It was almost laughable; every time Joseph used Viridian Power, he nearly always had to maintain it for a long time to fully heal a Pokémon's injuries.
The reason, however, was that Joseph's medical skills were already quite good. With help from Chansey and the others, minor injuries didn't even require the use of Viridian Power.
Altogether, it took a full 12 minutes before Joseph had the Pokémon slowly stop their healing.
"Thanks," Joseph nodded in gratitude to Gardevoir. If Gardevoir hadn't taken the initiative to help at the end, it probably would've taken him more than twice as long to fully heal Onix's injuries.
Once the Viridian Power was withdrawn, Sato pulled out a stiff-bristled brush and gently scraped around the healed wound. A steady stream of grayish-white fine sand was brushed away.
When Joseph had finished treating the entire wound ring, Sato noticed that the injury had been completely healed, and now looked identical to the other joint connections.
"No way, that's fake, right?" Mark blurted out in astonishment. 'This level of recovery… was this really medicine? This was basically a magic trick!'
"Is that the effect of Viridian Power?" Sato pondered for a moment, then, recalling Joseph's various actions, asked tentatively.
"Yeah. Viridian Power leans more toward promoting cell division and allowing the wound to self-heal. It consumes Onix's own energy, which is why I had you keep pouring in Gogoat's Grass Milk.
Then, considering the special nature of Rock-type Pokémon, I wrapped the wound with black sand, which contains strong Rock/Ground-type energy. That, combined with Heal Pulse from Chansey and the others, accelerated the healing process."
"And what about Umbreon's Heal Bell?" Sato asked again.
"Heal Bell can remove negative status conditions. Besides the common ones like paralysis, burn, and poisoning, pain is one of them too."
"So it works like a painkiller?"
"Mm..."
"Yo... you two… could you maybe... pay some attention to your surroundings while chatting?!" Mark suddenly cut in, snapping both of them out of their focused conversation.
"Hiss..." Sato took a deep breath. Looking around in every direction -including the sky- he saw so many Pokémon that his teeth ached.
However, just as Sato was preparing to go all-out, he realized the situation wasn't what he expected. These Pokémon had surrounded them but hadn't attacked. There was little hostility in their expressions.
Even the Elite Pokémon that Sato had previously defeated one by one only looked at him with a slightly complicated gaze, but didn't make any moves.
Given that these Pokémon had encircled them but weren't attacking, Sato figured there were only two likely explanations.
One was that Joseph's Viridian Power had a strong attraction to them. Many Pokémon on the island had never experienced it before, and had instinctively gathered.
The other possibility came from the giant creature beside him. Judging by its size, Sato thought of one possibility.
Totem Pokémon!
Either way, while Sato remained alert, he gradually began to relax.
Especially since some of the bolder Pokémon had already trotted over to Joseph and were affectionately rubbing against him.
On the other side, though Onix's life-threatening injury had been treated, Sato didn't know how long it had been suffering before that.
But the fact that it had collapsed unconscious in front of human Trainers was clear proof: it had completely run out of energy.
As a result, Onix lay there sleeping for more than four hours before slowly waking up. During that time, many of the wild Pokémon had come and gone, and only a few remained by the end.
But the Pokémon that remained just about represented all the species across Dewford Island; there was a definite sense that those present were acting as "representatives".
"OOOOON!"
The newly awakened Onix let out a hearty roar the moment it woke up, as if announcing its return.
Then, ignoring the commotion from the surrounding Pokémon groups, Onix turned its massive head directly toward Sato.
Sato stood in place, feigning calmness, watching the enormous Onix that could probably swallow him whole with a single motion; he had no idea what the Pokémon intended.
"Onnn..."
No one knew how much time passed until Onix finally turned its head away. Only then did Sato realize his back was drenched in sweat.
"Why didn't you let me act?" Ralts, now exuding Peak Elite -Near Pseudo-Elite Four- pressure from Sato's backpack, asked curiously.
It had been four hours since Gardevoir had used Heal Pulse. To reduce energy consumption and maintain the freedom to move around outside the Poké Ball, Gardevoir had already reverted to its initial form, Ralts.
"Not every problem has to be solved through battle. Just watch," Sato replied while continuing to observe the situation.
The Shiny Onix slowly slid its massive head over to Mark. After pausing for just a second, it turned away again.
Inwardly, Mark was fuming. 'Is this snake looking down on me or what?!' But on the surface, he quietly took two steps back; thankfully, he hadn't been taken seriously.
Finally, Onix turned its gaze toward Joseph and gently lowered its head.
"Onyx..."
"How could you have been injured so badly? You're not weak," Joseph said calmly, stepping forward and gently touching the damaged horn on Onix's head.
The horn was Onix's most sensitive spot. Unless it trusted and accepted someone, that place was off-limits; strictly forbidden to touch.
"Onn... Onyx..." Onix began lowering its voice as much as possible, recounting its experience. But to everyone else, the sound felt like hammer blows, booming, shaking their skulls.
Joseph, however, frowned and listened intently, seemingly unaffected.
Through Viridian Power, Joseph could not only gain the trust of wild Pokémon, but also understand what they were saying, enabling seamless communication.
A few minutes later, Joseph nodded to Onix and then gestured toward the surrounding Pokémon before slowly walking back to Sato and the others.
"So? What's the story with this Onix?" Sato asked first.
"It really was Onix who destroyed the city's road. But according to what it said, the reason was to stop a group of powerful Pokémon Hunters. As Dewford Island's Totem Pokémon, it was injured while rescuing captured Pokémon and escaped. Only to be found by you by coincidence."
"Judging from its aura, Onix is already a High¹ Pseudo-Elite Four level Pokémon. These hunters are going to be a serious problem."
Sato didn't doubt whether Onix was lying; there was no reason for it to. Plus, Joseph had saved its life.
Also, Sato had already been wandering Dewford Island for more than a week without encountering any Pokémon Hunters… 'Had they already left?'
"Onix says the Pokémon Hunters are in Granite Cave. Their target is the Aron group inside," Joseph explained, watching as Onix began dispersing the surrounding Pokémon.
"...That explains it."
.
.
.
¹.Kicking things off with the Pseudo-Elite Four, we're introducing a brand new rank: High. And no, that's not a lifestyle choice… it's a level. At this stage, each "level up" demands hundreds of thousands of EXP (in game terms), so the old three-rank system just doesn't cut it anymore. Welcome to the big leagues! There's still a long road ahead, but thanks for sticking with me this far.