At night, Ethan Black returned to his dormitory to rest.
Lying casually on his bed, he took out his notebook, slightly closed his eyes, and began summarizing the progress made so far, while also trying to plan the next step in the training of his little Pokémon.
Among them, Sandslash had significantly improved its close combat abilities thanks to the basic training notes for Fighting-type Pokémon that Dylan Scott had given him. In particular, the moves Crush Claw and Brick Break were the main focus of his recent training.
Ethan Black had also incorporated Sandslash's Rapid Spin move both for movement and combat, using it as a way to charge power and turn its acceleration into an even more formidable force.
Just like the combined move Crush Spin that he had used earlier, whose power was so terrifying that even Rachel Blake had been surprised!
However, all of this was just small move combinations. To truly combine two moves and use them simultaneously as a new and powerful move, Sandslash was still in the process of perfecting it.
At the same time, he and Alex Baxter had officially begun the research project on Spin Drive, with Alex Baxter handling the theoretical aspects of the move Defense Curl and Rollout, while Ethan Black focused on the practical side.
After some training, Sandslash was already able to quickly alternate between the Rapid Spin move and other moves, which greatly increased its strength, getting closer and closer to mastering multiple simultaneous moves.
Next was Cacnea, whom Ethan Black had ordered to dedicate all its energy to developing the move Ingrain, and it was now yielding good results. The next step would be to combine the moves Absorb, Synthesis, and Ingrain to enhance its recovery abilities.
He planned to synchronize the Synthesis move with Ingrain, making the energy absorbed during Synthesis flow into the roots, allowing them to grow even faster.
In addition, he aimed to combine the water absorption ability of Ingrain with the move Sandstorm, to quickly dehydrate the terrain and transform it into a desert field. This was a strategy Ethan Black had wanted to develop for some time.
Sand, storm, and cactus.
If this desertification tactic worked, then the power of Sandstorm would reach its peak. And by combining it with Ingrain, he could make enemies feel like they had descended into hell!
Of course, all of this was still in the conceptual phase, but it showed a lot of promise.
As for his biggest achievement during this period, it was undoubtedly the capture of Shellder. Back in the dormitory, Ethan Black asked Shellder to show him all of its moves.
These were: Water Gun, Aqua Ring, Barrier, and Rest.
Perhaps due to an inherent defect, Shellder hadn't even learned the Tackle move, which it should naturally know. Instead, it had learned two Psychic-type moves.
And in its training, it had focused on the Barrier and Rest moves, while its Water-type moves, its specialty, had barely been developed.
"Water Gun, Aqua Ring, Barrier, and Rest..." murmured Ethan Black as he reviewed Shellder's moves and began planning its future training.
Among those moves, Barrier was supposed to be the core focus of Shellder's training. In fact, Shellder already had excellent control over that move, even being able to make the barrier float. This move was the key requirement for it to become the team's defense core.
However, its naturally opened shell prevented it from withstanding physical attacks like a typical defensive tank would.
If it only relied on the Barrier move, Shellder wouldn't be able to follow the traditional path of a physical tank.
Thinking about this, Ethan Black began considering other possibilities. Beyond simply using defensive moves or the body as a shield, there were many other approaches to defense.
For example, Pokémon with high evasion strategies: if they don't get hit, it's just like defending. He had tried something similar with a Gliscor with the Sand Veil ability on his sandstorm team, and that high evasion became a headache for his opponents.
Another option was offense as defense, using long-range attacks to counter the opponent's offensives.
An example was the Counter Shield that Ash had developed, which turned an offensive move into a defensive one.
Ethan Black planned to use this idea with Shellder: a style that combined defense and special offense.
Shellder would use Barrier to defend while launching long-range attacks to block and pressure the enemy. This way, its offensive firepower would limit the opponent's mobility.
Forcing the opponent to constantly move reduced their ability to launch attacks effectively, which in itself was a form of defense.
This method is common in many MOBA games: using attack threats to limit the enemy's shooter positions, even without actually attacking. Sometimes, simply positioning in a strategic place was enough to cut off the enemy's advance and create numerical advantage situations.
The best defense is a good offense, and that would be Shellder's path.
A defender who was also a special attacker.
Moreover, Shellder had access to the Rest move, a "god-level" recovery move.
With it, Shellder could sleep for two turns, restoring all its HP and curing any status conditions.
This meant that, if they managed to protect Shellder long enough to use Rest, it would become an unrelenting offensive turret.
However, this move also had a clear flaw: while Shellder was sleeping, it would be vulnerable and unable to protect Ethan Black as a trainer.
Given this situation, Ethan Black made an adjustment: building a double defense core.
In addition to making Shellder the defensive core, he would need a second auxiliary defensive support on his team.
And he had already thought of it: Cacnea.
While Sandslash could temporarily serve as defense, it was also the main weather controller and one of the attackers, so it was better not to overload it.
After thinking it through, Ethan Black decided that Cacnea would be his defensive support.
Its defense method would be simple and direct: Ingrain!
(End of chapter)