Once the battle is over Booth and his team reconfirm who will use the art stone.
"I think we can let Ben use the art stone. He was able to combine Arts with moves before me, so I'm sure he will be able to learn the art quicker than I could." Booth reasons.
"I agree. If the ancient Art turns out to be good, the fastest way to pass it on would be through you, Ben."
"Alright, leave it to me!" Ben accepts with a smile.
Since Ben and his Buizel are still connected by a link, Ben doesn't have to wait any longer. He walks closer to the art stone with his Buizel and has it place its palms on the face of the rock.
Booth watches the rock slowly lose its glow as Buizel sticks to it.
'I noticed it before, but I never really questioned it. How do the art stones work? From what I found the art stone collects energy and imprints it's technique on the pokemon when it's full.' Booth crosses his arms. 'But what is the marking for? It seemed suspicious on the other art stone, but I couldn't figure anything out by examining it normally.'
Suddenly, Booth gets an idea and pays more attention to Ben and the rock. Booth uses his Magnemite's senses to get a feel for the sort of energy coming from the stone monument.
'Thankfully I still had my link active, or wouldn't be able to observe it like this.'
Ben takes quite a while to absorb the art stone's technique. Ben starts sweating from using his link too long. Booth also feels a pinch in the back of his head from overuse, but he holds on for a bit longer.
'It seems like focusing on the marking was the answer. The art stone feels like a fire technique, but it acts a little slower than one. My guess is that it has something to do with burning power. However, practically all Arts do that in some sense… Huh, I should really look into what other types of moves feel like for future reference.' Booth deactivates his link as Ben is finishing up.
When the monument's glow disappears, Buizel takes its arms off the stone. Without the stone monument's light, the area suddenly looks much darker. Twilight has come before they knew it.
Although the last bit of sunlight is disappearing, Booth and Damon's curiosity for the ancient Art doesn't waver.
Ben releases his link and answers their expectations, "I'm not sure if I can define the Art well, but I'll give you an example and describe it the best I can."
Ben collects his power to use for the Art. He fumbles a bit with the Art, which causes a heavy gas to leak out of his mouth. It's dark, but Booth can vaguely see the gas fall onto the ground. The gas dissolves a thin layer of the ground.
"Is it poison?" Booth asks with his eyebrows raised.
Ben shakes his head, "Not quite. Watch this."
Buizel uses Water Gun and hits a tree 30 feet away. The thin stream finds its mark and bites the bark off of the tree. Booth keeps a close eye on the water leftover from the attack. Normally the water would puddle up on the ground and dissolve as the power is depleted. Instead the water sticks to the tree and forms a weird gas. The gas sizzles and breaks down the wood of the tree.
"Woah!" Booth exclaims.
"The Art uses the excess power in a move and turns it into extra damage. Activating the Art is relatively simple. The Art is made to spread on its own and burn the power around it some time after the move is released."
Booth considers the Art for a moment. 'All trainers and pokemon leak power when battling. In a fast paced battle it's nearly impossible to be 100 percent efficient with your power. Losing power in small amounts isn't a big deal. As small amounts of power don't really affect a trainer's overall power management.
But if the Art works as Ben says then it's good for a couple reasons. First is not wasting power. The Art's effect activates quickly once the move is finished and sticks to the opponent for secondary damage. It won't be as powerful as a refined move, but it's nice to have.
The other reason is that it's a good teaching tool. The Art allows you to see where you're using excessive power, and tweak it if needed. I'll need to try it for myself, but I have a pretty good feeling about the Art.'
"It looks like something we could all use. I'll leave it to you to pass on the Art when we're done with the hunt." Damon says.
"Of course."
The group makes their way to a safer location after their victory. While the pokemon in the center of the valley can't beat Booth's team when they're on their own, these pokemon are more than strong enough to make things troublesome if they form a group.
The group walks about 2 miles out and decides that it's far enough. Setting up camp goes smoothly. When they're done, Booth brings out his Cubone to do some training. Ben joins him with his Galarian-Linoone.
Booth starts by studying how Cubone moves around and uses moves on its own. Because of Cubone's bone club, Booth is able to learn a new way to attack with tools. Booth figures things out quickly as he tries things out for himself.
Booth imitates Cubone's moves and achieves his first link in the middle of doing so. Even without the equipment from the tiered trainer center Booth makes good progress practicing with Ben.
'Cubone's power is quite different from what I expected. Despite being a ground type its power is flexible and hard at the same time. Kind of like his power, Cubone's body follows a similar pattern. Its body is flexible, while its skull and bone club are solid. There's something about the combination of two opposite characteristics that always impresses me.'
Satisfied with his new knowledge, Booth takes a break to see how he can use the information. Ben comes a little while later to ask about something.
"Have you tried using the Chieftain's power up yet?" Ben asks curiously.
"Not yet. I was planning on giving it a try before going to sleep, though."
"Great. Since you've used more power ups than me, I'm counting on you to give me a lesson on it."
"Ok, give me a minute." Booth stands up and grabs his integrator.
"You don't have to do it now."
"It's fine, I was thinking about it too."
Booth uses his Cubone since it's already out and turns on his integrator. He uses a Solid power up first as a test. In Cubone's small body, Booth arranges his power for a strike with Bone Club.
Booth pushes the power into the bone club. The Solid power makes the bone even harder without making it brittle. Booth swings the club forward. The bone club connects with a tree branch and snaps it off with ease. He attacks a larger branch next, but fails to disconnect the thicker branch from the tree. Booth smiles. The damage the bone club was able to do was quite satisfying for just a couple Solid power ups.
'Everything works well with the Solid power ups. I'll give the Chieftain's power up a try next.
The Chieftain's power up is unlike the Solid or Sharp power ups, instead it's the most similar to the Fluid power up. The power up is light and airy, and can fit into any move well. I researched this type ahead of time, so it's definitely the Guide power up.'
Booth gets ready for another attack and prepares his Guide power up. Like before he organizes the power for a Bone Club and adds the Guide power up.
This time Booth's power is sucked up into the bone club like a straw. Booth is briefly astonished by the low resistance as he continues the move.
Booth finds a tree branch of similar size to the last one and strikes. Bone Club's full force is transferred through the branch. The branch breaks with a loud crack. The swift break pleases Booth.
'It works better than I expected. Like its name implies the power up makes it easy to guide power however you want. The downside is that the strength it gives is less than I thought. But the freedom the power up gives makes up for it in other ways.
Booth returns to Ben and gives him his thoughts on the power up.
"As you know, the biggest problem with using moves is balance. Too much power and accuracy suffers. Mess up the size and you begin to waste power. Too much speed and everything goes wrong. The Guide power up's greatest strength is its ability to steer things how you want them. It's kind of like the glue to fix mistakes. With enough Guide power ups, you could make moves exactly as you like them!"
"That sounds amazing!" Ben is a little skeptical, but Booth's confidence in the subject convinces him.
"It sure is. I can't wait to find some more power ups, to make some monster moves."
"Sounds like a plan." Ben laughs
Booth discusses some move modifications with Ben for half an hour before heading to bed. Tired from all the action in the day, Booth falls asleep in no time.