Chapter 90 90: The Illogical Move — Steam Eruption
"All moves can generally be divided into three categories: Status, Special, and Physical."
"Among them, Status moves differ greatly from Physical and Special ones. They lean more toward mechanisms rather than raw numbers."
Sora continued:
"And every move also has an elemental attribute."
"Based on attributes, we can divide all moves into STAB moves and non-STAB moves."
At this point, Sora looked at Volcanion.
"Using you as an example—Water and Fire are your native attributes. Those are your STAB moves."
"As for all the others, they're non-STAB."
"And then?"
Volcanion listened very seriously.
It might have known these concepts instinctively, but it had never truly researched them.
"In your opinion, how are moves created?"
Sora asked.
"I mean the actual process of using a move."
"This…"
Volcanion fell silent.
There was no helping it.
This was completely outside its area of knowledge.
It was the classic situation of knowing how to use something, but not understanding why it works.
"Come on, let's demonstrate with real examples."
Sora pointed toward the distant lake.
"Use Water Gun over there."
"Pew pew pew!"
Several streams of water burst from Volcanion's mouth like sharp arrows, piercing through the lake surface and leaving multiple holes that lingered without immediately recovering.
"Next, Fire Spin!"
Without hesitation, crimson light surged from Volcanion's body.
Endless flames manifested from thin air, boiling the distant lake surface violently.
"And finally…"
Sora said:
"Fighting-type. Aura Sphere."
The sudden change caught Volcanion off guard for a moment, but it still fired an Aura Sphere.
"This?!"
Looking at the Aura Sphere and the destruction it caused, even without Sora's explanation, Volcanion vaguely sensed something strange.
"Did you notice it?"
Sora asked.
"Doesn't Aura Sphere feel far less smooth to use than your Water- and Fire-type moves?"
"…Yeah."
Volcanion began thinking deeply.
Why was that?
Was it really just because the attributes didn't match?
"Let's analyze the conversion process between moves and energy."
"According to my observations and research with Victini, every Pokémon possesses two kinds of energy within their body."
"One is attribute energy."
"The other is non-attribute energy."
"This non-attribute energy isn't Normal-type, nor is it truly attribute-less."
"I call it… life energy."
That's right.
Life energy.
As long as a Pokémon was alive—even Ghost-types—they still possessed life energy.
This energy was the foundation of a Pokémon's existence.
The most basic fundamental.
"You naturally possess both Water- and Fire-type energy in your body, and the two can freely convert between one another."
"When using Water- and Fire-type moves, your techniques flow extremely smoothly."
"But Aura Sphere is different."
When Volcanion used Aura Sphere, because it lacked Fighting-type energy within its body, it had no choice but to generate it using life energy.
Life energy, despite the name, had nothing to do with lifespan.
It was simply a pure form of energy.
However—the problem lay precisely there.
"A Pokémon's total energy reserves are limited."
"Vee!"
At Sora's call, Victini immediately touched Volcanion and provided the scan results.
"Fire-type energy, Water-type energy, and life energy."
"The ratio is 4 : 4 : 2."
The mere ability to perform instant scans already placed Sora beyond countless trainers.
Once again—
Victini truly was god-tier.
"So that means…"
Volcanion slowly said,
"Even if I use Aura Sphere at full power, it can never surpass my Water- and Fire-type attacks?"
"Not necessarily."
Sora shook his head.
"Attribute energy can be converted."
"Water and Fire energy can become life energy."
"And life energy can then be transformed into Fighting-type energy."
"As long as the total exceeds five units, it could theoretically surpass your Water- and Fire-type moves."
At this point, Sora added:
"But you noticed the problem too, didn't you?"
"…Yeah."
Volcanion replied solemnly:
"It's way too troublesome."
"Exactly."
Sora nodded.
"Converting attribute energy into life energy is extremely inefficient and difficult."
Moreover, neither the Water nor Fire energy reserves could be completely transformed into life energy.
If Volcanion actually did that, it would probably kill itself.
Imagine an Ice-type Pokémon like Glalie, whose body was fundamentally composed of ice energy.
If it suddenly converted all its Ice-type energy into life energy—what would happen?
Would it melt?
Likewise, if Onix lost the nourishment of Rock-type energy, it might survive briefly, but it would definitely become ill.
"The balance of energy within a body cannot be casually broken."
"And what I want you to do isn't that either."
Sora looked directly at Volcanion.
"Volcanion, you're special."
"Your power is practically miraculous."
Even Volcanion blushed slightly at such praise.
"Remember what I said earlier?"
"To obtain Fighting-type energy, you first need to convert energy into life energy."
Sora continued:
"So then—why can't Water- and Fire-type energy directly transform into Fighting-type energy?"
"I can do that?"
"No. You can't."
Volcanion's mouth twitched violently.
If I can't, then why are you bringing it up?!
"What I mean is this."
"Even though you can't convert Water directly into Fighting…"
"Water and Fire can freely transform into one another."
Important note: this wasn't simply because Volcanion was dual-typed.
If every dual-type Pokémon could freely convert between their two attributes internally, Sora wouldn't have called Volcanion miraculous.
Take a simple example.
Victini was also dual-typed: Psychic and Fire.
Yet she could not freely convert Psychic energy into Fire energy or vice versa.
Most dual-type Pokémon could only use their two attributes independently.
A smaller number of exceptional Pokémon could combine them together.
For instance, Victini's move V-create had a base power of 180 in game terms.
"But the essence of V-create is merely a proportional combination of Psychic and Fire energy."
"The two aren't truly fused into one."
Compared to that—
Volcanion possessed an extraordinarily unique move:
Steam Eruption.
"Although Steam Eruption is classified as a Water-type move, it actually consists of both Water and Fire energy combined together, with Water simply making up the larger proportion."
"In essence, it's still a fusion-type move!"
If that were all there was to it, Sora would not have concluded that Volcanion possessed the ability to convert Water and Fire attributes into one another.
"However…"
Sora stared directly at Volcanion.
"The power of your Steam Eruption…"
"…is absurdly illogical."
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Pat reon Advance Chapters: /YonkoSlayer