The next day, Mahogany Town welcomed its first snowfall of the winter. Unaffected by the heavy snow, Tetsuya had already moved into the small cabin outside glacier falls.
This could truly be considered "lockdown training".
Tetsuya had already put on a thick layer of winter clothing. Braving the wind and snow, he brought all of his Pokémon out to begin the first day of training.
Weather like this could be said to be Mamoswine's favorite, while the other Pokémon had no choice but to suffer the cold.
Glacier falls never froze throughout the year. It was just that the water temperature was now extremely low, bitterly cold, making it the best environment to fortify a Pokémon's willpower.
"The training is the same as before. Those of you who know you haven't completed your tasks, get started. No matter how cold this water is, it can't compare to the moves of Ice-type Pokémon. What you need is courage and bravery."
As soon as Tetsuya finished speaking, Ditto transformed into Gyarados without a word and plunged into the lake. Raising its spirits, it began climbing upstream toward the falls.
Tetsuya had always noticed Ditto's silent dedication. If there was one Pokémon that was the most loyal, it had to be Ditto. Unfortunately, it was still a "Ditto", and the room for improving its combat power was limited.
Tetsuya had already made up his mind. Once this period of training was over, he would take Ditto to the forest between Sunnytown and Stone Town in the Kanto region to search for the Imite Family. No matter the cost, he would obtain Ditto's raising guide as well as their disguise methods.
Seeing Ditto take the lead, Golurk and Beedrill, the two Pokémon training at glacier falls, also charged in.
Beedrill thrust out its twin stingers as its wings vibrated furiously, dashing upstream against the rushing current.
What Golurk was training now was its instantaneous explosive power. It bent its legs, rocket propulsion erupted violently, and it launched upward from below until the force of that burst was completely exhausted.
"Skorupi, don't climb the waterfall. Swim from the lakeside to the base of the waterfall, force your way into the cave behind it, use Poison Jab to pierce a hole in the rock inside the cave, then come back. Repeat that cycle over and over as your training."
Among all his Pokémon, Tetsuya had been paying the closest attention to Skorupi's training recently.
Skorupi's strength had been steadily improving, but compared to those Pokémon that had fought alongside him through life and death on Shadow Island, it always seemed to be missing something. That was why he had designed the most complete path possible for Skorupi.
The Skorupi he had raised also had Tentacruel's inherited genes, so it was not afraid of water. However, climbing a waterfall was completely impossible. Even so, "conquering" this stretch of water was entirely achievable.
The freezing lake water could temper Skorupi's willpower, the waterfall's current could strengthen its physical condition, and using Poison Jab on the rocks inside the cave could improve both its strength and the move's power. Repeating that cycle would sharpen its focus.
Tetsuya believed that after completing this training, Skorupi would Evolve.
"Houndoom, Shadow Island is in the south, so it rarely snows. You also need to adapt to this environment. I hardly need to say anything about your training anymore. You've already become proficient with all your moves.
From now on, you're going out on your own to find opponents to battle. Every week, you must hunt one Ursaring. The entire mountain range and forest are your training grounds. Every Pokémon here is your training target. As long as you're strong enough, you'll be the 'king' of these mountains."
As soon as Tetsuya finished speaking, Houndoom let out a long howl. Immediately afterward, a blazing Flamethrower burst forth, instantly carving a long path through the snow on the ground as Houndoom dashed away.
'Go… Houndoom…'
---◓---
After Houndoom left, the snow gradually stopped falling, and a ray of sunlight broke through the sky. It seemed to be the effect of Houndoom's [Blazing Howl].
The remaining three, Mamoswine, the four-headed Weezing, and Miltank, had a much simpler routine. With Miltank's help, they simply focused on physical training.
Day after day, Tetsuya almost cut off all contact with the outside world, ghost mode completely on. However, every so often, Sheila would bring Nurse Joy to perform health checkups on Tetsuya's Pokémon.
Tetsuya would usually let his Pokémon rest for a day whenever Nurse Joy came to examine them. As time passed, the Pokémon also began looking forward to Nurse Joy's visits…
In truth, there has to be something to look forward to when doing something. Otherwise, it would feel as though there were no end in sight, and naturally, it would be impossible to keep every Pokémon as motivated as they had been at the beginning.
In the blink of an eye, three months had already passed. Watching his Pokémon become stronger and more robust, Tetsuya could see their strength steadily improving.
As the New Year arrived, Madeleine unexpectedly came all the way from Ecruteak City to celebrate the holiday with him. In her eyes, Tetsuya had already become family, and it also gave Tetsuya the feeling that he was truly celebrating the holiday.
After the New Year, the training sessions became longer and longer. The ice and snow melted, all living things revived, and the weather gradually grew warmer. After enduring the bitter cold of winter, spring training actually felt somewhat easier.
Winter gave way to spring, and spring gave way to summer…
Throughout that entire year, Tetsuya thought of nothing else and asked about nothing else. He simply focused on training his Pokémon, training his psychic powers inside the cave, and improving his coordination with Gengar.
Becoming stronger was the only true path!
Ditto was the first to complete its training. By the beginning of autumn, it had already conquered glacier falls and could successfully climb the waterfall every single time. Even so, Tetsuya did not change its training routine… because he simply did not know what else could make Ditto continue growing stronger.
Beedrill completed its training soon afterward. Both its twin stingers and wings had undergone a major improvement, and Beedrill was now at the peak of its condition.
As soon as Beedrill completed its drilling, Tetsuya immediately had it learn Swords Dance.
After learning Swords Dance, it could genuinely be said that Beedrill had undergone a complete transformation!
Combined with Beedrill's naturally outstanding offensive power and the brutal training in this place, its raw strength, Speed, and physical condition had all reached a new level. After learning Swords Dance, it could immediately use it twice.
Whenever it reached the middle of a third Swords Dance, however, the accumulated power would always begin to backfire. Beedrill still could not withstand such an extreme level of a boost. Even so, being able to use Swords Dance twice in succession was already something that average Pokémon could not accomplish.
From that point onward, Beedrill's training focused primarily on Swords Dance.
"Spread your stingers apart and spin in the air while using Swords Dance." This training method "created" by Tetsuya allowed Beedrill to maintain a certain degree of defensive capability while executing Swords Dance with its twin stingers spread apart. Pokémon attempting to approach in close combat would be even less willing to act rashly.
The spinning twin stingers were also highly powerful. Of course, while using Swords Dance, it had to maintain complete concentration, keeping its eyes on the opponent at all times. Even while spinning, its wings remained under its own control, allowing it to change direction and evade the opponent's moves.
Only by making the use of Swords Dance more versatile would there be a chance to successfully use such a move in battle. Otherwise, by the time you finished "dancing", your opponent's move would have already left you incapacitated.