A month flew by. The Pokémon Contest in Pacifidlog Town drew closer, and the Pokémon's progress was plain to see.
After all that special training, the two little Vulpix had improved by leaps and bounds.
Little Ice Vulpix could now control her Snow Warning ability with ease.
Instead of simply letting snow fall, she could gather some of the snowflakes around her into tiny icicles and weave them into Icy Wind.
Whenever she used Icy Wind and blew out a breath of cold air, the icicles shot forward on the biting gust.
She still couldn't freeze a vast stretch of seawater in an instant and raise a spectacular ice wall like Milotic, but she could leave a fine layer of frost on the crests of the waves.
The waves had been surging toward the beach, ready to crash against the shore.
But when the icicle-laden wind struck them, the leading crests seemed to slow down, their rolling motion visibly easing.
Spray froze into tiny crystals in midair and pattered back onto the water, draping the waves in a thin veil of ice.
Little Ice Vulpix had also learned Ice Beam from Milotic.
A pale-blue beam shot from her mouth and instantly froze a patch of the sea's surface.
Little Ice Vulpix had even picked up the basics of Rain Dance and Draining Kiss.
The former brought light rain to a small area. In snowy weather, it created a mist of ice that made her figure seem hazy and impossible to pin down.
The latter deepened her grasp of Fairy-type energy, letting her attack an enemy and recover a little of her own strength.
She had only just learned the two moves, and her use of them was still rough. But for a baby Vulpix, she was already doing remarkably well.