Chapter 92: The Persevering Bronzor
After leaving Supervisor Hoffman's office, Basalt used his authorization slips to collect his supplies. The attribute gem was small, but the Pokémon food was another story. He picked up a full month's supply for both Drilbur and Bronzor, leaving with two massive, bulging bags.
"Drilburr!"
Seeing the mountain of food, Drilbur's heart soared with joy. It had just tasted one of the Pokéblocks, and it was far more delicious than the ones Basalt used to buy.
"You've had it rough, haven't you? Eating those cheap Pokéblocks all this time," Basalt said apologetically. Limited by his family's finances, he had always fed Drilbur the lowest-grade food, with the occasional mid-grade block as a special treat.
"But those days are over. From now on, if you work hard and defeat all your opponents, we can have the good stuff every day," Basalt said, ruffling the top of Drilbur's head.
In this world, most things were graded, and attribute gems and Pokémon food were no exception. The higher the grade, the higher the price, but the better the effect. You got what you paid for.
"Drilburr!" ヾ(`ゞ´)
Drilbur nodded excitedly. Even with the bandage on its claw, it raised it high, assuring Basalt he could count on it. The great Emperor Drilbur has got this!
"Bronz..." (´• _ •`)
In contrast to Drilbur's happiness, Bronzor was feeling down. As a recognized prodigy in its homeland, it had never felt so powerless. It, the genius Bronzor, had been completely dismantled by a Nosepass. And when it learned that Drilbur had defeated four opponents, three of them by one-hit KO, its spirit broke. Its pride was shattered. It couldn't even beat its second opponent... how was it supposed to compete with Drilbur for the top spot now?
"Drilburr..." ρ(-ω-,)ヾ(゜ω゜;)
Though Drilbur was still a little annoyed with its new "little brother," as the self-proclaimed big boss, it had to show some magnanimity. In its mind, Bronzor was its underling, just going through a rebellious phase. So, it magnanimously floated over and patted Bronzor's side comfortingly.
If you're weak, then just get stronger! What's the point of moping around here?
"That's right, Bronzor," Basalt added, chiming in at the right moment. "You have incredible potential. You've just been training for a short time and don't have enough moves. If you follow the training plan I've set for you, I guarantee you'll be able to defeat that Nosepass and get your revenge within a month."
A good trainer had to be attuned to their Pokémon's mental state and provide encouragement. He couldn't let Bronzor fall into a slump.
"Bronz..." (`_´)
Hearing this, Bronzor's "eyes" grew moist, and its impression of Drilbur improved significantly. It agreed with what Drilbur had implied: If I'm weak, I'll just have to get stronger.
In that case, I won't sleep tonight. I have to sense the Ground-type energy and learn Bulldoze as quickly as possible. Bronzor couldn't plan its own strategies and movesets yet. All it could think of was learning Bulldoze to expand its offensive options.
"Bronz..."
With that thought, Bronzor used its psychic power to retrieve Basalt's Pokédex and opened the Bulldoze training video again. Damn it, I'm going to master this video today! It pumped itself up. ヽ( `皿´)ﾉ
Seeing Bronzor's fighting spirit return, Basalt and Drilbur exchanged a smile. This kid has potential.
The next morning at 7:00 AM, Basalt's alarm went off. Normally, he set it for 6:00, because that was when Drilbur's morning training began. But since Drilbur was injured and Bronzor was new to the team, he had adjusted the time.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Bronzor floating in mid-air with its eyes closed, as if sensing something.
This kid is an early riser. It seems that loss wasn't entirely a bad thing. Basalt smiled to himself. Turning shame into motivation. Not bad at all.
"Bronz..."
Sensing that Basalt was awake, Bronzor opened its eyes and greeted him. But Basalt could clearly see that its "eyes" were bloodshot.
Did it pull an all-nighter? Basalt wondered, but he had no way to confirm it. He could only hope Bronzor wasn't pushing itself too hard.
"Drilburr!" ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ
As Basalt got up, Drilbur immediately followed suit. It was another energetic day. With a perfect kip-up, it leaped from its bed, raised its claws, and, feeling like it had fully recovered, promptly ripped off its bandages.
"Drilbur, what are you doing?!" Basalt exclaimed. "Your injury isn't healed yet! You need to rest!"
"Drilburr!" Drilbur waved its claw. I'm all better!
"Are you sure?" Basalt was skeptical. But when he examined the claw, he was stunned to find that the teeth marks were completely gone.
"No way..."
To be safe, after breakfast, Basalt took Drilbur to the camp medic for an official check-up. Before he left, he told Bronzor to take it easy. "Getting stronger doesn't happen overnight."
"Bronz... Bronz..." Bronzor nodded, its eyes still red. But whether it had actually listened, no one knew.
"It's... really healed!" The camp medic was also baffled. He had been the one to bandage Drilbur's claw yesterday, and now there wasn't a single mark. Its recovery ability was unprecedented.
"Drilburr! Drilburr!"
Leaving the infirmary in high spirits, Drilbur immediately demanded that Basalt take it to the move-learning classroom. The classroom was a special feature of the camp, with professional move tutors to teach the trainees' Pokémon.
Smack Down. This was the move Drilbur had been dreaming of. With it, it was confident it could put Bronzor in its place.
"Oh? Your Drilbur wants to learn Smack Down?" The Rock-type move tutor was a man in his forties with a thick mustache. He looked Basalt up and down, then at Drilbur. "Can your Drilbur sense Rock-type energy?"
A Pokémon's ability to sense a certain type of energy was the foundation of all moves. A Drilbur could naturally sense Ground-type energy. But learning moves of a different type was much more difficult, and the first step was being able to sense that type's energy.
Of course, the process could be sped up by... spending money. A Bronzor, for example, could be given a Ground Gem to help it sense Ground-type energy. This was the conventional use of attribute gems, but it was a method most ordinary families couldn't afford. For most, a Pokémon had to slowly and painstakingly learn to sense the free-floating energy in the air. The same principle applied to secret move techniques; their effectiveness was often determined by the quality of the resources used in training.
A powerful Pokémon was a product of talent, training, and resources. You couldn't be missing any of the three.
"Yes, it can. My Drilbur already knows Rock Tomb," Basalt replied.
The tutor wasn't overly surprised. This was the Metro City training camp, after all. Every young person here was a genius.
"In that case, leave your Drilbur with me," the tutor said, his tone indifferent. "I'll assess its control over Rock-type energy. You can come back after your morning classes are over. By then, I should be able to tell you how long it will take for it to learn Smack Down."
"Thank you, sir." Basalt nodded and, after telling Drilbur to behave, left the room.
Move tutors, unlike private coaches like Miles, taught the Pokémon directly and generally didn't allow the trainers to observe. After all, their teaching methods were valuable intellectual property.
But Basalt was confident. With Drilbur's natural talent for the Rock type, learning a simple move like Smack Down shouldn't take long. After absorbing the pure energy of the Smooth Rock, its control over the Rock type had begun to surpass even its innate Ground type. Sometimes, Basalt joked that Drilbur was a pseudo-Ground-type, but a true Rock-type.
I hope both of them learn their new moves quickly, he thought with a smile, checking the time as he headed to the Group B classroom.
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