The eighteen days of Gravity training had finally come to an end.
After having dinner at Sheila's house, Tetsuya sent Swinub to the cave and then returned alone to his own cabin.
He had already been at the glacier falls for a month. It could be considered… closed training? And he had experienced what it felt like to be "sheltered" by an Elite Four.
It was just a pity that such a life without worries about food and clothing would only last one more month…
After all, Pryce now needed something from him. Apart from one's own immediate relatives, probably no one had such magnanimity to raise an idler.
Of course, he would not rely on such good fortune. In the future, he was bound to stir up the League. Getting too close to Pryce would certainly hinder his future plans.
Now he had already obtained the training methods for Swinub. He had also obtained from Sheila the training methods for Cloyster and Froslass. It could be considered complete.
From Pryce's guide, it could almost be concluded that things like Everfrozen Ice and Eternal Ice were the key to improving the strength of Ice-type Pokémon!
---◓---
Early the next morning, the three Pokémon gathered in front of Tetsuya.
"Let's test the results of the Gravity training. Ditto! Starting with you, transform into Rapidash and run with all your strength."
After Tetsuya finished speaking, Ditto had already successfully transformed. RaDittash -Ditto + Rapidash- turned into a streak of fire and sped away, with a sensation of almost taking flight.
What had originally been a one-hour round trip along the riverbank now only took forty minutes. Moreover, upon reaching the glacier falls, Rapidash pushed off the riverbank with both hind legs, leapt across the seven to eight meter wide river, passed through the glacier falls, and drilled into the cave behind.
Even a "real" Rapidash leaping over a stream would not be more impressive than this.
Tetsuya suppressed the excitement in his heart…
The effect of the Gravity training was actually so outstanding!
"Haunter, Swinub! You are the main battle force. Now each of you fight independently and spar with each other. Bring out your training results. It all depends on your own performance! I will only give slight guidance."
After Tetsuya spoke, Haunter and Swinub both already knew what to do next. Strong fighting spirit was revealed in their eyes, and they each pulled apart to create distance.
Tetsuya and Ditto stood at a distance observing this internal sparring match…
"Internal sparring" was very necessary. The purpose was to form a healthy competitive cycle. It also served as the most direct competitor. Once such a positive cycle was formed, even without his supervision, there would be no slacking off in training.
Haunter and Swinub naturally had their own estimations in mind.
Haunter had followed Tetsuya in training three months longer than Swinub. At the Ecruteak Gym it had undergone a series of training sessions and participated in many battles.
It was quite familiar with many of Tetsuya's battle tactics and had developed a certain sensitivity to battle situations. Swinub had only trained for one month, so in Haunter's mind it had to defeat Swinub!
Although Swinub had only trained for one month, relying on its innate potential and talent far surpassing Haunter's, and with the added benefits of the ice bed and Everfrozen Ice, it also wanted to… perform well.
Swinub shook its body, and the surrounding temperature dropped sharply. In the blink of an eye, Hail began to fall. Grasping control of the weather at the start had already been forcibly imprinted into Swinub's mind by Tetsuya as a battle tactic.
Tetsuya nodded. The continuous damage of Hail was undoubtedly fatal to a Pokémon like Haunter with low Defense and "low HP". It depended on how Haunter would respond.
Looking at Haunter again, Tetsuya could not help but praise it.
Over this half month, its psychic power had improved tremendously. The Hail could not even approach Haunter's body. A faint [Psychic Barrier] had naturally formed around Haunter's body. Although this level of barrier could not handle certain offensive methods, it could completely resist Sandstorm and Hail.
Moreover, the appearance of this phenomenon already indicated that Haunter's psychic power had reached a level where it could naturally protect itself without deliberate use.
Such psychic power had completely exceeded Tetsuya's expectations. It could even be said that he would not have dared to imagine it. Even ordinary Psychic-type Pokémon would not display such a phenomenon without systematic psychic training.
It seemed he had still underestimated the vitality absorbed from Ninetales. The psychic power contained within it far exceeded his expectations.
Under the systematic psychic training he had conducted during this period, the psychic power absorbed from Ninetales had gradually been excavated. With such a psychic base, not only would future psychic training yield twice the result with half the effort, but it also compensated for many of Haunter's shortcomings.
After Tetsuya had forcefully stimulated Haunter's Poison Core by… unconventional means, and now with such powerful psychic power, this Haunter's potential was already approaching that of Swinub!
Within the Hail, Swinub's Snow Cloak Ability activated, and its figure began to blur, appearing and disappearing within the Hail.
Haunter focused its mind, staring at the movements within the Hail.
Whoosh~
An Icicle Spear broke through the Hail and shot toward Haunter. Haunter, whose Speed was already astonishing, after half a month of Gravity training had reached the level of swiftness like a Thunder.
With a flick of its body, it had already avoided the thrust of the Icicle Spear and countered with a Shadow Ball toward the direction from which the Icicle Spear had been fired.
At this moment, Tetsuya's heart rose to his throat. Would Swinub integrate his battle philosophy into the fight?
The Shadow Ball exploded upon impact, but Swinub's figure did not appear. Only then did Tetsuya feel relieved…
His more than sixty years of battle experience, it could be said, every bit of it was useful!
For a Swinub with Snow Cloak Ability within Hail, the opponent could not clearly see its figure. There were only three ways to determine its position, at least at this level: hearing, smell, and judging from the direction of the move's launch.
Hearing and smell both required focused concentration to perceive, so many people would choose the most direct and convenient method of visually judging the launch position of the move. In fact, this method was quite effective. Therefore, during training, Tetsuya had Swinub fire a move and then quickly change its position.
The fact that the Shadow Ball did not hit Swinub showed that it had implemented his battle philosophy quite thoroughly.
'Another Icicle Spear…'
Back and forth like this, Swinub consecutively fired five Icicle Spear, and Haunter's counterattacks also failed to hit Swinub hiding within the Hail.
'Five Icicle Spear…'
Tetsuya also counted silently in his heart. It was now able to consecutively use five Icicle Spear without drawing attention.
Just as Pryce had said, during this half month of physical conditioning, Swinub would undergo a qualitative transformation. It could already be seen from its use of Icicle Spear.
After this initial exchange, Haunter and Swinub could be said to be evenly matched. Both had brought Tetsuya great surprises!
Tetsuya looked forward even more to the battle that would follow…