After Tetsu finished speaking, he put down the Never-Melt Ice and left to make a call. Eichi waited in the dorm room.
About ten minutes later, Tetsu returned. As soon as he entered, he said, "Eichi, I just talked to my family, and they agreed that I can buy this Never-Melt Ice. They're transferring the money now. Come on, Eichi, let's go to the cafeteria, and I'll transfer the money to you."
Eichi nodded, and the two of them went to the cafeteria to complete the transfer. Next to the cafeteria, there was a designated area where people could make phone calls, trade Pokémon, or transfer and withdraw money. Tetsu inserted his League Card into the machine and operated it. The balance in his card appeared on the electronic screen. Tetsu turned to Eichi and said, "The money hasn't arrived yet, let's wait a little longer."
"I'm not in a rush, let's wait," Eichi replied.
After a while, Tetsu's Communicator rang. Tetsu answered it, listened for a moment, and then hung up, then he inserted his card into the machine again, operated it, and checked the balance. Joyfully, he said to Eichi, "The money has arrived! Tell me your card number, and I'll transfer it to you."
Eichi handed him his League Card. Tetsu entered a string of numbers on the keyboard, then returned the League Card to Eichi. "Check if the money has arrived." Eichi inserted his card into another machine, entered his password, and checked the balance.
The amount that arrived was 2.3 million p. Eichi turned to Tetsu and asked, "Why did you transfer an extra 300,000 p?"
Tetsu waved his hand. "My dad told me that the market price for 50-year-old Never-Melt Ice is only 2 million p, but yours is older than 50 years, so it's worth more. Dad told me to transfer a little extra to you."
"Thanks," Eichi said.
"No problem," Tetsu replied.
Back in the dorm, Eichi handed the Never-Melt Ice to Tetsu. "There you go, this Never-Melt Ice is yours now."
Tetsu was ecstatic as he took the Never-Melt Ice. "It's finally mine! Haha! Come on out, Snorunt." Tetsu took out a Poké Ball and released Snorunt.
As soon as Snorunt appeared, it was hopping around, full of energy. Tetsu crouched down and said to Snorunt, "Snorunt, you've been training so hard these past few days, so I have a present for you."
Upon hearing "present," Snorunt became very excited and urged Tetsu to show it immediately. Tetsu placed the container on the ground and attempted to take out the Never-Melt Ice. At this moment, Eichi took a glove from his backpack and handed it to him. "Use the glove, or you won't be able to hold it."
"Oh, thank you, I forgot," Tetsu said.
After putting on the glove, Tetsu took out the Never-Melt Ice and handed it to Snorunt. Snorunt took the Never-Melt Ice and hid it inside its conical cloak. It was unclear how Snorunt managed to hide the chunk of Never-Melt Ice on its body.
The matter was essentially concluded here. Tetsu couldn't wait to test if Snorunt's Ice-type moves were enhanced after holding the Never-Melt Ice, so he rushed off to the Training Room with Snorunt. Eichi was also quite curious, so he followed.
They arrived at the Training Room and opened one on the second floor. Eichi followed behind. Tetsu turned on a large machine that Eichi hadn't seen before.
"Tetsu, why haven't I seen this machine before?" Eichi asked.
"This is called the Move-Testing Machine," Tetsu answered. "It wasn't here before; it was only delivered this week. This machine can test the attack power of all moves."
On the machine, there were several enormous, glass-like rectangular panels. These panels had multiple layers. They gradually opened, and the connected sections enclosed Eichi and Tetsu, forming a barrier. Eichi and Tetsu ducked out of the barrier, leaving only Snorunt inside.
Tetsu asked Snorunt inside, "Snorunt, are you ready?"
Snorunt let out a couple of cries, indicating it was ready.
"In that case, Snorunt, use Powder Snow," Tetsu instructed.
Inside, Snorunt inhaled, puffing out its cheeks. Then, it blew hard, sending a gust of snowy wind from its mouth. The gust of snow hit the barrier, and Eichi and Tetsu outside could hear the impact. After the Powder Snow attack, the electronic screen on the machine displayed the number 267.
Tetsu was delighted upon seeing the number. "It's enhanced, as expected! Normally, the attack value of Powder Snow is only around 220. With the Never-Melt Ice, the power of its Ice-type moves has increased by about twenty percent." Next, Tetsu had Snorunt use Ice Beam, Icy Wind, and Ice Fang. All of these moves were enhanced by twenty percent.
Seeing this, Eichi secretly made a decision: Items can greatly enhance a Pokémon's move power. In the future, I must also prepare items for my Pokémon for other training.I need to start searching for items for Beedrill and the others too.
***
A few days later, one evening, Eichi went to the Training Room instead of training off campus. He was very interested in the newly installed Move-Testing Machine.
He arrived on the second floor and rented a Training Room. When he opened the door, the Move-Testing Machine was immediately visible and very conspicuous. The Move-Testing Machine was actually quite large, but fortunately, the Training Room was spacious enough that even with the machine installed, there was still plenty of space for training.
Eichi approached the machine. Operating instructions were printed on it, so after reading all the content, he activated the machine. Operating the machine only caused one barrier section to open. Then, he released Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross.
Eichi spoke to Heracross. "Heracross, don't use a move. Attack that barrier with all your strength." Heracross nodded, flapped its wings, and flew over. It raised its arm and struck the barrier forcefully.
"Bang!"
The sound made it feel as if the barrier might shatter at any moment. Immediately afterward, a set of data appeared on the electronic screen: 1300. Heracross flew back to Eichi's side.
Next, Eichi told Scizor, "Scizor, just like Heracross, don't use a move. Attack the barrier with all your strength." Upon hearing this, Scizor glanced at Heracross and Beedrill, then flapped its wings and rushed over. It swung its two large pincers, striking the barrier fiercely just as it was about to collide. The number instantly appeared on the electronic screen: 1500.
Scizor flew back to Eichi's side with satisfaction, deliberately watching Heracross's reaction.
"Beedrill, it's your turn," Eichi said.
Beedrill slowly flew in front of the barrier. Its twin stingers instantly shot out. Without activating the Eye of the Bug Emperor, Eichi couldn't even see how Beedrill attacked.
"Bang!"
A sound rang out, and a set of data appeared on the electronic screen: 3000. Beedrill showed no emotion upon seeing the result and silently returned to Eichi's side.