Essence of the'Mon

This Essence shimmers with 18 different colors (or 19, or 20, or 21, depending on who you ask…), in a beautiful crystalline bottle. Strangely, the cap appears to come from a generic plastic spray bottle. Drinking it or spraying it on yourself grants you the following:

• You are now a Pokémon.

• Your physical appearance is fairly arbitrary, as your abilities are game-ified to varying degrees and don't necessarily match your visuals. You may choose to remain human in appearance, take on the guise of an existing Pokémon, a completely custom species or hybrid/fusion, be optionally anthropomorphic or even a demihuman gijinka. Your size can range anywhere from the smallest Joltik to the Kaiju-sized Eternamax Eternatus.

• You have a BST (Base Stat Total) anywhere from 0 to 500, spread across six categories: Attack, Special Attack, Defense, Special Defense, Health, and Speed. Speed behaves more like "reaction time" and the speed at which you can send out attacks than true movement speed, but the two are intrinsically tied. Having 255 speed means both instant attack speed and the reactions to keep up at this level, but also means you're probably an incredibly fast-moving creature. Attack refers to your physical attacking capability (slashing, bashing, etc, even if not originating from your body), and Special Attack covers "non-standard" types of attack, such as psychic energy or breath weapons. Defense and Special Defense cover your ability to withstand the two types of attack. Health is, of course, your general bulk.

• You technically start as a Level 1 Pokémon, but as you level up you will find your capabilities rapidly eclipsing even the best examples of your species - you level up abnormally quickly, and find that your EVs and IVs can grow and increase as your levels do, beyond even their standard caps. You may grow beyond LVL 100, with the experience needed for each subsequent level still rising, but certainly not impossible to reach.

• You may evolve as you level up (at appropriate levels, wank responsibly), with your BST no longer capping out at 500 - with your first Evolution, your cap increases to 900, and with your second evolution, it reaches the pinnacle at 1350, potentially 255 in each stat, but you can redistribute some stats to beyond 255. Further evolutions beyond this point still allow you to increase your BST, but are mainly to redistribute your stats (more like a form change) as anything beyond 1350 would be… kind of silly.

• Your stats will never rollover back to 0 if they get too high, you aren't exactly following video game logic. They merely become more and more absurd.

• You have an Ability, one of the most defining traits of any Pokémon. Your ability begins as a copy of one ability belonging to any other Pokémon in the game series, but may change in scope and function (we'll get to that!).

• You have one or two Types, one of the other most defining traits of a Pokémon, from the standard list of 18. Stellar, ???, or the quasi-hidden Shadow type from Colosseum/XD are not available to you for now (but Stellar and ??? are not exactly the best types anyway).

• If you chose to become an existing Pokémon, you can still choose any ability and any types you want, potentially reinterpreting the Pokémon's design to account for these changes.

• You instinctively know four (Non-Max, Non-Z) moves from the moment you take this new form, either belonging to the Pokémon you've chosen, or drawn from any other species. They function as they have in any game of your choice, meaning you can take pre-nerf moves from older generations. Tera Starstorm and Colosseum's Shadow moves are currently unavailable to you, like the types.

• You may, upon taking this Essence, choose to be a Shiny, XXS, XXL, or Marked Pokémon, although your coloration and the rest of your physiology is entirely your own decision anyways. You may also choose your egg group(s) and what Pokémon you are "compatible" with. (Including non-Pokémon partners… I won't judge.) Any children resulting from your breeding can inherent whatever traits (IVs, EVs, shinyness, size), moves, or abilities from you or your partner as you desire, and which of the two parent species results from your pairing is also your choice. You may potentially even make your children unique hybrids rather than just one of the two parent species.

• Your Ability grows unlike any other Pokémon's: by actively using your ability, or pushing your limits in some way, you can improve your current ability or even unlock a second, third, fourth ability, etc, to as many additional abilties as you want. As an example: a water type who trains against many electric types could gain Volt Absorb, but also upgrade that ability into something like Lightning Rod or additionally develop Sap Sipper to cover their grass weakness by picking fights with grass types as well. Entirely original abilities or even those from fangames are available to you, should you put in the right effort (remember, responsible wanking).

• Like your ability, your moves and the maximum number of them you can "hold" grows with exercise, generally more easily than your ability. Unlocking more rare moves may require you to practice using "lesser" ones, or observe other creatures using similar moves. You may also develop any move through repeated use to augment its effects or create whole new techniques.

• As you evolve and level up, you may also change your typing, potentially having more than two at a time, naturally using the Shadow/Stellar types, or even creating wholly original types of your own.

• You may receive a Mega Stone inlaid to a piece of jewelry sized to your current Pokémon form, allowing you to Mega Evolve under specific conditions. At first, you will need a powerful bond with another individual to allow them to draw out your Mega Evolution for short periods, (you get a second piece of Mega Jewelry for free, which resizes itself to a partner), but with repeated evolutions you may eventually be able to Mega Evolve by your own will and for extended periods. Mega Evolution allows you to surpass your current limits, and will be incredibly hard on your body, but is well worth the strain.

• You may receive a Z-Crystal inlaid in the same or a similar piece of Pokémon-fitted jewelry as your Mega Stone which allows you to perform Z-Moves. Like the Mega Stone, you may need a partner to perform them for the first time, but afterwards may be able to perform them on your own or even make them a permanent part of your repertoire to use whenever as you wish. You are not limited to one species-specific Z-Move, and with training and effort can replicate those of other Pokémon like you can with your "ordinary" moves, although that level of power will take time.

