As Crobat landed on Ace's shoulder, Ace carefully examined it and realized he had been wrong about his assumptions.
The crystalline dust floating in the air wasn't something Crobat did on purpose; it was a consequence of its predicament.
The improved skill, Venom Wings, and its offshoot, Venom Armor, were primarily meant to increase Crobat's defense while ensuring its mobility wasn't affected.
This was why the inside of Crobat's Venom Armor crystals was honeycomb-shaped, and why Crobat had sacrificed protection at its joints to increase its flexibility.
The consequence, however, was that the two pieces of Venom Armor at the joints rubbed against each other, causing the venom crystals to wear down and scatter, creating the scene from before.
In a one-on-one battle, this wouldn't be a problem, as Crobat was now immune to poison and wasn't afraid of toxins.
But in a multi-battle, this move would also harm Ace's own Pokémon, making it impossible to fight.
"Solidifying the Venom Armor won't work. Do I have to give up on defense?"
Ace fell into thought, then looked over at Lapras.
Lapras was melting the pile of ice on the ground, turning it into a flowing stream of water.
"If a solid won't work... what about a liquid?"
A thought flashed through Ace's mind, and he couldn't help but curse himself for being so foolish, going in a huge circle only to end up where he started.
Could a liquid block an attack?
The answer was yes!
Ace instantly thought of a non-Newtonian fluid, a strange liquid that was soft when gently touched but hard when hit with force.
"In high-speed flight, the liquid would be in a semi-solid state, which is the best condition. It wouldn't fall off, and when it's attacked, it would instantly solidify to form a defense and block the attack!"
Ace exclaimed excitedly, making the Crobat on his shoulder look confused.
Then, Ace explained what a non-Newtonian fluid was to Crobat.
To help Crobat understand this concept more intuitively, Ace even went into the kitchen to get some cornstarch and mixed up some non-Newtonian fluid for it.
Crobat stared at the bowl of fluid in deep thought.
It slowly placed its wing into the fluid, feeling no resistance at all. But when it tried to forcefully attack it, the fluid instantly solidified. The toughness of the non-Newtonian fluid astonished Crobat.
"Powder and water combined."
This was the first thought that came to Crobat's mind. Then, it thought of its own abilities.
Flapping its wings, Crobat flew to a separate area and began to experiment slowly.
Having given Crobat a direction, Ace temporarily left it alone and began coaching Lapras on ice control.
With the scroll Pryce had given him, Lapras had now completely mastered Absolute Zero. Its control over ice had made a qualitative leap.
Ice that integrated offense and defense, combining attack, control, and defense, had immense potential for growth.
Combined with Lapras's own hard work, its pace of progress ranked third among all of Ace's Pokémon.
Second was Chansey, and first was Gengar.
Chansey, of course, was an ongoing process. With its power still continuously increasing, it wouldn't be a problem for it to take on some Legendary Pokémon in a one-on-one fight once it fully matured.
As for Gengar, its shining ability was simply too overpowered.
It could grow stronger by consuming soul fragments. If Gengar wasn't so laid-back, it would have been Ace's ace Pokémon long ago.
But now, Ace had been pushing the previously lazy Gengar to get serious. The rocket-like speed of its power increase left even Chansey dumbfounded.
Currently, the two of them were battling each other. As a Ghost-type and a Normal-type, their regular moves were useless against each other. But when using moves of other types, the battle was extremely fierce.
No one dared to get within two hundred meters of their battle, afraid of being caught in the crossfire.
Finally, there were the representatives of fire, water, and grass: Blastoise, Ninetales, and Victreebel.
These three weren't fighting each other. Instead, they were lined up and blasting away at a distant target.
In the distance, Aerodactyl was weaving between the various attacks at incredible speed, its evasion skills at a maximum!
Among the three Pokémon, Victreebel's attacks were the hardest to dodge because of their extreme speed. The few scratches on Aerodactyl were almost all from Victreebel.
Compared to Victreebel's speed, Ninetales and Blastoise were focused on overwhelming the target with sheer numbers.
Blastoise's ability to multitask and Ninetales' nine tails worked together to create a continuous barrage that covered the entire field. It was only thanks to Aerodactyl's extremely high evasion that it could survive. Any other Pokémon would be left to despair in the crossfire of Blastoise and Ninetales.
Watching his Pokémon train with such passion, Ace felt his own hands itch. He immediately stopped Gible and Combusken. Taking off his trench coat to reveal the Dragon Scale Armor underneath, Ace beckoned the two Pokémon forward.
In the next moment, Gible and Combusken charged at Ace without hesitation.
Ace blocked their attacks with his arms. He then grabbed the arms of both Pokémon, jumped with a burst of power from his legs, and kicked them both in the face.
Gible blocked with its arms, while Combusken grabbed Ace's incoming left foot, twisted its body, and used Ace's momentum to slam him into the ground.
Just as Ace was about to struggle, Gible's sharp claws were pressed against his neck.
The sharp sensation came, but Gible didn't harm Ace and quickly retracted its claws.
Ace got up, rubbed his sore spots, and said helplessly, "It's still not enough. The only way to improve my fighting skills is through real, hand-to-hand combat."
At the same time, Ace still admired Bruno. The amount of effort he must have put in to cultivate his fighting skills to such a level was simply immense.
"Chirrup!"
Crobat's cry from its corner attracted Ace's attention.
Ace quickly walked over and saw a puddle of purplish-black liquid on the ground in front of Crobat.
Crobat gestured for Ace to try it. Ace picked up a piece of gravel and threw it with some force at the liquid on the ground.
"Thud!"
With a muffled sound, the liquid splashed, but Ace broke into a smile.
Before the liquid splashed, Ace had clearly seen that the liquid had resisted the gravel for a moment. It was only when the impact became too great that it splashed.
This was a beginning, meaning that Crobat had just started to grasp the concept. If it continued to practice, given enough time, Crobat would one day fly at high speed with this venomous liquid covering its body.
With a flap of its wings, the venomous liquid would scatter. Any enemy who touched the venom would be poisoned and perish.
Only then would Crobat's skill, Venom Wings, truly live up to its name!