Chapter 16: Ability Activated
After trying for a long time and confirming that Drilbur wasn't playing him—its sandstorm really was just that big—Basalt felt like he wanted to die.
This was a Flawless-grade Smooth Rock Crystal worth at least 150 million US dollars. That was a fortune! And this was the result Drilbur gave him?
Basalt seriously doubted if this could even be called a sandstorm. Was it not just… dust?
If he had a time machine, Basalt would love to go back half an hour, kick Drilbur away before it swallowed the crystal, then give his past self a hard slap and warn him never to use good things so carelessly.
But alas, there were no time machines in this world.
"Drilbur, do you feel sick to your stomach? Do you feel like you need to throw up?"
Basalt suddenly grabbed Drilbur again, a look of anticipation on his face.
If, just if, perhaps Drilbur… could spit the Smooth Rock Crystal back out?
"Chari?" (;￣д￣)
Drilbur shook its head dumbly.
I feel… really great. I don't feel like throwing up at all.
Basalt felt his world closing in, but what was done was done. He couldn't just cut Drilbur open to get the crystal back, could he?
"Don't be angry, don't be angry… He's my own, he's my own…"
Basalt took a deep breath, sat cross-legged on the ground, and chanted to himself, trying hard to suppress the disappointment in his heart.
After a long time, having recited his calming mantra ten times, Basalt finally felt his mood stabilize a little. He forced a smile that was uglier than crying and said, "Drilbur, besides the sandstorm, can you feel any other changes in your body?"
A sliver of hope remained in Basalt's heart.
Although this sandstorm was pathetic, strictly speaking, it probably still counted as a sandstorm, right? And if it was a sandstorm, then the Smooth Rock Crystal had technically fulfilled its purpose… right? Following that logic, maybe the crystal's other effects would also appear?
"Chari?"
Drilbur scratched its cheek. All it felt was a seemingly endless supply of energy in its body. Its whole being felt refreshed and very comfortable. Besides that, Drilbur felt that its senses had also become much stronger. It seemed to be able to perceive its surroundings and opponents through the sand on the ground.
Even though the sand more than a meter away from it wasn't being kicked up, it could definitely sense it!
But this feeling was very mysterious, and Drilbur didn't know how to express it.
Man and mole stared at each other for a moment. The air seemed to freeze, tinged with a hint of awkwardness. Only the few thousand grains of sand continued to swirl in the air.
"Chari~" (ω｀ll)
A few drops of cold sweat trickled down Drilbur's forehead. Suddenly, its expression changed. It felt a strange energy rising within its body, something it had to let out.
Voom! Voom! Voom!…
With Drilbur at the center, a vast and heavy power suddenly emanated outwards, instantly forming chunks of gray rock, each the size of a human head, which slowly floated in the air.
"Is this…"
The sudden development left Basalt at a loss, completely dumbfounded.
"Chari~"
Drilbur's control over this power was very clumsy, and its face was contorted in pain. With a wave of its large claw, the rocks seemed to receive a command and instantly shot out like cannonballs, whistling towards the giant pine tree not far away.
CRASH!
The chunks of rock slammed into the tree's trunk. Although they didn't break or topple the tree, they left several large craters. Sap instantly gushed out, a miserable sight to behold.
"Huff… huff…"
Drilbur panted heavily, clearly having expended a huge amount of energy.
"A new move!"
Basalt's eyes lit up, and he beamed with joy. His previous dissatisfaction with Drilbur vanished in an instant. The move Drilbur had just used was probably a Rock-type, but Basalt wasn't sure which one it was.
With no other choice, he quickly took out his Pokédex and pointed it at Drilbur. The Pokédex in this world had many functions, including the ability to scan and detect a Pokémon's information. Basalt didn't know how to use it when he first transmigrated, but he did now.
Beep!
The scan was successful, and Drilbur's basic information immediately appeared.
Drilbur
Type: Ground
Ability: Sand Rush (Speed is greatly increased in a sandstorm)
Moves: Scratch, Rapid Spin, Mud-Slap, Sand Tomb, Sandstorm, Rock Tomb.
"So the move just now was Rock Tomb!" Basalt nodded, his confusion dispelled.
The Smooth Rock Crystal contained extremely pure Rock-type energy. Under the influence of this energy, it was very reasonable for Drilbur to learn a Rock-type move. Besides, Drilbur's own affinity for the Rock type was not bad to begin with. If it still couldn't learn a Rock-type move after consuming the Smooth Rock Crystal, that would be truly strange.
