Rotating Sand Attack

Fang Yuan took Eevee downstairs and headed straight for the nearest Public Battle Arena.

There was a park area for resting inside the Public Battle Arena, though there were not many people or Pokémon there. This was exactly where Fang Yuan wanted to go.

"This is the place."

Fang Yuan found an open patch of ground and said to Eevee, "Let's test it out here first."

After looking around at the surroundings, Eevee was just about to use Sand Attack when it suddenly felt that something was off...

"Eevee?" It had not even asked Fang Yuan how it was supposed to do it.

"Just like we discussed before—spin while using Sand Attack," Fang Yuan said.

Eevee: "???"

Eevee lowered its head and looked at the ground, then tried spinning twice...

Smack!

It slapped its paw pad against the ground and successfully used Sand Attack, but it was no different from an ordinary Sand Attack.

"Spin while using it," Fang Yuan repeated.

Eevee obediently sat on the ground, spinning... while using the move. Yet Sand Attack still did not change at all. In the end, Eevee became dizzy, stopped spinning, and fell over with stars in its eyes.

Fang Yuan: "..."

Seeing Eevee like this, Fang Yuan began to think. This method of spinning the body while using a move did not seem very suitable for Eevee.

It was nowhere near as simple as it looked in the anime.

First, Eevee still needed to improve its sense of balance. Second, Sand Attack was not like moves such as Hydro Pump or Flamethrower. It was too scattered and difficult to condense.

As a result, while Eevee spun and used Sand Attack, it was hard to twist the sand into a single force and make it rotate along with Eevee.

"Awake now?"

A while later, Little Eevee climbed back up and leaned weakly against a lamppost.

Eevee: (＠_＠)

"Alright, alright. We had to try it at least..." Fang Yuan said awkwardly as he took out a Drink Bottle and handed it to Eevee.

"Eevee!" Eevee said to Fang Yuan.

It thought this would not work.

"It's not that it won't work. Most of what Sand Attack kicks up is sand and dust. Although there is sand mixed in, at its core, it's an unstable gas-solid mixture..."

"If your control over Ground-type energy becomes stronger, so that the dust and sand are no longer so dispersed but instead gather together, it will be easier to control."

"Eevee!"

Eevee said it was only a Normal-type Pokémon, not a Ground-type Pokémon. Fang Yuan was asking the impossible.

"I know, I know..." Fang Yuan rubbed his head. He also felt that a Counter Shield based on spinning the body had rather significant limitations.

"It's fine. This is only one form of Counter Shield. You don't have to fixate on this one method."

Fang Yuan recalled something.

Brock's Geodude used Gyro Ball Counter Shield by relying on its own rotation as well...

The only exception was Shinji's Gastrodon, which had created another form of Counter Shield.

During the Lily of the Valley Conference, Shinji's Gastrodon used rotating Muddy Water, yet its own body did not spin much. Its neck merely swayed slightly with the rhythm. This was clearly completely different from Ash's Counter Shield, where the Pokémon's entire body rotated in tandem with the move.

From this alone, Shinji was more adaptable than Ash.

"That Gastrodon used precise control over Water-type energy to make the move rotate on its own, forming several spinning streams of water that perfectly wrapped around its body. Could Eevee use that method...?"

Fang Yuan looked at Eevee. With this form of Counter Shield, the body-spinning process was eliminated, allowing for more flexible movement.

However, as a Water-type Pokémon, it was not difficult for Gastrodon to get creative with Muddy Water. How was Eevee supposed to achieve the same thing?

Without relying on its own rotation, directly making the released Sand Attack spin by itself and form a protective barrier similar to Sand Tomb would definitely not be easy.

If Eevee were a Ground-type Pokémon, Fang Yuan would not be so conflicted. He could just have it keep practicing. With a clear idea in mind, it would eventually reach the goal.

But in reality, although Eevee's control over Ground-type energy was excellent, it had not reached a monstrous level. Accomplishing something like "Rotating Sand Attack" was still extremely difficult.

It would probably require rigorous special training.

"There is a special training method for controlling energy to rotate at high speed... It's just..."

Fang Yuan's lips twitched. The idea seemed a little out there, but maybe it really could work... Should they give it a try?

"Eevee?"

Watching Fang Yuan space out, think, and smile to himself, Eevee drank the last sip of its beverage and pushed the empty bottle to Fang Yuan's feet.

It still could not reach the trash can, and it did not know how to sort garbage either.

"Let's try it. Having a ready-made method is better than blindly grinding away." Fang Yuan let out a breath, then called Eevee over. "Fill the empty bottle with sand. No, leave a little space."

Eevee stared at Fang Yuan in confusion.

"I'll explain later. Help me first." Fang Yuan picked up the empty bottle and began filling it with sand.

Three minutes later.

Fang Yuan held a Drink Bottle that was nearly full of sand and placed it on the ground.

"This sand was all created by you. Listen carefully. Your next task is to steadily and continuously control this sand... You can hold the bottle if you want. No matter what you do, your final goal is to make the sand inside the bottle spin at high speed in an irregular pattern until the bottle swells and cracks. Understand?"

"Eevee..." Eevee nodded, half-understanding.

What kind of weird stunt was this?

Still, Eevee understood Fang Yuan's instructions this time quite well. It was much more sensible than spinning its body while releasing Sand Attack.

Eevee lightly touched the bottle and tried to use Sand Attack, sensing the Ground-type energy within it. But the sand inside the bottle only trembled slightly, as though nothing had happened.

"Remember, steadily and continuously control the sand. In other words, find the feeling of continuously using Sand Attack."

"And make it fast."

In truth, this sand had no real destructive power. Watching it slowly Rollout around inside the bottle, Fang Yuan scratched his head. Well, they could just practice like this for now.

What he had imagined was Eevee using Sand Attack to make the sand inside the bottle spin irregularly at high speed, then using the force of that rotation to burst the bottle.

Once it completed that step, Eevee should understand what rotating Sand Attack felt like.

The second step would be for Eevee to use that feeling to unleash rotating Sand Attack, forming a protective barrier similar to Sand Tomb and hiding itself inside. It would not possess Sand Tomb's restraining properties or Destructive Power, but Sand Attack's unique ability to confuse opponents would surely become this technique's distinctive feature.

Most importantly, all it needed was sand and a bottle. Eevee could practice even at home...

Fang Yuan watched Eevee happily playing with the bottle and smiled expectantly. If it succeeded, this modified Counter Shield might produce an even better effect than he had imagined.