“Did you decide which enhancement option to pick?” Clarissa asked as they got ready for bed at the hotel. “I kind of liked the one that increases a Pokémon's resistance to its weaknesses.”

“Too mild,” Alex said. “At best, it'll let your Charizard sleep comfortably in the rain. Hit her with a garden hose, though, and she'd still wake up.”

Clarissa shrugged. “That kind of quality-of-life improvement goes a long way for her. She gets incredibly cranky whenever it rains, even if the humidity inside is lower than a desert's.”

Most enhancements for Pokémon weren’t anything miraculous, but there was a noticeable difference between Pokémon that had them and those that didn’t. They didn’t raise a Pokémon’s natural stats so much as improve how efficiently its body functioned. Stronger tendons transferred force more effectively, improved lungs delayed fatigue, tougher paw pads increased traction, and protective membranes shielded the eyes from dust and harsh weather. None of it made a Pokémon stronger than its natural limits, only better at reaching and sustaining them.

Whether those improvements were worth the cost depended entirely on the trainer. For a competitive official battle trainer like Clarissa, every bit of advantage mattered, so she would happily pay to enhance everything. Alex, on the other hand, relied on formation battles where teamwork and tactics mattered far more than marginal gains from individual enhancements.

That said, several still interested him. Medical enhancements that optimized a Pokémon's nervous system could shave off its reaction time. Reinforced joints and improved cartilage allowed tighter cornering and reduced the strain from sudden pivots, while more elastic connective tissue increased flexibility, letting a Pokémon recover from awkward positions and maneuver through obstacles with greater ease.

The enhancements Alex valued most, however, were the neural command-and-control modifications. They allowed the brain to receive telepathic commands from trusted Psychic types such as Gardevoir, Espeon, and Metagross with greater speed and clarity, reducing the delay between command and execution even amid the chaos of battle.

The same procedure conditioned the brain to recognize only approved psychic signatures, making it far more resistant to hostile Psychic types attempting to intercept, manipulate, or disrupt his battlefield network. It would prevent a repeat of his battle with Mewtwo, where the Legendary Pokémon had Alex's own team dancing in the palm of its hand while his commander could do little more than struggle for control.

Unfortunately, these four enhancements alone, if applied to all of his Pokémon, would consume more than half of his funds. After all, they were top-of-the-line premium enhancements designed for trainers with at most six main Pokémon, not someone like him with an army.

“You should get them then. Hell, get all of them,” Alex encouraged. “You only have six Pokémon to work with, so you should grab every advantage you can get.”

“You think so?” Clarissa asked, already leaning heavily toward an imminent shopping spree.

“Sure. Otherwise, what use is all that money your parents gave you?”

“Alright,” Clarissa cheered. “I’ll talk to a consultant tomorrow and get everything sorted out. What about you?”

“I’m more interested in a note I saw at one of the stores. Apparently, they require a full-body examination and physiological rebalancing at the Pokémon Center before any enhancement procedure can be attempted.”

The health examination tested for every flaw in the Pokémon's body. Bones misaligned at birth would be corrected. Nutritional deficiencies would be eliminated. Muscle imbalances would be evened out. Old injuries, scar tissue, and improperly healed fractures would be repaired, while organ function, hormone levels, metabolism, and overall physiological efficiency would be recalibrated to peak condition before any enhancement was attempted.

This allowed enhancements to integrate more effectively and perform at their peak, which was why some stores required the procedure before any augmentation could be applied. It was simply good medical practice, but for Alex, it meant far more than that.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Clarissa asked. “The procedure is apparently so comprehensive that Pokémon basically lose all sense of normality. They have to relearn everything from the ground up. How to move, balance, control their strength, regulate their energy flow, everything.”

“In exchange, they receive a comprehensive improvement to their baseline capabilities while correcting issues Vera and Talia might have missed,” Alex pointed out. “No offense to the girls, but the services here are the best money can buy, with guarantees that satisfy even Master ranked trainers. I can only hope they can fix as many hidden flaws in my Pokémon as possible, considering most of them have subpar pedigrees holding them back.”

“I guess we know what we’ll be doing first thing tomorrow, then,” Clarissa said as she flopped onto the bed beside Alex, sinking into the mattress with a contented sigh.

“Yup,” Alex murmured, pulling her into his arms before closing his eyes.

