Chapter 424: Instant Freeze
After pondering for a moment, Basalt finally called the captain of the Saints Club, Li Di: "Captain, still in Saffron City? Are you free?"
With Basalt's improvement in strength, Li Di was the only player left in the Saints Club who could spar with him. The others were a bit lacking. Coincidentally, Li Di had married and settled down in Saffron City, unlike other players who mostly returned to their hometowns during the off-season.
"I'm still in Saffron City. What's up?"
"Actually, it's nothing much. My Swampert has recently made some breakthroughs in strength, and I wanted to spar with you." Basalt smiled.
"Another breakthrough in strength?" On the other end, Li Di's mouth twitched. For ordinary trainers, improving a Pokémon's strength was the result of accumulated hard training and appeared precious. But Basalt was a freak; his Pokémon had breakthroughs every few days. Li Di was numb to it. He was ready to be ravaged by Basalt.
"Eh? Didn't you go home? Why are you still in Saffron City?" Li Di suddenly realized something was wrong. That night, he had cried his heart out to Basalt, thinking he wouldn't see him for a while. Unexpectedly... a waste of his feelings and snot!
"Delayed by something." Basalt laughed awkwardly. "Captain, I'll wait for you at the club!"
"Got it, I'm coming right away."
During the off-season, the Saints Club was mostly empty, except for the security guards working shifts.
After waiting a moment at the battleground, Li Di arrived quickly, wearing casual clothes and slippers, looking slightly sloppy.
"Go, Swampert!" Basalt released Swampert, smiling, "Captain, Swampert has made some breakthroughs in Ice-type moves. Please give us some guidance."
"Ice-type?" Li Di raised an eyebrow but said before throwing his Pokéball, "Let's agree first: no Swamp Domain!"
"Sure, sure!" Basalt smiled wryly. Swampert's Swamp Domain was a bit too broken, especially on a standard-sized battlefield. Pokémon that couldn't fly or levitate were at a huge disadvantage against it. Although Basalt didn't use Swampert against Gan Lin, its reputation was no less than the Quicksand Domain, perhaps even greater, since Pupitar rarely appeared in the league.
"Alright then! Go, Machamp!" Captain Li Di released a humanoid Pokémon with four strong arms and bulging muscles, visually impressive.
"Ma~champ~" Machamp appeared and immediately assumed a fighting stance.
Swampert and Machamp were old sparring partners. In terms of strength, they were evenly matched. However, Machamp had the advantage of more arms, so in a stalemate, it often beat Swampert black and blue.
"Swamp-pert~" Swampert crouched on all fours.
"Since you can't use the swamp, I'll let you attack first!" Li Di raised his hand, giving Basalt a "come at me" gesture.
"You said it yourself; I won't be polite then!" Basalt laughed and commanded, "Swampert, charge and use Ice Punch!"
"Swamp-pert~" Hearing this, Swampert exerted force with its legs, charging at Machamp on all fours with imposing momentum.
"Ma~champ~" Seeing this, Machamp's eyes flashed, energy circulating in its body, muscles bulging instantly.
Normal-type move, Strength! This wasn't Machamp's strongest move, but it was the one that best mobilized its full-body strength. It was also Machamp's favorite move. Only in this way was it confident in wrestling with Swampert without losing. After all, Swampert was a muscle freak!!!
But just then, a glint of cold light flashed in Swampert's eyes.
Its fins and gills twitched slightly, and water vapor in the air began to gather towards Machamp. The humidity around Machamp increased several times in the blink of an eye.
Immediately after, with a thought from Swampert, pure freezing energy surged from its body, acting on the water vapor around Machamp.
"Ma~champ~" Machamp was startled, feeling the ambient temperature drop drastically. Given its physique, it was long immune to heat and cold. But this terrifying low temperature still made it feel like falling into an ice cellar, chilling to the bone.
The next second, the water vapor began to sublime, covering Machamp's body in frost, instantly freezing it.
Simultaneously, Swampert raised its right fist, terrifying Ice-type energy gathering at the tip, and punched out with its monstrous strength.
Boom! Crack!
The Ice Punch landed on the frozen Machamp, the terrifying fist force shattering the ice sculpture into fragments.
However, the cold air wrapped around the Ice Punch quickly replenished, freezing Machamp again. And compared to the first freeze, the ice layer this time was significantly thicker, the binding force more robust.
Machamp turned into a lifelike ice sculpture! Although sealed in ice, its expression of shock and pain was clearly visible.
"How can this be?" Li Di was shocked. He didn't understand how Swampert froze Machamp the first time. He didn't see Swampert use a move!!!
Seeing the success of the experiment, Basalt was pleasantly surprised. He didn't order Swampert to attack again but shouted, "Swampert, let Machamp out!"
Clearly, he had already won this battle. Since it was a spar, there was no need to incapacitate Machamp.
"Swamp-pert~" Receiving the order, Swampert lightly punched the ice sculpture. The ice layer cracked and soon shattered.
Machamp broke free! But on its face, shock was still visible. It had been ravaged by Swampert!!!
"Basalt, what new move is this?" Li Di strode over, his face showing respect and curiosity.
"Captain, this is a new move I developed called Instant Freeze!" Basalt explained without hiding anything, "My Swampert's ability is Damp. It can create water vapor and freely control the humidity in the air. This move involves Swampert drastically increasing the humidity around the opponent first, then using Ice-type energy to sublime the water vapor, achieving the goal of freezing the opponent."
The principle of Instant Freeze wasn't complicated; veteran experts could likely figure it out with careful thought, so Basalt saw no need to hide it. However, an expert's secret technique was usually hard to replicate even if the principle was known.
Without super-high Water-type talent, one couldn't develop the Damp ability to such a high level. Simultaneously, it required super-strong Ice-type talent and control; otherwise, one couldn't achieve instant freezing of water vapor.
Basalt's Swampert was nourished by the Fountain of Life and the West Lake Spring Eye for Water attributes, and absorbed the Never-Melt Ice for Ice attributes. These three items were rare treasures, not easily accessible to ordinary trainers.
So what if they knew the principle? Want to replicate it? Hard, hard, hard!
"You're amazing!" Li Di shook his head, having to concede. sometimes, he really wanted to crack open Basalt's head to see what was inside. Why, with the same kind of head, could Basalt always come up with novel and practical moves?
First, Cradily's Root Domain, then Pupitar's Quicksand Domain, then Swampert's Swamp Domain. Now, a strange move that could instantly freeze the opponent! If he mastered so many special moves, he would have taken off long ago! Conquering the First Division League would be a piece of cake! Unfortunately, he wasn't Basalt; he didn't have these moves.
However, Basalt didn't become arrogant because of this. He observed that Swampert's Instant Freeze relied on surprise; the actual binding power of the ice wasn't strong. If it had been a second later, with Machamp's terrifying strength, it probably would have broken out.
Moreover, Instant Freeze had many weaknesses. For example, if the opponent was a Fire-type Pokémon, the freezing effect would be greatly discounted. If the opponent had amazing perception, they would likely be alerted the moment Swampert changed the humidity, making successful freezing uncertain.
But overall, the Instant Freeze move was very practical. With this move, Swampert's strength was enough to rival the three main forces! After all, the manipulation of the Ability could be completed before the match!!!
To thank Li Di for sparring, Basalt treated him to a seafood feast before taking a taxi back to the small western-style house.
At 8:00 PM, Abdullah called: "Tomorrow morning at 8:00 AM, come to Saffron City Hongqiao Airport. We depart for Saudi Arabia!"
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