Chapter 158: Attempting Sealing Techniques

Zhu Suihan looked at the Magnemite's trainer. "Please explain what is going on here."

The trainer said anxiously, "I was out in the wild today handling a commission issued by the League. After having a friendly battle with a trainer I happened to meet, these two Magnemite suddenly showed up."

"Then they just stuck themselves to my partner. No matter what I said, they wouldn't come off, so I had to bring them both to the Pokémon Center."

Joy Hua explained, "They used their mutual electromagnetic forces to stick together—or more accurately, to wedge your Magnemite right in the middle. That's why it's so hard to separate them."

"Suihan, you have accomplished a lot in research. Can you figure out what's going on here?"

Why did this sound somewhat similar to Remoraid clinging to Mantine?

Zhu Suihan glanced at the energy detector in his hand. Sure enough, it displayed three completely different fluctuations, totally lacking any coordination or regularity.

"What are they trying to do? Evolve?"

The trainer looked bewildered. "I don't know either, but my Magnemite isn't planning to evolve yet. Besides, Magneton cannot evolve in this manner unless all three are of one accord."

"Well, that makes it interesting."

Zhu Suihan smiled. "Sister Hua, go attend to your other matters. Leave this to me."

"Alright, I'm counting on you, Suihan."

Zhu Suihan took out some Pokéblocks. "Come on, tell me. What do you two want?"

All three Magnemite widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the round Pokéblock in the white-haired human's hand.

Delicious!

The Magnemite on the left spoke. "Koil."

We want to go on a journey, just like that Magnemite.

The one on the right also began to explain. Whether it was becoming this trainer's partner or finding someone else, both options were acceptable to them.

However, this trainer didn't seem to understand what they were saying, and before they had a chance to explain clearly, they were brought here.

To be precise, they were merely asking for someone's help, not looking for trouble, so they had no intention of resisting.

Zhu Suihan: ...

No wonder Sister Hua was stumped. Coming straight to the Pokémon Center, anyone would naturally consider the influence of natural magnetic fields or electrical current malfunctions.

Who would have guessed they were just looking for a human travel companion?

Mewtwo was also somewhat shocked by the train of thought of these two fellows.

[They just want to go on a journey?]

"Alright, I understand what's going on now."

Zhu Suihan said, "These two Magnemite simply intend to find a favorite partner to go on a journey with. They probably got inspired after watching you battle that passerby."

The Magnemite's trainer wore a face full of question marks, then looked over at his own "Magneton."

"Is that really what you guys were thinking?"

The two Magnemite shook their heads, indicating that what the white-haired guy said was entirely correct.

The Magnemite in the middle stood there dumbfounded. "Koil!"

Couldn't you guys just speak properly? My trainer couldn't understand a word you said, but if I had spoken, he definitely would have understood!

"Koil."

Inexperienced. Will pay attention next time.

Magnemite: ?

You're hoping for a next time?!

Zhu Suihan shook his head. "Anyway, if you're interested in these two Magnemite, you can keep them. Otherwise, you can also take them to a League branch to register a commission. They should give you an appropriate reward there."

The Magnemite's trainer nodded blankly, only then realizing that he hadn't been having bad luck, but rather had been blessed with a windfall.

Throwing the Pokéblocks to the three Magnemite, Zhu Suihan watched the strange combination leave the Pokémon Center.

Ah, the Pokémon world is truly wondrous.

After hearing the origin of the matter, Joy Hua also smiled.

"It's normal. Not every wild Pokémon knows how to deal with humans, and besides, these two Magnemite are probably a bit impatient."

"Good job, Xiaohan. I'll give you a big 'Excellent' on your internship score."

Zhu Suihan was somewhat surprised. "There are grades for this internship?"

"To be precise, it's a performance evaluation. This determines which area's Pokémon Center you will be assigned to when you go to the Indigo Plateau."

Joy Hua's face displayed an expression of "past events are too painful to recall."

"Back then, because my scores were too good, I was assigned to the main road near the Indigo Stadium. My internship experience during the tournament was simply a disaster."

Zhu Suihan was shocked. "And you still want to give me an Excellent?!"

You're trying to push me into a fire pit!

"I wouldn't want to practice favoritism, and besides, don't you think practicing favoritism by intentionally lowering your scores is a bit weird?"

There's no cheating method that deliberately drops your own grades!

Juniors with excellent grades should go experience the main road just like I did back then!

Joy Hua smiled. "The back kitchen should have the food ready by now. We'll take turns eating. The pedestrian flow is smaller now, so we can rest a little."

After dinner, Zhu Suihan's workday was officially over, though he was reminded to keep his phone turned on twenty-four hours a day. After all, night-owl trainers did exist, and the probability of major incidents occurring at night was even higher.

"Before heading back, I want to stop by the department store."

Zhu Suihan said, "There's something I want to buy. We can talk about late-night snacks later."

Half an hour later—

The three sisters stared at Zhu Suihan in silence, or more precisely, stared at the Qwilfish plush doll in his hand.

"Spirits and demons, begone! Spirits and demons, begone—"

Oh no, the white-haired monkey raised at home is acting up again!

Zhu Suihan looked expectant. "How is it? Do you guys feel anything special?"

Lapras was eager to make a move. "Lap."

Want to give you a Thunderbolt to wake you up.

