From the moment the giant Magmortar dodged Garchomp's Dragon Rush to the instant Tyranitar created a field of sharp stones right where it had fallen, barely an eye-blink had passed.
"Magmor… TAAAR!"
A muffled cry of pain echoed across the battlefield. Magmortar was struck hard by the pointed rocks from behind, its massive body now struggling even to get up.
"Garchomp, Earthquake!"
"Tyranitar, do it again."
"Gar!"
"Tyra!"
Finish it off while it's down!
Garchomp and Tyranitar showed no mercy, unleashing their attacks at full power once more.
The ground trembled and boulders flew, beating Magmortar into a constant string of painful cries. It simply couldn't get up.
The disadvantage of its giant size and lack of agility was fully exposed at this moment.
Sato and Cynthia had no intention of giving Magmortar any chance to stand up. They gave nonstop commands for Garchomp and Tyranitar to keep the pressure on.
Ten minutes later, the massive Magmortar lay completely motionless, knocked out cold.
"…What do we do with it?"
Sato turned to look at Cynthia.
"Mmh… let's catch it first. We can't let it stay hidden here."
"Sure. This is Sinnoh after all, so you decide," Sato replied casually, nodding. He had no desire to catch Magmortar himself.
There was no question that Magmortar was powerful. To reach this level in the wild, it was already impressive.
But its flaws were just as obvious.
Its huge appetite aside, its massive body gave it tremendous stamina and energy reserves, but also made its movements as sluggish as Shuckle… far too easy to exploit.
Shuckle: Life is pain…
Any Elite Four level Trainer would have no trouble handling a Magmar.
But a Magmortar like this posed a huge threat to any city. The Sunyshore Power Plant wasn't far from Sunyshore City. If Magmortar ever went berserk and attacked the city…
Cynthia then tossed a dark gray Heavy Ball. The Heavy Ball swung back and forth for several minutes before finally falling still.
Watching their leader, who was like a "divine" being to them, get sealed inside a tiny Poké Ball, many Pokémon hiding nearby were stunned. They panicked and began fleeing in all directions.
Sato ignored them. Instead, he turned his gaze toward where the giant generators had been set up earlier.
"I saw Magnezone move the generators over that way!"
Cynthia chimed in right on cue, answering the question Sato hadn't yet asked.
"Then… shall we check it out?"
"If there's something new, I'll let you have it," Cynthia said with a nod, while recalling Eelektross into its Poké Ball.
"Oh~ is that your way of compensating me?" Sato chuckled, patting Tyranitar's tough armor in approval before recalling it as well.
Cynthia didn't respond. She mounted Garchomp, pointed ahead, and said, "That way. Keep up!"
Sato gave a quiet laugh at the sight, then climbed onto Sharpedo and followed her.
Maybe Cynthia knew Sato wasn't interested in Magmortar, but she couldn't deny the fact that it was an incredibly valuable asset. A terrifying war machine.
Whether or not Sato wanted it, Cynthia couldn't in good conscience claim it all for herself.
---◓---
The pit had already been tunneled out in all directions, but Cynthia had long since noted the direction in which Magnezone had fled. So she quickly caught up to them.
But hilariously, Magnezone was actually locked in a chaotic brawl with another Magmortar.
Their respective companions were also caught in the skirmish, seemingly fighting over the handful of generators.
Sato and Cynthia didn't bother to hide their approach, so they were spotted by Magnezone and the others almost immediately, who all froze like they'd seen Ghost-types.
"Put down the generators and you can leave," Sato said, pointing at the machines, completely ignoring the Magmortar sulking like a three-meter-tall toddler.
And just like that… they ran.
Seeing this, Sato couldn't help but wink at Cynthia and quietly returned Umbreon to its Poké Ball.
'Sigh… as expected, when you can fight, don't speak. Such a huge bundle of EXP… gone just like that…'
What a waste!
Left with no choice, Sato could only walk up to the generators with Cynthia and start examining them seriously.
It was clear the generators had been modified by Magnezone to harness energy from magma.
However, after thoroughly inspecting the outer casing of the entire generator, Sato found nothing suspicious.
Just as he was about to have Krookodile use brute force to pry the generator open, he heard a banging noise nearby.
Looking over, Sato saw the all-purpose Garchomp already using Brick Break to slam at some seams on the generator.
'Tch, that speed…'
"Krookodile, Dragon Claw."
The next moment, Sato also sent out Krookodile, who began clanging away enthusiastically…
"KROOO~DILE!"
Suddenly, Krookodile let out an excited cry and, under everyone's watchful eyes, pulled out a murky, gray, irregular, semi-transparent stone from the generator.
"This is…"
Sato frowned. Even his intensive treasure appraisal studies seemed useless at this point.
"Gar!"
On the other side, Garchomp also found a similarly sized semi-transparent stone inside the generator.
"Comet Shard!"
"Hmm…? Comet Shard? What does it do!?"
Sato wasn't shy. He "cheerfully" ran over to Cynthia, his face full of curiosity.
Cynthia curved her lips slightly and explained slowly, "The Comet Shard is said to originate from the Mythical Pokémon Jirachi.
Every thousand years, when Jirachi awakens, it sheds a single stone at the moment of awakening. And that stone… is the Comet Shard."
"…For real?"
Sato was stunned. He hadn't expected something with a background that grand; it was actually connected to Jirachi.
Then Cynthia continued, "The Comet Shard has a very specific function, it purifies energy."
"Purifies… energy?"
"Yes. It converts all energy into a non-typed form, allowing it to be absorbed by any Pokémon.
But the most powerful aspect of the Comet Shard is that it purifies the energy's typing, without altering the item's or special energy's other inherent properties.
In other words, it can purify a Water-type item into a non-typed item that any Pokémon can use!"
"Hisss~" Sato inhaled sharply, suddenly grasping the overwhelming potential of the Comet Shard. A thought quickly surfaced in his mind…
If the Comet Shard really worked on all special energies and items, then could his Dark Energy… also be purified?
'If that was possible…' It would mean Sato could apply [Energy Amplification] and [Blood Nourishment] to all of his Pokémon…
In that case, even non-Dark-type Ariados, Pikachu, and Gengar would have a chance to enhance their potential!