How to Make Apricorn Balls

That evening.

Various potions were spread across Aiven's desk.

He murmured to himself as he ground the ingredients for Flower Dew Potion, which he used to train Sleep Powder, one batch at a time.

Beside him, Petilil copied his movements, placing the same ingredients into the mortar in front of it.

At some point, the little one had taken a liking to making potions. Aiven had simply started teaching it. The idea of a Petilil that could make potions was pretty amusing.

He wasn't particularly surprised, though. Pokémon could help people with all sorts of things. Even cooking and housework were well within their abilities.

For a time, Suckered Puppets that could do housework had been especially popular, and Aiven had hired one to help him with his chores.

"At this temperature, the Flower Dew Potion's concentration should be kept between 10 and 20 mg/L," Aiven continued, guiding Petilil.

Following his directions, Petilil soon made a bottle of pale blue liquid. The little Pokémon's eyes widened with excitement.

"All done. Making potions isn't really that hard."

Aiven smiled. Grass Attribute Pokémon were highly attuned to all kinds of medicinal ingredients, so they could make potions with twice the results for half the effort.

Hearing him, Petilil nodded vigorously, then eagerly began making a second batch of Flower Dew Potion.

Seeing how enthusiastic the little one was, Aiven simply left the potion-making to it.

At first, he had to guide Petilil, but as it grew familiar with the process, it was soon able to make potions on its own.

With a satisfied nod, Aiven turned his gaze to the White Oran Berry beside him, feeling a little excited.

If he really could make Poké Balls, it would be a world-changing achievement, one that would go down in history forever!

The thought of making such a breakthrough and being remembered throughout history made even Aiven's breathing quicken. In his previous life, that had been the lifelong dream of every Pokémon Breeder and researcher.

"Let me think... how to make Apricorn Balls." Aiven took a deep breath and recalled the process.

When he'd taken the elective course on special Apricorn Balls, the teacher had explained their principles and methods in great detail. To earn credit for the course, students had to make an Apricorn Ball.

He remembered the process clearly.

1. Quench it at high temperature.

This step activated the special energy contained in the Apricorn used to make the ball. That energy could weaken a Pokémon's strength.

Whenever a Pokémon was released from or recalled into a Poké Ball, it was accompanied by a flash of light. That light came from the special energy contained in the Apricorn, and was key to making a Poké Ball.

Poké Balls didn't capture Pokémon because they had spatial abilities. Instead, they made the Pokémon shrink.

2. Forge the Apricorn.

Once the Apricorn reached a certain temperature, it had to be shaped by hammering it in a special way.

This step formed a capsule-like structure inside the Apricorn that could hold a Pokémon. A Poké Ball was, in essence, a specially designed capsule.

3. Cut open the Apricorn and insert a special mesh device.

This special mesh device was what allowed a Poké Ball to capture and restrain a Pokémon.

According to the teacher, there was a "net" inside each Poké Ball that restrained a Pokémon when it was drawn inside.

If the Pokémon still had plenty of energy, it could break free of the "net" and escape the Poké Ball. Otherwise, it would be caught in the net and captured.

The legendary Master Ball was made by creating a "net" that no Pokémon could break free of, allowing it to capture Pokémon with a one hundred percent success rate.

Different materials used to make this "net" could also produce other effects. Modern Poké Balls generally weakened Pokémon and tamed them, making them obey their Trainers.

4. Insert the Poké Ball's switch and other components.

At this stage, the Apricorn Ball took shape and gained its most basic functions.

5. Forge it again at high temperature.

Tempering stabilized the Apricorn's structure completely. With that, a complete Apricorn Ball was finished.

"Whew. It seemed simple back then, but that was because we had modern machines to help."

"Now that I've gone over the process again and compared it with the tools I have, there's still a lot to do."

After recalling how to make an Apricorn Ball, Aiven let out a breath. He realized that he still had a lot of preparations to make before he could start.

For one thing, high-temperature quenching required a forge. Ordinary flames couldn't reach the temperature needed to quench an Apricorn.

Besides that, he would need to build a Blacksmith Shop. Forging an Apricorn wasn't as simple as just hitting it with a hammer.

In his previous life, machines had helped forge Apricorns. He'd only needed to operate them and hammer the Apricorn in a specific way. But now, it seemed he'd have to swing the hammer himself.

He looked at his thin frame and raised an eyebrow. This seemed like an incredibly difficult task. Would he have to build up his strength before he could even swing a hammer?

Perhaps a Pokémon could take the place of the machines. Aiven's thoughts wandered. He looked at Petilil and shook his head, then thought of Ironclad Rhinoceros and shook his head again. Maybe he could wait until Ironclad Rhinoceros evolved into Tyrantrum?

As for the third step—putting the special mesh device inside the Poké Ball—

He thought the materials used to make Beast Gear might be a good choice.

Both were used to restrain and control Pokémon, so they had a lot in common.

He only needed to follow the method for making Beast Gear and shape it into a special mesh device.

Aiven thought of the Beast Gear on Ironclad Rhinoceros. If he used it to make special mesh devices, a single set of materials could produce countless pieces.

But before that, he still needed to learn how to forge Beast Gear. It was extremely sturdy and could withstand even Pokémon attacks, so its forging process was surely different from ordinary metalworking.