"Fury Cutter!"
On the battlefield, the fight between Scyther and Nincada was still underway.
From their exchange of blows, it was clear that this Shiny Nincada had tremendous strength, enough to face Scyther head-on.
However, in terms of speed, Scyther far surpassed it. That's why, seeing he couldn't defeat Nincada with direct attacks, Kyle Miller began using a guerrilla tactic combined with chained strikes, causing the power of Fury Cutter to increase with each hit.
"It's the moment! Scyther, unleash all your power with Fury Cutter!"
Kyle Miller realized that the accumulated power of the attack was at its peak, so he gave the command without hesitation.
Boom!
In the next instant, Fury Cutter clashed violently with Nincada's Metal Claw. After a loud bang, Nincada's figure went flying from the impact.
"Well done! Use Air Slash!"
Seeing that Nincada had been repelled, Scyther immediately swung its scythes, sending several blades of air after it.
Boom!
Just as Nincada hit the ground, the air blades struck at the same time. A strong explosion shook the place, and a cloud of dust covered everything.
"Go, Pokéball!"
When the dust cleared, Nincada lay on the ground, unable to move, and was captured by the Pokéball Kyle Miller threw.
"Congratulations, Kyle."
Seeing that the Shiny Nincada had been caught, Ethan Black smiled and congratulated him.
"Hahaha, all thanks to your Cacnea."
"That Nincada had nothing special except for its escape ability, which was top-notch. If it weren't for your Cacnea, catching it wouldn't have been so easy."
Kyle Miller picked up the Pokéball from the ground and sincerely thanked Ethan Black.
They looked at each other and smiled, noticing they had good chemistry as teammates.
"By the way, I don't want you to feel like I owe you a favor."
"This is a formula for making nutritious juice with Shuckle. I'll give it to you."
Suddenly, Kyle Miller pulled out a prepared recipe from his pocket and handed it to Ethan Black.
"A formula for making nutritious juice?"
Ethan Black was surprised to hear this.
Although Shuckle can ferment common fruits to produce nutritious juice, not just any fruit will do.
Only with the right formula and proper method can a miraculous transformation occur, turning common fruits into a juice that restores energy.
"This formula must be very valuable, isn't it?"
Ethan Black hesitated, though his eyes sparkled. He didn't know whether to accept it.
"Don't worry, it's not one of my family's secret formulas."
"This one I developed myself. Many of the fruits it uses can be easily found in nature. Use it without concern."
Kyle Miller noticed his hesitation and smiled warmly. He knew Ethan Black was being considerate, so he reassured him.
"You invented it yourself?" Ethan Black asked in surprise.
Kyle Miller smiled proudly: "Except for my first Scyther, all the resources I have now, I've earned by myself!"
"Don't see me as a typical rich kid who relies on his family, because..."
At that moment he stopped, but then forcibly handed over the recipe with a smile: "Just use it, I assure you no one will bother you about it!"
"Alright, I'll consider this favor outstanding." Ethan Black accepted the formula solemnly.
"Favor? None of that! I like you a lot, and from today we're friends. If I ever need something, I'll think of you. And you too, don't hesitate to come to me if you need help."
Kyle Miller patted his chest and laughed.
"Come on! Today it's my treat. Let's celebrate!"
With that, the two left the park. Kyle Miller drove toward a nearby village.
...
Later that night.
Ethan Black rented a room at a village inn.
"Come out, Shuckle."
Now he finally had the chance to observe his new partner.
"Shuckle?"
The little Pokémon came out and immediately looked around suspiciously.
Seeing Ethan Black and Cacnea, its pupils shrank, and it quickly ran to hide under the bed.
Ethan Black couldn't help but laugh. It reminded him of when he first met his Sandslash.
If Sandslash were here, it would surely feel the same way.
"Shuckle, don't be afraid."
"I'm your new trainer. I won't hurt you."
With a smile, Ethan Black took some prepared fruits and placed them in front of Shuckle.
Then he and Cacnea stepped back a little, showing they meant no harm.
"Shuck?"
The Pokémon looked at Ethan Black and Cacnea, then at the basket of fruits, and with its small yellow hands dragged it under the bed.
It wasn't long before the sound of Shuckle munching on the fruits could be heard.
Ethan Black didn't rush, he gave it space to adapt, without forcing closeness.
Afterward, he took out his notebook and began refining Cacnea's training plan.
Today's battle against Ariados had been a great lesson, sparking many new ideas.
For Cacnea, the move Ingrain remained its key technique. At present, it had six variants:
Root Recovery.
Root Entanglement.
Root Defense.
Water Absorption.
Energy Drain.
Magical Roots.
That last one, Magical Roots, was a combined move that had unexpectedly emerged during a tournament, and Ethan Black had focused training on improving it, though results were still limited.
It seemed that, at that moment, Cacnea had managed to combine Magical Leaf with its roots as an act of desperation.
However, this auto-tracking ability of the combined move Magical Roots was extremely useful against very fast enemies.
That's why Ethan Black was determined for his Cacnea to master it.
Moreover, figuring out how to fully combine Magical Leaf with its roots would be one of Ethan Black's most important study topics in the coming days.
If Cacnea managed to fuse other moves with its roots, Ethan Black could even develop more move combinations in the future.
(End of chapter)