The next morning, the pair entered the Pokémon Center through the non-emergency entrance and found themselves in a grand, open lobby reminiscent of the police station. Gleaming white floors reflected the overhead lights, while spacious waiting areas lined either side of the hall. At the far end, a Master ranked Nurse Joy sat behind the reception desk with an easy smile. Considering the empty lobby, she looked bored.

“Welcome to the Pokémon Center. How can I help you?” she asked brightly. “Do your Pokémon need healing?”

“Something like that,” Alex replied. “We’re new here and figured all our Pokémon should undergo a full-body examination and physiological rebalancing. We want a proper baseline before moving on to augmentations and enhancements.”

Nurse Joy's eyes shifted to Alex, her smile softening with sympathy.

“You seem to need one yourself,” she said with a knowing nod. “Your skeleton is riddled with microfractures, your muscles are hypertrophied from repeated overexertion, and you're looking a little pale. Have you been having too much sex lately?”

Clarissa's face instantly flushed scarlet as she averted her gaze.

“As for you,” Nurse Joy continued, turning to Clarissa, “you've been pushing yourself far too hard in your pursuit of Master rank. Too much stress, not enough sleep, and repeated physical overexertion. Leave it untreated, and it'll develop into a long-term condition. I'd recommend a full examination for you as well.”

“Alright,” Clarissa said with a resigned sigh. “All of us, then.”

“Excellent.” Nurse Joy tapped away at her terminal. “I'll schedule examinations for both of you and all of your Pokémon.”

Over the course of the next month, Alex, Clarissa, and all their Pokémon underwent a battery of tests. From blood work to biopsies, skin care to nutrition, dentistry to vision, hormone regulation to immune health, musculoskeletal alignment to energy circulation, sleep analysis to stress management, microbiome health to parasite and toxin screening, psychiatry to spiritual health, every aspect of their well-being was examined. They were given detailed results and recommended treatments for every issue the specialists uncovered. It was, in every sense of the word, comprehensive.

For the duration of their stay, they were treated to accommodations more befitting a luxury hotel than a hospital. Private suites, plush beds, gourmet meals tailored to each patient's needs, state-of-the-art rehabilitation facilities, and round-the-clock care made recovery surprisingly comfortable. While expensive by ordinary standards, it cost only a fraction of a single premium augmentation, making it well worth the cost.

“Apparently, I’m having too much sex,” Alex said with a chuckle as he sat on his bed.

Clarissa, sitting on the bed beside his in their shared hospital suite, buried her face in her hands.

“Stop teasing me about that already,” she complained.

“I’m not teasing you. Apparently, I need to cut my schedule in half to give my reproductive organs time to ‘reload’. My body has also taken far too much of a constant beating without enough time to heal properly, so I’m scheduled for a lot of reconstructive surgery and physical therapy to fix the damage. My energy pathways apparently aren’t optimized either, so those will need to be realigned. What about you?”

“Too much stress and not enough sleep,” Clarissa replied. “To be fair, it’s really nerve-racking trying to sleep while your Pokémon are going all out to help you reach Master rank. I also rushed through the ranks too quickly, which left parts of my body unbalanced. I need physical therapy to correct that as well.”

It took another two months of therapy, treatments, potions, and a strict diet before the pair and all their Pokémon were finally cleared to leave and begin the training they desperately needed. By the end, their bodies barely felt like their own after being overhauled from the ground up. Physical therapy gradually restored their sense of normalcy, but it had thrown off their fighting forms. Rebuilding them would require formation drills and sparring sessions before they could return to peak condition. Before that, however, they were scheduled for even more procedures.

Both intended for their Pokémon to undergo augmentations and enhancements before resuming their training. After all, the procedures would require another period of readjustment, so it made more sense to get everything out of the way first rather than interrupt their training later.

Clarissa spared no expense, choosing a luxury package that included every enhancement she wanted for her Pokémon and more. Alex, being poor by comparison, could only afford the four enhancements that prioritized reflexes, mobility, flexibility, and coordination for maximum team play. Anything more would have forced him to return home without ever getting the chance to visit the Training Center.

After another month of procedures and rehabilitation, it was finally time to visit the Training Center and learn how Pokémon reached Master rank. Even if Alex couldn't afford the specialized training his Pokémon needed, the least he could do was expose them to it. Perhaps watching Master ranked Pokémon in action would inspire them.