69novels Chapter 30 Reasons for Choosing One of Three
Chapter 30 Reasons for Choosing One of Three
Otter, a sea otter Pokémon. Its head and paws are white, its body is blue, it has two dark blue pointed things on its head that resemble ears, black spots resembling freckles under its eyes, and a brown oval nose.
The shell-like object on its abdomen is called a scallop shell. It can be picked off and used as a weapon to slash enemies, or it can be used as a knife to cut open hard tree fruits.
Most water otters are gentle and friendly. They value their shells highly, and perhaps because of this, compared to the aloof Snivy or the cuddly Tepig, water otters possess a subtle confidence and love to show off, sometimes becoming quite smug. Many people consider this part of their charm.
Otters are indeed cute, but as the saying goes, you can't please everyone. The reason why more than sixty novice trainers unanimously chose it as their first partner could not possibly be just because "otters are cute".
"A probability of one in three to the power of sixty? Then we can basically rule out the possibility of coincidence."
After hearing the riddle, Hugo immediately entered a state of deep thought, and then posed his question—
"When did the doctor discover this phenomenon?"
"She said she noticed the problem in February of this year, when more than ten trainers had already chosen the water otter as their initial partner."
She was probably startled... Imagining the academic authority's surprised expression, Hugo continued, "Did the doctor later inquire about the reasons why these people chose water otters? Like, a follow-up study such as a questionnaire survey. I think the doctor should have their contact information."
Douzi scratched his head and thought for a moment, then said, "The professor said she had tracked it down, but more than half of the trainers said they had forgotten why they chose Otter, while the rest said they chose Otter because of abstract reasons such as intuition or fate."
"So what do these sixty-odd novice trainers have in common?"
"If we're talking about unique characteristics, the only one is that they're all complete newbies. Apart from that, their hometowns are scattered across various cities in Unova, and their family backgrounds are all different."
“Different cities…” Hugo pondered for a long time before continuing to ask, “Are there differences in the starter Pokémon in the research institute? I mean in terms of personality, condition, abilities, size, health, and so on.”
"Whether it's personality, condition, ability, size, or health, they're all about the same. They have no hidden abilities or inherited moves," Douzi replied, shaking his head. "Although on average, these starter Pokémon are a tier below your three, they're still above average. With some training, they could definitely shine in battle tournaments."
Douzi suddenly glared at the detective: "Seriously, do you really have no idea how terrifying the potential of these three kids is? Who entrusted these little ones to you?"
"Um... a friend from Sinnoh gave it to me."
"I wish I had a friend like that! Hugo always seems to have bad luck when he encounters elves, yet he still insists on giving you three genius-level elves. Where can you find a friend like that?"
The girl started acting silly, forgetting everything that had happened at the research institute, kicking her arms and legs wildly to express her envy and jealousy.
"I need your friend's contact information! Now! Immediately! Right now! I want him to magically deliver an incredibly powerful Pokémon to me!"
"The key to raising Pokémon is quality, not quantity. Dear landlady, your main team is far from the age where you need to consider retirement, right? Is it appropriate to be distracted by training new members from scratch under these circumstances?"
"But I'm really envious," Douzi said frankly.
"Please don't digress. We're trying to solve the strange events at Professor Taxonomy's lab. I remember you personally trained these three starter Pokémon, right? In your personal opinion, what are the differences in their battle performances?"
Douzi pondered for a long time and said with a troubled expression, "The differences... the three Pokémon have different attributes and roles, so it's difficult to rank them based on simple superiority or inferiority."
Then, as if remembering something, she quickly added, "However, it is said that in some discussions among battle trainers, people believe that Alexstrasza's abilities are the most mediocre among the starter Pokémon, lacking any outstanding skills and having a relatively even distribution of offensive and defensive capabilities. For many trainers who rely on tactics to win battles, it is considered a rather awkward Pokémon."
Hugo nodded in agreement: "Serpent is adept at launching special attacks at high speeds, and its Hidden Ability 'Contrarian' can be combined with 'Leaf Storm' to achieve a boost while dealing massive damage; Emboar is a heavy tank-type physical attacker, and its strong bulk allows it to support a 'sacrifice' style of trading its life for its opponent's, and it also performs well in the speed-reversing environment of 'Trick Room'... Compared to them, Samurai is indeed somewhat mediocre."
"But!" the combat expert Douzi suddenly pointed out loudly, "These are just theoretical deductions on paper. In real combat, strength and weakness are not calculated in this way."
Hugo took out his notebook and pen, adopting an attentive listening posture.
"Serperiod does have the classic strategy of using a contrarian, high-damage attack. However, almost all trainers participating in the competition know about this strategy for Serperiod. Before the competition starts, they will focus on preparing countermeasures against Serperiod—such as using Ferrothorn to block, or using a faster Fire-type Pokémon to launch a quick attack and KO... This means that most Serperiods in the battle are not given the opportunity to boost their damage output."
When the conversation turned to professional topics, Douzi began to talk at length about the current environment of Pokémon battles in the Unova League.
Hugo suddenly noticed that, without them noticing, his Sinnoh starter Pokémon, which had been playing around, had stopped frolicking and were now listening intently to Hugo's speech.
"...Embalant's weakness lies in its insufficient speed. Most Rock/Steel type opponents it can counter are able to strike first in Trick Room, preventing it from becoming a primary attacker in Trick Room tactics. In normal, non-Trick Room environments, Embalant's speed is far slower than its master Pokémon, forcing it to use counter-attack moves while enduring attacks. Even when low on health and triggering its 'Blaze' ability, it's essentially a sitting duck, unable to launch an attack."
"So it seems that the Greatsword Oni, with its balanced abilities, actually has an advantage?" The detective stopped writing something with his pen and asked with great interest.
"To me, Samurai is like a universal plug-in. Whether it's finishing off opponents, disrupting the opponent, or tanking damage, it can do it all, and sometimes it can achieve surprising results. But the disadvantages I mentioned earlier do exist. There are too many Water-type Pokémon, and it's true that Samurai's abilities aren't outstanding. However, only experienced battlers like us can truly appreciate these strengths and weaknesses. I don't think novice trainers consider all these factors when choosing their initial partner."
"So, are there any star trainers in Unova who are good at using one of these three methods recently? The star effect may also cause the adoption rate of a certain Pokémon to soar."
"Like Leon in Galar? Sorry, the best battle trainer using Greatsword in this year's Unova League's High Ball rank and above competitions is sitting right in front of you."
Douzi patted her chest smugly; if she had a tail like the Greatsword Demon, she would be strutting around in the air by now.
“That seems impossible.” The detective ruled out the possibility without hesitation.
"Back to square one?" the Outstanding Greatsword Ghost Trainer of the Year asked provocatively.
The detective stretched: "On the contrary, I already know the direction of the investigation. I need to contact Dr. Yew and then go to her research institute in person."