Before night fell, Professor Harris took Ethan Black and Alex Baxter out of the desert.
This time, not only had Sandshrew successfully evolved into Sandslash, but Ethan Black had also captured a Cacnea with remarkable potential. It had been an excellent harvest for him!
But the greatest beneficiary, without a doubt, was Professor Harris. After finding a new research avenue in Cacnea, the three hurried back, eager to return to the lab as soon as possible to delve deeper into the mysterious energy that Pokémon harbored.
Thus, one day later, they managed to return without incident from the Tarkaan Desert to the Pokémon University of Ironvale City.
As soon as they arrived at the academy, Ethan Black and Alex Baxter immediately took their new Pokémon to the Pokémon Center for treatment.
"Nice to meet you, would you like something to drink?" said Ethan Black in a very friendly way, offering Cacnea a nutritious fruit juice specially prepared by Professor Harris.
Gaining a Pokémon's acceptance is the most important step after capture.
"Cac, cac!" Cacnea looked at Ethan Black, then at Sandslash beside him. After hesitating for a moment, it accepted the juice and took a sip.
At once, its eyes curved into crescent moons, very pleased. It drank the juice in one gulp and let out a loud sigh of happiness.
"What do you say? Would you like to be my partner?" asked Ethan Black, smiling as he extended his hand.
"Cac, cac!" Cacnea didn't hesitate this time, and cheerfully placed its hand on Ethan Black's.
Since it had been captured after a fair battle and was now receiving kindness from its trainer, Cacnea quickly accepted Ethan Black as its new partner.
After gaining its recognition, Ethan Black took Cacnea to register it at the Pokémon Trainers Guild.
Only Pokémon that are officially registered are recognized by the League, and can be legally released in certain areas.
During the registration process, Ethan Black submitted all the documents he had already prepared. The most important thing was to prove the Pokémon's origin: only those obtained by legal means can be officially recognized.
Although Cacnea had been captured in the wild (which technically isn't a "legal" method), thanks to Professor Harris's backing and testimony, they were able to pass the first stage of review.
Then, the staff took Cacnea for a general checkup. The most important part was collecting its genetic information, which would be entered into the Pokémon DNA database. That way, if identification was needed in the future, a genetic comparison would suffice.
During the checkup, the Pokémon Center also evaluated the Pokémon's danger level. Only those that showed no hostility toward humans could become trainers' partners.
Once approved, Cacnea's data was registered in the system and officially linked to Ethan Black's identity as its trainer.
From that moment on, Cacnea became a Pokémon with an owner.
After completing all the procedures, Ethan Black took Cacnea to Professor Harris's lab. There, both Professor Harris and Alex Baxter already had all the instruments ready, eager to begin experiments.
First, Ethan Black released his newly evolved Sandslash and asked it to use Rapid Spin.
Sandslash curled up like a ball with red spikes and began spinning at high speed, leaving a reddish trail in the air.
It was obvious: evolution had brought a huge increase in power. Ethan Black noticed clearly that Rapid Spin was now much stronger. Even from a good distance, he could still feel the force of the wind it generated.
Then, Sandslash used Sand Attack, and within seconds, a sand tornado formed. Its power and size were far greater than before its evolution.
BOOM!
With the explosion of the tornado, the move Sandstorm immediately took hold. Instead of being exhausted, Sandslash remained calm, as if it still had plenty of energy to spare.
It was clear that its evolution had also greatly increased its endurance, and now it could control Sandstorm with ease.
"Well done! Cacnea, show us your camouflage ability!" ordered Ethan Black excitedly.
"Cac, cac!" Cacnea nodded, jumped into the center of the storm, and, surrounded by that intense mysterious energy, its figure began to blur... until it merged completely with the sandstorm, becoming impossible to detect with the naked eye.
"That's it! That camouflage move is clearly related to that mysterious energy," exclaimed Professor Harris excitedly, seeing how the experimental data matched his theories.
During the three minutes that the storm lasted, Cacnea used its Sand Veil ability several times, allowing Professor Harris to gather a large amount of useful information.
"Good work. You both can rest a little," said Ethan Black, offering more nutritious juice to his two tired partners.
He then took out his notebook and began recording new information about Sandslash, thinking of reorganizing its training.
The most obvious thing was the great increase in its ability to control energy. According to his analysis, Sandslash already had a fairly good mastery of Sandstorm, and the next phase of training should focus on fully developing its Sand Rush ability.
Moreover, Sandslash had already reached a new limit in its move handling. Ethan Black planned to start experimenting with new combinations and strategies.
Sandslash had also learned new moves after evolving. Now it was necessary to train them and combine them with its previous ones to develop a more complete battle system.
Before, Sandshrew's fighting style was based entirely on Rollout, Rapid Spin, Sand Attack, and Gyro Ball. Its offense was too predictable.
But now, Sandslash's sharp claws would be its new main weapon of attack. That had to be exploited to the fullest!
At the same time, Ethan Black also began collecting information about Cacnea, recalling everything he knew about it and planning to design a specific training system with the help of library resources.
Currently, Cacnea knew seven moves: Poison Sting, Leer, Absorb, Ingrain, Synthesis, Pin Missile, and Magical Leaf.
Its level of mastery of these moves was so good that it would save him a lot of training time.
Moreover, its moves showed it was an expert in ranged attacks. If combined with its Sand Veil ability, it would be a perfect fighter in sandstorms.
And the recovery moves like Absorb, Ingrain, and Synthesis were excellent for keeping it healthy. Probably thanks to them, it had survived so well in the desert.
"It really is a very easy Pokémon to take care of," said Ethan Black, satisfied.
With three powerful recovery moves and the support of Professor Harris's nutritious juice, he didn't have to worry at all about Cacnea's raising costs.
(End of chapter)