Pokémon Training

With Gyarados now a part of the team, Floyd was in high spirits as he diligently trained each of his Pokémon. He eagerly retrieved his meticulously prepared training notes for Gyarados, which he had compiled long before Gyarados officially joined the team.

Floyd had been eagerly awaiting an opportunity to train this Pokémon, and now, with Gyarados willingly part of the team, these carefully crafted plans were finally being put to use.

Floyd carefully listed Gyarados' moves, focusing on enhancing its proficiency in Dragon Dance and Bite for his intermediate mastery.

For the beginner mastery, he saw great potential in improving Waterfall Aqua Tail. and Bounce. Floyd's strategy also included teaching Gyarados several Dragon-type moves, notably Outrage, which would significantly bolster its capabilities as a physical attacker.

Fortunately, Floyd had a lot of Dragon-type Pokémon, creating an ideal environment for Gyarados to learn and share Dragon-type moves with his teammates.

Meanwhile, Floyd familiarizes Growlithe to Dragon-type energy by integrating it into his Pokéblock, aiming to familiarize him with this unique power source.

Floyd was pleasantly surprised by the progress of his Goomys. Their exposure to meteorite rocks had led to a diverse set of newly acquired moves: Acid Armor, Iron Tail, Acid Spray, Absorb, and Protect. He encouraged each Goomy to learn from the others, fostering a collaborative learning environment.

Dratini, another of Floyd's Pokémon, had shown remarkable progress and was close to reaching intermediate mastery. Already adept in Extreme Speed, Twister, and Thunder Wave, Floyd planned to incorporate additional skills into its repertoire, including Dragon Breath, Dragon Dance, Protect, and Dragon Tail.

He intended for Dratini to learn Iron Tail from Goomy, as this move would facilitate mastering Dragon Tail.

Floyd's vision extended beyond Dratini, seeing the value in teaching Iron Tail to his other Pokémon as well. Iron Tail, being easier to master than Dragon Tail, was a strategic move to enhance their ability to master Dragon Tail.

In addition to the moves he was currently focusing on, Floyd had plans for Dratini to learn more complex skills in the future. This was because of the training method he followed, Dragonair and Dragonite, the evolved forms of Dratini, were known for their proficiency in weather-related skills and a diverse array of abilities.

Their potential to excel as all-around types was evident to Floyd.

However, for the moment, Floyd's strategy was to concentrate on teaching Dratini a select few moves. His immediate goal was to lay a strong foundation before advancing to more complex techniques.

Turning his attention to Fraxure, Floyd observed that Fraxure's mastery of Dragon Claw was nearing a breakthrough into Advanced Mastery.

He had been closely monitoring the duration and effectiveness of Fraxure's skills: Dragon Claw had been in development for over three months, Dig for 11 months, and First Impression for a year.

When Fraxure first learned Dragon Claw, Floyd had immediately prioritized it, and it had quickly surpassed both First Impression and Dig in proficiency.

Floyd was excited at the prospect of Fraxure's Dragon Claw advancing to Advanced Mastery, as it would then be eligible to learn the 'Strong Style' and 'Agile Style' techniques.

Floyd had already witnessed impressive demonstrations of these styles from Blastoise's Hydro Pump and Rapid Spin, as well as the Aqua Tail and Thrash from the father of his Gyarados, Aqua Tail was advanced mastery, and the other one, Thrash, was on the cusp of reaching Advanced Mastery.

Consequently, Floyd dedicated most of Fraxure's training sessions to perfecting Dragon Claw. Additionally, he encouraged practice in Dragon Dance, as it too was nearing Intermediate Mastery.

These two moves were Floyd's current priorities for Fraxure, given their imminent advancement in mastery levels.

Regarding Munchlax and Horsea, Floyd had eased his rigorous training regime. He recognized Munchlax's future role as his assistant and began teaching him various aspects related to Pokémon breeding, including the preparation of powders and other breeder-specific skills.

Initially, Horsea had shown interest in learning about breeding, but the complexities of the role, compounded by her lack of hands, proved too challenging.

After some effort, she decided to focus on her inherent strengths instead. Floyd supported this decision and advised Horsea to concentrate on perfecting her Dragon Dance and Rain Dance, integrating them with Smokescreen.

He also recommended that she continue to enhance her proficiency in Water Gun or Water Pulse, honing her natural abilities to their fullest potential.

Floyd thinks that being a coordinator doesn't seem bad; it will help him learn a lot in addition to being a trainer.

While Floyd had already eased Horsea's training regimen, but his expectation for her growth remained strong. He was determined to help her level up beyond 30, enabling her evolution into Seadra.

Moreover, once he could acquire a Dragon Scale, he planned for her to evolve into Kingdra, further enhancing her abilities.

Just like Horsea, Floyd also actively training Munchlax in moves like Body Slam, Rollout, Lick, and Scratch, aiming to strengthen its capabilities.

Floyd also inquired about his other Pokémon, asking if any of them were reluctant to train. He noticed hesitation, particularly among the Goomys, although they didn't voice any concerns. Floyd was aware that some of them might not be keen on training, but this was acceptable to him. His strategy didn't require duplicates in his team; instead, these Pokémon were part of his preparation for future breeding plans.

Meanwhile, other people saw the Gyarados under Floyd's command and felt a mix of fear and pressure. Floyd's mastery over such a formidable Pokémon was disheartening to them; they knew they were already trailing behind him, and his addition of Gyarados only deepened their sense of despair.

Determined to overcome this challenge, they thought, 'We must catch a multitude of powerful creatures!' Believing that surpassing Floyd in the quantity of Pokémon might lead to victory, they began eagerly catching Caterpies and Rattatas to bolster their teams.

…

Later that day, at 5:30 in the afternoon, Floyd, Kanraku, and the rest of their group convened to discuss plans for upcoming live broadcasts.

During this meeting, Kanraku presented the second version of encyclopedia. This edition featured an additional category: Poison-type Pokémon. With this inclusion, the encyclopedia now covered nine distinct Pokémon types: Fire, Plant, Water, Earth, Electric, Air, Insect, Normal, and Poison.

This expansion of knowledge was a testament to their growing expertise and the increasingly diverse world of Pokémon they were exploring.

"Impossible! It's not Dragon?" Chen Yu was the first to react, unable to believe that Gyarados was not classified as a Dragon type.

"Professor, could there be a mistake?" Kang Jihoon asked, seeking clarification.

"I'm certain of our findings. We've repeated our research, and the results are consistent with our initial findings," Kanraku replied with a sigh, sharing in their disbelief.

"Has there been any progress in identifying Dragon types?" Floyd inquired.

"I feel quite helpless. There seems to be no definitive basis to categorize any beasts as Dragon types. I had high hopes for Gyarados, but unexpectedly, it doesn't fit the category," Kanraku explained.

Floyd smiled bitterly, thinking, 'So the professor doesn't believe my Pokémon could be Dragon type?' He had checked his Pokémon in the encyclopedia: most were Normal type, except for Horsea, which was Water type, Growlithe as Fire and Ground type, and Gyarados as Water and Flying type.

At this point, Floyd felt there was little he could do; he had already given a hint before, but Kanraku hadn't taken it into account.