"Meltan!"
Upon clearly seeing the appearance of the small Pokémon in front of him, Ethan Black's eyes widened.
That little Pokémon was none other than Meltan, the very same one Ash caught in the Pokémon Sun and Moon anime!
It must be known that Meltan is a Mythical Pokémon, and this kind of Pokémon is extremely rare. Sometimes they are considered as important as Legendary Pokémon—sometimes even classified as one of them!
However, Meltan's case is special, since it is the only Mythical Pokémon that has an evolutionary form.
And in the game, Meltan only has a total of 300 base stat points, whereas when it evolves into Melmetal, it reaches the standard of Mythical Pokémon: 600 points.
Or rather, only when it evolves into Melmetal can it truly be considered a full-fledged Mythical Pokémon...
"I can't believe there's a Pokémon like this inside this steel cave."
Ethan Black took a deep breath and began carefully observing the Meltan in front of him, comparing it to the one he remembered from Ash.
In his memory, Ash's Meltan was barely larger than an adult's palm, but this Meltan measured nearly half a meter—twice the normal size!
Moreover, the nut on its head was a dark gold color, different from the typical bright gold of common Meltan.
"Phew, in theory Meltan isn't a particularly strong Pokémon, but that impression comes from Ash's. The one in front of me looks incredibly powerful!"
With a serious face, Ethan Black locked eyes with Meltan, not daring to make a single move.
Although Ethan Black intended to watch cautiously, Meltan was clearly upset about the intrusion and about Ethan Black trying to steal its iron ore. Suddenly, an electric spark appeared on its body, and it launched a discharge directly from its eyes.
Boom!
Fortunately, Golem reacted in time and intercepted the attack.
A loud explosion was heard. Although Golem managed to resist the discharge thanks to its Ground type, the impact of the attack was so strong it nearly made it stagger.
"It blocked it!"
"Seems this Meltan isn't as strong as I thought..."
Ethan Black narrowed his eyes and signaled Cacnea to attack.
Cacnea nodded from behind, used the move Ingrain, and numerous roots began to grow under its feet, spreading across the ground.
At the same time, seeing that Meltan had attacked first, Golem and Donphan also advanced, keeping their eyes fixed on Meltan and ready to fight.
"Zzzzzzt..."
Meltan was surprised to see that Golem had withstood its Electric-type move. Its eyes seemed to pop out of the nut in shock.
At that moment, a loud electric hum was heard: Meltan was channeling Steel-type energy, creating a silver beam of light that shot directly at Golem.
"That's the Steel-type move: Flash Cannon!"
"Shellder, use Barrier!"
With sharp eyes, Ethan Black saw Shellder respond, creating six floating barriers, placing them in front of Golem, stacked one over the other.
Crack!
The Flash Cannon tore through the air, and after a loud explosion, the six barriers shattered one after another.
But after breaking through, the attack had already lost most of its energy. Finally, Golem destroyed it with a single punch.
"What brutal power! Looks like we'll have to go all out..."
Seeing the strength of Meltan's attack, Ethan Black couldn't help but praise it: "No wonder it's a Mythical Pokémon. Even though it hasn't evolved into Melmetal yet, it can't be underestimated."
"Go, Shuckle! Use Acupressure and Helping Hand on Cacnea!"
Then Ethan Black took out Shuckle's Poké Ball and released it to support Cacnea.
"Shuck."
Nodding, Shuckle began emitting Normal-type energy. It used Helping Hand, covering Cacnea in a mysterious glow.
Afterward, Cacnea's roots quickly began thickening, since its Ingrain move had been powered up.
Next, Shuckle's yellow antennae once again released Normal-type energy, enveloping Cacnea as if applying pressure to a key point: the energy was channeled into Cacnea's body, making its attributes improve significantly.
After applying both buffs, Shuckle, exhausted, collapsed to the ground panting.
"Good job! Return, Shuckle."
Ethan Black praised it and returned it to its Poké Ball.
"Cacnea, capture it!"
Upon hearing the order, dozens of thick roots burst from the ground and headed straight for Meltan.
Meltan clearly didn't expect a root to attack from behind, and it was completely bound.
But just as Ethan Black planned to repeat the same strategy with his Pokémon, he suddenly saw Meltan's liquid, mercury-like body twist, breaking free from the roots!
"I almost forgot! Meltan's body is like mercury, extremely malleable and adaptable to the environment, so using roots to bind it doesn't work well against it."
Seeing this, Ethan Black slapped his forehead and corrected his strategy: "Cacnea, target Meltan's head nut with your roots!"
Cacnea nodded and launched its roots toward Meltan's golden nut, while Meltan was already fighting against Golem, Donphan, and Magneton.
Immediately, the roots coiled around the nut, and since Meltan didn't see it coming, it was completely captured.
"Zzzzt..."
This time, Meltan couldn't escape with its mercury body and was firmly bound.
And with more roots joining in, Meltan was wrapped up like a tamale, unable to move.
"Zzzzzzt!"
Just as the other Pokémon were about to launch their attacks, a sudden electric explosion was heard. A bluish smoke appeared over the roots, and instantly, a violent electric current burst forth, reducing the roots to dust!
(End of chapter)