Chapter 130: A Month Flies By
Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, more than a month had passed.
Fueled by the training camp's ample resources, Basalt's two Pokémon had been on the fast track, their strength growing at a remarkable rate.
First was Drilbur. After mastering the training regimen taught by Mr. Shane, it began using high-gravity training to temper its body, and the results were phenomenal. While Basalt had used gravity machines before, the methods he knew were nothing compared to the professional techniques from the A-Group instructor. The training was brutally exhausting, but thanks to its unshakeable willpower, Drilbur persevered where many other Pokémon would have given up—a fact that earned it high praise from Mr. Shane himself.
In addition, Drilbur had now fully mastered Crush Claw. A single strike could leave a shallow dent in a solid steel target, a testament to its immense power.
As for the Metal Claw Tutor Manual, it proved to be a difficult study. But whether it was due to the special metal fluids or not, Drilbur's control over Steel-type energy had skyrocketed, as if it were using a cheat code. The manual, which should have taken one or two months to learn, was seventy to eighty percent mastered in just two weeks.
Most importantly, the white metal coating from Agent Zhou required vigorous rubbing to be absorbed. This had an unexpected side effect: Drilbur's previously stalled progress on Hone Claws had suddenly started up again. It was a wonderful, unexpected surprise.
Seizing the opportunity, Basalt spent his rewards for two consecutive weeks on Lansat Berries, which helped Drilbur focus its concentration. Finally, it successfully mastered Hone Claws—the reliable, controllable setup move Basalt had been dreaming of.
Basalt reported Drilbur's progress with the metal fluids to Director Sterling. After careful consideration, the director made a special exception and granted Basalt a Tutor Manual he normally wouldn't have been able to apply for: Iron Defense.
Iron Defense was a Steel-type move that hardened a Pokémon's skin to the toughness of iron, drastically boosting its defensive capabilities. Director Sterling speculated that the pure Steel-type energy in the fluids might have a miraculous effect on learning Steel-type moves. It would be a total waste not to take advantage of this opportunity.
Basalt, of course, was ecstatic. There was no way he could refuse. Iron Defense was a top-tier defensive move, the counterpart to Swords Dance. In a way, it was like learning a defensive version of that legendary move.
Unfortunately, as a high-level status move, Iron Defense was far more difficult to learn than a standard attack, even more so than Hone Claws. After nearly a month of practice, Drilbur had only managed a basic grasp of it, boosting its defense by about sixty or seventy percent with each use. However, when combined with the baseline defensive increase from the metal fluids, Drilbur's overall durability was now roughly double what it had been a month ago. Crucially, this was a well-rounded improvement, boosting both its physical and special defense, though the physical side saw a greater gain.
Drilbur was no longer a glass cannon.
In the last few days, Basalt had also applied for the Double Team Tutor Manual. Unfortunately, Drilbur had only just started practicing it and could barely create two weak clones that wouldn't fool anyone. The main issue was its lack of fine energy control, a far cry from the innate psychic mastery of Bronzor.
Speaking of Bronzor, it had gone on an absolute tear, learning new moves at a furious pace. After mastering Charge Beam, it went on to learn Rock Tomb, Grass Knot, Reflect, and Metal Sound. Its move pool was now just as diverse as Drilbur's. Thanks to its powerful mind and incredible learning ability, Bronzor picked up every new skill with astonishing speed, putting immense pressure on Drilbur to keep up.
Thankfully, after Basalt had proven his potential, the camp had lifted all restrictions on him learning any move below the high-tier level. Otherwise, he never would have had enough Move Vouchers to fund Bronzor's spree.
Furthermore, riding on Drilbur's coattails, Bronzor also learned Iron Defense and Double Team from the manuals, and with impressive results. After some practice, its Double Team clones were not only incredibly solid and difficult to distinguish from the real one, but their number had also doubled to a staggering total of six.
As for Iron Defense, a move of its native type, Bronzor's progress was on par with Drilbur's, even without the aid of the metal fluids—a fact that completely floored Basalt.
And if that wasn't enough, as its psychic power grew, Bronzor had even taught itself a new move: Psychic.
With that, Bronzor's title as a "one-in-a-million battle prodigy" was firmly established.
