Chapter 209: The Press Conference
Although he knew that compressing energy would increase its explosive power, Basalt had never expected a casual attack from Excadrill to be so destructive. After the initial shock wore off, he became even more convinced that this was a path worth pursuing.
"Excadrill, are you okay?" he asked, rushing over to help it up.
"Excaaa," it shook its head, indicating it was fine. As a Steel-type, it had a high resistance to Grass-type energy. And since the energy ball had exploded from its palm, and its steel claws were the most durable part of its body, it had only been caught in the edge of the blast.
"Good," Basalt said, relieved. "Let's take a break, and then we'll try again. You were a little too reckless that time, compressing it by nearly half. You didn't even have time to get away. Next time, we need to focus on controlling the timing of the explosion and making sure you can escape safely."
He began to give Excadrill a pep talk, a necessary part of any trainer's job. Excadrill's energetic, competitive nature was a double-edged sword. It was what made it so strong, but it also meant it hated to fail.
"Excaaa," it nodded seriously, its eyes fixed on the crater. The power of the attack had shocked it as well. If it could master this technique, its offensive capabilities would be on a whole new level. And if it could apply the same principle to Drill Run... the thought was explosive.
"Liii~"
Just then, Lileep, having finished its own training, came over and began to exchange energy with Excadrill.
Basalt's face immediately fell. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw the two of them together like this, he felt a strange sense of loneliness.
"Bronzong!" he called out.
"What is it?" the giant bell floated over.
"Nothing," Basalt said with an awkward smile. "Just wanted to give you a hug."
"Uh..." Bronzong was speechless, but it complied with its trainer's strange request.
After the interlude, the training resumed.
"Excadrill, this time, let's just focus on testing the relationship between the compression ratio and the explosion time," Basalt said, employing the scientific method. They would isolate the variables, starting with the compression ratio.
"Excaaa," Excadrill nodded, eager to try again.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. This time, just compress it by five percent."
"Excaaa," Excadrill's face contorted with effort as it tried to stabilize the energy ball.
"So five percent is its limit?" Basalt noted in his notebook. "Compressing energy really is a dangerous business."
He then conducted a series of experiments.
At five percent compression, Excadrill could maintain stability indefinitely.
At ten percent, it could hold for about five seconds.
At fifteen percent, three seconds.
At twenty percent, one second.
Anything over twenty percent, and it would explode instantly.
Finally, he decided to try with a ten percent compression.
"Alright, Excadrill, let's try it again. Follow my lead," he said, his eyes filled with encouragement.
"Excaaa," it puffed out its chest, full of fighting spirit.
"Hidden Power!"
"Compress!"
The energy ball shrank by about ten percent.
"Good! Now, give it a gentle push, then let go of the energy."
Excadrill did as it was told. The energy ball flew about a meter, then exploded. The blast wave was much weaker this time and didn't even knock Excadrill off its feet.
"Nice! It worked!" Basalt exclaimed, ecstatic. This was a technique he had developed himself, inspired by moves like Rasengan and Self-Destruct. He had thought it was just a crazy idea, but it had actually worked. "I'm a genius," he muttered, rubbing his nose.
The new technique had its limitations, of course. It required incredible speed, to close the distance and then escape the blast, and a high level of energy mastery, to form and compress the energy ball quickly enough to catch the opponent off guard.
"Still not as cool as the Yellow Flash," he sighed.
While Basalt was developing his new move, a massive press conference was being held in the nation's capital, Saffron City. Reporters from all the major international media outlets had been invited.
Just as the reporters were buzzing with speculation, a group of officials walked onto the stage. Among them was the Director of the Weather Bureau.
"Distinguished members of the press, good afternoon," a well-dressed, eloquent middle-aged woman said. "On behalf of the national Pokémon League, I would like to welcome you all. We have called this press conference today to announce a recent scientific breakthrough, and to respond to certain... rumors."
"A scientific breakthrough?" the reporters murmured. What kind of breakthrough could possibly warrant a press conference of this scale?
"After years of tireless effort," the woman continued, a smile on her face, "our nation's researchers have finally made a breakthrough in the field of Life Energy. Recently, our Life Energy laboratory conducted an experiment in which they injected a high concentration of Life Energy into a fossil. The results were astonishing. The fossil of a Pokémon from a hundred million years ago... showed signs of life."
She then turned on the large screen behind her, and a video began to play.
In the video, a small, purple, plant-like creature with swaying tentacles was happily drinking a green liquid from a test tube, letting out a series of clear, crisp "Liii~" cries.
A wave of gasps and murmurs went through the crowd. Some of the reporters had already recognized the Pokémon.
It was the predator from the prehistoric seas, a living, breathing Lileep.
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