Chapter 26: Intense Training

Chapter 26: Intense Training

"Iron Tail, Metal Claw, Gyro Ball…"

Ryoma thought of these three moves that Sandshrew could learn.

Gyro Ball should be a move that Sandshrew can learn by leveling up.

Based on his observations, moves that Pokémon can learn by leveling up in the games seem to be much easier for them to grasp.

These moves appear to be ingrained in their genes; with just a little guidance, they can learn them quite easily.

In contrast, moves that require Technical Machines and professors are much more difficult to learn. Even the Pokémon competing in the "Pokémon Alliance Professional League" primarily used moves learned through leveling up.

"Next, let's have Sandshrew learn Gyro Ball. This move also uses Rapid Spin to attack the opponent. Since Sandshrew already knows Rollout and Rapid Spin, it should be easy to learn once it senses Steel-type energy."

Holding his notebook, Ryoma quickly finalized Sandshrew's training plan for its next move.

However, to train Gyro Ball, Sandshrew needed to first sense Steel-type energy. Since it already had a foundation in Rapid Spin, Ryoma didn't plan to train in the Pokémon Training Room.

"So in that case, the only thing Sandshrew can do in this Pokémon Training Room is physical training?"

"Wait a minute, perhaps I can first arrange for Sandshrew to strengthen its claws and tail."

"Once Sandshrew understands Gyro Ball, it will quickly transition into training for Metal Claw and Iron Tail moves!"

"Furthermore, there's a complete training process for Iron Tail in the anime; I just wonder if it can be directly applied to reality."

Ryoma pursed his lips and began to jot down modifications to Sandshrew's training plan in his notebook, striving to make full use of the Pokémon Training Room.

As he brainstormed, he realized that training Sandshrew's claws would be straightforward; he could simply have it practice its innate Scratch move.

Although Sandshrew might not necessarily learn Metal Claw right away, once it evolves into Sandslash, its claws would become stronger, and it would automatically learn powerful claw-based moves like Crush Claw and Fury Cutter.

Thus, establishing a solid foundation for Sandshrew and sharpening its claws was very important!

For training its tail, Ryoma planned to borrow the method Pikachu used to train for Iron Tail.

In essence, this involved enhancing the tail's weight-bearing and striking abilities.

In fact, Sandshrew had a significant advantage in this regard, as its tail was much stronger than Pikachu's; even without training, a single swing of Sandshrew's tail could deliver a forceful blow!

After finalizing the training plan for that night in the Pokémon Training Room, he took Sandshrew to a stone wall specifically for claw training, allowing it to continuously use Scratch, leaving marks on the wall!

...

Thus, Ryoma had been living a fulfilling life during this time.

After leaving the Pokémon Training Room around 8 AM, he would head to the construction site to practice Rollout, Rapid Spin, and Sand Attack moves.

After satisfying Sandshrew with a big meal, he would bring Sandshrew to the Club to face Yuto's challenges.

During the battles, Ryoma was genuinely surprised by the number of Pokémon in Yuto's possession. Over the span of ten days, he had switched out around ten different Pokémon to fight!

Yuto was quite stubborn, unwilling to take advantage of Sandshrew. Each time, he sent out Pokémon that were neither advantageous nor disadvantageous to Sandshrew.

However, Sandshrew's progress over the past few days had astonished Yuto. Without exception, Yuto had faced defeat in their ten battles!

Even one of his ace Pokémon, Rhydon, fell to Sandshrew's most powerful Rollout move!

After ten days of battling, Ryoma and Yuto had become quite familiar with each other. After each battle, Yuto would invite Ryoma and Sandshrew for late-night snacks, making Sandshrew particularly fond of Yuto. Ryoma even wondered if Sandshrew might run off with Yuto if he had the chance!

Following a delicious late-night meal, Ryoma would take Sandshrew to the Pokémon Club's training room to spend the night. While Sandshrew trained, he would refine the training plan for the next day, only leaving around 8 AM the following morning.

...

Half a month passed by quietly.

"Sandshrew, use Rollout and then Sand Attack!"

In the abandoned construction site, Ryoma directed Sandshrew for today's training.

Upon hearing his command, Sandshrew expertly executed Rollout, and sand began to swirl around its body, forming a wave of sand that surged forward!

"Great job! Next, try spinning with Sand Attack!"

With another command, Sandshrew halted its Rollout and immediately performed Rapid Spin, creating a powerful gust of wind.

Amidst the airflow, fine grains of sand appeared, intensifying into swirling dust that spiraled upward, forming a massive sand tornado!

"Finish it off, try using Sandstorm!"

Ryoma's gaze sharpened as he suddenly commanded.

"Sha!"

Upon hearing Ryoma's order, Sandshrew let out a low growl, abruptly stopping its Rapid Spin and standing within the sand tornado. It spread its arms wide, and a glimmer of light shone in its eyes!

As it moved, the spinning sand whirl in the air abruptly stagnated and then exploded, transforming into countless gusts of wind that swept in all directions, turning into a terrifying Sandstorm!

"Success! The weakened version of Sandstorm evolved from Sand Attack!"

Seeing Sandshrew successfully execute Sandstorm Moves, Ryoma's eyes revealed a look of ecstatic joy.

Rollout Sand Attack, spinning Sand Attack, and Sandstorm—all of these were Sandshrew's gains over the past month!

Among them, Rollout Sand Attack and spinning Sand Attack were both part of Ryoma's well-planned training, and now they had achieved tremendous success.

During the training process, Ryoma found that Sandshrew was exceptionally good at playing in the sand, which was a major reason for their breakthrough in a short time.

As for Sandstorm Moves, it was entirely an unexpected gain.

This was an insight that Sandshrew accidentally comprehended half a month ago while practicing spinning Sand Attack, and the process of grasping Sandstorm was similar to the previous instance of using Sandstorm. It was originally a control failure that caused the sand whirl to explode in the air, sending sand and stones flying!

That time, Ryoma, who was standing a bit too close, nearly got injured due to the rampant flying sand and stones. However, at a critical moment, Sandshrew comprehended Sandstorm Moves and controlled the raging sand and stones, forming Sandstorm weather in a limited area, allowing Ryoma to escape unharmed!

Despite Sandshrew successfully using Sandstorm, it still could not execute it under normal circumstances.

To use Sandstorm, Sandshrew could only, as it did before, use spinning Sand Attack to accumulate wind and sand to the limit and then burst forth suddenly to use Sandstorm!

Moreover, the success rate was not very high; achieving success once in about ten tries would be considered quite good!

Regarding this, Ryoma had no good solutions, as weather moves were too elusive, and aside from letting Sandshrew comprehend it on its own, he really had no idea how to train it!

About half a minute later, beads of sweat began to slowly appear on Sandshrew's forehead, and the Sandstorm weather that had spread started to gradually dissipate.

With Sandshrew's current strength, it could only master Sandstorm to this extent.