"Move, move, move—hurry up and run a test."
Dax Jonas dragged a very unwilling Ashen Vale out the door. Behind them, a Steelix marched along in high spirits, chest—well, head—held high as it followed the pair.
But the moment they reached the doorway, Dax and Ashen stepped through while Steelix stopped and stared in silence at the two-meter-tall frame in front of it.
Steelix lowered its head and tried it—nope. The door wasn't wide enough for its head to pass.
So Steelix peered through the doorway, a puzzled look in its eyes as it watched Dax keep walking.
(When I put up a question mark, it's not that I have a question—it's that I think you do.)
Seeing that neither of them was turning back, Steelix let out a helpless, earsplitting [Screech]. The blast rattled the two in front and the two still inside, sending a chill down everyone's spine.
Only then did Dax whirl around, fuming, to see what Steelix was up to.
He turned—and found those huge eyes staring at him through the doorway, full of…aggrieved resentment, plain as day to anyone.
Dax's scowl flipped, lightning-fast, into a placating smile. He gave Steelix a tiny nod, then took out a Poké Ball and recalled it in a flash of light.
Turning away so his back faced the others, he whispered to the Poké Ball, "Do me a favor and don't make a scene, yeah? I'll swap you into a comfier Poké Ball later."
The ball shook twice as if to agree. Only then did Dax tuck it away and, smiling once more, urge Ashen to get moving.
The four of them cut across Ashen's research facility toward the rear.
As mentioned earlier, Ashen's lab was massive. He usually worked in the front section—that's where the research happened. The back section was for research and diagnostics. There was a difference between the two.
Ashen powered up a machine while Dax, clearly familiar with the routine, set Steelix's Poké Ball into the cradle.
The test began. The device was a comprehensive analyzer Ashen had requested from the authorities—commonly used to scan unknown Pokémon for core information.
For instance, when Beauty the Milotic first evolved, it had gone through this machine. When Espeon and Umbreon first evolved, same deal. As for Rayquaza… yeah, right. Like Rayquaza would ever set coil in here.
The results came back quickly.
Steel-type origin energy and Ground-type origin energy—meaning the Pokémon in question was Steel-type and Ground-type.
Orange Aptitude. No need to dwell on that.
Physiology: Full-body steel composition. Structural strength surpasses diamond by a considerable margin.
Body length: 13.1 meters.
…
Dax retrieved the Poké Ball. Ashen shut down the analyzer and walked over to a different station—a target rig bristling with cables.
"All right, let's test what it already knows and check whether it has an offensive Ability."
"Do you know what Ability an Onix typically has?" Ashen asked, glancing at Dax.
Dax's hand, mid-throw with the Poké Ball, froze for a fraction. But with the shamelessness he was so proud of, he still tossed Steelix's ball and answered, "Nope."
Ashen didn't look surprised. He nodded, musing aloud, "Mm. Onix's Abilities are Rock Head, Sturdy, and Weak Armor. Let's check Rock Head first."
"Use Double-Edge."
Dax was wonderfully quick on the uptake. He commanded without missing a beat: "Steelix, Double-Edge!"
Steelix slammed into the target headfirst, then exhaled a heavy breath and shook its head.
Ashen jotted notes in his pad. "Not Rock Head. Auron, are your Pokémon on you?"
"Nope. They're training outside," Auron Vale replied.
"Uncle Ashen, I've got mine," Jace Rowan said before Ashen could call anyone in.
Ashen smiled. "Good. Send out one with relatively weak physical attack."
"Okay."
Jace released his Pokémon. A Charmander popped out in a burst of light.
"Whoa!!"
Charmander's appearance made Dax's jaw hit the floor. "No way—Shiny Charmander?!"
Auron sniffed. "It's just a Shiny Charmander. Don't act like you've never seen the world."
"Please," Dax shot back, "as if you've got a Shiny Charmander up your sleeve."
Ashen chuckled darkly from the side. "He actually does. It hatched from a Pokémon Egg belonging to the Master of the Secret Realm. Mm. By the way, Jace's Charmander also hatched from the Master of the Secret Realm's Pokémon Egg."
The more Dax listened, the more it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to dive into a Pokémon secret realm right this instant, track down those two Charizard, and make them lay another egg just to see if the next one would be Shiny too.
Two eggs in a single clutch, both of them Shiny—at that odds, getting one more Shiny wouldn't be that unreasonable, right?
"Enough," Ashen said with a mild smile. "Let's do the experiment first."
Knowing Ashen wanted to test whether Steelix had [Weak Armor], Jace gave his order: "Go, Charmander—use Scratch!"
Charmander faced the looming giant without a shred of fear. Its claws gleamed white as it darted in and scratched Steelix like it was tickling it.
Seeing no change in Steelix, Ashen made another note. "Not Weak Armor either. Next, have it hit the target with every attacking move it knows. I'll log the data."
"You got it. Steelix, use all your attacking moves on the target in front of you!"
Steelix nodded, opened wide, and let a red glow gather in its jaws.
[Fire Fang]
It bit down on the target.
Then came [Ice Fang], then [Thunder Fang], one after another.
Ashen's pen scratched across the page. "Bite-type moves are abnormally powerful. Possible Ability: [Strong Jaw]. Keep going."
Steelix worked hard, unleashing every move it had to hammer the target.
A mouthful of purple energy lanced out next—a beam that struck dead-on. That finally made Ashen nearly certain.
"[Dragon Breath] is abnormally powerful. Odds of [Sheer Force] are rising. Continue."
Steelix suddenly fidgeted, then used its tail to push Dax back by a few steps.
Dax blinked. "You mean… we should stand farther away?"
Steelix nodded.
Dax lit up. Oh ho—so it had a heavy-hitter up its sleeve.
Beaming, he tugged Auron and Jace back with him. Ashen had already retreated well out of range.
Under Dax's eager gaze, Steelix lunged at the target—and began to glow.
"Boom!!"
A deafening explosion rocked the room. When the dust settled, Steelix lay on the floor with swirls in its eyes.
"[Self-Destruct]'s power is within normal parameters. I suspect there's something wrong with its head," Ashen murmured, wiping the dust from his face and calmly jotting another line.
Dax saw red. "Dammit—what a tiger move." (In other words: "What a dumb move.")
Ashen glanced around and said to Dax, "Mm. The comprehensive analyzer is damaged. Make sure you inform the officials. You'll cover the cost and have them send a team to repair it."
Dax had no choice. Wearing a pained expression, he agreed.
Ignoring Auron and Jace snickering off to the side, Dax trudged over to Steelix, uncorked a bottle of medicine, and poured the restorative down its throat.
In no time, Steelix stirred, lifted its head, and gazed at Dax, eyes shining with delight.
(I did good, right? Praise me. Praise me now.)
Dax chuckled. "All right, head down."
Steelix didn't understand but obeyed, lowering its head obediently.
Smack.
Dax slapped Steelix on the head.
"From now on, unless I say so, you are not to use [Self-Destruct]. Understood?"
Steelix nodded, aggrieved. Only then did Dax look satisfied. "Okay. Take a breather. We've got more to do later."
He turned to walk back to Ashen. His right hand trembled slightly.
"Man, that head is hard."
…
[PS] In Chinese, [Self-Destruct] seems to have been renamed to something like "Jade Shatters with Stone," but since that's a new name and might confuse readers, I'm sticking with [Self-Destruct] here.
Also, quick bit of trivia: [Self-Destruct] and [Explosion] are two different moves. The former has 200 base power, the latter 250. Don't mix them up.
(End of chapter)
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