Ding! Steelix finished training! Gained 10 Training Points and a small amount of experience! Skill proficiency increased! Ding! Marshtomp finished training! Gained 15 Training Points and a small amount of experience! Skill proficiency increased! Ding! Aron finished training! Gained 10 Training Points and a moderate amount of experience! Skill proficiency increased! Ding! Aron leveled up! Current level: 21! Awarded 100 Training Points!
Through constant training, all three Pokémon had made progress.
Steelix's resistance to water had improved significantly. It seemed to have adapted to the seawater pounding against its body, and its proficiency with Earthquake and Sand Tomb had also increased. It could now skillfully control their range and intensity, gaining a basic grasp of how to use Ground-type energy. However, as its level and strength rose, ordinary training was gradually losing its effectiveness.
As the move specialist on Yong's team, Marshtomp had spent the past two days not only building strength through weighted training, but also further improving its proficiency with Fighting-type moves. Its Superpower was looking quite polished. Thanks to Yong's earlier suggestion, it had also tried to gain a deeper, mental understanding of the ocean's power, even diving into the depths to feel the movement of the currents. The perceptive Marshtomp hadn't disappointed him! When it appeared before Yong again, it had actually learned a new move!
Dive!
This showed that its understanding and use of Water-type energy had advanced even further!
Of course, like Steelix, Marshtomp's development had become lopsided. It relied too heavily on Fighting-type moves while neglecting its Ground-type abilities. This forced Yong to make a last-minute decision: Marshtomp would join Steelix and Aron's free training underground at night, practicing Ground-type moves alongside them. With Steelix guiding it, he believed it would improve quickly as well.
Perhaps it would even learn Dig tomorrow?
Yong looked forward to that day.
As for Aron, its current training wasn't particularly intense. Its main task was to become proficient with the moves it already knew. Its second task was to eat!
Eat nonstop!
Of the nearly 300 kilograms of ore, it ate almost 20 kilograms per meal. Add in Pokémon food and Pokéblocks, and Yong was already considering whether he should get a part-time job in the future, as well as find some scrap metal for Aron in addition to iron ore.
Fortunately, the little one needed a long time to absorb each meal and basically only ate once a day, so he could still just about keep it supplied. After all, the Aron stage was when it needed to grow and build its foundation. He couldn't let it go without nutrition or food!
And so, training reached its fourth day, and Chengjie came down to the shore as well.
"Whoa! Yong, Steelix is a Ground-type, right? Is it really okay to leave it soaking in the water like that? Won't it hate you?"
Watching Steelix train its resistance to water, Chengjie spoke to Yong, who was coaching Aron through its training.
"It's fine. It's already used to it. I had it train like this when it was little. Why don't you let Sandslash give it a try?"
"No, no, no! Sandslash won't even go near water. If I made it train like that, it would hit me with a Poison Dragon Drill!"
He waved his hands in alarm, then looked at Steelix with envy.
"Getting a Rock- and Ground-type Onix to train in the water... that's seriously impressive!"
Hearing this, Yong turned toward Steelix and smiled as he recalled the past.
"Yeah. Even though Onix and I grew up together, getting it into the water for the first time still took a lot of work. I really had to put in the effort!"
Chengjie nodded, then looked over at Marshtomp, which was standing amid the waves and repeatedly chopping at the sea. With each strike, the water split apart!
"Everyone's working so hard! All right, we can't fall behind either!"
With that, he took out his Pokémon Balls and tossed them into the air.
"Come on out! Sandslash! Hitmonlee!"
"Kuga!"
"Chaa!"
"Huh? You didn't bring Machop?"
Yong asked when he saw them.
"Mom kept it at home. She said it needed recovery training, and home would be a better place for that!"
After answering, Chengjie stepped forward and pointed at the Pokémon in training, looking at his two partners with burning enthusiasm.
"Sandslash! Follow Steelix's example! The sea is where you belong!"
"Kuga???"
Sandslash looked at its trainer as though he were an idiot, then glanced at Steelix and shuddered. It quietly headed toward the side closer to the mountain, dug a hole, and slipped inside. Just like that, it ran away...
"Hahaha!"
"Kwak, kwak!"
Seeing this, Yong and Aron burst out laughing!
It took a long while before Yong caught his breath. Watching Chengjie call Sandslash out of the hole with a dark expression, he said,
"Chengjie! You... no wonder Sandslash ran away! You have to take it step by step. You can't just make a Ground-type Pokémon start water-resistance training right away. First, you have to let it get familiar with water and understand it, until it stops resisting and feeling afraid!"
"I get it..."
He nodded gloomily, then spoke to Sandslash, which was still trying to escape.
"I won't force you. Just stay on the beach near the water and do strength training! Is that okay?"
"Kuga..."
Sandslash reluctantly agreed and shuffled forward a little at a time. Whenever a wave rolled in, it froze in place.
Chengjie shrugged helplessly and could only let it move a little farther away. Otherwise, it wouldn't be able to train at all.
Hitmonlee, on the other hand, obediently walked into the shallows and began practicing its kicks against the waves, giving the boy some small comfort.
"It's all right. Take it slowly. Don't force it to obey. A Pokémon's habits are hard to change!"
Yong walked over to comfort Chengjie and gave him an understanding pat.
"All we can do is discover their weaknesses and then minimize them as much as possible, rather than force them to change."
"Yeah, I understand!"
Letting out a breath, Chengjie watched everyone training and cheered up again.
"Yong, you said you've already earned a badge, right?"
"Yeah, the Stone Badge from Rustboro!"
"Hehe, perfect. I earned the Dynamo Badge earlier, too, so we're starting from the same line."
"Yeah!"
Yong nodded and asked,
"Then do you want to travel together after this?"
"No."
Chengjie shook his head.
"You're probably heading north to Lavaridge Town next, right? As it happens, I'm going south to Dewford Town-your hometown!"
"Oh?"
Yong ventured a guess.
"Is it because of the Dewford Gym?"
"That's only part of it."
Chengjie wagged a finger and raised his head with an air of mystery.
"Challenging the Gym and getting some Fighting-type training at the Dewford Gym while I'm there! That's just one of my goals! I have another reason, too! I heard Hitmontop and Makuhita have been spotted in Granite Cave!"
"So that's it!"
Yong smiled in understanding. Everyone had their own goals, and he was no different. Wasn't he heading out for the Desert Ruins himself?
"Then good luck!"
"You too, future Elite Four member!"
"Hahahaha!"
The two exchanged smiles. For the sake of their respective dreams, they would take different paths toward the same goal!
Just then, Chengjie suddenly spoke in a mysterious tone.
"Yong, have you heard the legend of New Mauville?"