Frobo left, leaving behind a five-million-dollar bearer card for the Pokémon World Bank. He carried with him the necessary credentials to collect the Mightyena and the others.
The Mawile would arrive tomorrow. Once the trade was finalized, Kashiwagi's two-million-dollar deposit would be returned.
Kashiwagi watched him disappear into the distance. He sat at the table for a long time, his mind a whirlpool of thoughts—not just about the new Pokémon arriving tomorrow, but about the potential hidden agendas at play.
If there was any unique value in those Mightyena, aside from their combat experience, it had to be their bodies, which had been subjected to those performance-enhancing drugs.
Is it possible those pills are flawed? Maybe the big boss wants to back-extract the remaining chemicals from their systems to study them? Kashiwagi pondered.
The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed. The urgency suggested they needed to get to the Pokémon before their metabolisms lowered the concentration of the drugs.
But then again... if the "Big Boss" wanted those drugs, why go through such a convoluted route when a street thug like Ken could get them?
Slap! Slap!
He patted his cheeks, cutting off the runaway train of thought. There were too many possibilities; he could guess a hundred and still be wrong. He realized he was only overthinking because he felt a twinge of regret.
In a way, he had bowed his head to money and status.
It all came down to a lack of power. Without enough strength, he couldn't simply say "no" to everything he disliked. His current possessions were like sand in his palm or the moon reflected in water—one strong breeze and it could all slip away.
Thinking this, Kashiwagi's hunger for strength grew even more intense.
In the Backyard.
Chansey was taking shelter under the dappled shade of the trees. The sun was scorching, making her sweat, but she didn't want to go inside for fear of interrupting her Trainer's business.
Lairon... wait, where's Lairon?
Kashiwagi blinked, then spotted the metal-clad Pokémon dragging a rubber hose from around the corner.
He thought Lairon was going to water the new sapling, but instead, it headed straight for Chansey. It flicked the nozzle on with its claw, sending a clear stream of water arching over her head.
"Lucky~" Chansey instantly looked refreshed.
"Lairon!" Lairon chuckled, waving the hose. Cooling down a friend and watering a tree—killing two Pidgey with one Stone Edge.
I'm a genius, Lairon seemed to think as it pointed the hose toward the sky, letting the water fall back onto its own armor like a refreshing rain.
Sizzle... The sound of water droplets evaporating on the hot metal filled the air.
Kashiwagi's expression was a bit odd. Aren't Steel/Rock types weak to Water? Then again, maybe a few droplets weren't enough to bypass the natural resistance of its armor, or simply didn't compare to the concentrated elemental energy of a Water-type move.
After all, this was a Pokémon that could eventually learn Water Pulse.
"Playing with water? Count me in!"
He spoke up, breaking the two Pokémon's leisurely afternoon. As much as he wanted to let them play forever, he knew that without becoming stronger, this peace wouldn't last.
After a bit of fun, Kashiwagi began the day's training. First, he needed to check their updated stats.
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Pokémon: Lairon
Type: Steel + Rock
Level: 35
Ability: Rock Head
Moves: Tackle, Harden, Mud-Slap, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Take Down, Iron Head, Dig, Endeavor, Rock Tomb, Sand Tomb, Iron Tail, Rock Blast.
----
The life-and-death battle had bumped its level up again. Evolution had granted it Sand Tomb and Iron Tail, while Rock Blast was a reward from the simulator. Its movepool felt a bit mono-typed.
Kashiwagi decided Lairon needed more coverage. Ground-type moves were the obvious choice. Bulldoze and Earthquake became the new learning goals.
Furthermore, considering Lairon's physiology, he planned to focus heavily on its durability. As for the choice between Physical and Special Attack...
He hadn't decided.
If this were just the game, he'd focus entirely on Physical Attack without a second thought. But in a world based on the anime, the lines between Physical and Special stats were blurred for the sake of "spectacle."
Damage calculation here seemed to be a different beast entirely. In the games, the raw stats are the massive deciding factor. Here, it felt more like the system in Legends: Arceus—Type effectiveness, Move power, and Effort exerted had a massive impact, while raw base stats were less of a hard cap.
This meant a Special Attacking Aggron was actually viable if trained specifically for it. It wouldn't hit as hard as a Physical one, but it wouldn't be "tickling" the opponent either. This explained why, in the anime, everyone loved giving their Pokémon Hyper Beam regardless of their stats, and it always caused devastating damage.
The reason Pseudo-Legendaries were so terrifying wasn't just their high base stats; it was their ability to learn high-powered moves and their naturally high levels.
"Let's start with endurance. That's the foundation," Kashiwagi said, patting Lairon's warm head. "We'll start with the simplest method—running laps. We'll adapt first, then add more intensity later."
"Lairon!" Lairon was more than willing and immediately started running.
Nearby, Chansey watched him with a mix of nervousness and anticipation, waiting for her own orders.
"Don't just stand there, you too. Start running." Kashiwagi gave her a gentle push. "But you're not like Lairon. Just do a few laps. If you feel uncomfortable, stop immediately. Don't push yourself too hard."
"Lucky~" Chansey cheered and chased after Lairon.
Since they had different tolerances for heat, running in the sun wasn't the best way to train Chansey's stamina long-term, but it was a start.
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Pokémon: Chansey
Type: Normal
Level: 32
Ability: Natural Cure
Moves: Pound, Withdraw, Tail Whip, Soft-Boiled, Minimize, Sing, Heal Pulse, Heal Bell, Telekinesis.
----
Chansey's movepool was deep, spanning across Physical, Special, and Status categories. Since she still couldn't bring herself to directly attack others, Kashiwagi decided to lean into her role as a "disruptor."
Learning moves like Toxic, Thunder Wave, Stealth Rock, and Ally Switch was the plan. Basically, if she wasn't going to deal damage, she was going to be the most annoying thing on the battlefield.
But how to teach these non-STAB moves?
He decided to look it up online. One of the perks of the internet age was information sharing—many "secret techniques" were often posted online by Trainers. These were invaluable resources.