"Cacturne, have you made your decision?"
In the end, Ethan left the choice in Cacturne's hands.
Upon hearing this, Cacturne did not hesitate for even a second and nodded firmly, indicating it wanted to try.
During this time, it had also felt that its training seemed to have reached a bottleneck, so now it was eager to break through that limit.
"Very well, then next I'm going to apply the Black Sludge to your spines. Get ready."
Ethan nodded in satisfaction. Although Cacturne wasn't the most talented on his team, it was the most patient.
Then, with a wooden stick and Slowking's assistance, Ethan began to slowly spread the Black Sludge over Cacturne's spines, causing them to emit a faint violet glow.
...
"What... what is Ethan trying to do?"
In the monitoring room, the examiners looked at each other in confusion.
On the screens, all of Cacturne's spines were now covered in Black Sludge. And judging by the Pokémon's expression, its face full of pain, it seemed to be enduring something with all its strength.
"It looks like he wants to use this method to make Cacturne absorb the energy from the Black Sludge and give toxicity to its spines." The chief examiner frowned, having guessed Ethan's intention.
"To give his spines toxicity?"
"That Ethan really dares to think of anything..."
The other examiners showed astonishment in their eyes. Compared to them, who followed safe and traditional methods, Ethan's ideas were incredibly bold.
"It seems it's managing to withstand it."
"Although Black Sludge absorbs the life energy of Pokémon that aren't Poison type, Cacturne's move Ingrain can compensate for it in time."
"The only question now is whether Cacturne can endure the powerful toxicity inside the Black Sludge."
The chief examiner had immediately identified the key point of the process.
...
In the field.
Ethan watched anxiously as an unhealthy purple tint began to spread across Cacturne's body.
"I definitely need to look for a more reliable healer."
"If I had a Pokémon capable of curing status conditions, Cacturne's risk would be greatly reduced."
As he pondered, the first healer Pokémon that came to mind were Chansey and Audino. In the Pokémon world, those two were the most common in Pokémon Centers, the ideal partners of Nurse Joy.
In real life they also appeared frequently in Pokémon Centers, but they were practically monopolized by those places, so it wasn't easy to obtain one.
"Perhaps some Grass-type Pokémon would also be an excellent option."
"Especially those that can learn the move Aromatherapy and the move Grassy Terrain at the same time. They are extremely powerful healers."
Ethan recalled the Pokémon capable of learning both moves: Venusaur and Vileplume, the two great flowers. Bellossom was also a very common healer.
"When the exam is over, I'll be able to focus on capturing a healer Pokémon."
With the decision made, he turned his gaze back to Cacturne and saw that the violet glow on its body had weakened. The energy of the Black Sludge was beginning to integrate into the spines.
Just then, a black shadow swiftly crossed in the distance.
Slowking reacted immediately, turning its alert gaze toward the figure.
"It's the Gengar that was hiding in Drapion's shadow."
Following Slowking's line of sight, Ethan also saw the Gengar standing beside the Skorupi egg that still remained intact in the toxic swamp.
Gengar looked at Ethan, then at the egg, and began guarding it silently.
"It seems that Skorupi egg really isn't something simple."
Ethan nodded slightly. He knew that, for now, he had no way of obtaining that egg.
He didn't know how much time was left until it hatched, nor whether the Pokémon Research Guild had any special requirements regarding the trainer who would receive it.
Time continued to pass little by little.
When the sky began to darken, Cacturne finally finished absorbing the energy of the Black Sludge. Its three main spines now emitted a faint violet glow: they had become toxic spines.
However, out of all the spines Cacturne had, only three managed it. That showed how difficult the process was.
"It doesn't matter, at least we succeeded."
A smile appeared on Ethan's lips. This proved that his theory was completely possible.
Given enough time, Cacturne would surely be able to complete the process on all its spines.
Thinking of that, Ethan remembered an ability called Poison Point.
Now the question was whether, once Cacturne managed to transform all its spines, it could replicate the effect of that ability.
The ability Poison Point had the effect of occasionally poisoning an opponent that hit the user through contact.
If Cacturne managed to develop toxic spines across its entire body, its close-combat potential would increase dramatically.
With toxic spines, its water absorption ability, and all the Fighting-type moves it could learn... perhaps it really could develop its own close-combat fighting style.
"Training to convert all the spines won't be completed in a day."
"In the meantime, we can try having Cacturne learn the move Poison Jab first. It might accelerate the formation of toxic spines, and together, both effects could reach maximum power."
Ethan thought for a moment and defined Cacturne's next training plan. At the same time, its close-combat training would also become a priority.
"Good work, Cacturne. Return and rest."
Ethan returned it to its Pokéball and, under Slowking's protection, slowly left the toxic swamp.
"Come out, Vibrava."
Having gained some distance, Ethan released Vibrava.
Whooosh—whooosh—whooosh.
A strong wind immediately rose as Vibrava positioned itself behind Ethan, lifted him, and quickly headed toward the exit Meltan had detected.
By now, several of his Pokémon had very low energy. Given the lack of an efficient method to recover them, he decided to leave the place and bring the trial to an end.
Although the survival trial required staying a week in the area, if someone found the exit of the secret dimension early, they could also withdraw ahead of time.
(End of chapter)