Rock Tomb, a Rock-type move, attacks by hurling rocks, impeding the opponent's movement and thus lowering their speed.
"Now I finally have a long-range move!" A satisfied look appeared on Basalt's face. With Rock Tomb, his little mole wouldn't be helpless if it encountered a Flying-type Pokémon. This was the primary reason he had given Drilbur the Smooth Rock Crystal in the first place.
Besides Rock Tomb, the other new move, "Sandstorm," was also to be expected. Although its intensity was only the size of a dust cloud, making it seem very mini, it was indeed a genuine Sandstorm move.
"Huh, wait a minute! My mole's ability was activated?"
Basalt's attention had been on the moves. But when he took a closer look, he discovered that Drilbur's ability had also been activated, and it was the Sand Rush ability, which was perfect for an extreme speed build.
In the real world, some abilities could be used innately without needing specific conditions to be met, such as Poison Point, Static, and Compound Eyes. At the same time, some abilities required certain conditions to be activated. For example, the three abilities Sand Rush, Sand Force, and Sand Veil all had to be activated in a sandstorm. And the young Drilbur from before had obviously not been lucky enough to experience a sandstorm.
"Drilbur, have you rested enough? Come on, go for a little run!" Basalt looked at Drilbur with a grin, his eyes full of care.
Although the result was a little different from what he expected, Basalt was more or less satisfied. At the same time, he also had a theory. This was the real world, after all. Even though Drilbur had consumed the Smooth Rock Crystal, it would probably take a considerable amount of time for it to completely absorb the energy within and make it its own. It wasn't like in the games, where you could just click "use" and the effect would be instantaneous. If he gave his little mole enough time to grow, Basalt believed its sandstorm would definitely become stronger.
"Chari?" [_?]
Drilbur felt that Basalt was being very fickle today. One moment he was all loving, the next he looked like he wanted to strangle it, and now he was telling it to go for a run. What was wrong with him?
But complaints were just complaints. Basalt was its trainer, after all. It had to be obedient when it needed to be. Sigh, my life is so hard!
Sighing, Drilbur took off running. But it didn't know until it started running; it was shocked by its own speed. It felt as light as a swallow. Even though it wasn't using its full strength, just running casually, its speed was already much faster than its previous full speed.
What's going on?
Drilbur was baffled, but it could feel that this seemed to be related to the sand swirling around it.
"Drilbur, try running with all your might." Basalt shouted.
"Chari~"
Drilbur nodded and then began to run with all its might, gritting its teeth.
Basalt watched his watch, timing Drilbur's speed. The final conclusion was: in its Sand Rush state, the little mole's speed was 30% faster than before!
"Hmm? A 30% boost right from the start? Not bad, not bad at all!"
After reaching this conclusion, Basalt's face lit up with joy. In the games, a Pokémon with the Sand Rush ability would have its speed doubled. But this was the real world. While the Sand Rush ability did increase speed in a sandstorm, the magnitude of the increase was determined by the Pokémon's mastery of the ability. The more developed the Sand Rush ability, the more exaggerated the speed boost would be.
Drilbur was only a month-old Pokémon whose body hadn't even fully developed yet. To get a 30% boost upon its first activation was already a remarkable achievement. Basalt guessed that if it hadn't been for the pure energy from the Smooth Rock Crystal improving its body and talent, a normal Pokémon would have been lucky to get a 20% boost in its initial state.
Afterward, Basalt conducted a full range of tests on Drilbur and found that its physical stats had been greatly enhanced, and the power of its four original moves—Scratch, Rapid Spin, Mud-Slap, and Sand Tomb—had also slightly increased.
"Good boy! The fortune I invested in you wasn't in vain. As long as we brothers work together, we are destined to conquer the world in the future…"
Basalt patted Drilbur's small shoulder and laughed heartily.
Whether they could conquer the world was a matter for the future. But as for conquering their class and getting first place in the practical combat competition in two weeks, Basalt felt that… it was already in the bag.
Those scrubs in his class? What did they have to fight him with?
Author's Note: Dear readers, please follow the new chapters every day. Even if you don't read them, just click on them and scroll through.
During this initial launch period, daily reads are really important, especially today and tomorrow, which will directly determine if this book gets a National Day recommendation. Your author bows in thanks!