even after death, leading to undead creatures driven solely by hunger.

Lucius wasn't at that stage yet, but his virus's lethality was already formidable.

Humans in this world had average physical resilience. Based on Nanwu and Mike's condition, Venomous Plague could kill a healthy adult in under ten seconds.

Even Pokémon, though physically tougher, had limited resistance.

Mightyena had already succumbed to severe injuries after suffering from Venomous Plague and multiple attacks. While Lucius was analyzing his evolution options, he received the notification of Mightyena's death.

Though he had transformed into a microorganism, Lucius was far from ignorant. Just from these two system upgrades, he could sense the overwhelming malicious intent behind them.

As a benevolent virus, this is really making my job difficult...

A rush of hurried footsteps approached. Members of Syndicate, now wearing gas masks, finally returned to the chaotic scene at the entrance.

"Damn it, looks like they got away."

"Should we pursue?"

"What for? Fighting outside the base? You want to bring the police down on us?"

"Call the Vermillion Branch, request backup."

"Ugh, all of Sector B's cargo has escaped, and both team captains are dead. This is bad..."

For a moment, everyone fell silent.

Even criminal organizations conducted performance evaluations, and this incident was bound to leave a stain on their personal records.

As they cleaned up the mess, Lucius exited Mightyena's lifeless body and infiltrated a nearby Whirlipede, which lay curled on the ground.

At this moment, nearly all humans and even some Pokémon wore gas masks. Only Poison-types like Seviper, Crobat, and Whirlipede were unprotected.

Heh, you miscalculated. The virus lord specializes in dealing with Poison-types.

Lucius found that infecting Whirlipede was faster than ever.

First, his level-up had made him stronger. Second, he had a transmission speed bonus when infecting Poison-, Bug-, and Ghost-types—Whirlipede was both Poison- and Bug-type, meaning the effect was doubled.

Lastly, he had just analyzed Mightyena's Intimidate ability, gaining a new enhancement:

+30% infection speed against non-leader Pokémon.

This world wasn't a game—Pokémon's power levels only manifested as data within Lucius' system. Humans had no means to quantify a Pokémon's capabilities numerically.

Instead, the Pokémon League had developed evaluation standards based on each species' characteristics, categorizing them into seven ranks:

Pet-Class, Standard-Class, Elite-Class, Leader-Class, King-Class, Legendary-Class, and Mythical-Class.

The weakest, Pet-Class, consisted of Pokémon kept purely as pets, with no combat ability—akin to real-world toy breeds like Poodles or Bichon Frises, mainly kept for companionship, like Misty's early-stage Togepi.

Standard-Class Pokémon had some combat ability and knew a few moves but lacked formal training—most wild Pokémon fell into this category.

Elite-Class Pokémon had undergone structured training, possessed optimized move sets, and had extensive battle experience, surpassing most wild Pokémon.

Many professional trainers, police officers, archaeologists, explorers, and rangers owned Elite-Class Pokémon—Nanwu's strongest Mightyena was at this level.

Leader-Class Pokémon were powerful and highly intelligent, capable of independent combat and mission execution without their trainer, with extensive battle experience.

These were typically a Gym Leader's ace Pokémon or an Elite Four's standard battle partner. Some wild Pokémon also reached this level, such as the Charizard that ruled Charicific Valley.

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