• You may receive the ability to Dynamax, growing incredibly large and increasing your bulk significantly for a brief period. This does not require a local concentration of Max Particles, like it does in Galar. When Dynamaxed, your standard moves are replaced with Max Moves, which have unique effects depending on the typing and effects of the 'donor' move, generally affecting the whole battlefield as they are significantly larger-scale. With practice Dynamaxing, you may unlock a Gigantamax form, which (on top of your size increase) changes your form and provides you with unique Max Moves based on your 'specialty'. Practice with D-Max and G-Max moves will allow you to add them to your permanent repertoire like Z-Moves, with similar effort in training.

• You may receive a Tera Type, a third typing which you can change yourself into for the duration of a battle. When using a Tera Type identical to a type you already possess, and then using a move of that type, its power is significantly heightened by the extra Same-Type Attack Bonus. You may pick up multiple Tera Types over time to broaden your tactical options even more significantly. Silly hats are not required, if you hate fun.

• Megas, Tera Types, Z-Moves, and Max Moves are not mutually exclusive to you - you could hypothetically use any or all of them at the same time, although you will probably tire out very quickly from the strain of more than one.

• While almost all Pokémon can understand human language, very few can speak verbally back to humans-you may choose to have a similar level of fluency as a Pokémon like Team Rocket's Meowth. You may have a bit of an accent, depending on your physiology.

• All Pokémon use Aura (a general "life force energy") in some ways, given that it seems to be omnipresent in all living things. Like the Lucario line, you may choose to have a particular innate mastery of Aura that allows you to sense emotions, predict attacks, fire off energy blasts, or enhance your physical abilities. The options with Aura are pretty fluid, so this covers a lot of ground.

• While usually the territory of Psychic-types, you may also be able to communicate psychically with other Pokémon and humans, allowing you to talk without needing to speak verbally. This pathway can also lead to further psychic techniques as you train it, such as telekinesis or hypnosis.

• You may receive a Den, an abode perfectly suited for your species and physiology, accessible through a naturally-forming crawlspace or cave entrance that you can summon at a moment's notice from just about anywhere. Being in your Den significantly improves healing and restores all energies over time, be they Z, Dynamax, Mega, or Tera. It is incredibly comfortable for you and others, if a little snug with more people inside.

• While inside your Den, you may choose to keep the doorway open and invite teams of challengers, drawn to the bounty of energy inside. Your Den resizes seemlessly to fit up to six "raiders" and partner Pokémon comfortably, even if you or they Dynamax, and is certifiably bigger on the inside when you need it to be. When 'raiding' your Den, particularly mighty challengers will find plenty of rewards such as Tera Shards, Max Candies, coins, held items, etc, without ever taking from any personal hoard you might keep (as loot items generate spontaneously with each wave of challengers). At your discretion, you can create challengers who do not actually exist in the world outside of the Den, functioning as 'training NPCs' for you to hone your skills against and level up more quickly. They will always be a fair challenge for you to face regardless of how many there are or how strong you get, such that you're always learning something or growing from each encounter.

• When you take this Essence, you may choose to encounter your perfect trainer. The specifics of your relationship with them and exactly how much control they exert over you is entirely your choice- but they will be irrevocably loyal to you and an incredibly competent Pokémon battler, growing in skill as they synchronize with you to become a Master-level trainer in no time. You may choose their appearance and gender as you wish, or allow it to be an enjoyable surprise. When and how they encounter you is also up to you, but can be an equally enjoyable surprise if you want some anime romanticism. You will always know who it is when you do encounter them.

• They may be a Psychic and/or Aura user, potentially growing in strength alongside you to eclipse what most would consider the limit for humans in the Pokémon world.

• You may choose to encounter another member of your species (or any other Pokémon species), with an equal or slightly lesser copy of your ability to grow and evolve indefinitely. Their relationship with you, general appearance, and the circumstances of your encounter are also your choice, but they are the ideal partner for you both in combat and in camaraderie.

• Either (or both) the trainer and the partner Pokémon may be 'canon' Pokémon characters if you so desire.

• Either of them may also be a ridiculously naturally skilled partner in bed, if you're feeling frisky.

• You may choose to exude an aura of exoticism, making you seem not just unique (potentially even capital-L Legendary or capital-M Mythical), but also instilling certain feelings in others, such as awe or fear. In game terms, you probably have your own signature encounter song.

• …This can also subtly influence nearby individuals to find your exoticness attractive, if you need help justifying interspecies relations.

• As a result of the very anime nature of Pokémon, you may choose to have a mild case of Hentai Physics that makes partnerships with other species safe and pleasurable regardless of your size relative to one another. Skittys and Wailords, and all that.

• You cannot be caught by a Pokéball unless you desire it - Pokéballs are comfortable and not the torture that some fans would lead you to believe, but if you'd rather stay free to roam, you may be completely uncatchable. Whether or not you want to break some poor schmuck's Master Ball that they paid several million ₽ for or just gently bat it away is up to you.

• Of course, this is all toggleable, or a sliding scale, adjusting to your liking.

• If you so desire, you may start with a higher or lower BST, and evolve to higher or lower values as well. Just... be responsible.

• You may, at the time of taking this Essence, instead use it to create a Pokémon capable of all of the things above, essentially making you their 'destined trainer'. You may decide your relation to them, and roughly the form they will take, but they are their own entity, even if you choose to make them completely loyal to you.

• Optionally, when you first take this Essence, you may choose to be inserted into a specific or generic Pokémon setting, including fanfiction or fanon media.