Chapter 138: Diglett's Training Direction
"A lot of Fire and Ground-type Pokémon feed includes volcanic mud. You could partner with so daycare centers," Brock said.
"Yeah, and my mom's face masks seem to have volcanic mud too. You could sell it to costics companies," Ash added.
"Pokémon and won's money are the easiest to make," Ash said, eyes gleaming as he looked at Blaine, eager for his challenge to be accepted.
"Hey, hey, hey, Ash, are you whispering behind my back?" Misty's voice ca from the hot spring barrier.
"Really?"
Blaine looked at Natsu suspiciously, unwilling to believe him.
Three years ago, this researcher nad Natsu had turned him from Cinnabar Island's richest man into the poorest in less than three months. That blasted Professor Oak—he would never trust a word from him again. At this mont, Blaine couldn't afford to be careless.
"Cough, cough… in that case, I accept your challenge," Blaine said after a pause, thinking that since he was broke anyway, any trouble would just have Natsu compensate through the League.
"Yay!" Ash cheered excitedly.
"But," Blaine added, "you need to help make a device to collect volcanic mud."
"No problem," Natsu said, producing a pack of explosives.
"What are you planning?" Blaine tensed imdiately.
"Add a little sothing to make it easier to surface," Natsu said, then vanished in a flash.
Blaine was silent for a mont and sighed deeply.
"Fine, follow ," he said, calling Ash.
"Wait for us!" Misty's voice ca from the other side of the barrier.
Ash headed off for the battle while Natsu went underground.
Below, a large hollow space revealed the ruins of an old battle platform. Three years ago, a volcanic eruption had damaged it, so it could no longer serve as a proper battle site.
"Yoo-hoo"
A column of lava shot up, and a Fire-type Pokémon covered in orange patterns and bright red scales appeared, landing on a nearby rock.
"Hi!" Natsu greeted the Magmar.
The Magmar nearly slipped back into the lava upon noticing him, then leapt upward, fleeing toward the volcano's crater.
After many days, challengers were finally arriving again!
Magmar, Fire Pokémon, active near the volcano crater.
At the crater, opposite Ash, a majestic Pokémon stood.
"All right, for this battle, each side sends out one Pokémon. Winner takes all," Blaine's voice called from the crater.
"It's decided—Charizard!"
Ash threw a Pokéball. The red light flashed, and Charizard appeared, instinctively locking into a struggle with Ash.
"Charizard, your opponent this ti is Magmar!"
Ash carefully curled Charizard back into its ball and threw it onto a rock pillar near the volcano.
Blaine's eyes twitched at the move.
Underground, Natsu explored. Unfortunately, the area held nothing significant.
Diglett—Diglett—Diglett—
At Natsu's feet, a Diglett followed, occasionally nibbling soil, handing him berries, or nudging him gently.
"Diglett, can you find the thinnest layers of rock around here?" Natsu asked.
Diglett It nodded, ready to help.
The Diglett nodded.
Diglett! I refuse.
The Diglett shook its head.
Diglett This slls sour.
It took a small bite of lava.
"What are you doing!"
Startled by the sudden bite, Natsu quickly pulled the Diglett back.
Diglett!!! Hot!
The Diglett spat out the red glow from its mouth.
Diglett Sour but tasty!
Diglett! Spicy and delicious!
Natsu froze at the Diglett's reaction.
Spicy was actually a pain sensation… Could it be that this disobedient personality was a masochist?
His expression was odd, but he hurriedly checked the Diglett's injuries.
Unexpectedly, the burns were far less severe than he had anticipated.
Natsu paused while spraying burn dicine.
A bold hypothesis ford in his mind.
Battle Arena Activated!
Intense battle music blared.
"Gengar, your turn."
Opposite the Diglett, a Gengar erged, shrouded in mist.
Gengar! Gengar stretched its little chubby hands, as if to say it was no big deal.
"Psychic… no, use Toxic!"
Given Diglett's low level, Natsu quickly corrected himself.
Gengar
A dark purple cloud of poison hit the Diglett.
Diglett!
> Diglett is poisoned.
> Due to poison, Diglett's HP has decreased.
Natsu's gaze fixed tightly on the Diglett's green HP bar.
Poison damage was calculated by percentage and increased each turn.
The first turn normally removed about 1/16 of HP.
Yet Diglett lost only a tiny bit—roughly 1/48?
Natsu wasn't sure, just waited for the next turn.
"Diglett, use Scratch!"
> Diglett used Scratch. It hit Gengar!
> Diglett used Scratch. It hit Gengar!
> Diglett used Scratch. It hit Gengar!
> Due to poison, Diglett's HP has decreased.
On the second turn, poison would remove about 1/8 of HP.
This ti, Diglett again lost only a little—about 1/24.
After several tries, Natsu began to understand.
Diglett could land triple strikes, and the damage it received seed divided among three personalities, taking only one-third.
How does this work?
Natsu was stunned, thinking of the paper on Zygarde research.
In its Complete For, Zygarde's 100 cells share damage with the core.
Waving his hand, Natsu touched the battlefield.
"Hmm—but there's already a god of ecological order."
He lifted Diglett, utterly amazed.
He rembered that Diglett could learn a one-hit knockout move, sothing like Fissure.
This move was extrely demanding: your level had to be at least equal to your opponent's, and it didn't work on Pokémon with the Levitate ability or Flying-types.
Most importantly, Fissure only had a 30% chance to land.
Even a Water Gun with 80% accuracy could miss three tis in a row.
In Pokémon battles, most trainers avoided low-accuracy moves, no matter how powerful. They preferred 100% accuracy, even if it ant sacrificing damage, because missing could make you pull your hair out in frustration.
But Diglett was different—it could land triple strikes.
Natsu narrowed his eyes and quickly calculated the probability of Diglett hitting all three Fissures.
The chance of hitting once: 44.1%. Twice: 18.9%. Three tis: 2.7%.
The chance of missing all three: 34.3%.
At least one hit: 65.7%.
A 65% chance to land a one-hit knockout.
Natsu squinted.
Not bad.
He had been worried about Diglett's training direction, but now it seed he could rely on probability.
Combined with the damage-splitting trait, taking only one-third of incoming damage, a fully evolved Dugtrio would be extrely durable.
If one triple Fissure didn't work, he could try two. If that failed, try three.
Natsu didn't believe he could be that unlucky.
After testing, Natsu gave Diglett a sour berry.
"Help find the weakest layer of rock."
Diglett! Okay.
Diglett! Sure.
Diglett! No.
Two votes beat one—Diglett started moving.
You can read more (around 150 free chapters) of Natsu's adventure ad-free at [sravenarchives/book/pokemon-who-let-him-leave-pallet-town]. Bulk uploads is a ss here, so updates here might be irregular.
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