Three massive basins were scraped clean.
The giant Steelix opened and closed her jaws, making a smacking motion that radiated absolute dissatisfaction. She clearly wanted more.
"It's your first day, so I'll let you have a proper fill."
Kashiwagi clapped his hands. Aggron dragged a trailer full of raw ore out of the warehouse and dumped it onto the ground. "Actually, consuming too many metallic elements will make your body overly cumbersome, making it difficult for you to move."
"Roar~"
Steelix let out a joyful low growl, completely ignoring Kashiwagi's dietary advice. She used her lower jaw like a shovel to scoop up the ore, expertly tossing the chunks into her gullet.
Crunch, crunch, crunch...
The ear-piercing sound was remarkably similar to Aggron chewing on scrap metal. As she ate, she began to rotate her top two lateral steel ridges.
Kashiwagi didn't notice anything at first, but upon closer inspection, he saw fine sand and grit leaking from the joints where the ridges connected to the main body—as if she were filtering or breaking down the minerals she had just consumed.
However, he realized these were likely the remains of her previous meal (or the one before that)—unneeded soil and tiny particles being expelled by her body. To put it politely, this was Steelix's "sweat"; to put it bluntly, it was her "waste."
Regardless, it was essentially just soil.
Kashiwagi marveled once again at the biological uniqueness of different Pokémon. Feeling a surge of satisfaction, he patted Steelix's head and let her continue her feast. The giant responded with a low, vibrating hum.
Breeding a Steelix in person revealed many nuances missing from online data. For instance, the common belief that a Steelix lifts two-thirds of its body while leaving one-third as a base wasn't entirely accurate. For a Steelix, having half of its body on the ground was actually the most comfortable resting position. Rearing up two-thirds of its length was specifically an alert or offensive posture.
In times of need, she could even lift her entire body, supporting her massive weight on just her tail. However, that required rotating all four steel ridges to maintain balance, making her look a bit like a giant, metallic "Spinning Top".
Even more interesting was her movement.
She would lean her upper body back slightly and then lunge forward, pulling herself along. Simultaneously, the sections touching the ground would wiggle side-to-side like a snake, with the lateral ridges helping provide traction and leverage.
It was generally slow, but her burst speed was terrifying. One second she was there, the next she had lunged across the yard. No wonder her pre-evolution, Onix, was always able to chase Ash and his friends all over the place.
Watching her move, Kashiwagi had only one comment: "You're missing Magnet Rise."
"Roar?"
"Mawile, help her out with Magnet Rise! Then use Baton Pass!" he shouted to his dedicated utility specialist.
Under the eaves, Mawile—lounging in a chair and sipping a cold drink—lazily let electricity crackle across her body. The current transformed into a white light that surged into Steelix's massive frame.
"Roar? ROAR!"
Steelix was confused at first, then realized she was actually floating off the ground. Panic set in immediately; she began squirming and rotating erratically in mid-air. She nearly took out the roof several times.
An eighteen-meter-long titan flailing in the sky was a terrifying sight. Kashiwagi had to scream at her to calm down. Unfortunately, since they had just met, his commands didn't carry much weight yet.
"You handle it!" Kashiwagi slapped Aggron's shoulder.
"ROAR!"
Aggron looked up and unleashed a commanding, authoritative bellow.
The effect was instantaneous. Steelix's body stiffened, her movements smoothed out, and she began to drift through the air with much more stability.
"That's it, exactly like that! Go slow. Just like that! Oh yes!" Kashiwagi yelled at the top of his lungs.
He was incredibly grateful he hadn't stayed on top of her; he had narrowly avoided a real-life horror version of a "Super Roller Coaster."
As Steelix adapted, her playfulness took over. She began to expand her "flight" range, climbing higher and soaring over the villa toward the front yard. Kashiwagi chased after her, constantly shouting to keep her focused so she wouldn't get carried away.
He was surprised to find that Steelix didn't fear heights at all. When Aggron used Magnet Rise, he was notoriously "height-phobic," refusing to go any higher than one or two meters above the grass.
Kashiwagi often tried to talk him out of it: "This won't do! When we eventually take over a mountain as our territory, are you going to die of a heart attack looking down from the summit? You have to overcome this!"
Aggron would listen and nod, thinking it made sense, but he still couldn't get over the primal panic of being too far from the earth.
Steelix, by contrast, had a natural talent for flight. Despite being a Ground-type, she had no fear of the sky.
After a few minutes: "Alright! Come down! Time's up!"
Seeing the sparks of Magnet Rise starting to flicker on Steelix's body, Kashiwagi signaled the end of the session. Unfortunately, the giant serpent didn't know how to lower her altitude; she knew how to use the magnetism to climb, but had no idea how to descend gracefully.
As she struggled and drifted, she suddenly floated directly over the ornamental bushes that Aggron had been meticulously tending to.
"GRR-OON!"
Aggron nearly had a soul-leaving-body experience. He scrambled toward her, desperate to catch her before she crushed his garden, but as he reached the edge of the lawn, he slowed down—careful not to let his own claws tear up the turf.
This hesitation meant Steelix was falling straight toward the bushes.
"AAAAGRR—RONNNN—" Aggron wailed in despair.
Thankfully, just before impact, a sudden blue light enveloped the giant, freezing her in mid-air. It was Chansey's Telekinesis.
"Lucky~"
"What are you panicking for? I always have Chansey backing us up," Kashiwagi smiled at the nearly-tears Aggron.
Shortly after, they returned to the backyard. Steelix lowered her head sheepishly, not daring to look Aggron in the eye. The latter was so annoyed he wanted to grab her tail and spin her again, but he decided to be the bigger Pokémon and "generously" forgave her.
On her lounge chair, Mawile watched the whole drama and let out a cynical, "boring" scoff.
"Ma-wile~"
-----
With the addition of the giant Steelix, Kashiwagi once again felt the limitations of his training environment.
The yard—thirty meters long and fifteen meters wide—was fine for Steelix alone, but it became incredibly crowded once the rest of the team joined in. Whether it was physical conditioning or move practice, they simply didn't have the space to go all out.
Ash was lucky he had Professor Oak's massive backyard as a support system, Kashiwagi thought. With just a small detached house, how could he fit so many Pokémon?
After some deliberation, Kashiwagi decided to find a solution.
However, as his Executive residence was in the core area of the Sand Unit, land use was maximized to ensure privacy. There was no "extra" space for him.
Except... someone else's yard.
Kashiwagi's eyes turned toward the house next door: Ryuka's villa. His "Big Brother" almost never came home, and even when he did, he left quickly. Though Kashiwagi didn't know where Ryuka actually spent his time, seeing that massive plot of empty land sitting idle was making him very greedy.