Pokémon: Virus Evolution

"Treecko~" Treecko stirred slightly, letting out a weak cry, though its spirit had noticeably improved.

"A miracle..." The doctor gazed at the recovering Treecko in astonishment.

As a medical specialist, he had keenly observed that the toxins infiltrating Treecko's internal organs had suddenly lost their potency, ceasing their destructive effect. This unexpected turn significantly lowered the difficulty of treatment.

Earlier, he had realized that due to the prolonged exposure to the poison, conventional antidotes were no longer effective. However, he also knew that if the poisoning issue wasn't resolved, no amount of life-support measures would prevent Treecko's organs from eventually failing.

Yet, he had no explanation for why the toxins had suddenly become inert.

Could this Pokémon possess an unusual constitution capable of neutralizing toxins on its own? His eyes flickered with curiosity. Compared to humans, Pokémon still held countless secrets yet to be unraveled…

What he didn't know was that the toxins had been entirely devoured by another virus.

After treating Treecko's wounds, the doctor placed it inside a healing chamber.

This chamber, made of the same material as Poké Balls, could nourish the Pokémon within, accelerating their recovery.

Once Treecko was settled, the doctor extracted a small sample of its yellow-green, chlorophyll-rich blood using a syringe and stored it in a specialized anticoagulant vial before stepping out of the room.

Grass-type Pokémon possessed remarkable vitality, capable of healing minor injuries even through photosynthesis. Now that the toxins had been purged, Treecko's internal organs had begun their self-repair process, making the remaining treatment for external wounds relatively straightforward. With the crisis averted, Treecko had fallen into a deep sleep within the healing chamber.

Inside its body, Lucius had successfully completed his battle against the toxins.

Victory. A complete triumph.

Lucius let out a deep, nonexistent breath of relief.

This was the most challenging yet exhilarating parasitic infection he had experienced since crossing into this world.

Moreover, he had been so engrossed in commanding his viral forces that he hadn't even noticed the system notifications:

[Warning: Encountered an unknown virus.]

[Devouring unidentified virus... Analysis progress: 1%.]

[Devouring unidentified virus... Analysis progress: 50%.]

[Devouring unidentified virus... Analysis progress: 80%.]

[Unknown virus analysis complete. Evolution pathway unlocked.]

[Congratulations, host has achieved 100% infection of the host body. Evolution status updated.]

[Treecko's 'Overgrow' Ability has been analyzed. Virus evolution progress increased by 10%. Adaptability has been raised by one level.]

[Progenitor Virus evolution progress: 100%. Progenitor Virus upgraded to Lv2.]

[Congratulations, host has completed the mission 'Upgrade the Progenitor Virus to Lv2.' Base vitality increased by 20%.]

[Congratulations, host has leveled up. New skill unlocked.]

Hmm… This battle was grueling, but the rewards were well worth it.

Scanning through the accumulated notifications, Lucius felt a surge of excitement.

His attention shifted to the system data:

Host: Lucius

Virus Type: Progenitor Virus

Host Infected: 1/1 (Treecko)

Level: Lv2

Vitality: 382/382 (132 base vitality, 250 host enhancement bonus)

Adaptability: Level 2 (Can survive in a host for 24 hours under stable conditions; can remain within host indefinitely; improved resistance to arid environments)

Evolution Progress: 7%

Abilities:

Increases host brain activity by 23% (Exceeding host limits may result in mental collapse or unpredictable mutations).

Enhances host cellular activity by 19% (Exceeding host limits may cause host collapse or unpredictable mutations).

Strengthens host muscle resilience by 14% (Exceeding host limits may cause host collapse or unpredictable mutations).

Boosts host energy tolerance by 11% (Exceeding host limits may cause host collapse or unpredictable mutations).

Active Skill:

Venomous Plague – Inflicts 10-50 HP damage per second to the host based on infection severity.

Mission:

Infect 20 lifeforms (Progress: 3/20).

Available Evolution Pathway:

Progenitor Virus – Toxic Spikes Form (Secretes lethal toxins that degrade host cells; +10% parasitic efficiency against Poison-type beings).

Lucius rubbed his "chin" and fell into deep thought.

Beyond the previous attribute enhancements, he had also unlocked a new active skill.

Venomous Plague—a skill that directly harmed the host.

Currently, this was his only ability capable of directly attacking his host. In other words, if he wished, he could now drain Treecko's HP by 10-50 points per second. Given his 100% infection rate, it would likely be at the maximum 50 HP per second.

The last human host, Kuran, had around 200 HP, meaning Lucius could have killed him in just 5 to 20 seconds.

Damn… That's powerful. Lucius took an imaginary sharp breath.

As a virus, he was finally developing lethal capabilities instead of just enhancing his host like some sort of beneficial probiotic.

That… should be a good thing, right?

His gaze returned to the notifications. His current evolution progress stood at 7%.

This meant that after fully analyzing Treecko's 'Overgrow' Ability and receiving the system's reward of 10% evolution progress, he had reached Lv2. The completion of Treecko's genetic analysis alone had contributed 97%.

Subtracting the previous 10% evolution boost from analyzing Serene Grace, the genetic evolution progress gained from one human and two Pokémon hosts amounted to 87%.

His ability upgrades collectively accounted for 67%, meaning unlocking Venomous Plague had consumed 20% of his evolution progress.

Additionally, the system had unlocked the Toxic Spikes Form, likely due to the unknown virus he had recently devoured.

Based on its description, this evolution clearly aimed to increase lethality…

'System, what are the conditions for evolution?' Lucius inquired internally.

[Evolution points can be obtained through missions.]

'What kind of missions grant evolution points?'

[Host must evolve the Progenitor Virus into the Tyrant Virus to unlock partial system information.]

Liar. If I've already evolved into the Tyrant Virus, why would I even need to ask about evolution points…

Setting aside his frustration with the system, Lucius continued his analysis.

His previous mission to upgrade the Progenitor Virus had been completed. The new objective was to infect 20 lifeforms, which seemed to refer specifically to humans or Pokémon. Otherwise, the numerous microbes, parasites, and bacteria he had consumed during his infections would have already completed the task.

Not to mention the toxins he had neutralized inside Treecko…

With that in mind, Lucius decided to examine his current host's stats:

Host Pokémon: Treecko

Species: Wood Gecko Pokémon

Type: Grass

Ability: Overgrow

HP: 298 (250 base, 48 Progenitor Virus bonus)

Attack: 41 (36 base, 5 Progenitor Virus bonus)

Defense: 35 (31 base, 4 Progenitor Virus bonus)

Special Attack: 62 (50 base, 12 Progenitor Virus bonus)

Special Defense: 48 (43 base, 5 Progenitor Virus bonus)

Speed: 54

Role: Trainer's Pokémon

Moves: Pound, Mega Drain, Pursuit, Double Kick, Leaf Blade

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