🎆 Happy New Year! 🎆
Thank you all for the amazing support throughout this year. 💙To celebrate the arrival of the new year, here is a special New Year code:
🎁 Code:NewYear: F3B16
📅 Code validity:
Start: December 30, 2025 at 11:55 p.m.
End: January 2, 2026 at 11:00 p.m.
Enjoy it and let's start this new year strong. 🚀✨Here's to an amazing 2026! 🎉
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Boom, boom, boom!
On the field, the battle continued with intensity.
From the course of the fight, it was clear that Sandslash was being pressured and left at a disadvantage.
Although Sandslash had the move Dig, which was practically a "cheat" move, Slowking's great intellect allowed it to devise an unexpected tactic: firing a stream of water into the tunnels, thus blocking Sandslash's digging strategy.
"Alright, the battle stops here."
Seeing that, despite the apparent deadlock, Sandslash was already losing ground, Ethan Black gave the order for both Pokémon to stop.
At that very moment, the sandstorm raging on the field began to slowly fade away.
"Sha..."
Hearing Ethan Black, Sandslash slowly lowered its claws to the ground, growling in frustration. Although it wasn't satisfied, it quickly jumped to its trainer's side.
On the surface, the battle had no winner, but Sandslash, as the protagonist of the fight, knew very well that it had lost. And the most humiliating part was that Shellder hadn't even participated... if it had, the defeat would have been even more crushing.
"Zzzt!"
On a small stool, Meltan sipped metallic liquid while shifting its little eyes restlessly, looking first at Sandslash and then at Slowking, as if it were deeply reflecting on life.
"Cac!"
Meanwhile, Cacturne was very happy. As soon as the battle ended, it ran over to Slowking and began to observe it with great curiosity.
Before, Cacturne and Shellder had always been the ones protecting Ethan Black. As a double defensive core, the two Pokémon had forged a very close bond.
Now that it saw Shellder completely transformed into Slowking, Cacturne couldn't help but approach with enthusiasm to ask how it had managed to become so strong.
Shellder: "All you have to do is find a 'big boss' and ask if he needs a pendant."
Cacturne: "..."
Hearing this, Trapinch and Shuckle also came over, and soon the Pokémon were playing and joking together.
"Alright, you've rested, now come over, I'm going to assign the training tasks."
Ethan Black smiled with satisfaction, seeing that Slowking integrated seamlessly into the team, and gathered all his Pokémon.
At that moment, his main forces were Sandslash, Cacturne, and Slowking. The three were extremely powerful, already reaching the standard of advanced-level Pokémon.
Then came Meltan and Absol, a step below, forming his second squad, at intermediate level.
Finally, Trapinch was in the third squad. Still developing, its strength barely reached the threshold of intermediate level.
"Sandslash, Cacturne, Meltan, you three go train first."
Ethan Black reflected: those three already had a defined path. They only needed to continue with the usual training plans he had assigned to them.
Hearing the order, the three nodded and headed off to the side to start their routines.
Especially Sandslash, who, after the previous battle, trained with renewed determination. As Ethan Black's starter Pokémon, it had always carried the goal of being the strongest of all.
"Now, Slowking. You'll train together with Shellder in water control."
Ethan Black gave new instructions to Slowking and Shellder. Since he hadn't yet defined a special plan for Slowking, he decided the best option was to follow the same regimen Shellder had practiced before.
"Yadon!"
Slowking nodded obediently, and together with Shellder, began their practice.
Slowking used the move Water Pulse, while Shellder employed the Psychic-type move Hidden Power to control the Water Pulse. The result was a massive vortex of water that rose in the form of a water twister.
Although Shellder could no longer use the move Aqua Ring, the move Water Pulse was enough to produce similar effects, and in terms of power, that whirlpool was even more impressive.
Then, with the support of Slowking's Water-type moves, Shellder unleashed its own water energy control abilities, quickly forming a liquid shield in front of it.
After evolving together with Slowpoke into Slowking, Shellder's psychic strength had increased notably, also boosting its mastery over Water-type energy. Now, its control techniques resembled the tricks of a true "water master."
Ethan Black, seeing that the training of both was on the right track, nodded in satisfaction and turned his attention back to Trapinch.
After the attack from the man in black, Ethan Black had come to deeply understand the importance of the strength of each Pokémon.
In addition to his main team of six, he also had to raise substitutes, to have replacements ready in case of losses.
The man in black himself was an example: his main team included Alakazam, Hypno, Grumpig, Mr. Mime, Xatu, and Slowpoke; while in reserve he had Exeggutor and Starmie.
That way, when he lost Alakazam and Slowpoke, he could immediately replace them and maintain a full team.
In the previous battle, if not for Slowking's power stopping Gengar, Ethan Black — who had lost Shellder and Absol — would have had no chance against an enemy team still intact.
That's why now he was determined to train all his Pokémon, not just his six main ones. He even wanted to strengthen a team of substitutes as well.
After all, he was a trainer capable of releasing up to twelve Pokémon at once. In theory, he could train all twelve in parallel. Not taking advantage of that would be an unforgivable waste.
"Trapinch, from now on I'm going to focus on you. Are you ready?"
Trapinch, excited, nodded vigorously. Its feet stomped the ground, releasing Ground-type energy that made the terrain rumble, showing it was prepared.
"Very well, then we'll work hard until you learn the move Fissure."
"And during this very time, I'll make sure you evolve into Vibrava."
Ethan Black stroked Trapinch's head with a smile. After leaving instructions to the other Pokémon to continue with their training, he left the field together with Trapinch.
(End of chapter)