A new training method

After a whole morning of roughhousing, Chu Xin's clothes had been burned to tatters by Xiao Wu's Dragon Rage, and much of his hair had been singed off. Give him a little chipped bowl, and he could have gone begging on the streets.

Aier helplessly tidied up Chu Xin's clothes. She had never expected Xiao Wu to be so ruthless. Although Chu Xin had suffered no serious injuries, he had certainly endured his share of pain.

Had she known, Aier would have stopped them sooner. After all their roughhousing, she was still the one who had to clean up the mess. Everything ended up falling to her.

Chu Xin felt just as helpless. Although the furious Xiao Wu's pursuit had left him without any real injuries, running for so long had left every part of his body exhausted.

Xiao Wu held its head high as it looked at Chu Xin's miserable state, without the slightest guilt. That's what he gets for lying to me! Anyone who tricks Xiao Wu out of food deserves to be punished!

Still, their morning of roughhousing had not been fruitless. Xiao Wu had fully gotten the hang of using Dragon Rage, though its power was still somewhat lacking. The next step was to train the move.

At that thought, Chu Xin suddenly felt that his miserable condition was not such a big deal. For Xiao Wu as it was now, Dragon Rage was definitely a move that could decide a battle, making it crucial to the training Chu Xin had planned.

That afternoon, Chu Xin cleaned himself up and brought Xiao Wu back to the sports field. Despite Aier's efforts to tidy him up, his hair still looked wretched after being burned by Dragon Rage.

Chu Xin helplessly touched his hair. It looked no different from a lawn that had been run over by a mower. It really ruined his looks!

Still, there were only him and Aier in the villa, so no one else would know.

Chu Xin had no idea that his father, Chu Lian, had installed cameras in the villa specifically to keep an eye on his daily life. His current appearance was on full display to his mother, Tian Shuyao. She found her son's bedraggled look hilarious and immediately took a screenshot to use as her screensaver.

Ignoring his messy hair, Chu Xin looked at Xiao Wu with a serious expression.

"Xiao Wu, the next task will be a little difficult. Can you do it?"

Xiao Wu: (⊙﹏⊙)

"Wu~!" (No, Xiao Wu doesn't want to suffer!)

It's not like I'm making you play Sekiro. It's just Pokémon training. Do you really need to be this scared?

Seeing how frightened Xiao Wu was, Chu Xin wondered how he was supposed to train it if this kept up!

There was no other choice. With a big enough reward, a reckless dragon was sure to step forward!

"Ten Pokéblocks!"

Ten!

A meal was three Pokéblocks, and a whole day only added up to nine. This one training session would earn ten!

A three-hundred-percent profit!

I'm in!

Xiao Wu: (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و ok

Sure enough, luring Xiao Wu with Pokéblocks was the best choice. The gluttonous little Pokémon could never resist the temptation of food!

Being a Pokémon Trainer was just like being a parent. You had to strike decisively at your child's weaknesses to get good results.

I really am so experienced!

Now that Xiao Wu was willing to cooperate, it smoothly completed the tasks Chu Xin assigned next.

First came a few laps around the sports field to build stamina. Physical conditioning could never be neglected, no matter the circumstances.

Next, Chu Xin took out the weakest paralysis potion he had requested from his maid, Aier.

"Xiao Wu, drink this."

Xiao Wu stared at the potion in Chu Xin's hand with big, watery eyes. No matter how it looked at it, that did not seem tasty. But for the Pokéblocks, it would risk it!

The moment a mouthful of potion went down its throat, Xiao Wu collapsed on the ground.

"Wu!" (You really did poison me!)

〒▽〒

"It's all right. This potion only puts you in a state of paralysis. It won't hurt you at all."

Chu Xin patiently soothed Xiao Wu, and sure enough, it recovered shortly afterward.

Watching Xiao Wu recover, Chu Xin nodded. It was just as he had expected.

This paralysis potion could keep a Pokémon paralyzed for three minutes, but Xiao Wu had shaken off the paralysis in just one minute. Was this indeed the effect of its Shed Skin Ability?

As Dratini's Ability, Shed Skin could cure any status condition other than fainting on each turn. It was quite a powerful Ability.

That description of the Ability applied to the games, however. In the real world, Pokémon with Shed Skin could recover from status conditions during battle, just as Xiao Wu had now.

Chu Xin was training Xiao Wu's control over its Ability. Although Abilities seemed like passive skills in the games, he believed that enough training would surely allow it to master turning its Ability's passive effect into an active one.

In the anime, Ash's Greninja had likewise developed the special Ability Battle Bond through training, then learned to use it proficiently to raise its strength.

Although Chu Xin did not expect Xiao Wu to develop a special Ability, mastering its own Ability was very important.

For the rest of the session, Chu Xin kept training Xiao Wu's Shed Skin Ability, while also making it exercise under paralysis. It might have seemed deliberately harsh, but this too was part of his training for Xiao Wu.

As a Dratini, besides Shed Skin, it also possessed the Hidden Ability Marvel Scale.

Marvel Scale could increase the defense of a Pokémon afflicted with a status condition. In the games, it multiplied defense by 1.5, making it another powerful Ability. That was why Chu Xin was also training Xiao Wu's control over its Hidden Ability.

If Xiao Wu could master both Abilities, it could use Shed Skin to weaken a status condition while using that same condition to activate Marvel Scale and raise its defense without impairing its performance in battle. That would be an enormous boost to its combat strength.

Clearly, mastering the power of its Abilities would not be easy. But if it succeeded, they would be a powerful trump card right up until Xiao Wu evolved into Dragonite!

(There was no helping it. Dragonite's Abilities were not Shed Skin and Marvel Scale, but Inner Focus and Multiscale.)

Although Chu Xin's idea was good, it was unquestionably a grueling challenge for Xiao Wu.

Lying on the ground and feeling the paralysis in its body, Xiao Wu forced its weak limbs to keep moving. Every time the paralysis wore off, it had to swallow another mouthful of potion. Was this really any way for a Pokémon to live?

Xiao Wu stared ahead with a miserable expression. I knew those Pokéblocks wouldn't be so easy to earn!

What suffering!

Meanwhile, Aier watched Xiao Wu and Chu Xin on the sports field, looking thoroughly puzzled.

"What kind of training is this? How strange! Is the young master going to use all the anesthetic potion he asked me for on Xiao Wu? That's just too odd!"

The Garchomp beside her watched Xiao Wu with great sympathy.

"Graa."

"You mean training you this way? There's nothing wrong with me. Why would I ever torment you like that?"