Elf: I have a secret realm of emerald green.

If it's true, it wouldn't be a bad thing, as Fire Steel is much stronger than Fire Rock.

Fire is a top-ranking offensive type, while Steel is undoubtedly the best defensive type.

A powerful alliance, combining offense and defense, everyone who sees them will drool.

…………

Soon, the golden Arcanine climbed to the edge of the crater and rushed towards Xia Shen.

Xia Shen was so frightened that she quickly stopped him. This guy had just finished taking a bath in lava, and his body temperature must have been several hundred degrees.

Xia Shen may be able to handle it, but that doesn't mean he'll like the feeling.

Arcanine obediently stopped and squatted in front of Xia Shen, looking at its trainer with a silly grin.

Then, Sidson walked over with faltering steps, his figure resembling that of a centenarian on the verge of death.

[You've arrived, Divine Messenger...]

Sidora's eyes were cloudy, and even his telepathic voice sounded weak.

Xia Shen replied with some concern, "Your mental state... isn't very good. You should get some rest and drink more lava."

The human world's joking remark about "drinking more lava" sounds perfectly natural coming from Seadra.

Thank you for your concern, but it doesn't matter anymore. I'm about to fall into a deep sleep, and perhaps we'll meet again thousands of years from now.

[However, before I leave, it's enough that I've trained such an outstanding child as Arcanine. Now, he has fully inherited my mantle and can control the power of lava.]

Xia Shen's heart stirred slightly. Does "controlling the power of lava" mean learning Lava Storm, Heatran's exclusive move?

Seemingly sensing Xia Shen's question, Xiduolanen transmitted his voice.

[It's not just about learning a move; on a deeper level, for an ordinary Pokémon that wasn't born a god to break through that barrier, it must master the power of some kind of rule.]

[I was born from lava; in a sense, I am the embodiment of lava. After I fall into slumber, he will be me...]

Xia Shen seemed to be deep in thought. Did the mythical beasts really have such secrets?

In other words, my son... I mean, my Arcanine, has the potential to become a legendary Pokémon?

[My last bit of primal power has been left in Arcanine, and it will gradually be absorbed as his strength grows.]

[In that case, My Lord, it is time to say goodbye. I look forward to seeing you again when I wake up next time.]

After saying that, Sidora turned to face the crater, about to leap into the lava.

"Wait a minute, I have another question!" Xia Shen quickly stopped him.

It will be centuries before I see Sidran again, by which time I'll probably be long dead.

If he doesn't get an answer, it will probably become a mental obsession for Xia Shen.

Weakened, Sidora didn't even want to turn her head, but simply transmitted her voice: "[Please speak.]"

Without wasting Heatran's time rushing to its slumber, Xia Shen asked directly, "What is Arcanine's current type, Fire/Rock or... Fire/Steel?"

[Regarding this... he can be both fire and rock, and fire and steel. You'll have to figure it out yourself. I'm sorry, I really don't know anything about this...]

Before he could finish speaking, he wobbled and fell into the lava in the crater, seemingly having reached his limit.

All that remained were the Windhound, watching his falling figure with a touch of sadness, and Xia Shen, still without an answer and looking conflicted.

It's both molten rock and fiery steel... what does that mean?

An unprecedented fusion of three attributes—this is no small feat!

Firestone Steel, eight times weaker than Earth, who can withstand that!

------------

Chapter 236 Arcanine Gradually Becoming Fire Steel!

[Growlithe]

[Attribute: Fire/Rock]

[Energy Level: 54]

[Gender: Male]

[Ability: Intimidate]

[Moves: Flamethrower, Fire Fang, Rock Slide, Rage, Crunch, Suicide Charge, Flare Charge, Iron Head, Iron Tail, Roar, Stone Edge, Lava Storm]

Going back to reality.

Xia Shen stared at the information about Arcanine on Arceus's phone, lost in thought.

The energy level of level 54 is 20 levels higher than the level of level 30 a month ago.

Although it was level 20 at a low level, it's impossible for it to grow naturally in a month.

Even though Xia Shen trains for several hours more than the average person every day, his Pokémon only grows this much in a year.

For example, Sticky Baby was around level 33 last March, and more than a year later, it is only level 57.

Arcanine's significant power boost is likely related to Heatran, perhaps even involving a power transfer similar to that in martial arts novels.

