Pokémon: Sandstorm Sovereign

Chapter 79: A Brotherly Bond

Screeech!

A teeth-grinding sound filled the air as the already spinning Drilbur transitioned into its drill form. With a sudden leap, it bored a large hole into the ground.

Boom!

The instant Drilbur disappeared, a beam of multicolored light struck the spot where it had been standing.

Psybeam.

But Drilbur, with its ability activated, was simply too fast. The Psybeam, despite its speed, hit nothing.

"Bronz..."

Bronzor frowned. This sand mole was no pushover.

At the same time, one underground and one in the sky, both Pokémon frowned. They realized their opponent could sense their location, one through the sand and the other with psychic power. This meant all their moves were telegraphed.

Bronzor tried to use its psychic power to push away the sand, but a sustained effort would consume too much energy. Although its psychic power was potent, its reserves weren't large, so it couldn't afford to be reckless.

"Bronz..."

Bronzor's eyes narrowed as it sensed Drilbur moving underground. The speed was incredible. In the time it took to breathe, Drilbur had moved from its front to its back.

Fwoosh!

A new hole appeared in the ground as Drilbur seemed about to emerge.

Vwoom!

Bronzor fired another Psybeam, hitting the opening of the hole and sending dirt flying. But it knew it had missed. The sand mole had anticipated the attack and retreated back underground. It was as if it could sense everything.

How cunning!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

After the Psybeam missed, Drilbur finally emerged. It gathered Rock-type energy, and a volley of rocks shot out like cannonballs.

"Bronz..."

Facing the Rock Tomb, Bronzor's expression remained calm. Its body began to spin at high speed, quickly reaching a blur.

Whirrr!

As it spun, Bronzor's round body became like the blade of a cutting machine. It met the rocks head-on, slicing each one cleanly in two.

Gyro Ball, the Steel-type move. The user spins its body rapidly and crashes into the opponent; the slower the user, the greater the power. Bronzor had clearly developed this move in a unique way. Much like Drilbur's Rapid Spin, it could be used for offense, defense, and even movement. Bronzor's travel speed wasn't fast, but its rotational speed was immense, allowing it to generate incredible destructive force.

Whirrr!

Not content with just defending, after destroying the rocks, Bronzor continued to spin, launching itself towards Drilbur in a direct assault.

"Drilburr!"

Drilbur shuddered. It had seen how cleanly the rocks had been cut—the surfaces were perfectly smooth. It had sliced through the watermelon-sized rocks with almost no effort. Drilbur knew how sturdy its own Rock Tomb was, yet they had been shattered. How terrifying was that cutting power?

With no other choice, Drilbur quickly retreated back into its hole.

Gyro Ball missed, carving a ten-meter-long, half-meter-deep trench in the ground before Bronzor slowed its rotation and floated back into the air.

Their eyes met again, and both Pokémon frowned. Drilbur's only effective long-range attack against a levitating opponent was Rock Tomb, but Bronzor could easily nullify it. Likewise, Bronzor couldn't do anything to Drilbur while it was hiding underground. Its psychic power could penetrate the earth, but its effectiveness would be greatly diminished at such depths, making it impossible to restrain or damage Drilbur.

For a moment, the battle reached a stalemate.

"Drilbur!" (Get down here, if you have the guts! As long as you don't fly too high, I'll teach you a lesson!)

"Bronz!" (Come on out, if you dare! I'll knock you senseless!)

The two Pokémon taunted each other from a distance, but neither fell for the bait. Eventually, they grew tired of shouting and simply stared each other down.

"So, what are you two doing?"

Just then, Basalt's confused voice broke the silence. He had a massive question mark floating over his head. After his shower, his mother had told him about the two Pokémon heading outside, and a shiver had run down his spine. While he didn't know Bronzor well, he knew Drilbur's personality all too well. He was almost certain he'd heard the sounds of battle as he was leaving the bathroom, which made him rush out even faster.

But now... they were just staring at each other. What was going on?

"You two... you weren't fighting, were you?" Basalt asked, tilting his head.

