Training Iron Tail

When Ye Lan arrived at the training grounds, he looked around. The facilities were well equipped; the school had clearly invested a lot in them.

He fastened something resembling a steel plate to a target, then instructed Snivy to try striking it with Iron Tail.

It was a Forged Steel Stone Ye Lan had bought from the official website. Though it looked like a steel plate, it was actually a special stone containing Steel-type energy. When a Pokémon struck it, some of that energy would escape, making the Pokémon more sensitive to Steel-type energy.

A Forged Steel Stone the size of a laptop had cost Ye Lan over seven thousand. It would also wear down as Snivy trained, making it a consumable item.

"Snivy!"

At Ye Lan's command, Snivy gathered Steel-type energy in his tail. He leaped high, turned, and whipped his tail toward the target.

Iron Tail was an Egg Move, so Snivy had known it since birth. But he clearly lacked practice. The Steel-type energy covering his tail was thin and uneven, and the move was far from properly executed.

With a thud, Snivy landed. Cracks had appeared in the scales on his tail, and tears filled his little eyes, but stubborn as ever, he made no sound despite the pain.

"Can you keep going? Or should we try a different way to train?"

Ye Lan's heart ached at the sight.

"Snivy."

Snivy shook his head. He could clearly feel that this training method worked.

The moment his tail struck the Forged Steel Stone, his sensitivity to Steel-type energy had noticeably increased.

Seeing Snivy shake his head, Ye Lan stopped trying to dissuade him. He directed Snivy through Iron Tail again and again, pointing out flaws in each attempt.

If a Pokémon trusted his Trainer, then the Trainer had to honor his resolve.

Before long, Lin Yan arrived at the training grounds too. As he watched Ye Lan and Snivy train, fire seemed to flicker in his eyes.

"Charmander, we need to work hard too!"

"Char! Char!"

Charmander caught his enthusiasm. The flame on his tail roared to life, burning much brighter.

Day after day passed. Only one day remained before the battle assessment.

In the infirmary, a middle-aged woman in a white coat examined the injuries on Snivy's tail. Beside her, an Audino was using a move to treat him.

"Hurt this badly again? You and Lin Yan always push your training too hard."

Ms. Li shook her head. These two boys trained so intensely that their Pokémon were never lightly injured. They visited the infirmary more often than any other students.

Ye Lan could only smile helplessly.

After several days of training, Snivy had mastered Iron Tail. During one session, he had split the Forged Steel Stone in two with a single strike. Ye Lan's heart had nearly broken along with it.

In his battles against Charmander afterward, Snivy had lost more often than he won at first because of the type disadvantage. That only fired up the proud little Pokémon. Later, he learned Bind in battle and mastered Glare through practicing Leer. His overall strength had now surpassed Charmander's.

Lin Yan looked at Charmander, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion after his treatment, and felt helpless too.

Whenever Lin Yan and Ye Lan battled, they became so focused that neither held back. Their Pokémon were even more reckless once a fight began. After every battle, the two boys had to visit the infirmary together for Audino's treatment. That was how they had grown familiar with Ms. Li.

"With Snivy and Charmander as strong as they are now, your places in the elite class are practically guaranteed. Ease up on the training. You don't want to damage their foundations."

Ms. Li looked exasperated when the two of them started reviewing the battle they had just fought.

More than half her workload came from Ye Lan and Lin Yan. At least they had some conscience: whenever they came by, they remembered to bring her lunch or dinner.

"Don't worry, Ms. Li. We'll be careful," Ye Lan replied with a smile.

The training had significantly improved Snivy's strength, and Ye Lan had accumulated 39 Sunshine Points.

At first, Ye Lan had planned to spend them on the Lucky Wheel. After a long hesitation, he decided to unlock a new feature instead.

He had reason to suspect that once he unlocked the third feature, the damned system would double the Sunshine Points needed to unlock the others again. When that happened, he could focus on upgrading his existing features and spinning the Lucky Wheel.

"Ye Lan, aside from the Trainer with Squirtle in Class Three, I can't think of anyone who could challenge you in this assessment," Lin Yan teased.

After spending so much time together, Lin Yan and Ye Lan had grown close. Lin Yan still did not talk much, but he was far less reserved than before.

"I hear that girl's family is very wealthy. She comes from a family of Pokémon Trainers, and they've fed Squirtle a lot of Water-type resources. Squirtle might be close to evolving already."

Ms. Li frowned. She had seen that Squirtle, and the energy inside him was unstable. His strength had clearly been boosted by feeding him a huge quantity of resources in a short time.

That would leave him with a shaky foundation. Worse, if they chose to evolve him before he reached the limits of this stage, they would be sacrificing his potential for a brief surge of power.

"She's from a major family. Surely they have connections with Pokémon Breeders? Why would they let her raise him like that?" Ye Lan asked, puzzled.

"I hear her family is looking for a Pokémon with better potential for her. They don't think much of this Squirtle. He's just there for her to test the waters."

"Even so, don't let your guard down, Ye Lan," Ms. Li added after a moment's thought.

"It's fine. Snivy and I will just do our best."

Ye Lan was not too concerned. Sacrifice Snivy's potential just to take first place in an assessment? He would never do anything so shortsighted.

Evening had arrived. After saying goodbye to the other two, Ye Lan returned Snivy to his Poké Ball and headed home.

Until the first week's battle assessment, students commuted to school. Once it was over, dorm rooms would be assigned according to their rankings.

Apparently, the elite class apartments housed only two students per room and had a small training ground and battle arena on every floor.

The regular dorms housed eight students per room and had no special facilities on any floor. Their rules were much stricter, too. Unlike elite class students, those in the regular dorms could not choose their own rest times each day.

The difference in treatment was meant to drive students to improve and fight for a place in the elite class.

After putting together a simple dinner for Snivy, Ye Lan stared at the remaining Moomoo Milk and fell into thought.

Snivy's training had been so intense lately that he was going through the Moomoo Milk much faster than Ye Lan had expected.

Whenever Snivy exhausted himself, he needed nutrients right away. Lately, he had practically been drinking Moomoo Milk like water. What was supposed to be a month's supply would not last much longer.

The benefits were plain to see, though. With intense training and timely nourishment, Snivy's tail had grown far stronger than it had been when he was born.

His physical strength had improved noticeably as well, and using Bind now came much more naturally to him.

Snivy had gone from a proud little lady to someone who looked ready to uproot a willow tree with his bare hands.