Torchic: Where Is This, Hell?

Tetsuya smiled helplessly and patted the Little Guy on the head, but his massage continued.

After about twenty minutes of massage, Tetsuya finally stopped.

"All right, Little Guy, you've rested enough. Let's begin the next part of your training."

Torchic reluctantly hopped down.

After twenty days together, it had become very clear on when its Trainer was joking with it and when an order absolutely had to be followed.

Besides, Torchic was happy to train and grow stronger. Although it was hard, there were comfortable massages and delicious food afterward.

"The training you'll be doing next is over there."

Tetsuya pointed at the already prepared area—the somewhat strange back garden.

The entire back garden now looked rather like the Wooden Dummy Alley of Shaolin Temple from the rumors Tetsuya had heard in his past life, albeit with some differences.

Most of the area was covered by white netting. Inside, wooden stakes stood at irregular intervals, densely arranged into several paths, with stakes often rising abruptly in the middle of those paths.

This was an obstacle course Tetsuya had set up based on Zero's plan. The distance between every stake had been precisely measured.

From the starting point to the finish line, it would gradually push closer to every one of Torchic's limits.

There were three fixed routes, each more difficult than the last.

Not only that, Tetsuya could later require Torchic to follow routes he specified, constantly changing the difficulty and forcing Torchic's reactions to improve further.

More than a dozen compact machines had been set up on either side of the Wooden Stake Array. They functioned much like tennis ball launchers and could fire matching Bouncy Balls from their ports.

The firing speed of the machines, the hardness of the Bouncy Balls, and the speed of the balls after launch could all be adjusted.

Their main purpose was to interfere with Torchic's speed as it passed through the Wooden Stake Array.

Their positions had also been precisely calculated by Zero. Paired with different routes, they would give Torchic the most perfect training.

Seen from above, the entire setup looked somewhat like a Bagua Formation Map—chaotic, yet aesthetically pleasing.

Tetsuya watched Torchic with a smile. He had spent 1.5 million on this set of equipment. The Devon Corporation clerk had practically gone dumb when he saw Tetsuya buying so many launchers.

For an ordinary Trainer, even one was already extravagant, while two or three would be considered impressive. Tetsuya had directly bought a full twelve, along with matching Weighted Vests.

After all, ordinary Trainers didn't have Zero. Giving them twelve would be excessive, but Tetsuya was different.

With Zero, Tetsuya could maximize the use of these training devices.

Torchic looked at the strange course, unsure of how it was supposed to train.

Tetsuya led Torchic to the entrance of the Wooden Stake Array and pointed it out to it.

Every stake had sequence markers in different colors. Tetsuya said, "Today, your task is to move along the path formed by the stakes with these green markers. See them?"

Torchic nodded to show that it understood.

"You need to keep sprinting at full speed, and pay attention to my commands. I'll have you use Agility and Quick Attack." A mysterious smile played on Tetsuya's lips.

Torchic curiously poked its Little Head around at the entrance. It had heard Tetsuya's words, but did not take them too seriously.

"Let's try it once first. You'll understand after one run."

Tetsuya looked at the bewildered Torchic, seeming to have demons swirling behind him.

Torchic did not sense the misfortune about to befall it at all. Eager to try, it prepared to set off.

Tetsuya had already adjusted the launchers' settings. He brought up Zero to act as a timer and collect data, then gave Torchic its command.

"Run!"

Torchic shot forward like a sharp sword.

It smoothly dodged two stakes blocking the middle of the path, but before Torchic could celebrate, it reached the first sharp turn.

Just as it controlled its body to turn with Agility, Torchic saw a wooden stake growing larger and larger before its eyes.

Duang!

Its tiny body was flung backward by the recoil, landing directly on its butt.

"Get up. Keep sprinting." Tetsuya's indifferent voice sounded.

Torchic did not hesitate. It shook its dizzy Little Head, got back up, and continued sprinting forward.

Next came a stake positioned at an awkward angle in the path, but it was not difficult for Torchic to avoid.

Just as Torchic was about to change direction and dodge the stake, Tetsuya's voice sounded again.

"Use Quick Attack."

Torchic's Little Head told it that if it used Quick Attack, it would definitely crash straight into it.

Yet the trust and obedience toward its Trainer engraved in its genes, along with Tetsuya's education over the past twenty days, made Torchic instinctively use Quick Attack.

Tetsuya saw a faint glimmer flash over Torchic's body. Its speed suddenly increased, and without the slightest hesitation, it slammed into the wooden stake.

Bang~

This time, Torchic's body rebounded so hard that it rolled twice across the ground.

Before Tetsuya could say anything, Torchic quickly got back on its feet.

Though it looked serious, the impact had not actually caused much harm to Torchic's body. After all, Pokemon were not ordinary creatures.

Torchic only felt that it had lost face. It had thought it would perform well in its first training session, but instead it had stumbled over these pieces of wood one after another.

After that, the only sounds in the Training Ground besides Tetsuya's commands were the various noises of Torchic crashing into wooden stakes.

By the time Torchic painfully completed its first training session and dragged its dust-covered body out past the finish line, eight minutes had already passed.

"Cha..." Torchic walked dejectedly toward its Trainer.

Torchic thought its Trainer would surely give it a harsh scolding for performing so poorly.

"You did well." Tetsuya wiped Torchic down with a towel.

"Cha?" Torchic froze slightly, its body instinctively cooperating with Tetsuya.

"You really did well. This was your first time training, after all." Tetsuya said with a smile.

Tetsuya was not saying that against his conscience. According to Zero's analysis and data, Torchic should have taken nine minutes to complete its first training session.

However, Torchic's reactions gradually sped up toward the end, cutting a full minute off its time.

That had already surprised Tetsuya greatly, so his praise for Torchic was sincere.

Sensing that its Trainer was not deceiving it, Torchic immediately turned from sorrow to joy and flapped its Small Wings.

"Cha! Cha~ Mo~"

Tetsuya could only shake his head helplessly at the Little Guy putting on a show in front of him.

"All right, let's continue training. Today's goal is still far away!"

Torchic cried out in response, completely unaware that this was merely the beginning, and continued its training.

At first, on the easiest route and with Tetsuya's commands, Torchic was somewhat bedraggled but still handled it with ease.

As it became more proficient and faster, Tetsuya activated the second difficulty route and the launchers. Torchic's nightmare had arrived.

Not to Mention that as soon as it finished one run, the next round began immediately.

Torchic only wanted to ask one question: Where was this, hell?

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