Special Training by the Sea

After a short rest, Bai Shi took his Pokémon back into special training.

Their training ground was still Sandgem Beach.

"Starly, use Wing Attack!"

Bai Shi threw the Frisbee in his hand into the sky and called out to Starly.

"Star~"

At his command, Starly burst forward, caught up with the Frisbee, and swung its wings hard, knocking it back to the ground.

"Dunsparce, could you please fetch that Frisbee for me?"

Once the Frisbee landed, Bai Shi spoke to Dunsparce beside him.

Dunsparce shifted its body and slowly crawled toward where the Frisbee had fallen.

The soft sand meant that moving took more effort for Dunsparce.

On top of that, Bai Shi had forbidden it from using Dig.

That made every bit of movement especially taxing for Dunsparce.

Once it finally managed to retrieve the Frisbee, Bai Shi would throw it again.

After repeating this a few times, the two Pokémon switched roles.

Dunsparce used Mud-Slap to knock the Frisbee down.

Then Starly, wearing training weights, had to retrieve it.

This allowed him to train both Pokémon at once.

It developed their stamina and speed while also improving their proficiency with their moves.

Two birds with one stone.

So far, the training had produced good results.

Dunsparce's Mud-Slap had become noticeably more accurate.

It no longer relied entirely on luck to hit its target.

Starly's speed had also improved a little.

Beyond that, Bai Shi had prepared several other training exercises.

He hoped to further improve both Pokémon's strength.

That would give him a stronger foundation when he looked for work later.

Of course, training like this required slow, steady effort.

It was difficult to make a Pokémon dramatically stronger in a short time.

For rapid improvements, he would have to rely on evolution or learning new moves.

The former was difficult to control and required the right circumstances.

Bai Shi could only pin his hopes on the latter.

Dunsparce had yet to fully master its moves, so it still had plenty of room to improve through further practice.

Starly, on the other hand, was improving more slowly, and it was already proficient with most of the moves it knew.

It was time for it to learn a new move.

The Flying-type move Aerial Ace was a good choice for Starly.

Bai Shi had already prepared the training equipment for it.

He had specifically bought an adjustable high jump stand to help Starly practice Aerial Ace.

First, Starly would climb high into the sky, then dive.

Just before making contact with the ground, it would abruptly change direction and accelerate again.

It would sweep beneath the high jump bar at an even greater speed.

Then it would unleash its accumulated power on the target Bai Shi had set up.

Bai Shi had learned this training method from the anime.

Ash had once used it to help Swellow successfully learn Aerial Ace.

It had left a deep impression on Bai Shi before he crossed into this world.

Now, Bai Shi had recreated it from memory.

He wanted to let his own Pokémon test how well it worked.

Bai Shi thought Starly would get the hang of it quickly.

Reality, however, proved otherwise.

Starly ran into considerable difficulty right from the start of its Aerial Ace training.

During its rapid descent, Starly struggled to get the timing right.

It often overdid it and plunged straight into the ground.

Fortunately, Bai Shi had taken precautions and laid mats on the beach beforehand.

Otherwise, Starly would have ended up just like a crashed plane.

Several consecutive attempts all ended in failure.

To keep Starly from getting injured, Bai Shi had no choice but to suspend the training.

He began considering how to improve the method.

Starly's Quick Attack is somewhat similar to Aerial Ace. Both involve acceleration.

But Quick Attack accelerates in a straight line.

Aerial Ace is much more complicated. It requires a sharp change in direction, followed by a second burst of acceleration.

Maybe I can start there.

At that thought, Bai Shi's eyes lit up.

He decided to help Starly learn Aerial Ace by building on what it already knew.

He asked Starly to make a slight change in direction while using Quick Attack.

Instead of a single straight burst of acceleration, it would accelerate in two stages along a curved path.

That would produce an effect similar to Aerial Ace.

Once Starly mastered this modified Quick Attack, they would resume the earlier Aerial Ace training.

Only after this change in approach did Starly's training begin to show progress.

Starly was clearly more comfortable with the new method.

Through persistent effort, Starly finally made a breakthrough.

By now, it could perform a version of Quick Attack that included a slight change in direction.

As time passed, Starly grew increasingly proficient with the move.

Its changes in direction gradually became sharper as well.

Seeing this, Bai Shi resumed its Aerial Ace training.

Having learned from their failures, however, Bai Shi made a few adjustments to the training method.

He repeatedly reminded Starly not to accelerate at full power during its descent, but to hold something back and leave itself room to turn.

They would practice Aerial Ace step by step.

He did not expect Starly to master Aerial Ace in one go.

Together with its experience training the upgraded Quick Attack, this helped.

Before long, Starly began to get the hang of it.

It had gained the basic ability to make sharp turns while moving at high speed.

The beginnings of Aerial Ace were already taking shape.

The only unresolved problem was that Starly could not maintain its balance during the second burst of acceleration, causing it to veer off course.

It could not reliably sweep beneath the high jump bar and hit the target Bai Shi had set up.

There are still some serious problems with the transition from low-altitude flight to the second acceleration.

Starly will have trouble getting the timing right on its own in such a short time.

Maybe I can do what Ash did and use my commands to guide Starly's attack.

In the anime, Ash's Swellow had encountered a similar problem.

In the end, Ash had solved it perfectly with this method.

"Starly, try again!"

Following Bai Shi's command, Starly flew high into the sky once more.

Then it dove toward the ground at tremendous speed.

Just before hitting the ground, it changed direction, tracing an L-shaped flight path.

Maintaining a steady speed, it flew toward the high jump stand.

"Go, Starly!"

The instant it swept beneath the high jump bar, Bai Shi shouted.

Trusting Bai Shi, Starly obeyed without hesitation and accelerated sharply.

It became a blur, sweeping past the target Bai Shi had set up with a piercing rush of air.

Its left wing clipped the target and knocked it to the ground.

"Good! You're almost there!"

At the sight, Bai Shi clenched his fist and exclaimed in delight.

If they kept training this way, mastering Aerial Ace would only be a matter of time.

Bai Shi believed that day was not far off.