"Hey, isn't Golem supposed to only evolve through trading?" Ethan Black thought doubtfully as he looked at the two Golem in front of him, with a pensive expression.
He recalled that, for Rhydon to evolve into Rhyperior, besides needing the Protector item, it also had to evolve through trading.
"Professor Harris, may I ask what Pokémon these are?" he asked, playing the naïve. "I don't remember seeing anything about them on the internet."
"These Pokémon are called Golem," replied Professor Harris. "They are the evolution of Graveler."
"Graveler can evolve?" Ethan Black feigned surprise.
Before Ethan Black could continue asking, Professor Harris chuckled: "Golem's evolution is something special. It can't be achieved simply through training, which is why there's very little information available online."
"For Graveler to evolve into Golem, it requires the power of space!"
That really left Ethan Black surprised. Power of space? What did that mean?
"The so-called power of space refers to space rifts. When a Pokémon passes through a space rift, there's a certain chance it can surpass its limits and evolve."
"Though... why exactly this happens is still an unsolved mystery."
Professor Harris's eyes gleamed with enthusiasm. As a Pokémon researcher, those mysteries were his greatest motivation.
"Space...? Now that I think about it, during trade evolution, the process is done through a transfer machine. I suppose that also involves a spatial alteration..."
"If that's the case, it makes sense that evolution through space rifts doesn't guarantee 100% success."
"And besides, in the Pokémon world there are also wild Golem, which means Graveler's evolution isn't limited exclusively to trading," Ethan Black thought.
He quickly accepted Professor Harris's explanation. After all, knowledge was in the hands of a privileged few. Most common people only had access to basic knowledge. Everything related to evolutionary stones or special methods was tightly controlled by the great powers.
However, the information that Rhydon could evolve with the Protector item... not even those great powers knew about that.
As a traveler from another world, Ethan Black had a great advantage here.
"All right, let's begin our research."
"Sandshrew, show first how you use Sandstorm."
"Golem, you pay attention too," ordered Professor Harris as each one assumed their role.
Sandshrew rushed forward and performed his already familiar combination of the move Rapid Spin with Sand Attack, creating a powerful sandstorm that enveloped everything.
Perhaps due to the superior energy in the dimension, this time Sandshrew executed the move much more easily, and the storm remained active for an entire minute!
"Did you see that clearly, Golem?"
The two Golem nodded.
"Then use Sand Attack!"
One of the Golem raised its arms and, under Professor Harris's command, released a powerful blast of sandy wind that began spinning behind it, quickly forming a great sand whirlwind!
With only the move Sand Attack, that Golem had created a sand whirlwind with power comparable to Sandshrew's combination of Rapid Spin and Sand Attack!
"Remember that feeling... try to create a Sandstorm!"
BOOM!
The whirlwind burst apart forcefully, scattering sand everywhere. But, though powerful, it failed to become a sustained sandstorm.
"Just as I suspected... Although Golem can form a whirlwind, the rotational speed doesn't reach that generated by the move Rapid Spin," said Professor Harris with a sigh.
"Your Golem can't learn the move Rapid Spin?" asked Alex Baxter, confused. Even his own Donphan had already mastered it.
"I've tried many times, but none of my Golem have been able to learn it. Not even Geodude or Graveler can. I'm afraid their evolutionary line doesn't have that capability," explained Professor Harris with resignation.
"A Pokémon that can learn both Sand Attack and Rapid Spin at the same time?" Ethan Black thought, reflecting seriously.
He remembered that, during the rise of the 'Trap-Breaker' team in the game, he had thoroughly researched all the Pokémon specialized in breaking strategies.
But even with that knowledge, he couldn't think of any Pokémon besides Sandshrew that could learn both moves.
"Could it be that Sandshrew is the only one capable of learning both Sand Attack and Rapid Spin?" he thought, surprised by his own conclusion.
That would mean the combination of Rapid Spin with Sand Attack—and the resulting Sandstorm move—could be considered an exclusive combined move of Sandshrew!
"Maybe I'm remembering wrong," he told himself. "But at least here, Professor Harris's Golem can't learn the move Rapid Spin. And except for Donphan, none of his other Pokémon seem able to either. But Donphan can't learn Sand Attack, so... that complicates things."
Ethan Black glanced at Professor Harris's group of Pokémon and confirmed his suspicions.
Perhaps his knowledge came from the world of video games, but apparently, it also applied here.
"Golem, let's try once more," ordered Professor Harris, still unwilling to give up.
But the result was the same: the Golem formed a whirlwind, but failed to reproduce the effect of combining Rapid Spin with Sand Attack.
In terms of power, perhaps its whirlwind was even stronger, but in rotational speed, it was nowhere close.
And from the experimental data, it was clear that rotational speed was the key.
Only a whirlwind with sufficient speed could gather energy from the surroundings, affect spatial laws, and change the weather of an entire area.
"Seems there's no other choice... I'll have to see if there's any Sandshrew with good potential in the League," Professor Harris finally said, sighing in resignation.
He had so many Pokémon, and yet not a single one was capable of learning both moves at once!
(End of chapter)