Chapter 100: Directions for Developing Gravity
"Challenging Group A?"
Mr. Leo stopped and turned to look at Basalt, his eyes thoughtful. "Which of the lower-tier trainers are you planning to challenge? Fletcher or Skye?"
"My first choice is Fletcher. If that doesn't work out, I'll go for Skye," Basalt said honestly. If he could, he wanted to defeat Fletcher and his Nosepass to avenge his loss. But that was only if he could actually win. Skye's Pidgeotto was tricky, but if he used Bronzor, Pidgeotto's two main Flying-type moves wouldn't be as effective. And with Bronzor's Confusion, he could cover the entire field, including the sky. He had a chance. Of course, it would be even better if Bronzor could learn the Electric-type move Charge Beam.
Mr. Leo nodded. "Fletcher's Nosepass is most troublesome because of Bulldoze, Gravity, Thunder Wave, and Rock Tomb. If you use Drilbur, it's immune to Thunder Wave. While you might be at a slight disadvantage in a Bulldoze clash, your Ground-type moves are super-effective, so you still have the upper hand. As for Rock Tomb, your Drilbur's is just as strong. The only real problem... is Gravity."
He looked up, a nostalgic expression on his face. "The last time Forrest's Heracross challenged Fletcher's Nosepass, he used Gravity to completely shut it down. From my observation, Nosepass's Gravity is at about 1.8x."
"1.8x?" Basalt's eyebrows shot up. Drilbur was just getting used to fighting at 1.5x. While the difference between 1.5x and 1.8x might seem small, for a Pokémon at this level, every 0.1 increase in gravity made the battle significantly harder.
"That level of gravity might be nothing to my Persian, but for you guys, it's immense pressure. And when you're up against Gravity, besides toughing it out and adapting, there aren't many good options. You might be able to defeat Fletcher in the future, but in the short term, it will be extremely difficult."
Mr. Leo sighed. "And that was Nosepass's strength last week. Who knows if it's improved since then. My main concern is that the Group A instructor might be advising Fletcher on how to further develop the move. If that's the case, he'll become even more formidable."
Hearing this, Basalt's morale almost shattered. Mr. Leo, is it really a good idea to praise my opponent so much?
But when he heard the words "develop the move," his spirits instantly lifted. His own Bronzor had just learned Gravity. Listening to an expert's ideas on how to develop it would be invaluable.
"Mr. Leo, what are the different ways to develop the move Gravity?" Basalt asked with a sheepish grin.
Mr. Leo, unaware of Basalt's hidden agenda, answered honestly. "From what I know, there are a few main directions. The first is to increase the gravity's intensity, its base power. The second is to master sudden shifts in gravity."
"Sudden... shifts?" Basalt was confused.
Mr. Leo nodded. "Exactly. Take Fletcher's Nosepass. Let's say its Gravity is at 1.8x, and your Drilbur has managed to adapt and can fight normally under that pressure. But during the battle, Nosepass could suddenly change or lower the intensity. The pressure on your Drilbur would decrease, but it would throw off its balance completely. Its movements and aim would be severely affected."
Basalt was stunned. He could perfectly imagine the scenario. It was like practicing for a 500-meter shooting competition, only to be told at the last minute that it's been changed to 100 meters. The difficulty is lower, but because your training and the actual event are completely different, your performance will suffer. If the opponent was really nasty, they could alternate between 1.8x, 1.2x, and 1.5x, making it impossible to adapt. Unless you could completely overpower your opponent, your performance would be severely affected.
"Damn! How can such a dirty move exist?!" Basalt cursed. He was starting to feel like the move Gravity shouldn't even exist.
Seeing his reaction, Mr. Leo smiled. "Don't worry too much. Mastering sudden shifts in gravity requires an extremely high level of energy control. Fletcher's Nosepass probably won't be able to do it anytime soon. And since its maximum intensity isn't that high, the effect of the shifts wouldn't be that great."
"That's a relief," Basalt said. At the same time, his respect for Mr. Leo grew. This instructor was on a completely different level. His ideas for move development were ingenious, like opening the door to a new world.
"Now, let me tell you about the third direction of development," Mr. Leo continued with a smile. "Changing the direction of gravity."
"The... direction?" Basalt was baffled again. Wasn't the direction of gravity always straight down, towards the center of the earth? Could that really be changed? I've read a lot of books. You're not pulling my leg, are you?
"That's right, the direction," Mr. Leo said with a serious nod. "However, it's extremely difficult. In all my years, I've only ever seen one provincial Gym Leader do it."
"A provincial Gym Leader?" In this country, the gym system was tiered. Each province had one provincial-level gym in its capital city, and each major city had a normal gym. The city Gym Leaders were at the standard Gym Leader level. But a provincial Gym Leader... that was Master-Class.
"That Master's Magnezone could change the direction of gravity at will. One moment it was a downward pull, the next an upward push. And it would change the intensity at the same time. It was... terrifying," Mr. Leo said, a distant, pained look in his eyes, as if recalling a painful memory.
When he was younger, less than thirty, he had challenged the provincial gyms, trying to qualify for the national tournament. But at that time, he had only just reached the Professional Rank and couldn't even collect all eight badges.
Basalt ignored his nostalgic sigh, his mind reeling. A downward pull and an upward push? Following that logic, couldn't you also change it to an attractive and a repulsive force?
The thought made him freeze. Wait a minute... isn't that just... the Pokémon version of Almighty Push and Universal Pull?
He scratched his head. It seemed... entirely possible.
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