Eroking
patreon
Chapter 248: Groudon's Armor Scale
🕑 Added 2025-10-08 12:35:50 +0000 UTCChapter 248: Groudon's Armor Scale
"Sand-shrew..."
After an unknown amount of time, the shiny Sandslash King, having been fed a Revive, slowly came to.
It gradually opened its eyes. The first thing it saw was Excadrill looming over it, which made the quills all over its body stand on end.
It wanted to get up and run, but its body had been wrapped up tight by Lileep's roots—three layers inside and three layers out, like a ball, with only its head sticking out.
Not only that, but although the shiny Sandslash King had regained consciousness, with Lileep's Giga Drain constantly on it, its stamina was still in the red. It had at most 10% of its full strength.
"Hey, Sandslash. I'm going to ask you a few questions. If you cooperate, I might be merciful and let you go," Basalt said, his eyes narrowing, his voice cold. "But if you don't know what's good for you, then don't blame me for being ruthless."
After Basalt spoke, Bronzong's psychic power surged, translating his meaning to the Sandslash King.
"Sand-shrew... Sand-shrew..."
The shiny Sandslash King's face was full of despair. It reluctantly nodded, indicating its willingness to cooperate.
It was a lamb to the slaughter. What else could it do? When it saw its precious red fragment—the root of its life—in Excadrill's claws, it felt a terrible bitterness in its heart.
"This red fragment, what exactly is it?" Basalt asked, pointing at it.
He had studied it for a bit. Its texture was hard and smooth, and it contained an incredibly rich amount of Ground-type energy. It was clearly no ordinary item.
"Sand-shrew... Sand-shrew..."
Bronzong's "eyebrows" raised. "It says this is an item left behind by an unrivaled being. It doesn't know what it is specifically, only that the energy inside is very beneficial to it."
"An unrivaled being?"
Basalt froze for a moment, then looked closely at the red fragment again. A possibility came to mind.
"It couldn't... be, could it?" Basalt's mouth twitched. He was a little shocked by his own idea.
But from what he knew, Dragon's Rise Mountain was indeed a volcano, albeit a dormant one that hadn't had any magma activity for a long time. But even a dormant volcano has magma deep underground, which would fit the habits of that being.
Thinking about the environment of this secret realm, Basalt had reason to suspect that it might have been created by that being by accident.
"Ask it if the 'unrivaled being' it's talking about is a Pokémon covered in red, plate-like armor scales. Is its body incredibly massive, with large spikes protruding from its head, torso, and tail? Does each of its hands have four claws, with four bulldozer-like teeth at the end of its tail, and three claws on each foot?"
Basalt couldn't help but clench his fists. He was so excited that his body began to tremble slightly.
"Sand-shrew... Sand-shrew..."
But to Basalt's disappointment, the shiny Sandslash King just shook its head, looking a little confused.
"It says that the unrivaled being had already left before it was born. This is all just information passed down through the clan's oral tradition. The previous king of their clan obtained the fragment, and it has been passed down from generation to generation. However, according to the legend, the description is somewhat similar to what you just said."
After translating the shiny Sandslash King's words, Bronzong couldn't hold back its own curiosity. "What kind of being is this? Stop speaking in riddles!"
"What kind of being?"
Basalt let out a chuckle. "Groudon. The ancient people called it the God of the Land. It's one of the most powerful Legendary Pokémon. I never thought it would be in the Alliance's territory. This is just..."
Basalt swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. If this guy wasn't on good terms with that fat fish Kyogre, and they decided to fight, wouldn't the Alliance be in danger?
Although Groudon was often teased online for its "inability to fly," its power was undeniable. And what did flying matter anyway? It could still issue a warning with Precipice Blades. A certain souped-up dragon in the anime had taken one of those to the face, and it didn't taste very good.
"A Legendary Pokémon?"
Bronzong's "eyebrows" shot up, but it was speechless. A Legendary Pokémon... that was a being that everyone present should revere.
"I suspect that this red fragment is an old, shed armor scale from Groudon. The color is exactly the same as Groudon's. It matches perfectly," Basalt said, stroking the red scale. "And in its normal state, Groudon is a Ground-type Pokémon. That explains why the scale contains such a rich and pure amount of Ground-type energy."
It all added up. The truth had come to light.
Placing the red scale back in Excadrill's claws, Basalt clapped him on the shoulder. "Excadrill, my boy, you're about to have a major power-up. Once you absorb the energy from this scale, your strength will undergo a world-changing transformation. Maybe... even your size will change again."
