Chapter Eighty-One: Cleaning and Disinfection of Cavities

After listening to Gyarados's words of experience, the two little ones wore solemn expressions, indicating they had learned a valuable lesson. They promised to apply the knowledge of type immunities in future battles but would never rely on them completely.

“Gyara.”

Yes, promising students indeed.

Gyarados nodded in satisfaction. As expected, Pokémon who traveled with humans were clever; at least when he imparted his experience, they truly understood him. Thinking of the Magikarp under his own command—who spent their days doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and frolicking with other Pokémon in the lake—he suddenly felt a bit breathless.

In comparison, Gyarados realized that Zhusuigan’s suggestion seemed worth trying. As the king of the great lake, wouldn’t it be better to have Magikarp in the team with intelligence in their eyes, rather than a group with nothing but a fierce and villainous look? There was really no need to even think about it!

“Lapra?”

After listening to Gyarados’s teaching, Lapras was a little curious. She wanted to know how Gyarados chose his moves when faced with opponents immune to certain attacks.

“Gyara?” Gyarados was puzzled. Immune to my attacks?

Lapras nodded seriously. “Lapra.” With so many type immunities and abilities out there, you must have run into that before, right?

Gyarados scratched his head with his whisker and shook his head silently. Sorry, he really never had.

Lapras and Milcery: What?

How could that be possible!

“Gyara.” Gyarados exhaled gently into the air, releasing a burst of flame that vanished after burning brightly. The horn atop his head glowed as he unleashed a flash of electricity. Having demonstrated his skills, Gyarados looked quietly at Lapras and Milcery. Everything was clear without further explanation.

Even though I know a lot about these things, it doesn’t mean I’ve suffered losses because of them. Not to mention using Electric-type moves, I—a Water-type Pokémon—can even breathe fire. Just guess how many different moves I might know.

A broad movepool truly allows one to do as they please. Gyarados genuinely doubted there was any Pokémon who could be immune to all the varied moves he had learned. Of course, if he were the one taking the hits, he would still be cautious of Electric-type moves.

Lapras: …

She suddenly felt envious of Gyarados’s movepool. She’d heard trainers mention how outrageous Gyarados could be, and now she believed it. This kind of movepool wasn’t something ordinary Pokémon could imitate.

Perhaps she should consider expanding her own range of attacks. If she could find a move with a type no trainer could defend against, wouldn’t that give him a real surprise? Lapras instantly felt a surge of motivation!

“Miluu…”

Meanwhile, unlike her big sister, Milcery was pondering another problem—and was already putting her thoughts into action. If one Cream Missile lacked power, then she’d just increase the number!

Double Cream Impact!

Once she became skilled, she’d be able to unleash Cream Impact continuously, eventually mastering it as a sustained attack, much like Flamethrower or Water Gun. With the help of elemental energy, Milcery believed she would surely have the strength to fight, and she might even be at an advantage against Dragon-types.

Forming two globs of cream at once was harder, but Milcery felt confident she could overcome it. The road to becoming an emperor was bound to be fraught with difficulty and powerful foes, but as long as she maintained an invincible heart, she would crush every obstacle and reach the pinnacle!

Gyarados observed the sisters’ battle techniques, then decided to mind his own business. There were still Pokémon who stubbornly flew carelessly over his head, and Gyarados thought he should put in more effort to instill in them a proper sense of the king’s territory.

“Gyara!”

Once again, Gyarados’s roar echoed over the great lake. This time, he churned the air, stirring the clouds and winds, using the Whirlpool Dragon Dance that Zhusuigan had suggested. The Pokémon in the sky were tossed about in disarray.

“I think they’ll end up fighting sooner or later. I wonder if those Flying-types can bring in some stronger reinforcements.”

Zhusuigan, having finished class, walked to the lake’s edge, shading his eyes as he glanced up at the airborne Gyarados. Or perhaps they’d already battled countless times, but Gyarados was clearly the stronger fighter.

According to rumors, Gyarados often gathered at sea, performing some sort of ritual that carried their species’ culture through their movements. Such rituals would often trigger natural disasters—tsunamis, tornadoes—that sailors feared. Rumors, of course, were just rumors; they hadn’t reached the level of legends yet. The former was likely to be encountered, the latter so rare that generations might never see it.

It was like the old folks bragging that their village was the guard village of some great figure’s tomb. Others might take it as a joke, but those who paid attention would realize there might be a grand tomb nearby.

“Lapra, Lapra!”

“Miluu!”

Lapras and Milcery came to the shore to join their trainer, excitedly recounting their achievements from that morning’s training.

“Yes, Gyarados is right. It’s important to make good use of immunities and resistances, but you can’t rely on them entirely,” Zhusuigan nodded. “But as for movepools, there’s nothing I can do about that. That’s not something I can change.”

It’s not like he could go to Sinnoh and ask Arceus to act as a modifier and give him a little magical shock. Who did he think he was?

An afternoon nap after lunch was a must for Lapras and Milcery. After all, Zhusuigan had classes, and they trained hard too. Maintaining a good mental state was important.

“Lapra?”

“Miluu~”

“Alright, I’ll tell you about this morning’s class.”

Zhusuigan shrugged. “This morning’s lesson was pretty hard on the eyes. It was about cleaning the dust and grime from the holes of certain Pokémon species—not unlike a disinfection procedure before treatment.”

“For example, Shuckle, Aron, and similar Pokémon. Actually, even Torkoal’s condition during my entrance exam probably counted.”

He couldn’t help but twitch his lips. “The most challenging case was Exploud. I really admire the teacher’s imagination, and I pity my classmates’ ears.”

The holes on Exploud’s body were more like a combination of giant airbags and amplifiers. The model-makers at the academy were truly skilled. Just like Pokémon, humans experience tactile sensations differently—be it pain tolerance or something as minor as bathwater temperature. In short, everyone’s constitution is unique, and the same goes for Pokémon.

So, before treatment, there was a small sample next to the Exploud model for students to test the level of pressure the model could withstand. This was meant to remind every student that, when treating an Exploud, they had to gauge whether their pressure was painful or not.

Otherwise, you’d either end up deafened by a roar or, as with treating a Sharpedo’s tail and getting gassed in the face, be blasted by a powerful burst of air.

If you were too gentle, the Exploud model would tremble and emit a huge noise—meaning it was ticklish. If you were too rough, not only would it make noise, but it would also blast out a gust of air—meaning it hurt.

No matter your place in line, this class was destined to be torture. You couldn’t turn in your “exam” early, and watching others would only give you more experience.

As one of the top students, Zhusuigan was called up first to demonstrate for everyone. The white-haired monkey could only think: this is my first time facing such a problem—how can I show others?

No choice but to go up.

He touched the little tool beside the model and used his own experience to determine the right level of force, then began working. According to his sense of touch, he assessed what level of pressure the real Exploud could handle—a very subjective process.

Some might use a “tickle-level” force, others perhaps “gentle massage.” When you held different tools, you had to adjust your strength accordingly. In a sense, this was advanced training for manual stability.

Unless, of course, you wanted to experience a face-to-face lion’s roar from a Pokémon with a voice like thunder.

Once he had the pressure right, Zhusuigan proceeded without trouble. But during the following observations, things went wrong. Perhaps it was carelessness, or knowing he’d be up next made his hands shake. Treating a model also gave no real feedback—so his hands shook even more. The result was either an ear-shattering noise or a powerful current of air blasting through the classroom.

By the end of class, no one—neither teachers nor students—had a normal hairstyle remaining. Most students were rubbing their ears or holding their heads as they left, unsure if the noise had left them dazed.

Senior students from other classes who witnessed the scene all smiled knowingly—though it was more like schadenfreude. There was a certain realization that “university isn’t easy,” but once home, people would brag that college life was a breeze and graduation required nothing but play.

It wasn’t that their predecessors were any less diligent, but that they’d also been fooled and wanted to keep up this tradition of shared suffering.

“Afterwards, the teacher for the second class probably knew what we’d been through, so we just reviewed the textbook content instead of moving on to hands-on medical videos.”

At this point, Zhusuigan stopped talking.

Lapras and Milcery: snoring softly—

Indeed, they had fallen sound asleep, and quite comfortably at that.

When an illiterate Lapras brought a little illiterate Milcery and they both had to listen to class content, Zhusuigan already knew what would happen. What else could he say? Lapras really got it.

Though she might be illiterate, that didn’t stop her from putting her trainer’s knowledge to good use. And honestly, the hypnotic effect was remarkable; this really was the best way to keep their spirits high for afternoon training.

“Well, I suppose it’s only a little unexpected.”

Suddenly, he understood how his math teacher must have felt, watching his desk mate doze off in class all those years ago.

It was a complicated feeling.

Zhusuigan lifted Lapras, gently setting her in the pool, then picked up Milcery from her shell, skillfully braided her hair, and placed her on top.

“Sleep well, both of you.”