Mewtwo nodded in agreement: [I can do Thunderbolt too.]

Milcery materialized a larger-scale baseball bat. "Mil!"

Leave it to me instead, that'll be faster!

"I'm not acting up. To be exact, I'm not sick at all; I'm simply trying out that sealing technique thing."

Zhu Suihan threw the doll aside. "I checked some information, and sealing techniques can roughly be understood as a type—or rather, a series—of behaviors with strong emotional implications, which are then stimulated through the use of elemental energy."

Much like a rhythm game where buttons are pressed, the behaviors, actions, and props serve as the input sequence, and upon success, elemental energy is used for confirmation to unleash the sealing effect.

Mewtwo frowned: [If we consider it purely from the perspective of moves, Sealing uses one's own signature moves as a template to prevent the opponent from using moves of the same type.]

Zhu Suihan nodded. "Right, just like copying the way a move is used, and then blocking your signature move for a certain period of time. It's pretty much like cutting an internet cable or losing signal."

Lapras understood Zhu Suihan's meaning instantly. Their family monkey figured that since Ho-Oh had already spoken up, he must possess some method and ability to directly use Sealing.

"Yes, exactly."

Milcery scratched her head. "Mil?"

It seems I'm the only one at home who can materialize and store elemental energy. Do you need Fairy cream?

[I think we can give it a try,]

Mewtwo said, [Nothing too difficult to start with. Let's begin by trying the simplest elemental energy circulation.]

[For example, sealing the Fairy cream so that Milcery cannot amplify the power of her cream bombs by inputting energy.]

"Mil!"

That's my second sister!

"Seal the Fairy cream? If we do that, I might need to find a medium."

Zhu Suihan pondered thoughtfully. "According to what Raikou told me, nails and pillars made of elemental resources, or keystone-like objects."

He remembered.

"Mewtwo, when you encountered Raikou, didn't you make a gesture of materializing a weapon?"

Mewtwo was completely dumbfounded: [No, weren't your eyes focused entirely on Raikou at that time? Did you grow eyes on the back of your head?]

"Just say whether you did or not. Lend it to me."

[I did.]

Mewtwo extended his right hand and began to gather psychic power. Lapras and Milcery looked on with anticipation, ready to see what kind of mastery their third sibling had in weapon selection.

A giant spoon.

"Let's go outside. It feels too cramped to unleash it in here."

Seeing this oversized spoon, Zhu Suihan admitted that his heart was moved. He couldn't wait to hold it in his hands and swing it fiercely a few times.

[Although it's materialized from psychic power, the quantity has reached the threshold of a qualitative change.]

Before Mewtwo could say the word "heavy," Zhu Suihan had already taken the oversized spoon from his hand. The wind pressure generated by his swing caused the trees in the courtyard to tremble continuously, as if swept by a violent gale.

The three sisters watched Zhu Suihan's practiced movements thoughtfully. Ignoring the weight, they felt they had found the key.

This, my friends, is a monkey brandishing a staff!

[Stop playing around and hurry up and try the sealing technique you mentioned.]

Mewtwo said, [If your medium for casting isn't restricted by the type of elemental material, our options in the future will be vast.]

If Zhu Suihan truly had this ability, then as long as he successfully cast a sealing technique in the future, any move they directed at the seal could be counted as charging it up.

Milcery materialized some Fairy cream and placed it on the courtyard table, floating onto Lapras's head and pointing her phone at Zhu Suihan.

Such a critical moment naturally had to be recorded!

Zhu Suihan thought for a moment, maintained the thought of "seal the Fairy cream" in his mind, then gripped the spoon and placed its tip directly above the Fairy cream.

"Spirits and demons, begone! Spirits and demons, begone—"

Lapras looked at Mewtwo and Milcery with some concern, feeling that they should discuss later making their monkey change his sealing chant.

It wasn't that she worried Zhu Suihan would become even more unhinged, but rather that she feared for the preservation of her own dignity.

If there were outsiders and their Pokémon present, chanting like this really felt too embarrassing!

[Wait, there's a change!]

Mewtwo entered a synchronized state to alert them, and three pairs of eyes immediately turned toward Zhu Suihan.

A blue light slid from the tip of the spoon, like a droplet of water blending into the Fairy cream.

"Mil!"

Milcery gasped in astonishment; she could no longer sense the Fairy energy inside that cream bomb anymore.

Moreover, she was very familiar with the energy fluctuation of the outer barrier.

[A psychic-type barrier? Then it seems our guess was correct.]

Mewtwo tapped forward, and a tiny Shadow Ball struck the Fairy cream, shattering the psychic seal that performed the locking function.

[The method for breaking this type of seal should be based on elemental typing superiority. Once Suihan gets the hang of it, he can stack different types on top of each other.]

Lapras was deep in thought. "Lap."

The bigshots at home used to say that every time an earthquake or flood happened, powerful Pokémon nobody had ever seen before would always emerge from deep mountains and old forests.

Back when I used to travel with Pryce, I considered myself to have seen those inexplicably appearing powerhouses.

"Lap-lap."

Although they were all dealt with by the two bigshots at home, those must have been sealed Pokémon.

Mewtwo and Milcery rested their chins on their hands, simultaneously entering a state of contemplation.

Ah, the method for breaking another kind of seal also seemed to become clear.