Chapter 9: A Battle with Two Best Friends
Half a month later
Victor and Carbink did not continue to focus on battling and leveling up during the past half month.
A large part of their time was spent on special training to help Carbink learn the moves Dazzling Gleam and Meteor Beam.
Using the diamonds present all over Carbink's body as a medium, it transmitted the condensed rock and Fairy-type energy inside Carbink to release the Dazzling Gleam and Meteor Beam moves.
The Dazzling Gleam moves released by Carbink's diamonds have a wider coverage area and greater power, and can even shrink to act as a shield, protecting Carbink from energy attacks.
The Meteor Beam is released through the diamond on Carbink's head. It is a powerful move that ordinarily requires a Pokémon to charge for a long time and boost their special attack before using it. However, with Carbink using the diamonds, the charge time for Meteor Beam was reduced by one-third, and the cost of using it was significantly lowered.
Yesterday, after completing their special training, Carbink was able to unleash a full-power Dazzling Gleam and Meteor Beam that easily defeated a level 17 Scyther , even though Carbink was still at level 18.
In the past half month, although Victor and Carbink didn't focus entirely on leveling up, their daily training, absorbing Pink Diamond energy, and defeating the Flying Mantis yesterday pushed Carbink from level 12 to level 18, just a bit away from reaching the next stage.
Pokémon: Carbink
Attributes: Rock, Fairy
Level: 18
Moves: Tackle, Harden, Dazzling Gleam (Shield), Meteor Beam, Reflect, Light Screen, Ancient Power, Stealth Rock, Power Gem...
As Carbink reached level 18, its mutation progress also hit 10%. Carbink had absorbed its first Pink Diamond, which didn't directly increase Carbink's level but instead expanded the energy capacity Carbink could hold.
With more energy, Carbink's moves would become more powerful and last longer.
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Today, Victor, Roman, and Tessa had arranged for a Pokémon battle to test the results of their half-month of training.
Victor suggested they hold the battle in his private training room, which was large and private.
After setting up the battle, the system suddenly popped up with a task.
[Ding! The conditions for task release are met, and the task is now released.]
[Win today's battle against my best friends Roman and Tessa!]
[Reward: 500 system currency, 2 skill learning machines.]
The system hadn't issued a task in a while, and Victor became even more determined to win today's battle.
Although it was still cold outside, the temperature inside the training room was comfortable due to central air conditioning, making it ideal for wearing short sleeves and shorts.
Roman, bundled up tightly in multiple layers with Rookidee huddled in his arms, seemed to come back to life the moment he entered the warm training room. On the other side, Tessa, wearing a thin training uniform, looked unfazed by the cold.
After half a month of training, Victor scanned the Pokémon data of the two of them with the system.
Pokémon: Rookidee
Attributes: Flying
Level: 12
Moves: Peck, Growl, Leer, Quick Attack, Tailwind, Wing Attack, Aerial Ace
Roman and Rookidee had gone from level 5 to level 12 in the past month. Although Rookidee had upgraded quickly at first, it was still impressive without system assistance. Given their progress, Roman and Rookidee were likely to evolve into Corvisquire soon.
Tessa's Pokémon, meanwhile, was even stronger.
Pokémon: Machop
Attributes: Fighting
Level: 14
Moves: Low Kick, Karate Chop, Revenge, Bullet Punch, Seismic Toss, Cross Chop, Thunder Punch
As Victor had expected, Tessa's Machop was at level 14, and it had learned Thunder Punch, one of the farmer's three punches. This made them a perfect match for Roman.
Victor knew why Tessa's Machop was so strong—she had been training intensively with her martial artist father, posting pictures of their sessions in their group chat.
Roman had been training as well, but he also liked to check out various popular spots, striking a balance between play and work.
"Let's get started. How should we assign the order?" Tessa, with Machop by her side, asked Roman and Victor.
Roman and Victor exchanged looks and responded in unison: "Draw lots!"
Victor tore a piece of white paper from his notebook, cut it into three pieces, and wrote two numbers on two of the pieces. He then crumpled them into three balls.
"The two people who draw the numbers will fight first, then the person who draws number 2 will fight the one who didn't, and finally, the remaining person will battle the last person."
"Simple but effective," Roman nodded in agreement.
"I have no objections," Tessa said, ready to start.
"Then let's begin!" Victor placed the paper balls in his hands and shook them before opening his palms.
Roman and Tessa each picked a ball, and Victor opened the last one. The number "2" was written on it.
Roman drew "1," and Tessa drew the remaining ball. The order was set: Roman vs. Victor, Roman vs. Tessa, and finally, Victor vs. Tessa.
The first match would be Roman vs. Victor.
Roman, standing on one side of the field, raised his hands and shouted playfully to Victor, "Be merciful, brother!"
Victor waved back at Roman and called Carbink to the stage to get ready.
"The battle begins!" Tessa, acting as referee, announced.
"Strike first, the strongest! Rookidee, sharpen your claws and then close the distance with Carbink!" Roman instructed decisively.
Victor, not wanting to fall behind, commanded Carbink to use Reflect.
"Na na!" Carbink responded with a psychic burst, creating a Reflect wall in front of it to reduce the damage from Rookidee's physical attacks.