After leaving the poisonous forest, Tetsuya made a trip to the Shadow Team base and exchanged for some supplies, mainly Pokéfood and milk. Right now, he would rather eat Berries than compressed biscuits!
Tetsuya first arrived at the beach and released Koffing.
Koffing shrank backward somewhat, still appearing very fearful, but it could see that Tetsuya did not treat it as an enemy.
Tetsuya did not directly speak to Koffing, but instead walked toward the seaside.
Looking at the vast ocean, Tetsuya quietly said, "The sea is especially calm today."
Koffing also looked toward the sea following Tetsuya's line of sight. The endless ocean surface truly could not be compared with that tiny cave from before. Its heart also gradually relaxed along with the broad sea.
Gradually, Koffing floated to Tetsuya's side.
"Do you know? On the other side of the sea is a world thousands upon thousands of times bigger than this island. There are all kinds of Pokémon there, all kinds of people, cities, towns, forests, lakes, and mountains…"
"…"
"Cities are like this..."
"…"
---
"Towns are like that..."
"…"
---
Following Tetsuya's descriptions, Koffing began imagining such a world, and within its heart arose a small yearning for it.
Afterward, Tetsuya attempted to let his Pokémon interact with Koffing, but Koffing still showed some resistance. Fortunately, it had already accepted him now.
This counted as taking the first step.
From birth until now, Koffing had only eaten poisonous miasma and had never eaten normal Pokémon food before.
Fortunately, Tetsuya was "fairly" proficient with Poison-type Pokémon…
Koffing liked bitter flavors, and because it had lived year-round in dark and damp places, food that was soft and cold was the best.
Tetsuya crushed the prepared astringent Berries and mixed them together with Pokéfood, then had Piloswine freeze several ice blocks into the food. After the ice melted, moisture had seeped throughout the food, and it had also become cold.
"…♥!"
Koffing tried taking a bite and immediately found it particularly appetizing, unable to stop eating. It completely finished two portions of food.
Seeing Koffing still wanting to eat while also appearing somewhat shy in such a comical manner, even Tetsuya could not help wanting to laugh.
"Tehah… cough, you will get to eat this often in the future. If we can leave this island and go to the other side of the sea, there are all kinds of foods there that are far better than this."
"!!?"
---◓---
Immediately afterward, for an entire week, Tetsuya kept all of his Pokémon outside and did not conduct any training, simply accompanying Koffing while playing.
Tetsuya brought Koffing across grasslands, forests, and lakes, allowing it to see many Pokémon.
Koffing finally became filled with yearning toward this world. It also gradually became familiar with his Pokémon and was no longer as timid and fearful as before. It had even started going off to play by itself.
Koffing was still only a young Pokémon a few months old, so its training still needed to proceed step by step.
Bringing his Pokémon, he returned once again to Alakazam's mountain hollow. The other Pokémon had already begun training.
Tetsuya accompanied Koffing while watching those older Pokémon train. As for his own psychic training, he only trained a little at night and had not made much progress. Gengar could also come out at night to move around and train its moves.
Finally, Koffing also began feeling somewhat eager to try.
Indeed, for a "poison tyrant" like this, not battling would truly be a waste of Arceus's gifts!
Koffing attempted to use Tackle to crash into a rock, but it was quickly bounced away…
Wanting to train by itself and being forced by him to train were two completely different things. What he needed to do now was provide guidance.
"That is not how training is done."
Tetsuya said, while Koffing looked at him in surprise.
"Every Pokémon has something it excels at. Naturally, the direction of training should be to maximize your own strengths. Look at Ditto. It can Transform into different Pokémon, but it is still different from every Pokémon it transforms into. Therefore, it can only strengthen its physical condition and speed, allowing itself some buffer time to adapt after Transforming."
Koffing looked toward the Ditto in the lake that had Transformed into Gyarados, appearing thoughtful.
"Piloswine's advantage is the powerful energy within its body and its special control over Ice-type energy. Therefore, bringing out its Ice-type energy is its training direction.
Golett possesses powerful punching moves, and its body also contains tremendous energy. Therefore, training Golett has always focused on how to unseal the energy within its body, combining movement technique and punching practice."
Koffing once again shifted its gaze toward Piloswine and Golett. Piloswine was currently unleashing its various Ice-type moves, while Golett was also swinging various punching moves.
"Beedrill's strengths are the most obvious, but its weaknesses are also very obvious. Speed and Attack are its strengths, while Defense is its shortcoming. Therefore, it can only continuously train speed and attack. The most ideal outcome is defeating the opponent before the opponent can attack it."
At this moment, Beedrill was currently practicing Focus Energy followed by rapid attacks. Its gaze was sharp, its attacks swift, and every strike incomparably precise.
"As for Houndoom, as I already explained the stats, both its Special Attack and physical Attack, along with its Speed, are very strong. These are its natural advantages. In addition, with the two boost-type moves [Blazing Howl] and Nasty Plot, it is like adding wings to Groudon! Oh, Groudon is the only Legendary that can't… ahem, never mind.
Right now, it is already conducting combined move usage training and has become much stronger compared to when I first captured it. Back then, it could not even defeat Beedrill, but now it can very easily deal with Beedrill's Double Team and speed." 'Cough.'
Koffing's gaze landed upon Houndoom, which was currently using [Blightfire Assault]. Ten Houndoom charged into the lake carrying "volcanoes" with them, raising clouds of steam. Afterward, Ditto sent Houndoom back onto shore so it could continue training.
Bringing Koffing along, Tetsuya introduced every one of his Pokémon. Koffing became increasingly restless with excitement.
"Your strength lies in the poison and toxins within your body. I will definitely find a way to bring those poisons to their utmost limit! However, now that you have just begun training, the most important thing is still building a solid base, namely physical training."
"…"
"Gollet!"
Golett appeared once again and created a Gravity field. Koffing's Levitate Ability immediately became ineffective, and it was pressed onto the ground, only able to move its body through difficult hopping.
After only half an hour, Koffing was already exhausted and collapsed, feeling that this was an impossible task to accomplish.
"As long as you train for a long time, you will definitely overcome it. Once you overcome this field, you will discover that both your physical condition and Speed will receive a major improvement."
After Tetsuya finished speaking, he had the other Pokémon all move around within the Gravity field. They appeared as relaxed as though strolling through a garden.
Koffing immediately cast worshipful gazes toward them, and it also gave Koffing hope, no longer believing that this was an impossible task to complete!