First Signs of Sharpness, Aiming for the Rock Gym

Time slipped quietly away amid the sound of waterfalls in Petalburg Woods. Half a month passed like ripples on a pool's surface—seemingly calm, yet leaving clear marks on the two Pokémon.

For more than half a month, Lin Mo had brought the two Pokémon to train by the waterfall pool almost every day.

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There were no livestream cameras pointed at them, no viewer comments urging them on or cheering. There was only sunlight, rushing water, and the focused figures of the two little ones training.

Although Lin Mo had not gone live, he edited together clips of Tyrantrum and Feebas's training after each day's session and posted them to his account to keep the buzz alive.

Sometimes, it was Tyrantrum practicing Dragon Dance atop a rock, its short legs moving with an increasingly steady rhythm amid swirling red light. Other times, it was a distant shot of Feebas creating a tidal waterspout in the pool, its diameter visibly growing larger and its rotation becoming more stable.

These clips contained no commentary, yet they were enough to set the viewers' imaginations running wild—

"Long time no see! Tyrantrum's Dragon Dance looks so much more proficient now! It was still clumsy when it used it last time, but now it's really got the moves!"

"Why has Feebas been training Whirlpool the whole time? It won't get far in a Pokémon Contest with just that one move, will it?"

"The person above, it definitely knows more than just one move. The streamer must be holding back some big secret!"

"Streamer, tell us already! What ultimate move have you been secretly practicing? You haven't streamed in so many days—I'm dying here!"

"Looking at Tyrantrum, it's grown quite a bit. It really is getting more handsome the longer I look at it. I want one so badly."

"The Pokémon Contest is about to begin. When is the streamer going to challenge a Gym?"

"..."

More and more speculation filled the comments. Rather than declining because of the hiatus, the account's popularity continued to rise because of the mystery.

Riding on the influence of Champion Steven and Tyrantrum, this brand-new fossil Pokémon, Lin Mo's follower count had unknowingly surpassed five hundred thousand.

At that moment, in Petalburg Woods.

At the center of the pool, Feebas was still training its ice-and-water combination move.

It first swam to the surface and gently flicked its fins. A vortex of water spun in response to its motions, forming a waterspout roughly three meters tall.

The waterspout was not rotating especially fast this time, but every stream of water seemed to be pulled by invisible threads, steadily maintaining its shape.

"Now!"

Lin Mo's voice rang out from the shore.

Feebas shot out of the water, its body tracing a purple arc through the air as it sprayed Icy Wind at the outer layer of the waterspout created by Whirlpool.

The instant the frigid current met the water, it did not freeze immediately. Instead, it slowly spread along the curve of the vortex—

A thick shell of ice climbed upward from the base. The paths of the swirling water could be clearly seen through the transparent ice, as though the flowing waterspout had been fitted with crystal armor.

Five centimeters, ten centimeters... The ice shell was much thicker than it had been half a month ago, yet it remained beautifully translucent.

More importantly, Feebas precisely controlled the frozen area, allowing the water within to continue spinning at just the right speed.

Sunlight passed through the icy shell of the waterspout, refracting into scattered patches of light tinged with the colors of a rainbow. They drifted slowly with the water inside, as though outlining the ice-covered waterspout with a flowing band of color.

"Keep it up!"

Lin Mo clenched his fist.

This time, the ice shell did not shatter within two seconds like it had the first time.

Five seconds, ten seconds, fifteen seconds... It was not until the eighteenth second that the first crack appeared at the top of the ice shell.

But Feebas had been prepared. It gently moved its fins, controlling Whirlpool's energy output to gradually slow the water flow inside the waterspout while withdrawing the energy from Icy Wind.

The ice shell did not break apart with a sharp crack. Instead, as the two moves weakened, it peeled away layer by layer and melted, finally turning into a sky full of icy mist and droplets that scattered in the sunlight.

The entire process resembled a carefully designed finale, possessing both the beauty of destruction and an air of elegance.

"Amazing!" Lin Mo could not help applauding.

