When Rex arrived at the small forest where Heracross and Machoke usually resided, they were engaged in an intense battle. The aftermath of their fight had broken many trees around them.
With Machoke's current strength, bolstered by several bodybuilding enhancements, it could now put significant pressure on Heracross, forcing it to fight seriously against Machoke's attacks.
Heracross could no longer treat Machoke like a child being bullied by an adult. Machoke, now catching up quickly, was not so easily dismissed.
Upon learning that Rex had included it on the backup list for the Ever Grande Conference, Machoke requested Heracross to train with it using its full strength. Machoke was determined to quickly improve its own abilities to accompany its trainer to the conference.
As a Fighting-type Pokémon, the desire to battle was ingrained in its bones. Fighting alongside its trainer to defeat strong opponents was its ultimate goal.
To earn the qualification to participate and to gain Rex's approval, Machoke had been pushing Heracross hard recently. Their battle training sessions were packed, leaving Heracross with little time to search for delicious tree sap.
Machoke had now barely managed to control the explosive power of Dynamic Punch. Originally, using Dynamic Punch required Machoke to gather all its strength into its left hand. When this terrifying force hit an opponent, it would also inject Fighting-type energy into their body, causing internal chaos due to the energy conflict.
Even Heracross, a fellow Fighting-type, would fall into a confused state if it failed to block the attack and took the full brunt of Dynamic Punch.
However, despite its power, Dynamic Punch required time to gather energy and was easy for opponents to dodge, making it difficult to land a hit.
Rex, following the theory of continuous firing of Hyper Beam from Winona, wanted Machoke to save a bit of energy when using Dynamic Punch. This reserve would allow Machoke to better control the wild power of the move.
Machoke naturally trusted its trainer's advice, but changing the way it used a move wasn't simple. It could only succeed through continuous attempts.
Machoke did not disappoint. Though initially, altering the move's mechanism caused energy backlash, it had recently managed to gain rudimentary control over Dynamic Punch.
Of course, Rex required Machoke to attempt this under his supervision. The backlash from Dynamic Punch was no joke; several times, the rampant energy wreaked havoc inside Machoke's body.
Such injuries would take a long time to heal even with Victreebel's Grassy Terrain, and might not even restore Machoke to its original state.
During the worst injury, Rex had to use his ability twice consecutively to fully heal Machoke. This incident made Rex realize his powers weren't omnipotent.
His ability only generated a fixed amount of life energy daily. As Pokémon grew stronger and leveled up, the amount of life energy required to heal them increased. It was possible that at some stage, even using all his life energy might not fully heal a Pokémon's injuries.
Rex had no solution for this, except perhaps upgrading his ability to increase the total amount of life energy stored or to achieve a qualitative breakthrough.
Rex speculated that if he could receive a gift from the legendary Pokémon Xerneas in the Kalos region, it might upgrade his ability.
However, he knew how difficult this would be. With his current Pokémon team, they would likely be wiped out instantly, with their fate entirely in Xerneas's hands.
Rex admired Machoke's perseverance. It was a real trooper, showing great trust in Rex's ability as a trainer.
The out-of-control energy from Dynamic Punch wreaking havoc inside Machoke was excruciating, a pain not many Pokémon could endure. Yet Machoke faced this torment daily.
Had Rex not witnessed Machoke being tormented by the wild energy each time, he might have thought it was immune to pain or lacked pain sensitivity.
Seeing Machoke's suffering, even as an observer, made Rex's heart ache. He considered suggesting that Machoke temporarily abandon this reckless method of move improvement in favor of a safer approach, even if it took more time.
Unfortunately, Machoke didn't heed Rex's advice and continued its self-destructive training method.
Despite the pain, this method was highly effective. It not only significantly enhanced Machoke's physical attributes but also helped it gain preliminary control over the use of Dynamic Punch with a reserve of energy.
Body conditioning involved destruction and regeneration. Each time Machoke's body was ravaged by the wild energy of Dynamic Punch, Rex's life energy would heal it, making Machoke's body stronger and more resilient.
Over time, Machoke's body would suffer less damage until it could fully control and utilize this power.
Machoke's body was now incredibly tough. Even Heracross needed considerable time to defeat Machoke using Flying-type moves. This was why Heracross was willing to forgo its daily search for tree sap to train with Machoke.
Heracross felt a sense of duty as a teacher while facing Machoke. They had been training together since Machoke was a Machop.
Often, Heracross taught Machoke various battle techniques and honed its combat abilities, simultaneously discovering and refining its own weaknesses.
However, with Machoke growing stronger, Heracross felt a sense of urgency. It feared that relaxing would lead to Machoke surpassing it, and their roles would reverse, making it a laughingstock among other Pokémon.
Thus, even though Heracross was on Rex's contestant list, it didn't slack off. Instead, it trained harder with Machoke, determined to improve its strength and avoid being outdone.
Rex was gratified by Heracross and Machoke's determination. He believed that with their mutual encouragement and progress, they could one day rival Swellow.
This would, in turn, motivate Swellow to stay sharp and avoid complacency, maintaining its top spot at Rex Farm.
Ultimately, the greatest threat to Swellow at Rex Farm might be Flaaffy. After all, type advantage was no joke.
Of course, Flaaffy wasn't yet a threat to Swellow. It would need to evolve into Ampharos and possibly Mega Evolve.
Mega Evolving into Mega Ampharos would awaken its Dragon-type and boost its special attack stat to 165, making it not just a mobile cannon but a mobile disaster.
Currently, Rex didn't have an Ampharosite or a Key Stone. But that didn't stop him from dreaming, did it?
(Chapter End)