Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 26: Ms. Anya's Special Tutoring

At their age, the students still preferred hot-blooded, passionate, head-on battles. Dirty tactics were something they looked down upon. Basalt had always been noncommittal about this. Dirty tactics were just a means to an end; winning was what mattered. Besides, he hadn't broken any rules, had he?

Since it was just an internal class competition, there was no grand awards ceremony. After all the matches were over, Ms. Anya led the students back to the classroom.

In the spacious room, Ms. Anya first gave a word of encouragement to everyone, telling those who achieved good rankings not to be arrogant, and those who performed poorly not to be discouraged. As long as they worked hard, gold would always shine eventually. Basalt had heard too much of this kind of "chicken soup for the soul" in his past life; he was completely immune to it now.

Next, Ms. Anya began to hand out the prizes.

First place, Basalt: A one-month VIP pass to the Meteor Club.

Second place, Frank: A three-month supply of Pokéblocks.

Third place, Roland: A Full Heal.

Fourth place, Leo: A Great Ball.

After Basalt and Frank's battle, Roland and Leo had also fought for third place. However, against the Electric-type Mareep, the Flying-type Pidgey had no advantage. One Thunder Wave for paralysis, followed by two Thundershocks, and Pidgey was taken out. The result was clear-cut. An Electric-type Pokémon with Thunder Wave was a very tricky opponent in the early stages.

"Finally got my hands on it!"

Basalt toyed with the card in his hand, which was imprinted with a cosmic starry sky, feeling a wave of emotion. With this VIP card, his little mole's training would become more comprehensive and scientific, but correspondingly, it would also be much harder work.

"Good thing my little mole is a diligent one!" Basalt smiled.

His Drilbur was indeed very hardworking in its training and could endure a lot. In the month they had been together, Basalt had never heard it complain about being tired. With that kind of personality alone, even without the Smooth Rock Crystal and Ground Gem fragments, Basalt felt it would sooner or later become a titan of the mole world.

It was now close to the end of the period. Ms. Anya randomly commented on a few students based on their performance in the tournament, briefly pointing out their strengths and weaknesses, which benefited them greatly.

Ring-ring-ring!

The bell rang, signaling the end of the morning classes. The students quickly flooded out of the classroom and rushed towards the cafeteria.

Food is life!

"Basalt, come with me for a moment."

Just as Basalt was about to leave with Gavin, Ms. Anya's slightly husky voice suddenly called out.

Most of the students had already left the classroom, but a few were still lingering. When they heard Ms. Anya call Basalt out alone, everyone's eyes were filled with envy. It was obvious that Ms. Anya was going to give Basalt some private instruction.

"Basalt is so lucky!" Gavin said, watching Basalt and Ms. Anya's retreating figures, so envious that tears were about to well up in his eyes.

But Basalt was, after all, the class champion. His strength and potential were undeniable. It would be unreasonable if Ms. Anya didn't focus on training him and give him some special tutoring.

…

Inside the now-empty battle stadium where the competition had just ended, Basalt followed closely behind Ms. Anya. The bell had already rung, and the stadium, which could hold over a thousand people, was now deserted except for the two of them.

Suddenly, Ms. Anya stopped and turned to look at Basalt. "Your strength is very good for this stage, and your potential is also very strong. If you work hard, you have a great chance of getting into a top-tier university in the country."

Hearing this, Basalt was secretly pleased. That's me, alright. In my past life, I couldn't even get into an undergraduate program, but this time I can get into a top-tier university.

Truly, trash is just a resource in the wrong place!

Basalt: ︿(￣︶￣)︿

"However…"

But then, Ms. Anya's tone shifted, and Basalt's heart instantly leaped into his throat.

"However what?" Basalt raised an eyebrow, meeting her gaze.

"However, I feel that you haven't fully tapped into your and your Drilbur's potential. In other words, I think you can become even stronger." Ms. Anya's beautiful eyes shifted, and she finally said softly, "So, do you want to become stronger?"

"Of course I want to become stronger!" Basalt clenched his fists and couldn't help but shout. His goal was to become the world's strongest sandstorm master. If he couldn't achieve that goal, he would feel that his transmigration had been a waste.

Seeing Basalt's passionate reaction, Ms. Anya nodded. The young man's motivation was good; he was worth cultivating. Although there was still a significant gap between Basalt and the top prodigies, if she gave him a little push at this stage and got him into a higher-level institution, her job as a high school teacher would be considered complete. As for his future development, that would depend on his own fortune.

In any case, as it stood now, Basalt was the most promising trainer in her class.

"Come on out, Aggron!"

