Sand Attack

Sandshrew was a bipedal Pokémon that resembled a mouse, though it ran on all fours.

This kind of Pokémon had yellowish-brown skin that was hard and dry, with brick-like patterns that made it resemble a brick wall. Its lower jaw to belly was cream-colored, and it had a thick, conical tail behind it. Its forelimbs had three small, sharp claws, while its hind limbs had two toes. Its ears were small and triangular, giving it an honest, guileless appearance.

The distant Sandshrew kept glancing in their direction with its dark blue eyes. Clearly, it had noticed Fang Yuan staring at it.

Naturally, Sandshrew's movements had not escaped its Trainer's notice—a brown-haired girl with short hair who was about Fang Yuan's age.

When she looked over, Fang Yuan returned her gaze with a polite smile before turning his attention back to Eevee.

Sandshrew was a Ground-type, a rodent Pokémon. Because they were rather timid, they dug holes in the sand to avoid enemies. It was Sandshrew's nature, and these Pokémon were experts at digging. When it came to playing with sand, just as Fang Yuan had expected, no matter how hard Eevee worked at building sandcastles, it could not surpass the palace this Sandshrew had made.

Even when it was time to eat, Eevee tirelessly kept revising its creation. Only after Fang Yuan called to it did Eevee come back to its senses. Its stomach rumbled, and it put on a pitiful expression.

By then, Sandshrew and its Trainer had already left, but the sand palace they had built remained. Eevee had lost count of how many times it had looked over there. Though its own work had already surpassed most of the sand creations left on the beach, the Sand Palace still left Little Eevee deeply dissatisfied.

"It's all right. We'll come back after we eat."

Fang Yuan scooped Eevee into his arms and patted its head. It was only a small matter, but it showed Eevee's unwillingness to admit defeat. That precious spirit could not be lost. Even if they spent these wonderful days simply building sandcastles together, it would be worth it.

"Eevee, Eevee~"

After receiving Fang Yuan's permission, Eevee froze for a moment, then cried out happily.

That afternoon, Fang Yuan and Eevee did not run into Sandshrew or the girl again, and the Sand Palace had disappeared. Though Eevee no longer had anything to compare itself against, it could still distinguish the better from the worse from memory and kept making revisions.

However, due to its size, Eevee could not make certain fine details as perfect as Sandshrew had...

In terms of diligence and effort, it was no worse than that Sandshrew.

Just as Eevee was about to knock it all down and start over again, Fang Yuan stopped it and pointed to the side. Eevee immediately understood and found another area to build in.

Looking at Eevee's best creation so far, and the one it had spent the longest on, Fang Yuan truly could not bear to see it knocked down. He first took out his phone to photograph it, then picked up some small tools and began carving the fine textures of the sandcastle for Eevee.

In fact, he had photographed Eevee's earlier creations as well. Fang Yuan wanted to keep them all as mementos to show Eevee someday.

"Eevee..."

Eevee, having moved to the adjacent area, heard the sound and turned around. Seeing Fang Yuan lying there and carefully carving the sandcastle, Eevee's emotions grew complicated. It recalled how Fang Yuan had stayed with it all day, and a strange feeling suddenly welled up inside it, unlike any emotion it had felt before. This caused it to stop just as it was about to start piling up sand again.

Instead, it began carefully watching Fang Yuan's movements.

At that instant, Eevee felt as though it could stand in Fang Yuan's perspective, sensing every subtle movement of the sand. Then, in the next moment, Eevee abruptly felt the sand beneath it grow somewhat hot. Strange ripples seemed to spread through it, resonating with its body.

The sensation terrified Eevee, and it let out a helpless cry. The cry immediately drew Fang Yuan's attention. When he looked over, he saw Eevee's short, thin forelimbs sweep across the beach. The sand by its three toes seemed to be controlled by something as it was suddenly pushed to the other side.

After experiencing something incredible, Eevee felt its body return to normal. Yet it clearly remembered that strange feeling, as if its body had formed a memory. If it wanted to, it could still do what it had just done.

"This is... the Sand Attack move?"

Noticing Eevee's unusual state, Fang Yuan spoke in surprise. He had thought Eevee would need to begin formal training before it could comprehend Sand Attack, but who would have thought it would learn it under these circumstances?

One had to know that learning a new move in reality was extremely difficult. Even moves that could be learned simply by leveling up in games were not something Pokémon could comprehend with a one hundred percent success rate.

Sand Attack was a Ground-type move that could control sand and lower an opponent's accuracy. In the games, it was the earliest move Eevee could learn through leveling up. But in reality, there was no such thing as leveling up. To learn a move, a Pokémon needed certain specific opportunities to comprehend it on its own, or it could learn it through a Trainer's training and cultivation. But it was absolutely impossible to learn one for no reason. The fact that Eevee had learned Sand Attack while playing with sand showed that its aptitude was excellent. Of course, it might also have had something to do with the effort it had poured into it. By wholeheartedly immersing itself in building sandcastles, Eevee had gained the opportunity to comprehend Sand Attack!

"Eevee..." After comprehending Sand Attack, Eevee was both confused and bewildered. Only when Fang Yuan picked it up did it finally calm down.

"Isn't this great? Let's build another one from scratch!"

Fang Yuan looked expectantly at the sand covering the ground. If Eevee's comprehension of Sand Attack was related to this little game, then could the Sand Attack move help Eevee build an even more perfect sandcastle?

"It's really amazing that a move could be comprehended this way."

Fang Yuan slowly set Eevee down, and the two of them began another round of effort.

Based on their earlier experience, they knew that the key to building a sandcastle lay in the mixing ratio of sand and water. Too little water could not bind the sand together, while too much prevented it from holding its shape. The best ratio was ninety-nine percent sand and one percent water. Only then could the sandcastle maintain the greatest stability. This ratio was especially indispensable for tall, slender structures if they wanted to carve them down to the finest details. If they had merely been messing around before, then after Eevee comprehended Sand Attack, it gained a much clearer sense of the moisture in the sand and easily found the optimal ratio.

Eevee's claws were nimble and sharp, far more useful than a carving knife. Before long, they had indeed rebuilt a structure that rivaled Sandshrew's Sand Palace.

"Great, but there's still one small flaw."

Because they had not accounted for the loss of moisture during construction, the sandcastle was not yet at its most perfect. Fang Yuan and Eevee exchanged a look, then smiled knowingly. They immediately knocked it down and started over, using Sand Attack as they happily built away.