Chapter 28: Natural Gift

In the forest, there are many wild plants and fruits, some of which are edible and some are not. However, compared to Earth, the crops in this world are much safer.

At this moment, Darren was walking through a forest in Mt. Chimney.

Just a moment ago, he and Swablu had unfortunately encountered a Nuzleaf. Compared to Seedot, Nuzleaf enjoyed playing pranks more.

Fortunately, the Nuzleaf's temperament wasn't too bad, and after Darren gave it some food, the little troublemaker left.

"This is it." Darren caught the red fruit that Swablu had pecked at and his eyes lit up. He picked up the red fruit, brought it close to his nose to smell it, confirmed it several times, and showed a pleased expression.

"Let's continue." He instructed Swablu and they went back to work.

Darren didn't pick too many of the red fruits, only about three or four. They continued to walk towards other areas. Darren's goal was not just to find berries, he needed more usable fruits, the more the better. He didn't pay much attention to the types of fruits in this area before, so he had to double check.

"Is this the Grepa Berry? Unfortunately, it's not very useful." Darren shook his head after encountering another type of fruit.

To be honest, in undeveloped wilderness areas like this, although there are many types of berries in the forest, they are scattered around and it's rare for Darren to find the right ones.

After some time, Darren was able to gather four Chisi berries, three Oran berries, three Pecha berries, and two Papaya berries.

Putting the twelve fruits in his backpack as if they were treasures, Darren was satisfied and returned happily.

Perhaps there are more fruits around Mt. Chimney that Darren needs, but he only found these in this area, and some fruits were not picked, but he noted their location. When he needs them, he will come back to get them.

...

"The most important thing about Chisi berries is the core, not the pulp. The core contains rich fire element energy. If you want to learn Fire-type moves, using it is also a good choice, but what we need to do is to use the core to explode all the energy of this fruit in a one-time burst."

Grinding the core of the Chisi berry, Darren spoke to Swablu.

Darren's movements were very fast. He had read about this knowledge in books and had done a lot of research, the only thing he was lacking was practice.

With knowledge as a backing, although it was a bit difficult at first, Darren's movements gradually became skilled.

In order to grind the core without damaging its structure, certain techniques and assistance were required, and Darren was very careful to avoid accidents.

"Natural Gift, This move can provide us a lot of options." Darren said.

Swablu stared at him with confusion.

Darren patiently explained the principles of Natural Gift, and Swablu listened carefully. Compared to learning any random move, Natural Gift was undoubtedly one of the better choices for Swablu at the moment.

The advantage of this move is that once you understand the basic principles, it's easy to use and there are no proficiency issues. The core of the move depends entirely on the berry that is being held by Swablu. As for its power, although it's closely related to the strength of the Pokemon, compared to other moves, Natural Gift has lower growth potential. However, it has a higher foundation than most moves.

Depending on the fruit held by a Pokemon, its attack will possess a specific type and level of potency, both derived from the power of the berry.

The type of the move is easy to understand and represents the nature of the fruit. The power of the move depends partly on the age of the fruit, partly on the trainer's processing level, and the Pokemon's capacity to execute the move.

Chisi berries contain a fire attribute energy core. After being processed by Darren, Swablu can store the energy and release it all at once when needed, creating a new move, Natural Gift. The other fruits that Darren gathered, such as Oran berries, Pecha berries, and Papaya berries, can provide effects such as Water, Flying, and Dragon attributes respectively.

Darren was already satisfied with finding these fruits.

After about half an hour of work, Darren processed a Chisi berry core. The core was now ready for Swablu to use the energy stored within.

Instead of immediately practicing with Swablu after processing one fruit, Darren continued to process the other fruits.

The key to the Chisi berry is the core, while the other fruits are different in their properties. Darren prepared each one according to their principles. With his first experience, his subsequent handling was smoother.

During this time, Darren had already sent Swablu to do some basic training.

Time passed quickly, and when Darren regained his senses from his crafting, Swablu was flying and using "Peck" and "Feather Dance" to attack the target that Darren had created.

Feathers as soft as cotton dispersed in the air, and Swablu seemed to be weaving in and out of a sea of clouds. Eventually, the feathers fell one by one, shattered by Swablu's attack, like rain made out of snow white cotton, a truly beautiful sight.

"Let's take a break, shall we?" Darren smiled.

At this moment, the training Swablu was doing was coordinating its moves, which was also the foundation and preparation for the Pokemon Contest. From the beginning, Darren had prepared Swablu to focus on these things. Darren believed that even in the Pokemon Contest, there must be a reason for its existence. The coordination and connection between a Pokemon's moves in a performance could play a crucial role in battles. That's why in most places, the final match of the Pokemon Contest is a battle to test whether the Pokemon can effectively use their flashy moves in actual combat, instead of just being for show.

That's also why coordinators are often called coordination trainers.

However, not everyone agrees with this view. Most coordinators place great importance on a Pokemon's outward appearance and move performance, while ignoring battles. Unfortunately for them, they have no choice but to abide by the rules of the tournament.

In fact, not everyone is enthusiastic about Pokemon battles.

The rule of the final match of the Pokemon Contest being a battle limits many excellent players who love performing flashy moves but don't enjoy battles.

But all of this has nothing to do with Darren. Although he respects those trainers who are passionate about performances, it doesn't mean that he also rejects them. For Darren, whatever is fine. His subjective emotions rarely affect him. He doesn't have the mentality of rejecting battles.

After all, Pokemon battles and the most traditional trainers are the mainstream of this world.

Perhaps after long-term development, there will be a large-scale event that focuses solely on the pure appearance and move performance between Pokemon and trainers. But this is not what Darren is concerned about...