The first training session

Still, Shen Yue's eventual victory had hardly been easy. With Quick Attack at its disposal, Froakie's mobility had improved dramatically, making it almost impossible for Charmander's Ember to hit. Charmander had been forced to hide in Smokescreen and wait for an opening to counterattack when Froakie struck. Since Froakie had yet to learn any ranged moves, it could only charge in and fight head-on.

Normally, that would not have been much of a problem. With Agility, Froakie would have held the advantage in a drawn-out fight. But none of them had expected the newly hatched Charmander to have already mastered not only Smokescreen, but even the Dragon-type move Dragon Breath. When the unprepared Froakie charged into the smoke for the final time, Charmander seized the opportunity and blasted Dragon Breath straight into its face. That single hit knocked it out completely. Charmander had certainly kept its cards well hidden.

After a short rest, they returned to the registration desk to finish the remaining paperwork, then headed home separately. Xiao Ran spent the evening putting together individual training plans for their Pokémon. Raising Pokémon was not as simple as fighting monsters to level up in a game. This was the real world. Fighting alone did nothing beyond improving combat experience and accumulating hidden injuries. Proper training was the key to growing stronger.

"What do you think? This is your training plan from now on! Ready to get stronger?" Xiao Ran waved the notebook with a picture of Primarina on its cover as he spoke to Popplio, who was soaking in a basin.

"Aaoo!" Popplio drew herself upright with an imposing air and let out an excited cry.

Popplio's hardworking nature really did make her well suited to training. Unlike the laziness found in other Pokémon and humans, her entire species was diligent and eager to improve. Even though Xiao Ran had not given her any training plans over the past two days, she had tirelessly practiced making water balloons in her basin. Sometimes, seeing how hard she worked made him feel too embarrassed to slack off himself.

Choosing Popplio as my starter Pokémon seems to have been a great decision. With such a hardworking big sister setting an example, the Pokémon who join us later should become diligent too, right? Xiao Ran thought as he watched the excited Popplio. Inside its incubator, Eevee shivered for no apparent reason.

The following day, Xiao Ran and Ye Ling brought their Pokémon to a river beside their residential complex. Froakie and Popplio were both Water-type Pokémon, so their early training methods had certain things in common.

"First comes physical conditioning. Your body is the foundation of everything, so you'll swim along this lake for an hour every morning. Lingling and I will run alongside you on the bank," Xiao Ran said as he placed the two little Pokémon in the river.

"Froak!" "Aaoo!"

Neither objected, and both jumped into the lake and began swimming. Popplio was hardworking by nature, while Froakie was still frustrated over losing yesterday's battle. Both were determined to grow stronger.

"Sneasel, sorry for the trouble, but could you keep time for us?" Xiao Ran asked Sneasel, who had come along.

Sneasel's energy level was too high. What it needed now was a breakthrough, not training, so it would not be training for the time being. It would wait until after the rookie tournament to make its breakthrough, then begin its own journey toward greater strength. For now, all it could do was help the other Pokémon train.

Although this was only a morning run along the riverbank, they still needed to record the relevant data. Stamina was not the only thing Popplio and Froakie needed to improve; they also needed speed. That made steadily increasing their swimming speed essential.

An hour passed quickly. The distance was not difficult for Ye Ling or Xiao Ran, but it was a different story for Froakie and Popplio. Both were very young and had never undergone such intense training before. Swimming for an hour straight was no small challenge for them, and by the time it was over, both were floating on the river like dead fish.

"All right, stop lying around on the river. Come up and have something to eat, and I'll give you a massage." After a brief rest, Xiao Ran took the Pokéblocks he had prepared out of his bag and called to the two little Pokémon.

"Aaoo!" "Froak!"

Hearing there was food, the two perked up a little and climbed out of the river.

Pokéblocks were something humans had learned to make from the secret realms, and making them was a required skill for every Pokémon Breeder. They could quickly replenish the energy a Pokémon's body needed while also speeding up energy absorption. As a result, Pokéblocks had become the most commonly used Pokémon Food during training and extended trips away from home.

Pokéblocks came in four grades: low, intermediate, high, and perfect. Each grade contained a different amount of energy, with the distinction lying in how that energy was extracted and compressed.

