Training Together

Among newly hatched Pokémon, Weedle's base stats were relatively low.

But no matter how low they were, there was always a standout among the weak. Speed was its strength.

And in battle, a Pokémon's speed was something that could never be ignored.

At the same time, running could improve overall physical fitness.

Twenty laps, with roughly fifty meters between the starting point and destination, made for a total of one thousand meters of training.

When Xia Yan shouted the command, "Run," he and Weedle shot forward together.

Weedle had been full of confidence at first, but after five laps, it was already beginning to regret it.

After ten laps, its speed had noticeably slowed.

But it was not the only one. Xia Yan had slowed as well, his face flushed red, sweat covering his forehead and the tip of his nose.

Xia Yan's body had already been frail beyond belief. Before he came to this world, the original owner had been on the verge of death. With such a body, after eating only a little over half a piece of bread yesterday, being able to run at all was already quite impressive.

But he had to admit that humans in this world seemed to have been affected by the dense Infinity Energy of the Pokémon World. His body was much stronger than Xia Yan had expected.

After all, some people could become ninjas through long-term professional training, even using their bodies to confront powerful Pokémon head-on.

Seeing that even Xia Yan was working this hard, Weedle gritted its teeth and persevered.

After fifteen laps, both human and Pokémon were nearing their limits.

A thousand meters might not sound like much, but one of them was a newly born Pokémon, while the other was a frail person who looked like he could be blown over by the wind. For them, it was absolutely a test.

This was only the beginning of their first training session. If they could not endure here, the whole session would fall apart.

"E-Endure. Endure, and only then can you be reborn after breaking out of your cocoon."

Xia Yan was breathing so heavily that he could practically hear his own heartbeat.

Even though he was so exhausted he was nearly suffocating, as a Pokémon Trainer, he had to set an example for Weedle during its first training session.

"Wuu!"

Weedle cried out, as if encouraging itself and cheering Xia Yan on at the same time.

Finally.

The twenty laps were over.

Weedle collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, while Xia Yan's chest heaved like a bellows and sweat poured down like rain.

Looking at Weedle lying on the ground, he said between gasps, "G-Get up! Walk around after running, or tomorrow, you won't be able to stand."

At his words, Weedle wore an aggrieved expression.

"Wuu, wuu."

It was truly exhausted. If it had not seen Xia Yan persisting, it would have given up long ago.

"Get up! Walk!"

Xia Yan's voice became extremely stern, leaving no room for doubt.

Indulging Weedle at a time like this would be irresponsible.

"Wuu..."

Weedle shrank back a little, but in the face of Xia Yan's severity, it still gritted its teeth and stood up.

Trembling and swaying, it began walking behind him.

Ten minutes later.

Both Xia Yan and Weedle's breathing had gradually returned to normal. Their whole bodies felt warm, as though a fire were burning within them.

"Next is your move training. First, String Shot accuracy. I'll throw stones into the air, and your task is to shoot silk at them and wrap them up."

A pile of stones had already been placed by his feet.

After the basic running training, Weedle understood that this was not a game. It would be hard and exhausting. Even before the later training began, it had already felt that much.

It wanted to protest, but every time the thought arose, it extinguished it itself.

Because Xia Yan was training alongside it, and as a human—an especially frail human—he was clearly more tired than it was.

If Xia Yan could persevere, what reason did it have to give up?

After all, the one who would ultimately benefit and grow from this training was itself.

"Get ready."

Picking up a stone and confirming that Weedle was ready, he threw the stones one after another.

At first, the frequency was low and the speed was slow, so Weedle's hit rate was high.

But gradually, as Xia Yan threw faster and faster, sending out stones in quick succession, Weedle's accuracy began to drop.

It started getting anxious too, becoming somewhat flustered.

"Calm down, steady yourself, don't panic! Watch the stones' trajectories clearly before you act. Sometimes, you can choose to give up on some of them."

Xia Yan's arms were bulging as he threw stones nonstop, switching from one hand to the other. It also placed no small demand on his stamina and arm strength.

But his reminder was very effective.

Weedle gradually settled down. Its small eyes stared fixedly at the stones. Though its accuracy was still not high, it had improved significantly.

