Chapter 7: Training Plan

Boom!

As Sandshrew began its Rollout, its speed increased rapidly. When it crashed into a pile of stones haphazardly stacked on the ground, it produced a thunderous sound. The pile shattered explosively, sending countless stone fragments scattering everywhere!

"Success!"

Seeing the power of Sandshrew's Rollout, Ryoma shouted excitedly.

Normal Rollout doesn't have this kind of power; only a Rollout move charged with Rock-type energy can forcefully shatter a stone pile!

"Shashasha!"

Seeing that it had successfully executed Rollout, Sandshrew excitedly cheered, but then it suddenly tilted to the side and fainted on the ground.

"What... it knocked itself out? It looks like fully mastering Rollout is still a long way off!" Ryoma rushed over and, upon discovering Sandshrew had merely fainted, he couldn't help but feel a bit exasperated.

Clearly, while Sandshrew had successfully performed the move, it still couldn't control the volatile Rock-type energy present in the Rollout moves.

However, the fact that Sandshrew could now truly use Rollout was already a significant gain.

Next, Sandshrew just needed to practice this move continuously and strengthen its control over Rock-type energy; that would mean it had learned Rollout at a basic level.

Of course, Ryoma's expectations for Sandshrew wouldn't stop at merely knowing the move; he wanted it to apply the move in battle.

Thus, the next phase for the Rollout moves would involve using the move freely without relying on the slope for inertia, and also being able to change direction at will.

These two points were just the basics. In Ryoma's vision, Rollout was meant to be a powerful move that combined mobility, attack, and defense.

After all, Sandshrew's speed wasn't impressive, and it couldn't learn acceleration moves like Quick Attack or Agility, so using Rollout for movement was Ryoma's idea to increase its speed.

The only moves that could connect Sandshrew with high speeds were Rapid Spin and Swift.

Therefore, Ryoma planned to incorporate Rapid Spin into the Rollout move, transforming it into a "High-Speed Rollout"!

This way, Sandshrew would achieve movement speeds similar to Agility, and by utilizing the speed from Rapid Spin, the power of Rollout could be further enhanced!

Additionally, the Swift move could also be integrated into Rollout. In Ryoma's memory, many Pokémon would jump into the air while executing Swift, spinning their bodies as they did so.

Ryoma speculated that this might be to utilize rotational speed to enhance the power of Swift, just like when a discus thrower holds the discus in one hand and uses a spinning motion within the circle to throw it as far as possible.

Thus, Ryoma intended to try getting Sandshrew to incorporate Swift when it performed its High-Speed Rollout!

Additionally, when he thought of Swift, Ryoma suddenly had an epiphany and remembered Dawn's Aipom, which used to spin in place while continuously using Swift to create a rainbow-like curtain. This brought to mind a well-known strategy from the anime.

Indeed, this strategy was invented by Ash Ketchum, known as Champion's Rebuttal, also called Counter Shield. The official name is Counter Shield, and its principle is to utilize the spinning of Pokémon to spread the moves over a wide area instead of concentrating them in one direction, transforming damaging moves into ones that balance offense and defense!

In Ryoma's recollection, Rollout moves could also serve to resist or even rebound attacks while quickly rolling, something that Whitney's Miltank effortlessly demonstrated in the anime.

Moreover, Brock's Geodude also achieved a similar effect through its spinning screwball attack!

Now, integrating Swift into Rollout to create Champion's Rebuttal would result in it being even more powerful than Ash Ketchum's version!

It could likely form a moving Champion's Rebuttal; at that point, using Champion's Rebuttal while moving would create a devastating energy storm that could sweep everything away!

The more Ryoma thought about it, the more excited he became. If he could realize all these ideas, then with just the Rollout move, Sandshrew might be able to dominate opponents of the same level!

A single powerful move could achieve everything, and it seemed entirely possible!

Not long after, Sandshrew woke up from its fainting spell.

Ryoma then shared all his plans with Sandshrew, which made the latter's eyes shine even brighter.

At the same time, Sandshrew grew increasingly convinced of Ryoma. It believed that under the training of its master, it could indeed become a powerful Pokémon capable of standing on its own.

Thus, with Ryoma's beautiful blueprint laid out, Sandshrew threw itself more seriously into training. Having previously experienced expulsion from its group and surviving the brink of life and death, it had long recognized the importance of becoming stronger!

Moreover, after Ryoma got injured for its sake, Sandshrew developed a new goal: to protect its Trainer. It never wanted to see Ryoma get hurt in front of it again!

In the following days, Ryoma and Sandshrew spent their time diligently training.

As Sandshrew practiced its Rollout repeatedly, Ryoma continually refined his training plan. Although he had great aspirations, how to teach Sandshrew Rapid Spin and integrate Rapid Spin with Rollout were problems he needed to solve.

On the first day of special training.

Sandshrew successfully mastered the Rollout move and could now execute it perfectly on a slope. It had also begun practicing Rollout on flat ground, although Sandshrew still couldn't use the move solely based on its power and had to rely on a running start.

Despite that, Ryoma was very satisfied with Sandshrew's training progress.

After returning home, it was the same old routine: wash hands, eat, take a bath, and sleep...

Before washing his hands, Ryoma confessed to Sandshrew why he put it through such torment. Upon learning that it was to help overcome its fear of water, Sandshrew became less resistant to washing its hands and bathing. It tried its best to endure, only running away when it could no longer hold back.

Seeing Sandshrew training so diligently made Ryoma very happy. For a Pokémon to become stronger, it undoubtedly needed the heart to grow, and Sandshrew was clearly that Pokémon aspiring to be strong!

On the second day of special training,

With Ryoma continually adjusting his training methods, Sandshrew finally managed to execute Rollout on flat ground. Furthermore, after leaving the quarry, it could sense and harness Rock-type energy.