Chapter 35: Stone Splitter
"A group came back from Redwater Valley yesterday." Damon announces to Booth and Ben. "When I talked with them, they said they explored all the way to the center of the valley."
"Oh! Is it the group that Booth and Emmet ran into?" Ben asks.
Damon nods, "Yes. They stayed in the area for about a week, and found a lot of interesting info. Thankfully, a couple from their group gave me some time to ask them questions."
"Nice! What did they say?"
Booth finds a chair and listens in as well.
"They started out by explaining what the pokemon were like. Gifted or not, the pokemon further into the valley are quite tenacious. Their attacks become more vicious, their aim is more accurate, and their instincts are hard to beat."
Booth agrees silently. He and Emmet had tested the waters by going deeper into the valley, but eventually they couldn't handle the pokemon one on one. At that point they could only double up on the pokemon to secure a victory.
Damon continues. "As for the art stones, they found two. But only one of the art stones was activated when they got there, so they weren't able to identify both of them.
The Art they did find was a restricting art called 'Sinistea twitch'. The Art's conditions are too troublesome though, so they didn't recommend looking for it."
"Makes sense. Art stones are generally weird or outdated Arts. Although I think that is what makes finding them so intriguing." Ben says.
"Yeah, which is why I think we should go today."
"That's fine with me, but why do you say so?"
"The art stone which hadn't been activated had a slight glow, and if that's true..." Damon says dramatically.
Booth gives a look of surprise. "Then it should be activating soon!"
"Correct! So if everyone's ok with it, we can leave in an hour."
Ben gets up first, "I'm ok with it."
"Me too." Booth adds.
"Good. Let's get ready."
Booth starts packing to go with the others. Borrowing a couple items from Damon and Ben along the way. The hour they decided on is plenty of time to get ready. With some extra time to review their bags and pick up other supplies.
Thanks to his knowledge from last time, Booth remembers to purchase some energy drinks, potions, and pokeballs for his group.
'This will be my second time exploring Redwater. I expect things to be harder this time around, but I'm confident my new Art will be helpful. My strength has once again increased, so I'm sure I'll get further than before.
I bought some energy drinks, because I heard they're very effective. I guess it makes sense that a world would make good energy drinks if they can engineer potions so well. Next, the pokeballs are in case we run into any Chieftain pokemon. I've spent most of my money on pokemon goods, and I would feel happy if I could make some money off of another chieftain.'
Booth returns to his apartment and takes off with Ben and Damon. Based on the time they left, they expect to reach Redwater before noon.
For the first part of the hike, Ben fights the wild pokemon by himself. During which, Booth and Damon get a better look at Ben's art Stone Splitter. Damon has his first look at it and Booth has his second. Ben's battles don't take long, and they quickly reach the area where Booth switches off with Ben.
Booth brings out his Cubone for its first battle to test him out. It seems confused at first, but Booth gives it proper instructions which calms it down.
Booth is behind in the beggining of the battle due to his inexperience with Cubone. But the opposing pokemon quickly loses ground as Cubone's swift attacks hit him one after the other. The battle ends no time. Booth reviews his new pokemon following the victory.
'I made a good choice. Cubone's range and damage isn't the best on the team, but it's probably the best in terms of attack speed. The damage it deals really stacks up over time too.
Its power isn't bad on its own. But the main source of its strength is without a doubt its bone club. I guess I should see if the bone club it uses is special or can be exchanged if this one breaks.'
Booth decides to test this later and deactivates his integrator.
"I didn't know you had a Cubone?" Ben asks.
"Ah, I just caught it yesterday. I thought it would be something different, and it looked pretty strong too."
"That's great. I was thinking of getting another pokemon, but I haven't gotten around to it yet."
"Well if you find anything you like in Redwater valley, don't hesitate to ask for help."
"Sure thing!" Ben replies.
Damon isn't especially interested in the pokemon, but something else does stand out to him. "Have you really only had your Cubone for a day? It seems surprisingly obedient for a pokemon you just caught. Normally trainers and pokemon take a while to adjust to each other."
"Yeah, it's my first time using Cubone. I haven't had any problems with obedience either? Why do you ask?"
"Hmm. Pokemon are naturally willing to obey experienced trainers, it just seems a little sudden is all. Do you think you could share some of your thoughts on how you got your pokemon to follow orders so quickly."
"Sure." Booth considers the topic seriously.
'Damon is insightful as always. I didn't think I was doing anything different from most trainers. I'm glad he caught it, otherwise I wouldn't have paid much attention to it.'
"If I had to guess, giving your pokemon clear orders ahead of time helps. It might be unnecessary as a tiered trainer, but it's helpful when training new pokemon. It lets them understand what's happening. I don't say much either. It's just a few words when getting ready for battle."
