Chapter 348: Primal Numel?
"N-nothing!" Basalt suppressed his surprise, pretending to be nonchalant. "Cough cough! Ember, I want to take this strange object back to study it properly. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not. Besides, your Bronzong was the one who brought it up. It should belong to you." Ember shook her head, her innocent mind not thinking too much of it.
"Alright then!" Basalt nodded and placed the Primal Scale into his dimensional backpack. Although it had been deep in the magma for a long time, the object itself wasn't hot.
Then, Basalt took several Magma Crystals and handed them to Ember. With a smile, he said, "Same old rule: share the wealth."
With the Primal Groudon scale in hand, although the Magma Crystals were valuable, Basalt didn't really care about them.
Moreover, in Basalt's eyes, Ember was truly his "lucky star." Not only had he caught a uniquely talented Numel, but he had also obtained the Primal Scale, an unexpected windfall. It was a huge profit.
"Thank you, Senior!" Ember didn't refuse, her face flushing red.
Sure enough, Senior is interested in me too. Otherwise, why would he just give away Magma Crystals worth millions?
Ring, ring!
Just then, Ember's Pokédex rang. She picked it up, her expression changing slightly, then walked away to answer the call.
When she returned, her face was filled with regret. She said softly, "Senior, I'm afraid I have to leave first."
"What's wrong? Is something urgent?" Basalt raised an eyebrow.
He had been quite happy spending the last month or so with Ember, and he had slowly gotten used to her presence. Now that she suddenly said she was leaving, he felt a bit unsettled.
"The club has a very important match the day after tomorrow. I have to rush back to participate, or our team will definitely lose." Ember sighed.
As a rising star among Pro-level trainers, Ember had joined the Alliance Professional League to hone her skills, signing with a well-known club in the Vermilion Province.
But as a member of the club, she was obligated to participate in scheduled matches and couldn't refuse at will.
"So that's it!" Basalt breathed a sigh of relief. He had thought she was in big trouble.
Ember stuck out her tongue and asked curiously, "By the way, Senior, you must be participating in the Pro League too, right? Which club are you with? Maybe we'll face each other one day, although I definitely can't beat you!"
"Me?" Basalt was stunned for a moment, then quickly laughed it off. "I've been training hard, so I haven't joined the Pro League yet! But after this training trip is over, I think I will."
The Professional League was one of the biggest events in the Alliance and a cradle for strong trainers. Trainers who reached the top of the Pro League almost always reached the Gym Leader-level—that was the fame!
In addition, if you could become a star player in the Pro League, advertisements, endorsements, and other commercial activities would follow. Making money would be as easy as robbery—that was the profit!
More importantly, the jump from Pro-level to Gym Leader-level was a huge hurdle that more than 90% of Pro-level trainers never crossed. For the vast majority of trainers, especially those from humble backgrounds, making a name for themselves in the Pro League was the most meaningful thing they could do.
"Then when you decide on a club, let me know," Ember nodded. "If you haven't decided which club to join, you can consider our Vermilion Province's Inferno Club. I have some connections there."
Ember looked hopeful. The Inferno Club was backed by her family, the Rong clan. Basalt's potential was undeniable!
"The Inferno Club?" Basalt blinked, finally giving a non-committal "I'll consider it."
The Inferno Club was obviously focused on Fire-types. For a Sandstorm team trainer like him to join a Fire-type club would be too weird.
Although reluctant, Ember eventually mounted her Charizard and left. Basalt watched her go.
But now, he didn't have to hide it anymore. He took out the Primal Groudon scale again and handed it to Numel.
"You lucky little guy. This is a scale left behind by a super-legendary Pokémon, and it perfectly matches your typing." Basalt patted Numel's head, instructing, "But the energy inside might be very violent. Try drawing out just a tiny bit first. Don't rush it, understand?"
Basalt remembered when Excadrill, already evolved, had almost been injured when drawing energy from the regular Groudon scale. And this was a scale from Primal Groudon; the energy inside would be even more violent.
"Dooom~"
Seeing Basalt's serious expression, Numel nodded solemnly. It was a Pokémon well-versed in the art of caution. Even when facing a weaker Magby, it would use Yawn to weaken the opponent before counter-attacking. Let alone now.
So, Numel carefully lifted a hoof and gently, slowly approached the scale until it just barely touched it.
Unfortunately, Numel still underestimated the violence of the energy in the Primal Scale.
BOOM!
The moment Numel drew upon the energy, a violent surge rushed into its body through its hoof.
In an instant, Numel's body turned bright red, and its size seemed to expand slightly.
At the same time, jets of white steam erupted from the humps on its back, like boiling water, accompanied by a roaring sound that grew louder and louder.
"Whoa, that intense?" Basalt was shocked and quickly shouted, "Bronzong, break the connection between Numel and the scale!"
"Broonz~"
Bronzong, standing by, was already prepared to act even without Basalt's order. It slammed into Numel, knocking it away.
The Primal Scale remained where it was, no longer glowing or emitting heat after the contact was broken.
"Dooom~"
Numel was injured, but when it stood up again, its limbs seemed even more powerful. It actually left four distinct hoof prints on the rocky ground.
At the same time, the steam from Numel's back vanished, replaced by streams of thin, "white-yellow" liquid. It flowed continuously from Numel's humps, slowly covering its entire body before dripping onto the ground.
Hiss! Hiss!
The moment the white-yellow liquid touched the ground, it scorched black holes into the earth, destroying all vegetation.
"That is..." Basalt's eyes widened.
The white-yellow liquid was clearly magma. It radiated such intense heat that Basalt, standing several meters away, didn't dare approach.
And this appearance was very similar to Mega Camerupt.
"Numel, are you okay?" Basalt looked worried.
At this moment, Numel seemed to be struggling. It was panting heavily, white smoke billowing from its nose, and it occasionally shook its head vigorously, as if trying hard to stay conscious.
"Dooom~ Doom-doom~"
Numel let out low cries.
"Numel says it's feeling very uncomfortable right now, but the feeling seems to be lessening as the magma flows out of its humps. It thinks it can handle it and tells us not to worry," Bronzong quickly translated.
Basalt already had the Fountain of Life water in his hand. If he noticed anything wrong, he would use it to suppress the Primal Scale's energy and heal Numel's injuries.
"Alright then!" Basalt nodded.
At this point, he really didn't have a better solution. Numel had to get through this on its own.
As the magma continued to flow from its humps, the ground around Numel quickly turned scorched black. Fortunately, as time passed, the flow of magma from Numel's back decreased.
Finally, the magma stopped dripping onto the ground, though it still covered Numel's entire body.
Numel's body also stopped emitting heat.
Seeing this, Basalt let out a sigh of relief. "Numel, are you okay?"
"Dooom~"
Numel's eyes held a trace of fear, and... a trace of joy.
Fear, because the scene just now had been terrifying and uncontrollable. It was very dangerous for Numel. Luckily, it had survived.
Joy, because Numel felt that under the exhaustion, its body seemed to have become stronger. Not just the fire on its back and its temperature, but also the strength of its limbs and its control over Ground-type energy.
It was a mutation and a leap forward!!!
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