Training Iron Tail

Arriving at the training grounds, Ye Lan looked around. The facilities here were fully equipped, and it was clear the school had invested heavily in them.

After securing a steel-plate-like object to a target, Ye Lan began directing Snivy to try attacking the target ahead with Iron Tail.

This was a Forged Steel Stone Ye Lan had purchased from the official website. Though it looked like a steel plate, it was actually a special stone containing Steel-type energy. When Pokémon attacked it, the Steel-type energy within would disperse, increasing their sensitivity to Steel-type energy.

A Forged Steel Stone the size of a laptop had cost Ye Lan more than seven thousand. Moreover, it would wear down as Pokémon trained with it, making it a consumable item.

"Snivy!"

At Ye Lan's command, Snivy began gathering Steel-type energy in its tail. Then it leaped high into the air, twisted around, and swung its tail at the target.

Although it had been born knowing the inherited move, it was clearly unfamiliar with it. The Steel-type energy coating its tail was thin and uneven, so it could not be considered a successful execution.

With a bang, Snivy landed on the ground. Cracks appeared in the scales on its tail, and tears welled up in its little eyes. Yet despite its stubborn nature, it did not make a sound from the pain.

"Can you still keep going? How about we try a different training method?"

Ye Lan's heart ached at the sight.

"Snivy."

Snivy shook its head. It could clearly feel the effects of this training method as well.

Right after its tail had struck the Forged Steel Stone, it could distinctly feel its sensitivity to Steel-type energy increasing.

Seeing Snivy shake its head, Ye Lan stopped trying to persuade it. He began directing Snivy to use Iron Tail again and again, pointing out its flaws during the execution process.

If Pokémon trusted their Trainer, then the Trainer had to answer that trust in turn.

Not long after, Lin Yan also arrived at the training grounds. Watching the Trainer and Pokémon in training, it seemed as though flames flickered in Lin Yan's eyes.

"Charmander, we need to work hard too!"

"Charmander!"

The Charmander beside him was also fired up. The flame on its tail blazed fiercely, growing much brighter.

Day after day passed, and only one day remained before the battle assessment.

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

"Seriously injured again. You and Lin Yan always train way too hard."

Teacher Li shook her head. Because their usual training intensity was too high, the Pokémon belonging to those two boys were badly injured every time. They also 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 training session, it had even split that Forged Steel Stone in two with a single Iron Tail, making Ye Lan's heart bleed.

Later, in battles against Charmander, Snivy lost more often than it won in the beginning due to the type disadvantage. This provoked the prideful Snivy even further. It was not until it learned Bind in later battles and mastered Glare through the Glare move that its overall strength surpassed Charmander's.

Looking at the Charmander beside him, which had fallen asleep from exhaustion after receiving treatment, Lin Yan also felt rather helpless.

Whenever Lin Yan and Ye Lan battled, they became intensely focused and had no intention of holding back. The two little ones were even more so; once they began fighting, they threw caution to the wind. After every battle, Ye Lan and Lin Yan had to visit the infirmary together to seek Audino's treatment. Because of that, they had also become familiar with Teacher Li.

"With Snivy and Charmander's current strength, it's already certain that you two will enter the elite class. You should rein yourselves in a little. It wouldn't be good to damage their foundations."

Seeing the two of them start reviewing their recent battle again, Teacher Li's face darkened.

More than half of her workload came from Ye Lan and Lin Yan. Fortunately, the two still had some conscience; whenever they came by, they knew to bring her lunch or dinner.

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

During this period of training, not only had Snivy's strength improved significantly, Ye Lan had also accumulated 39 Sunshine Points.

At first, Ye Lan had planned to use them on the Lucky Wheel, but after hesitating for a long time, he ultimately decided to unlock a new function.

Ye Lan had reason to suspect that when he unlocked the third function, the damn system would most likely double the Sunshine Points required to unlock other functions again. By then, he would have time to upgrade his existing functions and spin the Lucky Wheel.

"Ye Lan, for this assessment, aside from that Squirtle Trainer from Class Three, I can't think of anyone who could be your opponent," Lin Yan said with a teasing smile.

After spending some time together, Lin Yan and Ye Lan had become familiar with each other. Though Lin Yan still did not speak much, he was already much better than before.

"I heard that girl Trainer comes from a very wealthy Pokémon family. Her Squirtle has been fed a great deal of Water-type resources. It might be close to evolving already."

Teacher Li frowned. She had seen that Squirtle before. The energy inside its body was extremely unstable; it was obvious that its strength had been piled up by feeding it huge amounts of resources in a short period.

Not only would this leave its foundation unstable, but if it chose to evolve before reaching the limit of its current stage, it would be completely draining its potential in exchange for temporary power.

"As a member of a major family, shouldn't she have some connection to Breeders? How could they let her raise it like that?" Ye Lan asked in confusion.

"I heard her family is looking for a Pokémon with better potential for her. They don't think much of this Squirtle at all. They're just using it to let her test the waters."

"But even so, Ye Lan, you shouldn't let your guard down," Teacher Li added after thinking for a moment.

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

Ye Lan did not care much about it. There was no way he would sacrifice Snivy's potential just to take first place in an assessment. He would never do something so shortsighted.

Evening had arrived. After saying goodbye to the two of them, Ye Lan recalled Snivy into its Poké Ball and headed home.

Before the first-week battle assessment, the students were still commuting to and from school. Only after the assessment would dormitories be assigned according to the rankings.

It was said that the elite-class apartments housed only two students per dorm room, and every floor came with a small training area and battle field.

The ordinary apartments not only housed eight people in each room, but also had no special facilities on each floor. Their management was much stricter as well, unlike elite-class students, who could freely decide their own rest times each day.

This difference in treatment was meant to motivate students to keep improving and strive for a place in the elite class.

After simply preparing dinner for Snivy, Ye Lan looked at the remaining Moomoo Milk and could not help falling into thought.

Because Snivy had been training so intensely recently, the Moomoo Milk was being consumed much faster than expected.

Whenever Snivy completely exhausted its stamina, it needed to replenish its nutrition promptly. During this period, it had practically been drinking Moomoo Milk as if it were water. What was originally a month's supply now looked like it would not last much longer.

Still, the benefits were obvious. With high-intensity training and timely energy replenishment, the strength in Snivy's tail had increased by an unknown amount compared to when it had just been born.

Its physical strength had also clearly improved, and it was becoming increasingly adept at using Bind.

Snivy was developing from a haughty young lady into something capable of uprooting willow trees barehanded.