Pokéblocks were made from Berries, with each batch requiring roughly two to four. A finished low-grade Pokéblock had to retain at least sixty percent of the Berries' energy to qualify. Intermediate-grade ones needed to retain eighty percent, while high-grade ones required over ninety-five percent. These three grades were all determined by the purity achieved when extracting energy from the Berries.

Perfect-grade Pokéblocks, on the other hand, required the Berry energy to be compressed while maintaining a purity of over ninety-five percent. In other words, where a high-grade Pokéblock could originally be made with just two Berries, a perfect-grade one required at least four, while still maintaining no less than ninety-five percent purity.

Perfect-grade Pokéblocks were the true test of a Pokémon Breeder's Pokéblock-making ability. A perfect-grade Pokéblock made with twice the usual materials was called a tier-one perfect-grade Pokéblock. Likewise, one made with three times the usual materials was called a tier-two perfect-grade Pokéblock, and so on...

The higher the tier of a perfect-grade Pokéblock, the more refined the energy a Pokémon could experience. This was highly beneficial for improving its strength and control over energy. Low- through high-grade Pokéblocks, by comparison, could only replenish energy and accelerate its absorption and recovery.

Naturally, Xiao Ran had brought out perfect-grade Pokéblocks. Although they were only tier one, they were more than sufficient for Pokémon below the entry level. Higher-quality perfect-grade Pokéblocks contained so much energy that low-level Pokémon actually struggled to absorb it.

"Aaoo!" After finishing their Pokéblocks, the two little Pokémon lay on the ground and enjoyed massages from Xiao Ran and Ye Ling.

This was a skill every trainer and Pokémon Breeder had to master. It effectively relieved physical fatigue, prevented hidden injuries from accumulating, and accelerated energy absorption. Otherwise, prolonged high-intensity training would leave both humans and Pokémon with plenty of hidden injuries.

"One hour and thirteen minutes, ten trips back and forth, and an average speed of less than one meter per second. Too slow." After finishing the massage, Xiao Ran took the record book from Sneasel and frowned.

"Mm!" Ye Ling nodded. They had calculated the distance beforehand: each trip was three hundred meters. At less than one meter per second, the two aquatic Pokémon could not even swim as fast as their human trainers could run. That clearly would not do.

"Aaoo..." "Froak..."

The two little Pokémon lowered their heads in shame. They knew they had not performed well.

"But it's all right. This is only your first day. You'll definitely get stronger," Xiao Ran said encouragingly as he put down the notebook.

"Aaoo!" "Froak!"

At Xiao Ran's words, the two little Pokémon let out determined cries.

"Now, next up is your individual training." Xiao Ran nodded and continued.

With their general training complete, it was time for their respective exercises, which they could no longer do together. In Xiao Ran's plan, Froakie needed to master the ranged move Bubble first. Otherwise, it would find itself on the back foot again, just as it had against Charmander yesterday. Popplio, meanwhile, needed to make her water balloons faster, learn to use them proficiently, and practice using her Egg Move, Life Dew.

Life Dew was Popplio's Egg Move. By creating water droplets imbued with life force, she could restore a target's vitality. Later, combining it with Rain Dance could even allow her to heal an entire group. It was an exceptionally powerful recovery move.

At present, however, the Life Dew Popplio could produce really was nothing more than a single drop of water imbued with life force. It also took quite some time to make, rendering it completely impractical in an actual battle.

As for water balloons, they were Popplio's greatest means of maintaining mobility on land. Her species was not naturally very mobile on the ground, but with water balloons, Popplio could reach speeds surpassing even Flying-type Pokémon. As long as they made their water balloons quickly enough and could bounce high enough, they could outpace anything.

"First, water balloon training. Bounce back and forth across the water ten times without falling in. Ready... start!" Xiao Ran called to Popplio with a stopwatch in hand.

Simply having Popplio practice making water balloons was pointless. Putting them to practical use was best, so steadily increasing the speed at which she bounced back and forth across the water would provide effective training. After all, short bursts of high-speed movement like these were what she would use most often in battle.

"Aaoo!" Popplio let out a happy cry. Water balloons emerged one after another from the red nose at the front of her face, then swiftly moved beneath her body. She flattened them and sprang upward with their bounce, like a sprite dancing through the air. For a moment, the grueling training held a touch of beauty.