Birds roost by the river, and the stream ripples.
Paul stood on the open riverbank surrounded by his team of Pokémon engaged in intensive training.
Torterra lay quietly in the sun with Froslass perched on its shell, humming softly. Ursaluna lay still on the ground, eyes tightly shut, enduring Drapion's acupressure strikes like a fish laid out on a cutting board.
Since evolving, Ursaluna had become quite accustomed to Drapion's point-pressure technique. What once would have caused it to yelp and flail, it now tolerated in stoic silence.
Still, the glint of white and ghostly purple venom at Drapion's pincers made Ursaluna uneasy.
This was Drapion's latest innovation, a highly toxic variant of its acupressure technique.
Acupressure in the Pokémon world was known to stimulate strength and awaken latent potential. Drapion had pushed the concept further, theorizing that combining its own potent toxins with precision strikes could enhance this effect.
As a Pokémon with the Guts ability, Ursaluna became the perfect test subject.
The goal: to trigger both boosted potential and the Guts state through controlled poisoning. Only when both could be reliably achieved would the new Toxic Acupressure method be deemed complete.
Though reluctant, Ursaluna accepted its fate. If the pain it endured could someday benefit its teammates too, then it was worth it.
Though its back molars were nearly ground to dust and its awakened state was being forcibly triggered, Ursaluna had to admit—Drapion was a genius at this. The technique worked.
Still, why did Drapion's most effective pressure points always hurt the most?
Nearby, Metagross floated midair, limbs tucked in, surrounded by a flickering violet aura. Its eyes were closed in deep meditative focus.
Paul, meanwhile, was speaking with Aggron, who had just recovered thanks to Torterra's healing.
"Aggron," Paul began, "I've designed a new battle style just for you. If you master it, you'll get stronger during every battle, while your opponent weakens."
"Agrr~!" Aggron's eyes lit up. It pricked its ears and listened intently.
"You already know how to use Metal Sound, Screech, Autotomize, and Iron Defense. Can you learn to use them together and eventually keep them active through an entire battle?"
Paul delivered the challenge in his usual calm tone, though it was far from simple.
Aggron stared, dumbfounded.
In their team, Torterra had Infinite Growth, Electivire had its self-motivating Drive, Ursaluna relied on Bulk Up, and Garchomp used Swords Dance. Most of them only had to loop one or two core moves mid-battle.
But four?
That was absurd.
At its best, Aggron could only maintain either Iron Defense or Autotomize during battle, and even that wasn't fully polished.
Paul expected all four?
It would take a Metagross-level brain to pull that off!
"It's possible," Paul said firmly. "All complex techniques are just a series of simple ones, stacked."
"Metal Sound comes from scraping your metal body. Screech doesn't have to come from your mouth, try creating it the same way."
"Autotomize is all about reducing your surface resistance and accelerating."
"So when you activate Autotomize and start grinding your body, it should become easier to produce both Metal Sound and Screech as part of the same motion."
"Even if the sounds aren't as powerful individually, they can still weaken your opponent. That's what matters."
Metal Sound and Screech both drastically lowered an opponent's Special Defense or Defense, respectively.
While combining them for maximum stat drops was unrealistic, combining them for partial debuffs was within reach.
"Iron Defense strengthens your body, so grinding yourself down won't reduce your defenses." Paul added.
"Your current goal is to activate Screech using your Metal Sound mechanism. Then, combine Screech with Autotomize, and Autotomize with Iron Defense."
"Use Screech to weaken and distract, then follow with Autotomize for speed."
"Combine Autotomize and Iron Defense for blindingly fast high-defense tackle strikes. Treat your body like a wrecking ball."
"Once you get good, you can chain three of them together. If you can touch your opponent, it's game over."
"All four moves active. That's the final goal."
"Aggrr~!"
Aggron sighed in relief.
Paul had made it sound impossible at first. But breaking it down—two moves, then three, then four—it finally felt achievable.
"During daily practice, reinforce your body with Iron Defense, use Autotomize to streamline your movement, and fine-tune your Screech and Metal Sound emissions. Each little gain will help."
Paul ended his explanation and stepped back.
The rest was up to Aggron.
Simple, universal drills worked fine for average Pokémon. But specialized techniques required Pokémon to discover the nuances themselves.
That was why Paul only trained Pokémon with natural talent.
A Pokémon without potential wouldn't even chew when food was handed to its mouth, you had to break it down and feed it yourself.
And Paul wasn't wasting his time doing that.
"Aggrrr~!"
Aggron let out a roar and stomped off to practice.
"Whrrr~~ Skreeeek~ RRRNKKK!"
Moments later, strange noises began erupting from Aggron's direction.
The other Pokémon, who had been peacefully relaxing, snapped their eyes open and stared at him in annoyed silence.
Seriously? Did he have to be that loud?
"Aggrr~..."
Aggron faltered slightly under their glares, but upon seeing Paul, it lifted its chin proudly.
Was there a crime in striving for strength? Was it wrong to disturb the peace for the sake of self-improvement?
If so, then Aggron would gladly bear that burden alone!