In summary, after a month of intense, focused training, both Drilbur and Bronzor were in a completely different league.
The training camp itself had also seen significant changes.
First, Cael's Totodile had evolved into a Croconaw, granting it a massive power boost. With its terrifying attack power and the priority of its Aqua Jet, it had one-shot Warren's Houndour, not even giving it a chance to use Counter. With that victory, Cael had reclaimed a spot in the B-Group's lower tier. Unfortunately, his momentum stopped there. His challenge against Forrest's Heracross was a decisive loss; the powerful Guts-boosted Pokémon sent him back, cementing his place in the lower B-Group for the time being. Still, Croconaw had yet to fully adapt to its new body, leaving plenty of room for growth.
Besides Cael, Luna had also been making steady progress. With her new ace, Delibird, she challenged Forrest. In a grueling match, she managed to clinch victory with a combination of Ice Shard, Icy Wind, and Drill Peck. The battle was incredibly hard-fought, reminiscent of Basalt's own promotion match against the Nosepass. Both trainers had held nothing back, but in the end, Luna emerged victorious.
Following this, both Luna and Fletcher decided to challenge for a spot in A-Group, both setting their sights on Skye. Skye had become the "soft target" of the A-Group. Though Waylon was currently away, no one would have dared to challenge him even if he were present. That left Skye.
His Flying-type Pidgeotto had a type disadvantage against both Luna's Ice-type Delibird and Fletcher's Rock-type Nosepass.
But Skye defended his position with ferocious skill.
The first battle was Delibird vs. Pidgeotto. Despite the disadvantage, Pidgeotto's superior reaction time and speed allowed it to dodge the opening Ice Shard. It then used Tailwind to boost its speed further, created openings with Double Team, and used its incredible agility to run circles around Delibird with a series of feints. Ultimately, a penguin that wasn't built for flight was no match for a true avian master. In terms of speed, agility, and pure flying skill, Pidgeotto was leagues ahead. It won the match easily, almost completely unscathed.
The second battle was Pidgeotto vs. Nosepass. Unsurprisingly, Nosepass opened with Gravity at its maximum 2.0x intensity. But Skye's Pidgeotto was no slouch. As a former group member with Basalt, it had clearly undergone special training to counter this very move. The 2.0x gravity wasn't enough to ground it; Pidgeotto's powerful wings generated more than enough lift to overcome the pressure, though its speed was noticeably hampered.
Nosepass followed up with Thunder Wave, but Pidgeotto's ten-clone Double Team created a whirlwind of confusion, and the attack missed the real one. Basalt clearly remembered the shock of seeing ten Pidgeotto surrounding the Nosepass, making it impossible to tell which was real. Nosepass then launched a Rock Tomb, but even with its reduced speed, Pidgeotto managed a difficult dodge.
Then, Pidgeotto revealed its trump card: Steel Wing. The super-effective Steel-type move slammed into Nosepass. With that, Skye managed to secure a hard-fought victory. Pidgeotto, however, was far from unscathed this time. It was covered in wounds, its stamina deep in the red.
This demonstrated that Fletcher, despite being in B-Group, was truly an A-Group-level trainer, far stronger than Luna. If Luna wanted to break into the top group, she still had a long way to go.
Finally, there was Basalt himself.
Needless to say, he remained firmly in the A-Group's upper tier. His position was so frighteningly solid that no one dared to challenge him. For the past month, he'd had to seek out "friendly spars" with Yao and Skye, much to their misery. After all, nobody enjoys being a punching bag.
With the resources Basalt now possessed, his Drilbur was on a whole different level. The matches were a dimensional takedown. Yao's Onix could put up a fight at first, even overpowering Drilbur with its raw strength. But once Drilbur set up Sandstorm, boosted its defenses with Iron Defense, and started wailing on it with a super-effective Metal Claw, even the mighty Onix couldn't hold out. After a few beatings, Yao began politely declining any further spars. Skye got the message too. If you can't win, concede. There was no shame in it.
The end of the training camp was now just around the corner. Every trainee, except for Basalt, was holding their breath, pushing themselves to the limit for a final chance to impress and secure a permanent spot, even as a substitute.
Then, one day, news spread through the camp.
Waylon was back.
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