Chapter 17: Training Sand Attack

"Come out, Sandshrew."

Quietly arriving at a Sand Terrain at the construction site, Ryoma threw the Poké Ball in his hand and released Sandshrew.

"Sand!"

Seeing the sparkling sand in front of it, Sandshrew's eyes also sparkled. It rolled on the ground, as if it wanted to immerse itself completely in the sand.

Ryoma smiled as he watched Sandshrew playing in the sand pile. Since it enjoyed the sand so much, he didn't disturb it. Instead, he sat down on a rock and took out his notebook to refine today's Training Plan.

He brought Sandshrew to this Sand Terrain with the purpose of teaching it Sand Attack Moves, and the starting point for the Sand Attack Moves training was to begin with playing in the sand.

In the Pokémon anime special, Ryoma vaguely remembered that Sand Attack seemed to be translated into すなかけ in Japan. Therefore, he planned to let Sandshrew kick up small amounts of sand with its hind legs as a gradual way to learn Sand Attack.

"Sandshrew, let's start training Sand Attack Moves."

After finishing his Training Plan, Ryoma called out to Sandshrew, which was rolling around in the Sand Terrain.

Upon hearing it was time for training, Sandshrew did not show any reluctance this time. Instead, it excitedly ran over and raised a little paw.

Ryoma's face darkened, but he gritted his teeth and said, "If you can learn Sand Attack today, I'll give you extra food tonight!"

He emphasized the word "today" heavily... very heavily.

"Sand!" Sandshrew's eyes sparkled.

Ryoma quickly regretted this promise he made...

Perhaps stimulated by the thought of a feast, Sandshrew learned Sand Attack Moves at an astonishing speed.

An hour later, it could already use Sand Attack in the Sand Terrain. Three hours later, it could gather sand even on flat ground. Five hours later, it was able to kick up a small Dust Storm using Sand Attack...

"Shasha!"

Sandshrew proudly showed off in front of Ryoma, extending a little finger to remind him not to forget his promise.

Ryoma's expression darkened even more; he now suspected that Sandshrew might have known Sand Attack all along and was just pretending to hide it to trick him!

Tears streamed down Ryoma's face.

Why has Sandshrew turned out like this?

This meal alone cost nearly 1000 bucks, and he exclaimed he couldn't handle it!

"It seems I need to find a way to make some money," he sighed softly.

...

After dinner, Ryoma took Sandshrew back to the Starry Sky Pokémon Club.

However, it was only a little past 6 PM, and it wasn't yet time for the night sessions at 10 PM.

As soon as he entered the Starry Sky Club, his attention was drawn to the crowd in the Free Battle Arenas.

"Who else wants to challenge my Charmeleon!"

On one side of the Battle Arena, a boy in a tracksuit was challenging the audience, and in front of him stood a striking red figure.

This figure resembled a dinosaur, standing on two legs, with a tail ablaze with flames.

This was none other than Charmeleon, one of the starter Pokémon, and its evolutionary form was the ultra-popular Pokémon Charizard!

"A Charmeleon! This guy must be rich!"

Looking at the Charmeleon in front of him, Ryoma couldn't help but sigh; the gap between the rich and poor truly exists in every world. As long as you have money, you can obtain a stronger starter Pokémon, putting you at a much higher starting point than others!

"Is there really no novice Trainer who wants to challenge me?"

"As long as you can beat me, this 1000 bucks is yours!" The boy in the arena held a stack of money, casting a disdainful glance at the surrounding crowd.

"As long as you win the match, you get 1000 bucks?"

Hearing the boy's words, Ryoma's eyes lit up. From what the boy said, it was clear that his strength was likely also at the novice level.

If it was a showdown between novice Trainers, Ryoma felt somewhat confident he could win. Moreover, Charmeleon was a Fire-type Pokémon, while Ground-type and Rock-type Moves were effective against it!

"I'll do it, but I don't know the rules," he said without hesitation, stepping out from the crowd and standing on the opposite side of the Battle Arena.

"There are no special rules; you just need to be a novice Trainer!" The boy looked at Ryoma with enthusiasm.

"This is my novice Trainer certificate..."

"No need to show it. You're around my age, so you can't be an intermediate Trainer. Send out your Pokémon, and let's start!"

Ryoma intended to present his novice Trainer certificate, but before he could finish speaking, he was rudely interrupted by the boy.

"Okay, then let's get started. Sandshrew, go!"

Ryoma wasn't angry; he nodded and released Sandshrew from the Poké Ball.

Instantly, the green Sandshrew caught the attention of everyone present. However, in this world, people had yet to realize the rarity of Flash Pokémon, so when they saw Flash Sandshrew, there were not many expressions of surprise, and some even showed disdain.

"A Ground-type Sandshrew, huh?"

"Don't think you can defeat my Charmeleon just because you have a Ground-type move. Among novice Trainers, I'm unbeatable!" the boy remarked dismissively as he saw Sandshrew.

"Then let's see what you've got. As the Challenger, I won't hold back!"

"Sandshrew, use Rollout!"

Ryoma smiled slightly and issued the command directly.

"Rock-type Rollout, huh?"

"That needs to hit first. Charmeleon, dodge and use Flamethrower!"

At the boy's command, Charmeleon leaped and dodged Sandshrew's initial Rollout Attack with remarkable speed. Then, as Sandshrew rolled past it, Charmeleon opened its mouth and unleashed a burst of scorching flames directly at Sandshrew's rear!

"Emergency stop and turn around!"

Seeing this, Ryoma frowned. Sandshrew had trained enough to effectively deflect attacks coming from the front during training, but it had no way to counter attacks coming from behind, so it had no choice but to evade.

Sandshrew moved very quickly. The moment Ryoma issued the command, its figure hesitated slightly. With a sudden deceleration, its body created intense friction with the ground, and then, propelled by its body, it swiftly changed direction, avoiding the fire attack and charging toward Charmeleon again.

"Oh? It can turn around like that, impressive!"

The boy's eyes lit up. As a wealthy heir who had driven many luxury cars, he couldn't help but cheer for Sandshrew's turning technique.

However, he was quick to respond as well, immediately commanding Charmeleon to unleash another stream of fire, directly striking Sandshrew head-on.

In an instant, the powerful flames created a thrust that began to hinder Sandshrew's Rollout.