At the very least, it was no longer panicking.

"Whether it's String Shot or Poison Sting, accuracy is very important. If you feel you don't have much silk left stored in your body, you can use Poison Sting instead."

"Wuu!" Weedle nodded heavily.

It stopped using String Shot. A purple glow appeared around the horn on its head, and Poison Stings flew out one after another.

It slowly entered a true training state.

As a Weedle that currently possessed only two moves, its margin for error in battle was already low. If its moves could not even hit the enemy, it would undoubtedly be at a severe disadvantage in battle.

After a while, all the stones by Xia Yan's feet had been thrown, and this stage of training came to an end.

"Very good. Remember that feeling just now. I need you to maintain that level of focus in every training session from now on."

"Wuu..."

Weedle was so exhausted that it could only respond weakly.

"Rest for ten minutes."

As though it had heard heavenly music, Weedle immediately flopped onto the ground.

Xia Yan hugged his knees and leaned against the tree trunk, taking the opportunity to train as well.

Very soon.

Ten minutes passed.

"Another twenty laps. Don't worry about speed, just finish them."

"Wuu!!"

Weedle's face was filled with despair.

But it still gritted its teeth and persisted.

It had no reason or excuse to give up, because no matter what it did, Xia Yan did it alongside it. He was obviously more exhausted, yet he set an excellent example.

After they finished running, they rested another ten minutes as usual.

"Next is the third stage. The task is simple: use your mouth to bite through that tree."

Xia Yan pointed to a small tree not far away, its trunk about as thick as the combined width of two normal human arms.

"Wuu?!"

Weedle looked utterly shocked. It pointed at the small tree, then gestured at its own tiny mouth.

It was simply outrageous.

Was it not asking too much to make it bite through such a thick tree with its mouth?

But Xia Yan remained unmoved. Once training began, he became an impartial Pokémon Trainer. He would not indulge his Pokémon in the slightest, nor would he go easy on himself.

"You currently only have String Shot and Poison Sting, but that doesn't mean you can only know two moves. Bug Bite is a relatively powerful and practical move for early-stage Bug-type Pokémon. To learn it, you first need a certain understanding of your biting ability."

After explaining briefly, he continued, "For the first time, I won't give you a time limit. Keep going until you bite all the way through. But next time, I'm afraid I'll set a time limit. Make sure you find the feeling during this first attempt!"

Weedle pursed its mouth. Though unwilling, it still did as Xia Yan instructed.

"While you train, I won't stop either. Whenever you bite through it, that's when I'll stop training."

Looking at the somewhat weak and limp Weedle, Xia Yan finished speaking, bent down, and began doing push-ups.

"Wuu?!"

Weedle turned around in surprise.

With Xia Yan's body, he was going to keep training.

Weedle immediately shook its head, then rushed to the little tree and bit down hard.

Xia Yan used his actions to force Weedle to speed up.

The tacit understanding between Pokémon Trainer and Pokémon also continued to grow through training.

The sun set, and the full moon hung high.

The three stages from earlier made up one round of training.

And today, Xia Yan and Weedle completed two rounds in total.

For them, it was an enormous torment both physically and mentally.

After it ended, they collapsed onto the ground without even a trace of strength left to move.

Looking up at the brilliant stars in the night sky.

"The moon is still rounder back home."

"Wuu?"

"Hungry? Let's go back and eat!"

"Wuu!!"

Weedle cheered, as if all its strength had suddenly returned.

Pokémon recovered faster than humans. Xia Yan no longer even had the strength to stand, yet Weedle was still full of life.

"Looks like you still have plenty of stamina. I underestimated you. Tomorrow, we'll increase the training volume. Four rounds!"

"Wuu!!!"

Weedle wailed in despair.

"Let's go home." Xia Yan shakily got to his feet, picked up Weedle, and headed toward the little rundown house.

As he walked, his fingers gently pressed against Weedle's body, easing its fatigue.

He had no experience with Pokémon massage, but he knew to observe Weedle's changing expressions and reactions to understand where massaging would make it feel more comfortable.

"Wuu~~"

Weedle moaned, experiencing what it meant to be in pain yet happy.