A normal Excadrill is only about 0.7 meters tall. Because Excadrill had been nurtured by the Smooth Rock Crystal and had abundant energy when it evolved, its height had shot up to just over a meter. But if it absorbed the energy from this Groudon scale fragment, it might grow even taller. After all, even the Sandslash King had been transformed by it. Excadrill's potential was far greater; there was no reason it wouldn't work.
"Dro-lisk~"
Hearing this, a look of anticipation appeared on Excadrill's face. He still had a vivid memory of the shiny Sandslash King's size, strength, and defense.
Does this mean I can become like that, too? No, wait. I should become even stronger than that!
"Dro-lisk!"
At this thought, Excadrill gripped the red scale tightly, turned, found a corner, and sat down, beginning to channel the pure Ground-type energy within the scale.
Seeing this, a smile touched Basalt's lips. When it came to getting stronger, Excadrill was as focused as ever.
"Sand-shrew! Sand-shrew!"
Watching Excadrill use his most precious possession to train right in front of him, the shiny Sandslash King felt an indescribable sense of violation. All it wanted now was to leave.
Unfortunately for it, Basalt wasn't going to let that happen. At least, not before they left the secret realm. He couldn't risk it causing trouble.
...
On the barren land, Excadrill placed the red scale on its chest and began to use its own Ground-type energy to connect with it, trying to draw the energy into its body.
The process wasn't difficult, and it went smoothly.
But when the energy from the scale began to enter its body, Excadrill couldn't help but frown.
Although the energy was pure, it was also incredibly despotic. The moment it entered its body, it began to rampage, running wild.
Excadrill felt a hot, searing pain wherever the energy passed, as if it were being burned.
"Sand-shrew~"
Seeing Excadrill's pained expression, the shiny Sandslash King gloated inwardly.
This kid is trying to draw too much energy in at once. He doesn't understand the principle of a slow and steady stream. It serves him right if it hurts like hell. It would be best if his body just exploded.
But the scene the shiny Sandslash King was hoping for never happened.
With its tough constitution and immense control over its own energy, Excadrill managed to suppress the first wave of energy and began to refine it, making it its own.
And as Excadrill continued to refine the energy from the scale, Basalt noticed something, though he wasn't sure if it was his imagination. The patches on Excadrill's stomach seemed to be getting a little more vibrant.
"A shiny Excadrill?"
Basalt's eyebrow shot up, but he felt neither happy nor sad. He didn't have any special preference for shiny Pokémon. As long as it could fight, that was enough. Besides, true coolness came from real strength. A flashy appearance was just for show and didn't mean much.
After an unknown amount of time, when Excadrill opened its eyes, Basalt felt as if he were seeing a powerful beast rising from the earth, its aura imposing.
"Excadrill, how do you feel?" Basalt quickly went over to ask.
Seeing this, Lileep, Bronzong, and baby Larvitar also gathered around. They were very concerned about their big brother's condition.
"Dro-lisk!"
Excadrill patted its chest with its steel claws, indicating that it felt great. But unexpectedly, the sound this time was somewhat muffled, as if it were wearing a suit of hard iron skin.
"Could it be..."
A guess formed in Basalt's mind. He went up and ran a finger over Excadrill's fur.
Sure enough, the hairs of its fur had become extremely hard, like steel needles.
"Excadrill's fur has hardened." Basalt clicked his tongue in wonder. It still looked like fur, but its hardness was no less than that of ordinary steel. It was like a suit of chainmail. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, it would be hard to imagine.
And this was just the first change.
As Excadrill absorbed more and more energy from the scale, wouldn't its fur's defensive power become heaven-defying?
Basalt's eyes narrowed. He thought of the shiny Sandslash King's quills, which had been able to leave scratches on Aegis Ore.
"With this, Excadrill's weakness in defense has been further improved!"
Basalt was overjoyed.
Generally, Excadrill's main problem was its frail defenses. Previously, having been nurtured by the Smooth Rock Crystal, its defenses were only slightly higher than its peers. After evolving with the Feathersteel, its defenses had increased a little more, but not by much.
But now, there were signs of a complete transformation.
In the future, Excadrill could very well break the limits of its species and become an existence with incredibly formidable defense.
After all, Groudon's defense was astonishing. Its scales, besides containing pure energy, seemed to have a corresponding effect.