Damon pauses to think. "It seems easy enough. Thanks for the advice."
"No problem."
The group finds the right place and crosses the river. After a few more miles, they finally reach their destination. Redwater valley.
---
Booth, Ben, and Damon begin their exploration with an ambush from a horde. There's a Joltik and a Rockruff that approach from the right. While a Grimer and a Staravia come from the left.
Damon sends out his Morgrem and switches on his Integrator. He swings at the Rockruff with a Sucker Punch, and pushes it back. Ben and Booth follow along and bring out their pokemon.
Booth sends out his Magnemite to assist his team from long range. He immediately connects a Thunder Wave into the Staravia, and manages to restrict some of its power. Like other status conditions in this world, the paralysis condition primarily affects power. It makes a pokemon's power become lethargic and can even damage the pokemon if they act recklessly.
Booth moves to help his teammates, but is tugged back. He searches for a reason and remembers the Joltik.
"Watch out! The Joltik is spewing threads!"
Damon understands the situation and gives some advice. "If you shoot a burst of power into the threads, you should be able to break free quickly."
Booth adds his power into the threads as Damon says and the threads practically slide off. After getting rid of the obstacle, Booth charges an Electro ball. Ben covers for him by fighting Grimer. Unfortunately, the Grimer is too slippery and is able to reach Booth's Magnemite.
Grimer slams into Magnemite before he can get away. Magnemite falls into the dirt. Booth shoots the Electro Ball early to help him recover. Grimer uses Harden and holds out against the attack. The Grimer wastes no time, and turns around towards Ben's Buizel.
"Ben, behind you!" Booth calls out.
"Got it." Ben responds.
Grimer's arm spins into a needle and stabs at Buizel. Ben reacts quickly and avoids the modified Poison Jab.
'That's a pokemon fighter!' Booth thinks. 'I didn't expect to see one so soon.'
Booth keeps Staravia busy, while working on activating his link. Ben fights the Grimer and the Joltik. The Joltik's threads make things difficult for Ben to move, and Grimer's fluid body lets it get around the threads easily to attack. Ben realizes this and prepares a counterattack.
Ben maneuvers over another string. Grimer isn't far behind, it shifts its body and slips under the thread. With just a small moment of weakness, Ben speedily exploits Grimer's mistake. Ben attacks with Stone Splitter. Grimer's body doesn't harden in time and is struck by a critical hit!
'Ben's moving well. He also realized how Grimer likes to approach and punished it for doing the same thing twice.' After checking to see if Ben was doing ok, Booth returns to his own opponent.
Booth's integrator light flashes from yellow to red. Booth stops playing passive and begins his assault from Ben's momentum. His Art, Rebound, spreads through his body, strengthening his attacks.
Booth lands into Staravia first. He tackles it with a loud thunk, and activates the rebound effect. His body jerks back by a few feet, while dealing extra damage to the Staravia.
Booth takes a big breath. He flies forward again to try and strike Staravia again. Booth experiences a feeling of weightlessness as he falls down in Staravia's direction.
"Crack!" Staravia clearly breaks some bones under the hard impact.
Booth activates his second rebound and bounces off the opponent. A final crash faints the Staravia, rewarding Booth with a power up for his efforts.
On Damon's side the Rockruff has already been defeated. Damon comes to Ben's aid first. His Morgrem moves into Joltik's and Grimer's flank before attacking.
As his Morgrem approaches Joltik to separate it from Grimer. Joltik responds with an Electroweb onto Morgrem. The electric net catches its opponent completely. The electricity from the web causes Moregrem to take damage that is not at all restricted by Joltik's size. Damon has no reason to worry though. He manages to blast the net apart with his power alone.
Booth is impressed with the feat, but doesn't stop moving. He rolls up to the Grimer with a Gyro Ball. Grimer hardens up in anticipation of the attack, but... nothing happens. Booth turns around to waste Grimer's power.
Grimer eases its body, only for Ben to show up and attack with Aqua Jet. It wants to retaliate, but Booth's Magnemite rolls in a second time. Grimer chooses to dodge around a tree.
Gyro Ball takes a sharper corner than expected and rams into Grimer. Grimer is baffled, but the attack isn't quite over. Ben uses Pursuit on the other side and lands the finishing blow onto Grimer.
Finally, Damon stabs the Joltik with False Surrender. The Joltik squeaks and faints. The battle is over.
"That was a good first battle!" Damon reports to the team. "We'll need to work on some different strategies for using Arts and attacking, but so far I think we did great."
"Sounds good." Ben says with a nod.
Booth does the same."Yeah, fine with me."
The group finishes off the pokemon, and takes along the edible parts. The Grimer is inedible, but the others are fine. After taking some time to deal with the meat, the group moves on to the next hunting spot.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone