Chapter Twelve: Facing Attacks in the Flesh, Fortune Favors Me

Bamboo Suhan held the map in his hand as he arrived at a clearing surrounded by woods. This place was already beyond what could be considered the Hinoki Town area; it should more accurately be called the Happy Club of Bug-catching Youths.

“Lapras, Ice Beam, minimum power.”

Bamboo Suhan thought for a moment before raising his right hand. “Aim at me.”

Lapras: ?

“Hmm?”

You’re not thinking of sleeping out here because it’s uncomfortable, are you? Want to try sleeping in an ice block?

“No, just a little experiment. Don’t you find it odd that I can carry so many things with one hand, and barely feel any strain?”

Bamboo Suhan suspected he might be some kind of ultimate version of a Super Hisuian, though he had no idea where the limit lay.

“So, the best way is to try it myself, like how Professor Kukui takes moves head-on.”

He bit down on a Sitrus Berry, bracing himself for the sourness.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got everything ready. Use Ice Beam!”

Lapras tilted her head, pondered for a moment, then spat out a thin, icy-blue beam, as if spitting water, straight at Bamboo Suhan’s arm.

Whap.

He casually brushed it aside, rubbing the spot with his palm. The temperature quickly returned to normal.

“As I thought, my resistance is even higher than expected.”

For Ash to take a Thunderbolt head-on had already become routine, but during his travels in Unova, he had even taken a Shadow Ball and emerged with nothing more than a bit of dust on his body—a terror to behold.

Bamboo Suhan laughed. “Come on, Lapras, show me the moves you’ve learned, but keep the power low.”

Lapras perked up, clearly more interested than when training in the Kaji Gym under Elder Yan’s methods.

Treating your own trainer as a punching bag!

A jet of water shot out, but as it hit Bamboo Suhan, the force dissipated entirely, leaving him only soaked.

Water Gun: successful.

A ball-shaped pulse, similar to an Energy Ball, formed and spread out like a ripple, gently striking him.

Water Pulse: successful.

Bamboo Suhan let out a silent sigh of relief.

Thank goodness—his luck hadn’t triggered any negative status effects, or he’d be confused by now.

Alright then, even though he was drenched, why not go big?

He spread his arms. “Come on, Lapras—Thunderbolt!”

Lapras, full of trust, nodded vigorously. An electric current gathered at the small horn atop her head and struck instantly.

The advantage of Electric-type attacks: speed!

“Bzz bzz bzz... ha!”

Bamboo Suhan tensed his whole body. The electricity gradually faded, leaving only a slight urge to jump for joy. Lapras, the one responsible for attacking, was a little stunned.

Since starting move training, she had been steadily increasing the power of her attacks.

But even after all that, Bamboo Suhan was perfectly fine—he even seemed exhilarated.

My trainer truly is a tough guy—he can even sleep on ice!

Bamboo Suhan burst out laughing. “Lapras, let’s keep going!”

Lapras cried out with excitement.

...

After more than ten minutes, Bamboo Suhan shook out his clothes and took a clean towel from the incense burner to wipe away Lapras’s sweat.

Serving as a gun turret for over ten minutes showed just how well Elder Yan had trained her.

“Thank you, Lapras,” Bamboo Suhan said, somewhat surprised by her deep and versatile move pool—every move she could possibly learn, she had mastered, pushing her offensive range to the absolute limit.

Except for that “Bubble Aria” or whatever, which she couldn’t learn, but all the others—Rest, Dragon Pulse, and so on—were there.

As for the exclusive move, it probably depended on environmental factors; a trip to Galar should fix that, but it was nothing urgent.

Lapras nudged him affectionately, her fondness increasing.

“Don’t worry, I’m perfectly fine.”

After being bombarded by all those moves, Bamboo Suhan felt more invigorated than ever, almost wanting to turn into an Ambipom and leap about.

And, most ridiculously of all, he wasn’t even hungry!

Forget those anti-magic statues like Galio!

“You must be hungry. I’ll cook for you.”

He brought out the Pokéblock Machine. “Use Thunderbolt on this.”

“Don’t worry, I checked the label—it’s apparently made by Devon Corporation. The quality is guaranteed.”

The machinery in the Pokémon world could be astonishingly sturdy—ordinary versions were generally only at risk of unstable explosions.

The Snorlax belonging to a battle-hardened trainer could block a train because Red’s training was just that intense.

For everyday use, these machines were reliable—the instructions even mentioned that if electricity ran low, a Pokémon could recharge the internal battery.

“Take it slow, just release Thunderbolt gradually. Worst case, I’ll buy a new one tomorrow.”

Bamboo Suhan patted the incense burner. “I have money; let’s be extravagant.”

Even so, Lapras carefully controlled her Thunderbolt, keeping the dazzling, crackling current as gentle as a ripple, slowly feeding energy into the Pokéblock Machine.

“Now, let’s check our stock.”

He rummaged through a pile of Berries and took out a decent-quality Water Stone.

He had asked about these—their grade depended on purity at mining, and less pure stones needed further refining, much like jade.

“So, Lapras, do you eat these?” he asked.

Lapras frantically shook her head. Even as a Water-type, she would never eat such a thing!

Those were exclusive moves for Pokémon like Onix and Geodude.

“No problem, I was just curious.”

“I’ll head to the computer room tomorrow and see what this enhancement is all about. For now, the commercial product will have to do.”

Elder Yan had always provided Lapras with the best food. Since Lapras chose to follow him, Bamboo Suhan felt he should at least maintain her standard of living.

He tried, but found he couldn’t crush the Water Stone by hand, so he prepared to find two rocks to help.

He’d have to test his limits another time. If he truly was a Galio-like battery, maybe he could eventually crush a Water Stone with his bare hands.

“Pokéblocks are just simpler.”

The principle behind the Pokéblock Machine was straightforward—think of it as a washing machine with slightly more complex controls.

It was like gaming; you don’t need to know how the game was made, you just need to play.

“Thanks to technology and idiot-proof guides,” he said, placing the Water Stone on the ground and grabbing another rock to try smashing it.

If this didn’t work, he’d head back to town and rely on technology.

Lapras whimpered softly.

Suddenly, Lapras nudged his hand with her head and looked off into the distance.

Bamboo Suhan followed her gaze. “Visitors?”

Wait, weren’t they the visitors here?

From the bushes, a small, giraffe-like creature stared at them with wide, curious eyes.

A stranger—what were these two doing?

“Girafarig?”

He waved at the Girafarig and signaled Lapras to drop some Berries on the nearby ground, showing they meant no harm.

Bang!

With a dull thud, the Water Stone shattered into several pieces. Bamboo Suhan remained calm, but finally grimaced at the marks on his hand.

Ouch. Better just head back to town.

“Gira—”

Suddenly, the fragments of the Water Stone floated into the air, wrapped in a faint pink glow.

The pink aura intensified, flashed, and in an instant, the shattered stone turned into powder.

Bamboo Suhan: ?

Though stunned, he quickly caught the powder in a container, preventing it from spilling.

He glanced at the Girafarig, who was chewing a Berry and smiling innocently back at him.

Fine, the noble power of the Psychic type. Even if that wasn’t an actual move, the force was impressive.

He dug out two standard boxes of Pokéblocks from the incense burner, walked over, opened them, and placed them on the ground.

“These are for you. Using your power must have taken energy—thank you for your help.”

Girafarig seemed used to dealing with humans and recognized the fragrant cubes.

Pink light gathered in its eyes as it memorized the images of Bamboo Suhan and Lapras, then turned away, its tail-head repeating the same gesture.

The tail-head had its own thinking capacity—not as independent as Zweilous, but more like a unified enhancement module.

A bit like a game’s DLC.

Bamboo Suhan watched the Girafarig leave and couldn’t help but click his tongue.

Truly, luck is on my side!

“No time to waste—let’s try making Pokéblocks right away.”

Lapras curiously edged closer. Mixing Water Stone powder into Pokéblocks was entirely new to her.

Then again, Lapras had never paid much attention to the making of Pokémon food; she simply ate whatever Elder Yan provided.

“You’re Water-Ice type, but I don’t have Ice Stones, Never-Melt Ice, or Icy Rocks on hand. I’ll ask around about where to buy them next time.”

If need be, he’d find some fun machine or get in touch with Major Ma—Team Rocket surely had some in stock.

“Grinding it into powder just makes it easier on your teeth and helps you absorb the elemental energy.”

He shook his head. If he wanted to refine this method, the best way would be to use an energy extractor to draw the elemental power directly out.

Much like Devon Corporation’s fossil reviver, or those machines that extract genes from Eyelash Fossils.

Recalling just how big those machines were, Bamboo Suhan wisely dismissed the idea.

He could live lavishly for a while, but assembling a top-notch laboratory was out of the question—“a drop in the bucket” would be a compliment.