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After Anna left, Sato immediately released his other Pokémon one by one and quickly began the midday skill training session.
Now that he had clues about last night's assailant, Sato was confident he could track the person down as long as they remained on the ship, but given that this individual seemed to hold a special identity, Sato knew he had to proceed with caution, avoiding any hasty actions.
Right now, Sato was far more focused on enhancing his Pokémon's abilities.
If all went smoothly, he anticipated reaching Larousse City, the mission's destination, within the next three or four days.
Since leaving Viridian Forest, Sato had already spent six days in total. This meant he had 19 days left to complete the mission, but if he accounted for the travel time to Larousse, he'd likely only have about 15 days remaining.
Therefore, to complete the mission, Sato had to make every minute count.
For now, he could set aside thoughts of the enemy's identity and appearance, keeping that for a future reckoning.
(Note: One day leaving Viridian Forest, one day in and leaving Viridian City, one day in and leaving Saffron City, one day in and leaving Vermilion City, now two days on the ship.)
Today's training focus was on Hidden Power, a move that five of his combat Pokémon had just learned through a TM. But before beginning, Sato needed to identify the elemental type of each Pokémon's Hidden Power.
Indeed, the type of Hidden Power is determined by the individual Pokémon itself—it's a skill of chance.
If a Pokémon's Hidden Power complemented its attack range weaknesses, it was a valuable addition worth training. If not, it had less value for development.
First up for testing was the team's senior member, Golbat. Closing his eyes, Golbat followed the method outlined on the Hidden Power Technical Machine (TM) to activate the move.
Since he was still learning, Golbat was unfamiliar with this skill, taking a full minute to release it successfully.
Yellow energy particles gradually gathered around Golbat, and under his control, they coalesced into a yellow energy sphere in front of him.
As it took shape, small blue electric currents danced across the sphere's surface. When Golbat could no longer contain the yellow energy, he released the electricity-laden sphere forward.
The yellow energy ball traveled a short distance before detonating, creating a small explosion of energy.
Simultaneously, several yellow energy fragments, still crackling with electricity, scattered in all directions. These fragments faded after traveling about two meters in the air.
Hidden Power essentially worked as an energy bomb: it condensed elemental energy into an energy ball that could be thrown forward, releasing energy fragments upon explosion to inflict area damage.
Based on the color of Golbat's energy ball, Sato determined that his Hidden Power was Electric-type; yellow energy was characteristic of Electric-type energy.
(Note: Different elemental energies have distinct colors: Grass is green, Water is blue, Fire is red, and so forth, as indicated on the type chart.)
It was somewhat ironic—Sato had hoped for a Ground-type Hidden Power to counter Electric-types, but instead, Golbat had awakened an Electric-type Hidden Power, which left Sato both amused and resigned.
However, Electric-type Hidden Power was still useful for Sato. Against Water-type Pokémon, Golbat had indeed been lacking an effective attack option.
In a watery environment or water-based battlefield, if a Water-type Pokémon dives into the water, Golbat used to have no viable means to counter them. But now, with an Electric-type Hidden Power, that problem is solved perfectly.
If any Water-type Pokémon dares to enter the water, Golbat can unleash his Hidden Power directly into it.
The yellow, electricity-charged energy sphere, like the one he just demonstrated, would spread electric currents throughout the water, making it almost impossible for typical Water-types to escape and forcing them to take the effective hit.
This Electric-type move also gives Golbat a significant advantage in aerial battles against other Flying-type Pokémon.
To date, Sato had yet to have Golbat engage in an air battle against other Flying-types.
Though Golbat's size is now relatively large, it still falls short when compared to larger Flying-types.
Golbat's body size is comparable to a fully-grown Pidgeotto, but he's still not as massive as Pokémon like Pidgeot or Fearow.
Thus, if their levels were roughly the same, Golbat would generally be at a disadvantage in aerial battles against such larger Flying-types.
However, with this Electric-type Hidden Power, Golbat may now have a slight edge.
Of course, now that Golbat's Hidden Power has been confirmed to be Electric-type, it's clear that he'll lack any countermeasures if he ever faces Electric-types.
Looking ahead, Sato could already see that Golbat would avoid battles with Electric-type Pokémon or Pokémon proficient in Electric moves unless absolutely necessary.
Once Golbat's Hidden Power type was established, it was Nidoran's turn. Like Golbat, Nidoran took about a minute to activate the move successfully.
Unlike Golbat's yellow energy sphere, Nidoran's Hidden Power produced a dark, ominous-colored energy sphere that exuded a sinister aura.
Seeing the dark sphere emanating a malevolent energy in front of Nidoran, Sato didn't need much guesswork—Nidoran's Hidden Power was clearly Dark-type.
Next, Growlithe, Mudkip, and a rested Bellossom took turns testing their Hidden Power, with Sato carefully noting each one's elemental type.
Growlithe's Hidden Power type was surprising—it turned out to be Grass-type, the very type that was effectively countered against his own! However, this now granted Growlithe an unexpected advantage over Rock, Water, and Ground-types.
Mudkip's Hidden Power was also exceptionally advantageous, turning out to be a rare Flying-type—one of the only five types that was super effective against Grass-types, a natural weakness for Water-type pokemon.
It was worth noting that Mudkip's final evolution, Swampert, only had one type weakness—Grass, which was countered by Flying, Ice, Fire, Bug, and Poison-types.
With a 5 in 17 chance of acquiring a Type-effective Hidden Power, Mudkip now had a solid tactic against Grass-type Pokémon. Plus, Mudkip could eventually learn various Ice moves to counter Grass-types, enhancing his arsenal.
As for Bellossom's Hidden Power type, it was something Sato had truly never anticipated; even more shocking than Mudkip's.
Since her evolution, Bellossom's strength had skyrocketed as if she had hit a lucky streak. And now, blessed by Lady Luck once again, she had drawn the rarest result, with a 1 in 17 chance:
Bellossom's Hidden Power turned out to be Rock-type!
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