I released the Pokémon from the Poké Ball. A small blue frog appeared before me.
"Froakie?" Professor Sycamore gave Pokémon to rookie Pokémon Trainers who didn't have one yet. Froakie was one of them. Normally, though, he would let them choose between Fennekin, Chespin, and Froakie, rather than simply foisting a Froakie on me.
"This isn't an ordinary Froakie. It has the Ability Protean. It was sent to the lab while you were in Alola. But, well..." The professor looked troubled.
I see. I understood what he meant.
Protean was an Ability that changed a Pokémon's type to match the move it used. For example, having Froakie use U-turn would change it from its original Water type to U-turn's Bug type.
That had two advantages. First, matching the move's type to the Pokémon's type increased its power. Second, changing types when taking an attack could turn a super-effective hit into one that did half damage, or even no damage at all. It was a powerful Ability that excelled at both offense and defense.
But this Ability had a drawback that wasn't really a drawback: it offered so many possibilities that Trainers struggled to manage them.
Froakie's final evolution, Greninja, could learn a vast range of moves and take on almost all eighteen types, giving it endless possible training paths. Experienced Trainers could, of course, raise it to suit their needs.
But rookie Trainers would probably lose their way with so many options. A physical attacker? A Special Attack specialist? Or a mixed attacker that used both?
That alone was enough to keep someone agonizing for three days and nights, never mind all the countless possible movesets. So while Pokémon with Protean were strong, they weren't suitable as a rookie Trainer's first Pokémon.
"I'm sure a genius who graduated from the