Thanks to some behind-the-scenes maneuvering by Yui, the Dragonair Xia Chi had spent so long planning to recruit finally joined his team.
He also happened to fill the last vacant slot on the current system team panel.
Really, those team slots never lasted long.
Xia Chi had gone to such lengths to expand the limit to nine last time, yet his team was already full again.
So the biggest obstacle to assembling Bonds wasn't finding suitable Pokémon, but team size.
Xia Chi could only hope that the orbs opened through battle rewards during this trip to Unova would yield more expansion items like the Golden Spatula Crown.
With Dragonair officially joining the team, his detailed stats appeared clearly before Xia Chi.
[Dragonair] [Type: Dragon] [Gender: Male] [Level: 42] [Ability: Marvel Scale] [Stats: HP 142 (+108), Attack 108 (+64), Defense 72 (+59), Special Attack 86 (+63), Special Defense 76 (+61), Speed 93 (+67)] [Moves: Dragon Rush, Aqua Tail, Slam, Dragon Tail, Thunder Wave, Icy Wind, Thunderbolt, Hydro Pump, Draco Meteor] [Equipment: None] [Bond: Dragon-type (4).] [Bond: Flying (2). Bond Pokémon gain (20/30/40%) evasion, and allied units receive half this effect. At the start of battle, your side gains [Tailwind] for (10/20/30) seconds. Each successfully executed move extends [Tailwind] by (5/10/15) seconds. Flying-type moves used by Bond Pokémon gain +1 priority! (Six Flying: While [Tailwind] is active, all allied units' attacking moves additionally benefit from 100% of their Speed!)] [Bond: Late Bloomer (3).] [Pokémon has reached level 40. Choose two directions for evolution! (Evolution directions: Head (Special Attack), Upper Limbs (Attack), Wings (Speed), Trunk (HP), Scales (Defense), Tail (Special Defense))]
In all fairness, these stats really did have the unpretentious simplicity of an "Island Native."
Whether it was his level, base stats, or moves, nothing looked particularly dazzling at first