Progress, drop by drop

Dian closed the lid, set it aside, then took out a small camera and snapped a set of photos.

He opened the album, labeled the set number one, and checked it again. Satisfied that the extent of the corrosion was clearly visible, he nodded.

The camera wasn't his either. Back in the Misty Forest, he had kindly "escorted" a young photographer out and collected it as a token of gratitude.

Dian took out a large bottle, diluted the milky-white liquid to roughly a tenth of its original strength, then mixed it into Beedrill's Pokéblocks.

That evening, after preparing dinner, he brought Misdreavus, who was still hopelessly absorbed in her art, and Beedrill, who had been thinking by the river, over to the picnic blanket.

"Let's eat first."

Dian pointed at the unusually lavish dinner. "Beedrill, I added something special to your Pokéblocks. Tell me immediately if you notice any changes in your body, understood?"

Beedrill nodded silently and began eating quickly, still absorbed in that afternoon's practice by the river.

Whenever Beedrill thrust those two venomous stingers into the water, pushing them forward became particularly difficult, and aiming was a struggle as well.

Lady Misdreavus fed herself dinner with her shadows while remaining engrossed in shaping branches. By the look of things, she wouldn't be tiring of it anytime soon.

Two days later.

Dian took another leaf and dabbed it against the red mark coated with Beedrill's venom. Once the leaf had corroded, he quickly placed it in a water-filled container to preserve it.

He took out the camera, brought up the first set of photos, and compared them carefully.

"No change..."

Dian's heart sank, but he didn't give up. Instead, he took another set of photos and labeled it number two.

He was disappointed, but his previous experiments had taught him plenty of patience.

"Mis."

Misdreavus picked up another branch and deftly fashioned a finished piece, even more delicate and beautiful than Dian's.

She examined it, only to shred it immediately. A scratch had spoiled its beauty.

As a sculptor, Lady Misdreavus simply couldn't tolerate that.

Another two days passed. Dian sighed at the third set of photos in his hands, but a moment later, he rallied his spirits again.

"Mis!"

Misdreavus floated over from nearby and watched him curiously.

Dian turned to look. Several strands of shadow quickly fashioned another finished piece and set it aside.

The finished pieces were already piled into a small mountain, as though they had come off a standardized factory production line.

He knew he needed to find the young lady a new game.

Meanwhile, Beedrill quietly watched the river. Suddenly, a blur flashed past.

Bang!

A column of water erupted.

Beedrill shook the droplets off those white stingers, looking somewhat dissatisfied. The strike had caused far too much commotion, failing to flow with the water as Dian had instructed.

Dian nodded silently and stroked Misdreavus's hair. "Come with me."

He walked over to a large block of wood by the river and beckoned Misdreavus closer.

Using a red pen, Dian drew five red dots on the wood, then drew a red circle around them.

"Misdreavus, next you need to pierce through this with Shadow Sneak, but you can't touch the red circle outside."

Dian pointed at the red dot in the very center. "Right here!"

"Mis!"

Misdreavus looked at Dian, then at the block of wood in confusion. A wisp of shadow gave it an experimental jab.

Thump.

The block didn't even budge, let alone get pierced.

Lady Misdreavus was furious.

Bang!

The block went flying, but she still hadn't pierced through it.

Dian smiled, then turned away to continue searching for coelacanth grass.

Bang, bang, bang, bang.

Those sounds continued all day long.

Night fell.

"Just where did I go wrong?"

Dian lay on his sleeping pad, gazing up at the sky and silently pondering the problem.

"Could the concentration be too low to cause any changes in Beedrill...?"

He tossed and turned without reaching a reasonable conclusion. At last, he sighed and fell into a deep sleep.

"This should be the seventh set."

With practiced ease, Dian picked up a leaf, dabbed it against the venom, then placed it in the water-filled container and observed it silently.

"The surface has corroded, but the veins are intact. Still not working...?"

He sighed, but brought up the first set of photos anyway and began comparing them. "Wait! The leaf tissue has corroded more severely!"

Delighted, Dian hurriedly pulled up the other sets of photos and compared them closely.

"It really has!"

He let out a long breath, feeling as though he had finally glimpsed a ray of hope.

He began searching for coelacanth grass with renewed enthusiasm, then squeezed out more of the milky-white liquid.

In the blink of an eye, another half month passed.

Two weeks earlier, he had been diluting it to a fifth of its original strength. Now he was giving Beedrill the milky-white liquid undiluted, and the progress was unmistakable.

Wearing black gloves and carefully covering his nose with a cloth, Dian dabbed a leaf against the venom.

Hiss!

A plume of black smoke rose immediately, and the entire front section of the leaf dissolved into a puddle of black liquid.

"It's gotten stronger again."

After recording the results with the camera, Dian placed the sample in an iron bucket filled with clear river water.

As Beedrill's venom grew stronger, he no longer dared dispose of the experimental waste carelessly. He had to eliminate every potential hazard before throwing it away.

Suddenly, as Dian looked at the waste in the bucket, an odd thought popped into his head. Should I catch a Muk specifically to deal with this stuff?

He chuckled. Muk wasn't that easy to catch, and even if he caught one, he would have to endure the smell it gave off.

Dian looked around and sighed. He had thoroughly combed through all the grass within a hundred-meter radius, and there was no coelacanth grass left. Who knew how long he would have to wait for the next batch to grow?

"Time to find somewhere else."

After squeezing all the coelacanth grass he had into milky-white liquid, Dian cleaned up the area and packed everything together.

Bang, bang, bang!

Misdreavus was still doggedly attacking the block of wood before her. A pitch-black strand of shadow stabbed swiftly toward the red dot, but only left a mark.

"Miiis—"

She focused all her attention on a tightly condensed, needle-thin Shadow Piercing, then sent it spinning forward.

Thunk!

"Mis!"

Misdreavus cried out in delight, but when she leaned closer to look, she saw that although the attack had pierced the wood, it hadn't gone very deep. She was still a long way from piercing all the way through.

Her aim had also been a little off, and the strike had landed on the red line beside the dot.

Still, Misdreavus was happy. Before, she hadn't been able to pierce it at all.

Compared with before, she had already made tremendous progress.

Nearby, Beedrill could already thrust swiftly into the water without a sound. Maintaining that silence through rapid, repeated thrusts was difficult, though, and splashes still broke out now and then.