Agumon had currently mastered the two moves available to a Rookie Digimon.
One was Baby Flame, and the other was Sharp Claw.
Baby Flame covered ranged attacks, while Sharp Claw handled close-quarters combat.
The combination of one ranged and one melee move was indeed quite good, but that was in the past.
Times had changed.
Its opponents had changed from Digimon, who similarly possessed only a few moves, to Pokémon.
In the Pokémon world, with few exceptions, almost every adult Pokémon could use multiple moves.
It wasn’t even strange for some to learn dozens of them.
Even in the game’s settings, every Pokémon could master four moves.
In contrast, Agumon, with only two Exclusive Moves, had much poorer attack coverage.
‘The “Exclusive Move” column on the panel hasn’t been seen on any other Pokémon besides Agumon.
Conversely, Agumon’s “Learned Moves” section is blank.
Does this mean Agumon can also learn Pokémon moves normally, just like other Pokémon?’
The more Sinshi thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.
However, his current funds did not support purchasing Technical Machines for it to watch and learn from, so he could only shift his focus to Agumon’s own Exclusive Moves.
Since its coverage couldn’t be improved in the short term, the only path left was to enhance the variations of its existing moves.
‘Variations, variations…’
Sinshi fell into deep thought.
During this time, Nurse Joy returned, pushing a cart full of items.
“One box of Dragon-type Pokéblocks and one box of general Pokéblocks for a total of 350 Pokémon Dollars, six Poké Balls for 180 Pokémon Dollars, and finally 4 bottles of Potion spray for 260.
These are all discounted prices.
Does this arrangement look okay to you?”
Sinshi didn’t answer immediately, but glanced at Candice beside him.
Seeing her nodding frantically, Sinshi guessed that the discount Nurse Joy gave him was quite substantial, so he said with a very sincere attitude, “No problem, thank you very much.”
Nurse Joy shook her head.
“I should be the one thanking you.
If it weren’t for you, who knows when the next batch of Berries would arrive.
The treatment for those Pokémon would be delayed, and their lives might even be in danger.”
After saying that, Nurse Joy took out a backpack from under the cart.
“I noticed you didn’t seem to bring a suitable backpack.
We happen to have an extra one here, so consider it a gift.”
“Alright.”
Sinshi didn’t stand on ceremony and reached out to take it.
He really needed this right now.
Although he had a bark backpack, its quality and durability were questionable.
No one could guarantee when it might break, and if the items inside fell and got damaged, the loss would outweigh the gain.
After packing everything into the backpack and thanking Nurse Joy, Sinshi and Candice walked out of the Pokémon Center.
“Where are you going now?”
“The things Agumon needs are ready.
Next is to buy the things I’ll use.”
Sinshi asked while looking around, “Do you know where the town’s market is located?”
“In that direction.” Candice pointed to a street diagonally ahead where a crowd of people had gathered, then asked hesitantly, “Even if you want to do special training, you don’t have to rush to start today, right?”
“I have nothing else to do anyway, and Agumon is probably bored too.
By the way, do you want to come with me?”
Sinshi turned his head and looked at Candice.
“I’ll pass for today.
I want to take a shower and get a good rest first.
I was sweating all over from running around looking for Snover yesterday.”
“Then we’ll part ways here for now.”
“Okay.”
After parting with Candice, Sinshi went to the market and bought a sleeping bag, a flashlight, some easily storable and portable food, and finally some small items like cooking oil, salt, and vinegar, before walking out of Solaceon Town.
As he distanced himself from the town and confirmed there was no one else around, Sinshi took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and gently pressed the button in the middle.
“Ding!”
The Poké Ball opened, red light flashed, and Agumon appeared in front of him.
As the red light dissipated, Agumon looked left and right, observing its surroundings with a somewhat bewildered expression.
It wasn’t until it saw Sinshi standing in front of it that it suddenly snapped back to reality, staring incessantly at the Poké Ball in Sinshi’s hand.
“Sinshi, this thing is so amazing!
It’s so small, yet it can fit me inside.
Plus, I can see what’s happening outside from in there and know what you’re doing, but it seems you can’t hear me talking.”
“I really couldn’t hear you.”
After briefly explaining the mechanics of the Poké Ball to Agumon, Sinshi went over the special training they were going to do.
Unexpectedly, before Sinshi could even finish speaking, Agumon nodded and agreed directly.
“No problem.”
“Have you thought it through?
Wanting you to get stronger to challenge that Gabite, and whatever else might happen in the future, are all my ideas.”
Agumon shook its head and said, “You are my first friend, and my most important friend, so…
your ideas are my ideas.
“Besides, I don’t want something like last time to happen again.
I don’t even dare to think about what would have happened to me if something really did happen back then.
But I know that if I have enough power, no matter where you are or who you’re facing, I can help you.”
Looking at Agumon’s serious expression, Sinshi couldn’t help but pat its head.
“I already told you it’s fine, don’t take it to heart so much.”
He said that, but Sinshi himself knew that, at least for a short time, the psychological shadow inadvertently cast on Agumon by the Aipom last time wouldn’t disappear.
Curing it completely would take time, but there was a way to alleviate it—and that was to increase its strength.
“Since that’s the case, let’s start right away.”
After organizing his backpack and placing it under a nearby tree, Sinshi led Agumon to the open space in front of them.
This clearing was quite spacious with almost no obstructions.
The only exception was a rock located directly in front of them.
This was the “sparring partner” Sinshi had finally settled on after carefully scouting the vicinity.
“The primary goal of this special training is to use Baby Flame to pierce through it.”
Agumon stared at the training target for a long time.
Finally, it raised its arm, scratched its head, and said with a somewhat troubled expression, “Sinshi, I know training is very hard, but isn’t this one a bit…
too big?”
A massive boulder, about three meters in diameter and over two meters tall, covered in moss and vines, loomed before them.
Compared to it, Sinshi and Agumon’s sizes were completely insignificant.
“Relying solely on Baby Flame, the difficulty is indeed quite high.
So…
I’m going to have you learn a brand-new way to unleash a much stronger Baby Flame.”