After Ethan Black nodded, Alex Baxter immediately pulled out a wad of bills and handed it to him respectfully, showing an attitude of genuine interest.
"It's actually very simple. You just need to have Donphan use the move Defense Curl before using the move Rollout, that way you can increase the move's power," explained Ethan Black.
Exactly. The reason his Sandshrew had been able to send Donphan flying was because it was already used to performing Defense Curl before executing Rollout.
According to what's said in the games, Sandshrew's final strike had reached a power of 960, while Donphan's Rollout, without Defense Curl beforehand, only reached 480. That was precisely double the difference! Not a small matter.
"Defense Curl? Wasn't that just for raising defense?" asked Alex Baxter, scratching his head in confusion.
"Just try it and you'll see. I discovered it by accident," said Ethan Black.
Impatient as ever, Alex Baxter immediately dragged Ethan Black down to the underground training gym. He even paid for him without hesitation. Together, they approached a machine that measured the power of attacks.
"Donphan, use Defense Curl and then Rollout!" ordered Alex Baxter.
Donphan curled up into a ball, used Defense Curl, and then launched itself rolling toward the testing machine.
Right away, a number appeared on the machine's screen: 40.
When Ethan Black saw that number, he frowned. He could feel that the power of Rollout hadn't increased nearly as much as he had expected after Defense Curl.
"What's going on...?" he muttered to himself.
"It did go up, it did go up!" Alex Baxter suddenly exclaimed, full of excitement. He quickly pulled out his notebook and flipped through it.
Ethan Black, full of questions, peeked over. Alex Baxter had recorded in his notebook that Donphan's Rollout had been measured at 35 before, at 7:00 p.m.
Clearly, Alex Baxter had run a test before the battle, meticulously noting down all the data.
"35 points?" Ethan Black muttered, narrowing his eyes as he looked at the number 40 on the screen.
Then, a sudden thought crossed his mind.
"Donphan, cancel Defense Curl and use Rollout again!" ordered Alex Baxter anxiously.
Donphan obeyed, and this time the number on the screen went back to 35.
After that, it used Defense Curl + Rollout again: the number went back up to 40.
The move Defense Curl had increased the power by 5 points!
"I see... My thinking was completely limited by the games," Ethan Black reflected.
"In the games, Defense Curl doubled the power of Rollout. But in reality, while it does enhance it, the degree of improvement depends entirely on the Pokémon's own training."
"Like Sandshrew—exiled from its group since it was young, it relied on Defense Curl and Scratch to survive. That's why it has such a high mastery of Defense Curl."
"That's why its combination of Defense Curl + Rollout reached double the power. Donphan, on the other hand, clearly doesn't have good mastery of Defense Curl, so it only increased the power by 5 points."
"Also, Defense Curl is a Normal-type move, and Rollout is a Rock-type move. To effectively merge moves of different types requires a lot of training."
Suddenly, Ethan Black understood everything clearly, just like with Rhydon's Lightning Rod ability: at first it was weak, but with development, it became powerful.
And that explained why there was hardly any information about the Defense Curl + Rollout combination on the internet.
Trainers didn't pay attention to Defense Curl. Even if they used it together with Rollout, the increase in power was so small that without specific tests, it was impossible to notice.
"Looks like I need to change my way of thinking. I can no longer judge the power of moves solely with the logic of the games," Ethan Black told himself.
"Holy crap, it's real! The power really went up!" Alex Baxter shouted, so excited that he even swore, as if he had just discovered a new continent.
"Ethan, do you have more tricks like this? I'll pay you 10,000 Pokédollars for each one—sell me all of them!" he asked with shining eyes.
"For now, no. My Sandshrew only knows a few moves," replied Ethan Black, thoughtful.
The truth was, he was no longer sure how much of his game knowledge applied directly to reality. He could only confirm it through personal training.
Besides, that information was clearly valuable. He was even starting to regret telling the trick to Alex Baxter...
He could have written up a research report and submitted it to the League for a hefty reward!
"What a pity. But if you discover anything else, tell me first! We'll definitely agree on a good price!" Alex Baxter clicked his tongue.
Ethan Black also clicked his tongue. Had he just found himself a source of income?
After exchanging a few training tips, Alex Baxter said goodbye. And truth be told, this rich young man, obsessed with becoming stronger, did have some talent.
With all his money, he had collected many methods for training Pokémon, which benefited Ethan Black quite a bit.
...
After Alex Baxter left, Ethan Black continued training with his Sandshrew.
Since it had already mastered Rapid Spin, it no longer needed the specialized training machine as much. Now he planned to use other instruments in the place to train different moves.
And moves like Rapid Spin and Sand Attack could be practiced at construction sites... for free!
Recalling the moves Sandshrew could learn, most were of Normal, Rock, Ground, and Steel types.
It already had Rollout for Rock-type, Sand Attack for Ground-type, and for Normal-type it had Scratch, Defense Curl, and Rapid Spin.
So he decided to train a Steel-type move to broaden its offensive repertoire.
That would allow it to better face opponents of Ice, Rock, or Fairy types.
Moreover, Steel-type moves also helped strengthen a Pokémon's body, ideal for Sandshrew's physical training at this stage.
"Now then, which Steel-type move should I choose?"
(End of Chapter)