Feebas poked its head out of the water and happily flicked its tail at him. Its once dull gray scales seemed to have gained a faint, lustrous sheen after prolonged nourishment from energy. It still could not be called beautiful, but it now possessed a warm, refined texture.

Meanwhile, atop the rocks on the other side of the waterfall, Tyrantrum's training was also nearing its end.

It stood at the top of a boulder and took a deep breath. A dense red glow instantly flared around its body.

With a clear "Awoo!", it began the steps of Dragon Dance. This time, its movements no longer carried the awkwardness of half a month ago. It had gradually integrated Dragon Dance into its own natural motions.

Whenever Tyrantrum swayed its head, the small orange horn on its forehead glimmered faintly, as though draconic might were gathering within it. When it swung its tail, the gusts it created were strong enough to send loose stones by the pool rolling.

Its limbs struck the rock with even, steady force, every step like a war drum booming in the depths of the earth.

The red light around its body grew ever brighter, and its movements became faster and faster. As it leaped between the rocks around the pool, faint afterimages even appeared from time to time—

This was the result of Tyrantrum's training. Without realizing it, it had already used Dragon Dance twice in succession.

After finishing the dance, Tyrantrum did not stop. Borrowing the boost granted by Dragon Dance, it suddenly charged at a waist-high boulder nearby.

The moment it reached it, it opened its jaws. A visible layer of white frost covered its teeth—not the fleeting chill from half a month ago, but Ice-type energy that could remain on its fangs.

Tyrantrum bit down viciously on the rock.

With a crisp crack, its teeth left a clear bite mark in the hard stone. Fine ice crystals formed around the mark, showing that Ice Fang's chill had seeped into the rock itself.

Tyrantrum shook its head, smugly flicked its tail, and then used Dragon Tail on the boulder.

With a dull boom, the waist-high boulder was smashed into fragments and scattered around the pool.

Tyrantrum then ran proudly up to Lin Mo, as though showing off how strong it had become.

"Not bad, not bad. Very good, Tyrantrum. You're getting stronger and stronger now!"

Hearing the praise, Tyrantrum immediately ran to Lin Mo's side and rubbed its head against his arm, acting cute.

Over the past half month, it had grown noticeably larger and was now nearly sixty centimeters tall. The metallic sheen of its scales had become more pronounced, its limbs had grown thick and powerful, and its short legs moved incredibly fast whenever it ran.

Its formerly round head had lengthened slightly, and the little orange horn on its forehead had grown thicker as well. Though it still looked adorable, the sharpness in its eyes could no longer be concealed.

Especially when it used Ice Fang, a cold gleam appeared in its amber eyes, giving it some of the intimidating presence of an ancient apex predator.

"All right, that's enough training for today!" Lin Mo looked at the sky. "Tomorrow, we'll head to the Pokémon Center in Rustboro City to officially register for the Pokémon Contest, then challenge Roxanne's Rock Gym."

Upon hearing that, Feebas happily swam a circle around the pool before taking the initiative to swim back into its inflatable fish tank.

Tyrantrum rubbed against Lin Mo's arm, making contented little rumbling sounds in its throat.

The fragmentary updates from the past half month had pushed the fans' anticipation to its peak. On the account's backend, countless private messages arrived every day asking, "When are you streaming?" and "What date is the Gym battle?"

Watching the message notifications constantly pop up on the account backend, a faint smile appeared on Lin Mo's lips.

It was time.

More than half a month of tempering was enough for these two fledgling "blades" to reveal their own sharp edges.

Miss Roxanne's Rock Gym and the spotlight of the Pokémon Contest would be the perfect stage for them.

Lin Mo looked down at Tyrantrum circling at his feet, then stroked the quietly waiting Feebas in the inflatable fish tank and softly said:

"Are you ready? Our first official performance is about to begin."

Tyrantrum rubbed against his arm and answered with a series of low roars, while Feebas gently swished its tail and bumped the tank wall, as though nodding.

The evening breeze of Petalburg Woods carried the fresh fragrance of grass and trees as it brushed over the boy and his two Pokémon, accompanying them toward Rustboro City.