Torterra sighed silently, casting Protect to shield itself from the noise while continuing its Growth training.
As long as it wasn't blocking attacks, Protect could last a good while when only used for noise insulation.
And Torterra wasn't the only one annoyed.
"Eeno~"
Froslass, also irritated, slipped out of Torterra's protective dome and split her body into dozens of clones, surrounding Aggron.
She then launched an ensemble of Fake Tears, Baby-Doll Eyes, Confide, and Scary Face—a flurry of psychological interference moves intended more to troll than to harm.
Creepy ghost wails layered over the metallic screeching made things unbearable for Ursaluna who had no protection.
Metagross and Torterra had Protect, and Froslass had become part of the chaos, while Drapion tried to train through it. In fact, the more intense the noise, the harder it was for Drapion to maintain precision—its pincers trembled slightly.
But Ursaluna?
This once-mighty tyrant of Hisui was now enduring both physical torture and mental breakdown.
Paul, seeing his team so motivated was deeply satisfied.
He quietly activated his Rotom Phone, summoned a psychic barrier to block the noise, and sat down to resume his study and meditation.
Before working with Aggron, Paul had also reviewed the progress of Froslass and Metagross. He wanted to know whether they'd gained more than just levels from their time at the Saffron Gym.
Froslass hadn't gained many new skills but had refined and expanded her existing techniques.
Her control over Double Team now allowed her to simultaneously trigger four stat-reducing moves alongside Astonish, creating layered harassment. The debuffs were weaker, but they covered all stats except Defense.
Due to the psychic dominance of Sabrina's team, Froslass had also upgraded her illusions. Her stealth tactics now evaded even seasoned Psychic-types.
The biggest improvement however, was her Will-O-Wisp Halo.
She developed two new variations: Frost Halo and Thunder Halo, combining Ghost-type energy with Ice and Electric attributes.
These were forged by shaping ice with ghostly power, stabilizing it with Will-O-Wisp and crackling it with electricity.
When further empowered by her psychic infusion, they created the new Shadow Halo, a defense-and-bind combo.
Unlike basic halos, Shadow Halo was structurally complex and wouldn't collapse when targeted by opposing elements. Its binding force had increased considerably.
Froslass now had only one remaining weakness: raw power.
She was hard to locate, and even harder to strike through her defenses.
As for Metagross, it had achieved even more dramatic improvement.
Its computational prowess had sharpened, allowing it to predict enemy trajectories with pinpoint accuracy.
Its psychic power now had locking capabilities—so long as its ranged attacks weren't blocked, they rarely missed. Almost like homing missiles.
Even its Cosmic Meditation technique had been enhanced under Sabrina's guidance.
Cosmic Meditation: Harnesses universal energy through meditation to boost Special Attack, Special Defense, and Defense.
The downside? Metagross still had to pause to meditate. It couldn't yet fight and meditate simultaneously.
Still, in the right conditions, the boost was well worth the momentary pause.
Aside from the many psychic techniques stored in its mind, Metagross had also learned to accelerate using psychic energy.
When paired with Electromagnetic Acceleration or Agility, its speed could rival that of Electivire.
...
In the blink of an eye, several days have passed.
Near the Capital Waterfall, at the Battle Tower—Paul arrived and faced off against the Tower Tycoon: Anabel.
On the field—
"So you're the Paul that Scott mentioned?"
Dressed in her signature formal attire, the purple-haired Anabel looked across at her fellow violet-haired opponent.
"I am," Paul replied coolly. "Please go all out."
Paul knew Anabel was unique. She wasn't a Psychic-type user herself, but she did possess telepathy. She could direct her Pokémon in battle without ever speaking aloud.
To most trainers, this gave her a decisive advantage.
But Paul? He could do the same. He just rarely needed to.
"Understood. Then, let's begin."
Anabel nodded to the referee.
"This will be a Frontier Battle between Salon Maiden Anabel and Challenger Paul. Each side will use three Pokémon. Anabel may not switch Pokémon, but the challenger may swap freely. Trainers, release your Pokémon."
"Go, my friend."
Anabel tossed out her Poké Ball.
"Metaa!"
With a cry, a standard blue Metagross landed heavily on the field, glaring at Paul with glowing red eyes.
"Metagross, prepare to battle."
Paul calmly followed.
Grroo~!"
A roar echoed across the arena as Paul's shiny Metagross appeared, its silver-white body gleaming.
"A shiny Metagross?"
Anabel looked stunned.
Paul's Metagross wasn't just bigger and sleeker, it radiated raw confidence.
"Metaa~!"
Anabel's Metagross also froze, shocked by its kin's striking appearance. A pinch of anger rose within it.
It was well-known that shiny Pokémon were often either outcasts or rare leaders. And Metagross, as a species, didn't take kindly to outliers.
"Grroo~!"
But Paul's shiny Metagross felt just as emotional.
At Sabrina's gym, it had suffered under the strength of another Metagross.
Now, finally, it faced a similar form it could fight freely.
This wasn't just a battle.
This was punishment.
(End of Chapter)
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