Ms. Anya took a Poké Ball from her belt and pressed the switch.

"Agg…ron?"

Basalt was dumbfounded, thinking he had misheard. Aggron was a super resource-intensive, massive Pokémon. Most people, even if they caught an Aron, probably wouldn't have the means to raise it to its final form.

Ms. Anya has an Aggron?

"ROAR~"

With a deafening roar, the red light from the Poké Ball materialized into a massive beast completely covered in hard armor. Its head and face were covered in silver plates, with the topmost plate extending forward over its forehead to form a spike. There were two pairs of holes on its forehead, with two long, sharp horns extending from the front two holes.

This beast's eyes were sky blue. Its upper jaw had two nostrils at the tip, and several sharp, tooth-like protrusions lined its mouth. The back of its neck and its spine were covered in silver armor, with protrusions on its shoulders. Its four limbs were also encased in silver steel rings, and it had a thick, long black tail.

It was the Steel/Rock dual-type Pokémon—Aggron!

Ignoring Basalt's shock, Ms. Anya waved her hand and pointed to a rock on the edge of the field. "Aggron, Metal Claw!"

"ROAR~"

With a mighty roar, Aggron raised its right claw, which glinted with a metallic sheen, and swiped at the rock.

CRASH!

In an instant, the rock shattered into pieces, flying everywhere. In front of Aggron's Metal Claw, the hard rock was like tofu.

"Want to learn?"

Ms. Anya's lips curled into a slight smile as she looked at the stunned Basalt.

"Yes, yes, I want to learn!"

Waking from his shock, Basalt immediately nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, nearly drooling.

Metal Claw, a Steel-type move, attacks the opponent with steel claws and sometimes raises the user's own attack power. Although Drilbur was a Ground-type Pokémon, its evolved form, Excadrill, was a Ground/Steel dual-type, so Drilbur had a naturally high affinity for Steel-type energy. If it could develop its Steel-type moves in advance, Drilbur would benefit immensely.

Although he could pay for a move tutor outside, as far as Basalt knew, the cost was considerable, starting in the tens of thousands at least. Basalt only had 40,000 Pokédollars left and didn't dare to spend it recklessly. Besides, Ms. Anya thought highly of him and was offering him special tutoring. Basalt couldn't possibly refuse.

As the ancients said: When an elder bestows a gift, one does not dare to refuse. Basalt knew this principle well (and was thick-skinned enough to take advantage of it).

"If you want to learn, then take this."

Ms. Anya opened the fashionable, single-strap dimensional bag she was wearing and took out a bottle that looked like glue. "This is a special 'Metal Coating' liquid. It can help a Pokémon sense and control Steel-type energy."

"Apply this to your Drilbur's claws once a day. First, have it rub its claws together for half an hour to promote absorption. After that, have it use the move Scratch at least a hundred times to train the sharpness of its claws and the strength of its arms."

"As long as you persist, you should see a change within a month."

Basalt took the bottle, his face beaming with joy. "A special… Metal Coating?" This kind of auxiliary medicine or item for Pokémon training was generally not cheap. Ms. Anya was being too good to him! Basalt was a little touched.

"For the next few days, first have your Drilbur carefully sense the Steel-type energy. Once it has a good feel for the energy, I'll have my Aggron teach it hand-in-hand."

"Yes, yes, yes! In that case, I'll have to trouble you then, Ms. Anya!" Basalt quickly bowed to express his gratitude, a wide grin on his face.

Drilbur's new move, Metal Claw, was now on the agenda!

"Oh, right. Don't you have a VIP card for the Meteor Club? When you go, look for a coach named Coach Miles. His level is quite good, and he should be able to give you some good advice. As for the other private coaches, they're not worth mentioning…"

Before ending the conversation, Ms. Anya seemed to remember something and added another sentence.

"Coach Miles? I got it."

Basalt nodded, committing the name to memory. From what Ms. Anya was saying, it seemed the quality of the coaches at the Meteor Club was uneven, and only this Coach Miles was reliable.

With the conversation over, Basalt tactfully took his leave.

Watching Basalt's retreating figure, Ms. Anya's gaze flickered. A few days ago, she had received a tip from a private source that there was going to be a big move from the provincial level this year. They might hold a large-scale selection competition to pick out talented trainers. The selected trainers could enter Jiangnan University directly without taking the college entrance exams, equivalent to early admission.

Jiangnan University was one of the TOP 3 universities in the entire country!

Although she didn't expect Basalt to shine in the provincial competition and get a special early admission spot, if he could just participate, it would broaden his horizons. For Basalt, the benefits would be immense.