Chapter 96: My Pokémon Are Too Ambitious
Basalt now had two Pokémon: Drilbur and Bronzor.
As his starter, Drilbur had received the lion's share of his attention, and its abilities were excellent across the board. When its Sand Rush ability was activated, it was a monster, more than capable of challenging for a spot in Group A. Its moveset was also well-balanced, with options for dealing with opponents in the air, on the ground, and underground.
Of course, Drilbur wasn't without its flaws. Its biggest weakness was its poor defenses. While the Smooth Rock had boosted its constitution, giving it impressive stamina and recovery, this referred to its energy reserves for using moves, not its HP. This meant that against an opponent with high attack power and a priority move, Drilbur was in serious trouble. If Cael's Totodile had been a Croconaw, its Aqua Jet might have actually been able to one-shot Drilbur.
The problem was, Basalt didn't have a solution for this. Low defenses and HP were a species limitation for Drilbur, something that was difficult to overcome without breaking through its natural limits. Of course, when its Sand Rush ability was active, its speed and reaction time would skyrocket, which would significantly reduce the threat of priority moves.
"Sand Rush..." Basalt mused. Sandstorm and Sand Rush were Drilbur's biggest trump cards. He wanted to keep them hidden for as long as possible, perhaps until a critical moment in the provincial tournament. Revealing them now would be too early; it would just put his future opponents on guard and reduce their effectiveness.
Then there was Bronzor. Its strengths were its formidable defenses, numerous resistances, and powerful psychic abilities. Its biggest weakness at the moment was its limited movepool.
"The Ground-type move Bulldoze will greatly expand its coverage, and it's already in the works. The Rock-type move Rock Tomb, which it can learn from Drilbur, will be useful for lowering an opponent's speed and dealing with Flying-types. The Electric-type move Charge Beam is also a possibility; it's fast and has a high chance of boosting its special attack."
Basalt began to map out a moveset for Bronzor based on his knowledge from the games. For now, he was focusing on offensive moves that had additional beneficial effects. Rare Psychic-type moves like Trick Room or Skill Swap were likely beyond the capabilities of the camp's tutors, so he didn't dare to hope for them at this stage.
But as he planned, a problem became apparent. All of these moves were non-native types for Bronzor. For each one, it would have to learn to sense a new type of energy, a process that could take a very long time.
Of course, he could speed things up by spending money on resources. But that would mean all of the camp's resources would have to be funneled into Bronzor. If that happened, Drilbur would surely revolt. He could tease his Drilbur all he wanted, but if he dared to cut its resources, the great Emperor Drilbur would likely give him a good scratch with its "little claws."
Basalt blinked, feeling a wave of frustration. "Being a trainer isn't easy."
This was the problem with having multiple Pokémon. You had to not only care for them but also distribute resources fairly. Of course, if you were rich, you could just buy everything they needed. But Basalt wasn't rich. He was 400,000 in debt. He was starting to feel like a stressed-out parent, doing everything he could to ensure his kids' success.
"Lesson learned," he resolved. "No more catching Pokémon until I have money. Quality over quantity."
"Alright, Drilbur, that's enough move training. Let's work on your physical conditioning," Basalt said an hour later, after Drilbur had rested. He took out the gravity machine from the training room and strapped it to Drilbur's back. The one he had bought himself only went up to 2x gravity, which Drilbur could already handle. This one went up to 5x.
Vwoom.
Basalt set the device to 1.5x. The moment he switched it on, the gravity around Drilbur intensified, the very air seeming to thicken.
"Drilburr..."
Caught off guard, Drilbur's body sagged for a moment, but it quickly adjusted. It looked at Basalt, confused. This level of gravity? I could handle this ages ago. Crank it up! It confidently puffed out its chest.
Basalt smiled wryly. "This time is different, Drilbur. The goal isn't just to increase your physical strength. It's to get you used to fighting under this kind of pressure." They had to be prepared for Fletcher's Nosepass and its ace in the hole, Gravity.
"Drilburr!" !!!∑(°Д°ノ)ノ
Drilbur was stunned. It could handle 1.5x gravity, even 2x. But that was just standing still. Fighting was another matter entirely. Its speed would be cut in half. Many of the moves and maneuvers it could perform normally would be impossible. It would be severely handicapped. You really want me to fight like this? A bead of cold sweat dripped down its head. This was going to be the toughest challenge it had ever faced.
But... Brave Drilbur is not afraid of difficulties! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger!
"Drilburr!" ヽ( `д´)ﾉ Its eyes narrowed, filled with determination.
And so, Drilbur began its gravity adaptation training. Watching its normally agile form become clumsy and its once-effortless moves become inaccurate, Basalt sighed. The true horror of the Group A trainers was beginning to sink in. "Gravity... what a terrifying move."
The training continued until almost 5:00 PM. Basalt then released Bronzor from its Poké Ball. He figured five or six hours of confinement was enough to calm it down. And sure enough, though it looked angry, the bloodshot look in its "eyes" had faded.
"Bronz..." o(^｀)o it grumbled, dissatisfied.
"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again," Basalt said, quickly apologizing with a sincere expression. He had learned that Bronzor was a very honest and gentle Pokémon. A sincere apology was usually enough to placate it. It was much easier to handle than Drilbur, who would have extorted several lavish meals out of him for such an offense.
"Bronz..." Sure enough, seeing his sincere apology, Bronzor immediately forgave him.
But then, its gaze shifted to Drilbur. You're not letting me train, but you're letting Drilbur train freely? It was not pleased. At this rate, the gap between them would only grow wider.
But as it observed Drilbur, it sensed a strange energy.
"Bronz..." It floated closer and saw that Drilbur was enveloped in a strange magnetic field. It felt like... Psychic-type energy? Bronzor was confused. It felt a strong affinity for this energy; it was very familiar. Under the influence of this field, Drilbur's movements were slow and labored, its power greatly reduced.
"Bronz!" Bronzor was excited. In this state, I could probably beat Drilbur easily!
More importantly, it realized that this special magnetic field was just a unique application of Psychic-type energy. It could probably replicate the effect itself. If it could do that... could it finally defeat Drilbur?
A flash of insight struck Bronzor. Its "eyes" lit up with excitement. It had found the path to strength. To hell with Bulldoze! I'm mastering this first!
And so, Bronzor closed its eyes again, focusing intently on the energy waves emanating from the gravity machine, trying to mimic them and align its own psychic waves with them.
"Here we go again. I can't even stop it," Basalt sighed, thinking it was trying to sense Ground-type energy again. He was starting to get a headache.
"Why are my Pokémon so ambitious? I can't even stop them from training!" he lamented, not sure if he should be happy or... happy.
But since Bronzor had rested for a long time, he figured it could handle some more training, so he didn't stop it.
What he didn't know was that in the near future, Bronzor would give him a very big surprise.
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