In terms of moves, in addition to the moves that Arcanine can learn, as expected, it also has a new move, Lava Storm.

As for how well you've mastered these moves, you'll need to test that yourself during training.

Overall, his moves are fairly comprehensive. If he learns Play Rough from Ursaring and Burn Up with Arcanine from a regular Arcanine, that should be enough.

There's no way to counter the "Dawnlight" move; you're either born with it or you're not.

Finally, and most importantly, Xia Shen was concerned about the attribute issue.

Although the phone still displayed the same image of fire and rock, the words that Heatran had said not long ago still echoed in Xia Shen's ears, and he felt that it was definitely not that simple.

We'll find out when we go to the training ground.

After quickly making breakfast for the Pokémon, Xia Shen ate a few bites, said goodbye to Yan Yan, and then eagerly rushed into the training room in the dormitory.

…………

The method for detecting attributes is simple, divided into two parts: offense and defense.

For offense, look at the data from the attack power tester for moves of similar power and skill level.

The defense is similar; just compare the stats by attacking Arcanine with moves of different types.

This is even more accurate because the power of the testing machine is constant, unlike the moves released by Pokémon, which can vary slightly under various influences.

So Xia Shen spent the entire morning in the training room, studying Arcanine's attributes and various moves, and made considerable progress.

First, in terms of offensive attributes, Xia Shen conducted a set of experiments based on the Fire-type Flame Strike and the Normal-type Suicide Slam.

Both Arceus and Arcanine have a power of 100, and Arcanine naturally masters them as it levels up, so their skill levels are similar.

After testing with a force measuring machine, the difference between the two values ​​was approximately 1.6 times.

It's slightly higher than the average STAB (Skill Points) of ordinary Pokémon by 1.5 times, but considering the dog's "legendary Pokémon potential," it's not surprising.

The focus will be on the two Rock-type and Steel-type moves that will be tested next.

Both are skills with a power of 100 in the game: Sharp Stone Attack and Iron Tail.

Arcanine's skill level in these two moves is slightly higher, but it's still far from being mastered.

In theory, the damage of Stone Edge should be similar to that of Flame Charge, and Iron Tail should be similar to that of Body Slam.

But actually...

Xia Shen recalled the values ​​on the move measuring machine, which were somewhere between Flash Charge and Self-Sacrifice Charge, and fell into deep thought once again.

The power of the Stone Strike is 1.4 times that of the Charge, and the power of the Iron Tail is 1.3 times that of the Charge.

Unheard of!

Is this what Sidson meant by "both fire rock and fire steel"?

It doesn't feel as good as... pure fire steel.

To be honest, this change doesn't offer much of an improvement for Arcanine.

It looks like it has an extra, slightly weaker version of its own type bonus, which isn't bad at all.

In reality, Steel-type moves have a very weak coverage, and are only really effective against Rock, Ice, and Fairy types.

But when fighting Ice-type Pokémon, wouldn't it be better to just use Lava Storm?

As a result, the effective strike area was reduced from three to two, and the bonus was still only 1.3 times.

What is sacrificed is the power boost of Rock-type moves with good coverage.

Offensively, it's barely a minor weakening.

…………

The results of the defense tests, however, gave Xia Shen a pleasant surprise.

The first issue that Xia Shen was most worried about was whether Ground-type moves would deal eight times the damage to Arcanine.

The conclusion is, absolutely not.

Moreover, perhaps due to some strange elemental reaction, it has slightly stronger resistance than pure fire rock or pure fire steel.

The damage has decreased from approximately four times to about three and a half times.

The other attributes are those that Fire/Granite and Fire/Steel originally resisted, and Arcanine can resist them all, though the effect is slightly weakened.

To give a simple example, Fire and Steel types are resistant to Grass types, but Rock types are weak to Grass types.

Xia Shen's experiment showed that Grass-type moves only dealt about 0.5 times the damage to Arcanine.

Other attributes follow the same principle.

In short, while Arcanine's resistances are still not as good as Steel-type, thanks to its Steel-type nature, it is much stronger than Magma-type.

Only Water and Ground-type moves can deal more than twice the super effective damage.

With Arcanine's decent durability and an Assault Vest as an item, Xia Shen's team has gained another formidable fighter who can both attack and withstand damage.

What he lacks now is the refinement that comes with rapid improvement in skill, and a more proficient control over his moves.