At the training field of the intermediate campus of Ironvale City Pokémon University.
After fully organizing the training plan for all his small Pokémon, Ethan Black took several of them to the field to exercise.
Spending dozens of resource points, Ethan Black rented a private training room, equipped with a large number of devices, more than enough to train his companions.
"Out, everyone."
After locking the door of the room, Ethan Black released six of his small Pokémon, leaving only Shuckle inside.
After briefly explaining to Sandslash, Cacturne, Shellder, Meltan, and Trapinch his training methods so they could practice on their own, Ethan Black led Absol to a nearby open space.
"Absol, in front of you is an automatic ball launcher. In a moment, this device will launch balls in different ways."
"Your training is very simple: I'll blindfold you, and using Future Sight, you'll have to attack those balls."
Ethan Black, holding a piece of black cloth, positioned himself beside Absol and pointed to a device on the wall.
Future Sight. Just the name sounded imposing.
According to what Absol had told him, using this move for now could only generate a vague perception.
Ethan Black's idea was to use that perception to train its reaction ability, while simultaneously improving the move Future Sight.
"Abbssss!"
After hearing Ethan Black's words, Absol nodded and let itself be blindfolded.
"Let's begin!"
Ethan Black smiled and pressed the switch.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Immediately, several whistling sounds filled the air: a few baseballs shot toward Absol.
Absol began moving quickly across the field, guided by the vague sense from Future Sight, catching fleeting glimpses of the projectiles.
However, although it sensed something, its reaction was still too slow; by the time it responded, the balls had already passed.
"Although Absol innately masters many powerful moves, its physical condition isn't at the same level..."
Ethan Black sighed lightly. It was clear that this Absol was a pure, wild Pokémon, natural and untrained.
Boom, boom, boom.
Training continued, with the sound of balls hitting the floor echoing in the room.
Seeing that Absol had already gotten into the rhythm, Ethan Black nodded with satisfaction and turned his gaze to the others practicing.
At that moment, Trapinch was diligently working on the move Dig, mobilizing all its Ground-type energy and improving control over it.
Elsewhere, Meltan lifted an arm, which slowly twisted until forming the shape of a spear.
Once the spear was formed, it used Harden, appearing like a knight wielding a weapon.
It was the Mercury Mold technique. Meltan could now combine body transformation with Harden to create various weapons.
However, the shaping speed was still low; in a real battle, this level of technique wouldn't be very useful. There was still a long way to go.
Ethan Black turned his attention to Shellder, who was using Aqua Ring, controlling Water-type energy to make the ring slowly rotate around itself.
But the speed was as gentle as a stream, with no real force.
"Shellder, stop Aqua Ring training for now."
"From now on, focus on practicing Barrier and Rest. Both are Psychic-type moves; they might help awaken that type in you."
Shellder nodded obediently, stopped Aqua Ring, and began using Barrier.
Soon, more than ten barriers floated in the air, and under Ethan Black's commands, the number continued to increase.
It was expending all its energy to create shields around its body.
With such total control, both its mental strength and physical energy were rapidly depleting.
When it felt it could no longer continue, Shellder did not hesitate and used Rest, becoming a sleeping shell.
Seeing its control over Barrier, Ethan Black nodded with satisfaction, though something intrigued him.
In theory, Shellder was already ready to evolve. Although it was slowly absorbing energy from the Water Stone, it had not yet evolved.
"Could it be that the problem isn't Shellder, but this stone?"
Ethan Black frowned, taking out a rather dull Water Stone. He sighed and decided to look for another to test.
Additionally, the crack in its shell was a major problem: it drained physical and mental energy without it noticing, and it had completely lost its proud natural defense.
Even the most expert healers recommended that Shellder evolve.
Upon evolving, it would undergo a species transformation, something like a rebirth for a Pokémon.
During the transition from its current form to the new one, its shell would change completely, and it was very likely its congenital defects would be corrected.
"If it can't evolve into Cloyster with the Water Stone, maybe it could fuse with a Slowpoke and evolve into Slowbro or Slowking..."
Ethan Black pondered. Of course, that would be a last resort, as in both fusions Slowpoke predominates, and that wasn't what he wanted.
"This matter can wait. Shellder still has plenty of potential to exploit."
Ethan Black exhaled softly and shifted his gaze to Sandslash and Cacturne.
At that moment, both were in full combat training, attacking and defending with all their moves, in a truly spectacular display.
(End of chapter)