Chapter 212: Brock's Secret Tradition

"Quicksand Hell!"

Accompanying All Baimu's command.

A sky-covering tide of quicksand surged forth from the super-giant Steelix's exhalation, and within the rotation of its lateral steel bones transformed into a fierce sandstorm tornado, roaring as it rushed toward Brock's Steelix.

Rumble—!

The sandstorm whirled violently, scraping the air and emitting dull thuds in waves.

Although Steelix is a Ground-type Pokémon, because it simultaneously possesses the Steel-type, Ground-type attacks are also super effective against it.

And facing the incoming sandstorm, Brock was not overly flustered, calmly and steadily ordering Steelix to use Gyro Ball.

"Roar!"

Steelix let out a muffled roar, the two raised lateral steel bones spinning madly, emitting a piercing shriek like the blades of a mixer, kicking up gust after gust and rapidly forming two bright silver rings of light.

At the same moment the sandstorm tornado struck!

Bang!

The silver rings of Gyro Ball collided violently with Quicksand Hell, and the seemingly ferocious sand could not pierce through the wind barrier formed by Gyro Ball; wind clashed with wind and slowly dissipated into nothing.

"Dig!"

Brock waved his hand, and Steelix lunged forward in a great leap, plunging into the ground with a thud and vanishing from sight.

The ground trembled ceaselessly — clearly the sign of Steelix moving underground.

However.

All Baimu had long anticipated Brock would pull off such a combo, and the moment Quicksand Hell ceased, he had the super-giant Steelix use Magnet Rise.

Its massive form instantly turned the super-giant Steelix into an airborne warship, gazing down below with an icy stare.

"Watch the ground carefully!"

"Heh… Magnet Rise, huh."

Brock was slightly surprised, yet not a trace of disappointment at his plan failing showed on his face; instead, a smile appeared.

The next instant.

Thud!

The gleaming Steelix burst from the earth, sand and stone flying, dust swirling, and the rotation of its two lateral steel bones granted it an exaggerated leaping range!

"Use Iron Tail on its head!"

"Bind!"

All Baimu and Brock's commands rang out simultaneously; the super-giant Steelix, holding the aerial advantage, immediately swung its hammer-like tail down at Steelix!

Clang!

Iron Tail struck true, but failed to hit Steelix's head as intended, instead smacking into its voluntarily opened mouth.

The terrifying metallic clang made both sides cover their ears. Then with a thunderous boom, both the large and small Steelix crashed to the ground, kicking up great clouds of dust.

Once the dust cleared, All Baimu suddenly saw Brock's Steelix biting the super-giant Steelix's tail, its body nimbly coiling around it, tangling together.

Although relatively smaller in size, Brock's Steelix, leveraging its knowledge of joint construction, made it impossible for the super-giant Steelix to move.

The latter also lacked the strength of its opponent, so much so that any slight resistance made its joints emit creaking sounds. And Steelix, as if it had found the prey's weak point, slowly tightened its grip, causing the other to show an even more pained expression.

"Roar—"

"Hahaha, using your body to bind the enemy is the nature of Onix and Steelix, a move they've used constantly since birth — don't underestimate it just because it doesn't look very powerful!" Brock laughed heartily.

"Use Dragon Breath on it!"

All Baimu searched for a counterattack, but although the super-giant Steelix certainly had the advantage in size, its battle experience fell far short of Brock's Steelix.

Not to mention the hardness of its body's steel plating.

Just from this Bind, the moment Brock's Steelix exerted a little force, the super-giant Steelix's body surface immediately caved in slightly. The one caving in was still the latter.

"Roar!"

The super-giant Steelix painfully twisted its head around; fortunately it was long enough that it wasn't entirely locked down by the enemy, and it raised its head to blast a jet of azure breath straight at Steelix.

"We'll use Dragon Breath too!" Brock remained unhurried.

Steelix released the super-giant Steelix's tail and blew out a stream of azure air in turn.

Boom—!

The two streams of air merged and clashed, neither giving ground to the other.

Yet although Steelix had struck second, it forcibly suppressed the former, causing the super-giant Steelix's Dragon Breath to steadily retreat, until it was finally hit head-on by the blast!

Bang!

"Roar!"

The super-giant Steelix let out another muffled cry of pain—

"That's enough!"

Brock called a timely halt, not letting the match continue.

Steelix slowly released the super-giant Steelix, stepping back a few paces to keep some distance, its demeanor calm and composed — neither the pride of having dominated its opponent nor any regret at failing to thoroughly defeat a larger foe.

The bearing of a Gym Leader's Pokémon radiated naturally.

The newly freed super-giant Steelix cast a wary glance at it, then slowly retreated behind its Trainer.

"I lost."

All Baimu sighed in admiration and shook hands with Brock.

As the opponent's first Pokémon, Steelix had been through countless battles; the super-giant Steelix fell far short.

Of course.

A gap in Trainers existed as well — his understanding of a Pokémon like Steelix was far inferior to Brock's, and he had failed to properly utilize Steelix's physical traits, fighting in a stiff, by-the-book manner.

"Win or lose is a small matter." Brock smiled lightly. "It seems your coordination with Steelix is still rather green — you haven't raised it for long, have you?"

"Mm, just over a month."

Baimu calculated the time.

"A little over a month, huh…"

Xiaogang walked up to the giant Steelix and observed its condition. "Mm, there's still a vast amount of room for development, whether between the two of you, or within Steelix itself."

——

The gap between the two Steelix was reflected in every aspect.

Within the scope that a breeder could make up for, the maintenance of the metal on Steelix's body surface and the joint connections was the top priority.

"Steelix's body generates force right at these joints. If you don't take good care of them, even if it originally has ten tons of strength, it might only be able to use one ton."

Xiaogang held a brush and kept poking at the giant Steelix's joints. The maintenance fluid on it lubricated its body, causing it to let out a moan-like low growl.

"Come look here. These uneven bumps at the joints are caused by dust friction buildup from digging holes with incorrect posture. This is just like a human's hunchback or bow-legs and knock-knees — you have to pay attention to it."

"Mm-hmm!"

Baimu nodded vigorously. The ranch uncle's health management chapter was certainly effective, but as a whole, it hadn't been refined down to each individual Pokémon.

To learn these "secrets," one still had to ask and learn from more professional people.

And someone like Xiaogang, who told all he knew and gave all he had, even personally stepping in to teach, truly moved Baimu.

"As for the strength of the body-surface steel, let me see its diet… Ah, as expected, the alloy supplement quantity is insufficient. Your iron-ore ratio is too high — you can adjust it down a little. The proportions of chromium, molybdenum, and nickel can all be increased."

"Understood!"

"Ah! Why aren't you feeding it tungsten?"

"Uh, I saw online that you don't need to… eating too much will make it sick."

"Just reduce the amount. For Steelix, correctly supplementing metal elements is very important. Any single proportion becoming unbalanced will cause its body's hardness to drop."

"I've learned a great deal!"