Special Thousand Refinement!

After several months of growth, Riolu could now independently complete a Special Thousand Refinement.

That was, forging with Steel Type energy.

It had previously forged one or two Special Thousand Refinements, but they did not seem particularly useful.

After Battle Armor was made, no Soul Master besides Su Yu could wear it.

Even Snorlax and other Pokémon could not wear it. Only Su Yu and Riolu could.

More precisely, only Steel Type Pokémon could wear it.

And it was somewhat different from Xiao You's case.

These Special Thousand Refinements merely possessed the effects of Spirit Refinement; they did not carry the living aura Xiao You had.

Thinking back on the recent forging attempts and comparing them to the first Special Thousand Refinement, there had only been one variable: Su Yu's power had assisted with that first forging.

Su Yu had gone all out at the time.

He had even used a bit of the Power of Creation, which was likely why Xiao You had been born.

Looking at it this way, this kind of Special Thousand Refinement did not have much use.

Unless the Power of Creation was used, but there was not even enough Power of Creation to create Pokémon right now. There was no need to waste it on forging.

Xiao You certainly had value to cultivate, but it was somewhat unstable, and its growth was slower than that of ordinary Pokémon.

If he wanted Special Thousand Refinement to be more useful, he had to solve the issue of only Steel Type Pokémon being able to wear it.

That way, he could also release Pokémon-exclusive Battle Armor products for Trainers and sell them alongside Pokémon items.

Compared to ordinary Battle Armor, this type of Battle Armor would definitely suit Pokémon better.

It could unleash greater strength.

"Only Steel Type Pokémon can wear it. Maybe that's because only Steel Type energy was added during forging."

"If other Type energies were added during forging, could other Pokémon wear it too?"

With that thought, Su Yu took out Snorlax's Poké Ball. A flash of red light appeared, and Snorlax emerged before him.

"Snorlax, Snorlax!"

Snorlax called out foolishly.

"Snorlax, you know the move Helping Hand, right?" Su Yu asked.

Snorlax nodded, indicating that it did.

"Good! When Riolu is forging later, use Helping Hand on it!"

"Snorlax, Snorlax!" Snorlax patted its chest.

"Then let's begin!" Su Yu said.

Riolu then skillfully picked up its forging hammer and took a piece of metal from the rack.

It was still Sinking Silver.

Sinking Silver was chemically stable and well suited for making Battle Armor for a Normal Type Snorlax.

The previous One-Word Battle Armor had also been made from Sinking Silver.

The heating began.

After several months of study, Riolu's movements were now far more standardized than before.

It had also learned some forging techniques.

Previously, Riolu had only known how to forge hammer strike after hammer strike with Aura. With the support of those techniques, neither its forging speed nor its precision could compare to what they had been before.

It was like adding wings to a tiger.

This was all the result of studying under Mu Chen. Having a good teacher was certainly better than feeling one's way across a river alone.

Once the heating was complete, the forging began.

Snorlax watched from the side, gradually starting to yawn.

"Focus!" Su Yu patted Snorlax's belly.

"Snorlax!" Snorlax shook its head hard, forcing itself awake.

"Use Helping Hand, quickly!" Su Yu urged.

At once, white light flashed across Snorlax's body. A ray of light flew toward the forging Riolu and entered its body.

In an instant, the Steel Type energy on Riolu's hammer clearly intensified.

At the same time, wisps of Normal Type energy entered the Sinking Silver being forged.

Specks of white light surfaced across its exterior.

When the Hundredfold Forging was completed, the white glow brightened slightly.

"It worked!" Su Yu's eyes lit up as he watched the forging continue.

Snorlax, meanwhile, continuously provided Riolu with Helping Hand.

The silver-gray of the Sinking Silver and the white light complemented each other.

Clearly, however, the gray-silver radiance was much stronger.

The metal itself was Steel Type, and the forger was also Steel Type.

Snorlax was only assisting with the forging.

"If Pokémon of other Types forged it instead, would that work too?"

"Would there be special effects as well?"

By then, the Special Thousand Refinement was nearing its end.

As Riolu's final hammer fell, a beam of light rose ten feet into the air.

Su Yu watched as a column of gray-silver light mixed with white radiance surged upward.

He hurried forward to inspect the Spirit Refinement Sinking Silver.

"It doesn't feel any different?" Su Yu took out the metal forged previously. It did not appear different in any way, and when he sensed it, it was practically identical.

If he had to name a difference, this piece of Sinking Silver was a little brighter.

Su Yu tossed the Sinking Silver to Snorlax and asked, "How does it feel?"

"Snorlax!" (This is delicious!) Snorlax nodded rapidly.

"Delicious?" Su Yu thought for a moment before understanding what Snorlax meant.

It meant that Snorlax felt close to this Sinking Silver, just as it did to delicious food.

"Let's go find a manufacturer. We'll know once it's made into Battle Armor."

Su Yu had not participated in this forging, so there had naturally been no assistance from Creation Energy. Therefore, this Sinking Silver had no signs of life.

So Snorlax could not absorb it directly as Su Yu could. It still needed to be made by a manufacturer.

They returned directly to the Team Rocket.

The Team Rocket had now hired several manufacturers, designers, forgers, and repairers.

Though none were level eight or nine, they were still capable of making Thousand Refinement One-Word Battle Armor.

"Boss!"

Inside the room, the manufacturer greeted him respectfully.

The manufacturer was a young-looking woman named Wen Qi.

"See if this piece of Sinking Silver can be made into Battle Armor!" Su Yu handed the Sinking Silver to Wen Qi.

"Alright!" Wen Qi carefully accepted the Sinking Silver and began examining it.

"Is this the same kind of Special Thousand Refinement from before?" Wen Qi asked.

Su Yu had previously given Wen Qi Special Thousand Refinement materials to try making into Battle Armor.

Then they had discovered the restriction that only Steel Type Pokémon could wear the Battle Armor.

"That's right!" Su Yu said.

"Alright!" Wen Qi did not ask any more questions and began manufacturing it.

The design plans for Snorlax's Battle Armor had already been completed, so there was no need to redesign it.

As the Sinking Silver underwent secondary processing, it gradually took the shape of a breastplate.

Forging a breastplate directly would most clearly improve Snorlax's defense.

"Snorlax, use Helping Hand!" Su Yu summoned Snorlax and ordered.

"Snorlax!"

Snorlax nodded to show that it understood, and a gentle white light entered Wen Qi's body.

In an instant, a flash of white light passed across Wen Qi's body.

Su Yu did not know whether this would be useful, but there was one principle behind manufacturing Battle Armor:

One had to participate in the making of the Battle Armor, or in its subsequent repairs. Only then could one understand the Battle Armor.

Snorlax could only provide the Helping Hand move during the manufacturing process, allowing the Battle Armor to carry as much of its aura as possible.