An awkward silence filled the air. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. After about three seconds, the two Pokémon glanced at each other, then burst out laughing in unison.

"Drilburr!" ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

"Bronzz!" (´• ω •`)

We weren't fighting! Definitely not fighting! We're... getting along great!

The truth was, fighting to establish a pecking order was normal. The problem was, neither of them could do anything to the other, which was incredibly frustrating. Since neither could accept that outcome, they decided to pretend nothing had happened.

"Really? You weren't?" Basalt was skeptical. He pointed at the holes and the deep trench in the ground. "Then what's this? Were you just training?"

"Drilburr!"

"Bronzz!"

The two Pokémon nodded in perfect unison. That's right, that's right! We were just training. Since you figured it out, we'll drop the act. Hahahaha!

"Awesome!"

Relieved, Basalt gave Drilbur a thumbs-up. That's my Drilbur. I was worried you wouldn't know how to get along with a new partner, but it turns out you're a social butterfly! It's only been a short time, and you've already passed on our family's 'training spirit' to the newcomer?

"Looks like I really misjudged you two," Basalt said, finally convinced. He couldn't imagine that two Pokémon could possess such advanced acting skills just to fool him. It's not like every Pokémon is a master thespian like Ash's Pikachu, right?

He chuckled to himself, his worries finally put to rest. "Alright, you two get along now, you hear?" He reached out and gave both of them a pat on the head, creating a picture of perfect harmony.

The two actors: ヽ( д´)ノヽ( ´ー)ノ.

Don't worry, we'll get along great. We're the best of friends now!

Convinced there was no conflict, Basalt went back inside. It had been a long day, and he was exhausted.

The moment his figure disappeared, the "brotherly" harmony between the two Pokémon vanished. They shot cold glares at each other, refusing to even make eye contact.

Midnight.

Basalt was fast asleep.

"Drilburr..."

Drilbur tiptoed into Basalt's room. Seeing that Bronzor wasn't around, it let out a sigh of relief and gently woke its trainer.

"Drilbur, what's wrong? Why aren't you sleeping?" Basalt mumbled, blearily opening his eyes.

"Drilburr! Drilburr!" Drilbur began to gesture wildly. A normal person would have been completely lost, but after spending so much time together, Basalt understood most of it.

"You're saying... you want to learn the move 'Smack Down' as soon as possible?" Basalt asked, scratching his head.

Smack Down, the Rock-type move. The user hurls a special rock at a flying opponent, dealing damage and knocking it to the ground. It was a killer move against flying or levitating Pokémon, on par with the Psychic-type move Gravity. Basalt had already planned for Drilbur to learn it eventually, but he hadn't expected it to come to him in secret, so eager to learn a new move.

He nodded his approval, promising to find a move tutor as soon as possible. Drilbur left, completely satisfied.

Basalt was left alone, confused. "What's gotten into Drilbur? Why is it in such a rush to learn a new move?" He couldn't figure it out, so he decided to just go back to sleep.

A few minutes later, the Poké Ball on his nightstand opened on its own. Bronzor floated out and stealthily woke him up. Coincidentally, Bronzor also wanted to learn a new move: Bulldoze. It had seen Drilbur practicing it back at the Pokémon Center and had apparently been coveting it ever since.

Basalt transferred the Bulldoze training data from his Pokédex to Bronzor, who began studying it gleefully, forgoing sleep entirely.

Seeing this, Basalt's expression turned strange. "Bronzor... are you and Drilbur really not fighting?"

One wants to learn a move that counters levitating Pokémon, and the other wants to learn a move that counters digging Pokémon. Was there really nothing suspicious about that?

"Bronz..."

Bronzor froze for a second but then shook its "head" vigorously in denial. No, no, absolutely not! At least, I won't admit it until I've beaten that wretched mole! it thought to itself.

"Maybe... I'm just being too paranoid?" Shaking his head, Basalt fell back onto his pillow and went to sleep.

---

The next morning, Basalt arrived at the training camp in Metro City.

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