Signs of Evolution

For Baimu, the biggest benefit of meeting Dawn was gaining a training partner on par with a Pokémon Gym Leader.

Dawn was clearly used to being a coordinator.

Even when he did not ask, she would eagerly offer to help him train.

Of course.

He could not let her help for nothing.

Baimu felt bad about constantly troubling a young girl, so he found different ways to cook her something delicious in return.

Over time, Dawn seemed to start enjoying it.

The only problem was that she had trouble getting up in the morning. Her hair had a mind of its own, and every day she woke with it puffed out as though it had exploded. Getting ready took time.

Baimu thus witnessed the legendary, unenhanced "Flash" for himself.

Honestly, Dawn with an explosive mop of hair looked rather like an adorable cavewoman.

The days passed.

All the while, their main focus was undoubtedly turning Ice Punch from a contact move into a ranged one.

Progress was slow. Perhaps Mawile simply lacked experience with ranged attacks. She could even turn Fairy Wind into a half-contact move, so projecting Ice-type energy might have been too big a leap.

But failing to master a ranged Ice Punch did not mean she had gained nothing.

She learned a move Baimu had never expected—

Icy Wind.

It began when Mawile danced inside an icy cavern Buneary had made. She could enjoy some relief from the summer heat while getting a feel for the flow of Ice-type energy.

To their surprise, the two plastic fans she was using in place of wooden ones stirred up a cool breeze filled with snow, ice, and sparkles.

Baimu suspected it had something to do with Mawile's knack for manipulating wind.

In any case, if Ice Punch could not