Morning.
After successfully registering for the competition, the four left the registration point and headed to the Pokémon Nightstar Club.
Since it was still December 11, the official matches would take place the next day, and all the rounds would finish on that same day.
"Kyle, which Pokémon are you planning to use this time?" asked Hailey Blake as they walked, constantly talking with Kyle Miller about strategies for the next day's battles. Clearly, they were determined to win first place.
In contrast, those who were only there to fill up the team, Ethan Black and Sarah Anderson, simply exchanged information about their respective Pokémon and then each drifted into their own thoughts.
Once at the Pokémon Nightstar Club, Hailey Blake and Kyle Miller started whispering to each other to plan tactics, and even dragged Sarah Anderson in to help as a strategy advisor.
"Well, in the end, I'm only here as filler," Ethan Black shook his head slightly and then joined the group as well.
Once inside the training room, Hailey Blake and Kyle Miller released their Pokémon: a Marshtomp and a Scyther.
Then Sarah Anderson also released hers: it was a Cubone.
Cubone wore its characteristic bone mask, with some cracks at the edges; only its eyes could be seen. It carried a bone as a weapon. Its body was brown, with a linen-colored belly, white claws on its fingers and feet, and a short tail.
For some reason, the moment Cubone appeared, Ethan Black immediately felt an inexplicable sadness that lightly spread through the atmosphere.
"Sadness...?" Ethan Black stared for a moment, watching Sarah Anderson crouch down to pet Cubone. She and her Pokémon seemed like part of the same painting, without creating any sense of disharmony.
"Looks like Sarah also has a story behind her," Ethan Black murmured, looking away. Then he released his two Pokémon: Cacnea and Shuckle, who appeared in the training field.
"Cacnea, Shuckle, let's begin today's training."
Ethan Black led his Pokémon to a different area of the field.
"Cacnea, this place isn't suitable for training the move Ingrain, so for now train with Magical Leaf," ordered Ethan Black.
After that, he turned his attention to Shuckle, who had only recently joined the team. He carefully picked it up and sat down at a table, placing the Pokémon on top.
"Shuckle, I hope we can get along well from now on," said Ethan Black with a smile, extending his hand.
Shuckle stayed still for a moment and then extended its little yellow hand, shaking Ethan Black's.
"Shuckle, can you show me your moves?"
After confirming his bond with Shuckle, Ethan Black made this request.
Although he had mainly considered Shuckle as a logistical support Pokémon, if it turned out to have some offensive capability, all the better.
"Shuck?" the Pokémon thought for a moment and then began showing its moves.
Innately, Shuckle knew the moves: Sticky Web, Withdraw, Constrict, Bide, and Rollout.
What really surprised Ethan Black was that Shuckle had inherited two god-tier support moves: Acupressure and Helping Hand!
Acupressure: Randomly raises one of the target's following stats by two stages: Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Special Defense, Speed, Accuracy, or Evasion.
Helping Hand: Puts the target in support mode, increasing the power of its moves by 50% during that turn.
One can imagine that if Shuckle used both Acupressure and Helping Hand on the same Pokémon, it would be like equipping it with several extremely powerful items at once.
Moreover, in the real world there are no "turns" like in the games, so Shuckle could continuously use Acupressure to boost an ally until it maxed out every stat.
Of course, using Acupressure consumes a lot of Shuckle's energy, so that kind of infinite boost Ethan Black imagined wouldn't be so easy to achieve. Even so, it was already something terrifying.
"Looks like Shuckle's path will clearly be that of support," Ethan Black affirmed after carefully writing down his Pokémon's seven moves in his notebook, beginning to plan how to raise it.
Shuckle is considered a rarity among Pokémon, as it possesses the highest defensive stats of all: both Defense and Special Defense reach a terrifying 230 points.
On the other hand, it has the lowest stats in Special Attack and Speed, making it the holder of four records within the Pokémon World. For this reason, it is often jokingly nicknamed online as the strongest Pokémon.
From Ethan Black's perspective, Shuckle was truly incredible. Especially in the real world, with the right moves, it was an excellent support Pokémon.
As in this case: Shuckle had inherited Acupressure and Helping Hand, meaning it could give massive boosts to its allies at the start of a battle.
And not only that: Shuckle could also learn moves like Power Trick, which swaps Attack with Defense, turning its maximum defenses into terrifying attacks. It can even swap stats with teammates or enemies, creating unexpected effects.
Furthermore, it could learn the moves Guard Split and Power Split, which allow redistributing stats between allies and enemies, making it even more versatile as support.
Ethan Black, after analyzing all this, came to the conclusion that Shuckle really could become the ultimate support of the team.
However, the moves Power Trick, Guard Split, and Power Split were Psychic-type moves, extremely difficult to master—even harder than learning moves like Rest. They were techniques humans had not yet managed to replicate in the real world.
"Power Trick, Guard Split, Power Split... better not think about that for now. The important thing is that Shuckle trains well with Acupressure and Helping Hand. Also, if I can develop a nutritious juice that restores its energy, that will already fulfill its main role," Ethan Black decided, shaking his head to push away the exaggerated plans.
Afterward, he took out the nutritious juice formula Kyle Miller had given him, ready to study it carefully. After all, making nutritious juice is like making wine: it's not enough to just have a recipe and ingredients, technique is also required.
(End of chapter)