"Letting Shuckle absorb the nutritious juice from its own body to rapidly recover energy?"
"That's impossible. Even though the nutritious juice inside Shuckle's body has a restorative effect, neither the intensity nor the recovery speed could be so exaggerated," Leader Victoria immediately shook her head.
Seeing this, Ethan fell silent for a moment before explaining the role played by the ability Gluttony that Shuckle possessed.
The ability Gluttony could, to a certain extent, accelerate the effects of Berries and nutritious juice, and could even provide an amplifying effect.
And Shuckle was precisely taking advantage of this point: in an instant, it fully stimulated the effects of the Pokéblocks, greatly increasing both the speed and effectiveness of recovery.
After that, Ethan also had his Shuckle demonstrate the ability Gluttony once again. However, when the Pokéblocks were converted into nutritious juice, the effect was reduced considerably. Even so, it was enough to prove that what Ethan had said was not false.
"The ability Gluttony can be used in this way!"
Victoria was deeply shocked. Although Ethan explained that this method could only exert its maximum effect when combined with Grass-type Hidden Power, it had already completely opened her eyes.
...
Three days later, at the training field of the Greenfield Gym, Ethan was directing his Pokémon in their training.
Shuckle had stood out greatly in the gym challenge, and so now it trained with even greater enthusiasm.
At this point, Ethan had basically determined Shuckle's breeding direction: taking its ability to produce Pokéblocks as the core, and from there developing various abilities. Ethan called this strategy the doping tactic.
However, the cost of the doping tactic was truly enormous. Although Shuckle could produce Pokéblocks by itself, the value of Berries was also not low. If a large number of Pokéblocks were consumed in every battle, even Ethan would have difficulty sustaining it.
Therefore, while Shuckle was training the doping tactic, Ethan continued to have it practice the move Rock Throw continuously.
In the previous battles, Shuckle's Rock Throw had also demonstrated excellent performance. Whether it was using Rock Throw in the form of sharp stalagmites against Bellossom, or the Super Rock Throw against Meganium, its power had been far from negligible.
After all, this was the real world. Although Shuckle's Special Attack and Attack were among the lowest of all Pokémon, through the flexible use of the move Rock Throw it could still display formidable combat strength.
For example, Rock Throw in the form of sharp stalagmites relied on its special structure, with tips as sharp as arrows. As for Super Rock Throw, with such enormous volume and under the combined effects of weight and gravity, the factors determining its power were no longer Shuckle's Special Attack or Attack, but rather the rock's weight and the height and speed of its fall.
Besides Shuckle, the other Pokémon were also carrying out their own training.
Meltan continued training the power of its Electric-type moves. Electrical currents constantly ran throughout its body as it refined its use of the Electromagnetic Cannon.
Charizard and Vibrava flew at high speed through the air, strengthening their flying capabilities and their control over the wind.
Riolu, on the other hand, was sitting quietly beside Ethan, legs crossed, immersed in a state similar to meditation, using its psychic power to continuously train its mental strength.
Watching his Pokémon enter their training states, Ethan smiled faintly. At that moment, he was holding a book about the cultivation of flowers and plants in his hands.
This book not only recorded methods for cultivating flowers and herbs, but also included some bits of knowledge about Grass-type Pokémon related to gardening.
"Methods for cultivating the Gracidea flower!"
At last, Ethan found in the notes the main objective for which he had exchanged that cultivation manual.
And according to what was recorded in the book, the Gracidea flower was indeed an extremely difficult species to cultivate. Even the Greenfield Gym had tried numerous methods, and in the end had only managed to cultivate a few flowers.
"What a headache... It seems this manual can't be relied upon to mass-produce Gracidea flowers. However, the cultivation methods recorded here still have some reference value."
Ethan pondered, planning to take this as a starting point to try to find a method that would allow him to rapidly cultivate a sea of Gracidea flowers. Perhaps in that way, he could attract the arrival of the mythical Pokémon Shaymin.
"This matter must be approached slowly. After all, it involves a mythical Pokémon, so it definitely won't be simple."
Ethan shook his head and stopped thinking about it, putting the flower cultivation book into his backpack.
Even if he failed to obtain a successful method for cultivating the Gracidea flower, if he gave this book to his mother, she would surely be very happy.
"Now then, the next step is to continue the journey. Let's see... the cities closest to here are... Gullhaven City, Coral City, Nova City, Emberfall City..."
"Huh?"
"Coral City is going to hold a fishing contest soon?"
Suddenly, a piece of newly published news from Coral City caught Ethan's attention.
Coral City was a city whose name was closely tied to water. The longest river in the country ran through the center of the city, and from it branched off dozens of tributaries that extended throughout the entire urban area.
Here, the most common Pokémon were not Fire-type, but Water-type. The gym of Coral City was precisely a Water-type gym.
The "fish" in the fishing contest naturally did not refer to ordinary fish, but to Water-type Pokémon.
At the bottom of the lake near the city, there existed an entrance that connected to a Secret Kingdom. Within that Secret Kingdom was an extremely rare aquatic environment, completely filled with seawater and home to a large number of Water-type Pokémon.
Every year around this time, the entrance to the Secret Kingdom would open. Then, numerous Water-type Pokémon from the Secret Kingdom would enter the lake through that entrance.
The local League, in order to control these Water-type Pokémon coming from the Secret Kingdom and at the same time make full use of their resources, organized a fishing contest every year when the Secret Kingdom opened, with the goal of attracting trainers who loved fishing and Water-type Pokémon from all across the League.
"A Secret Kingdom full of Water-type Pokémon!"
Upon learning this news, Ethan's face showed an expression of astonishment.
"This fishing contest is truly interesting."
"Unknown Water-type Pokémon coming from a Secret Kingdom..."
Ethan immediately became interested. He currently had only five Pokémon and could still capture one more. If he managed to catch a Pokémon he liked in this fishing contest, he wouldn't mind capturing it at all.
(End of chapter)