Mamoswine's previous Blizzard training had lucratively disturbed the Rhyhorn group.
Although Tetsuya had managed to catch those Rhyhorn without incident and had even earned a considerable profit from them, it had still disrupted the training. However, in a primeval forest like this, where the trees grew without any pattern whatsoever, it was the perfect place to train Mamoswine's control over Blizzard's variants.
Even if this disturbed some other group, Tetsuya had little reason to worry. With his current level, even an ordinary Gym Leader would not be his opponent. It would not be so easy for wild Pokémon to harm him, especially since he was a "Poison-type Specialist".
---◓---
After several days of training, it could only be said that progress was gradual. Mamoswine had no choice but to temporarily reduce the power of Blizzard in order to control the direction of the vortex.
Things like this could never be accomplished overnight. It could only gradually improve its control, get a feel for it, and then slowly increase the power of the move.
The Pokémon that had shown the most obvious results over the past few days was undoubtedly Ariados. Having only just completed its Evolution, it had more energy than it could use.
Toxic Spikes and Venom Drench were quickly fused together, and combined with Ariados's Toxic, it amounted to the perfect fusion of three moves. Tetsuya's Poison-type core tactic had also been completed thanks to Ariados's Evolution.
Toxic Spikes and Toxic poisoned the opponent, while Venom Drench lowered the opponent's Attack, Special Attack, and Speed. Sticky Web could then make it difficult for the opponent to move even a single step, after which Spider Web could be used to trap the opponent.
At that point, the opponent would become meat on the chopping block, completely at his mercy!
Aside from Steel- Poison-types, there was almost nothing capable of breaking through this set of tactics.
Fire-type Pokémon and moves could also burn away the subsequent Sticky Web and Spider Web, but Toxic, Toxic Spikes, and Venom Drench beforehand would already be enough for them to deal with, so there was nothing much to worry about.
As for Steel-type Pokémon…
In his previous life, Tetsuya had specifically traveled all the way to the Alola region to catch Salazzle in order to deal with them. Now, there was absolutely no need for that, because he had the four-headed Weezing.
The special acidity of Belch could poison Steel-type Pokémon, which was simply an unexpected delight for him.
---◓---
Ariados continued its training, moving back and forth through the forest with its silk and webs working together to pull its body along. It was simply even more agile than Grovyle!
"Your Ariados looks pretty strong. But… can it beat my Ariados!?" A voice reached Tetsuya's ears.
Tetsuya turned around and saw a girl with, maybe, her little sister who looked only around ten years old.
Although many years had passed, he was still very familiar with this little girl. After all, thirty years from now, she would become a prominent figure among the Investigators.
She was also the one who personally captured Brodie, The Man of a Thousand Faces. Relying on her unique "disguise art" and the Ditto at her side, she made it impossible for her opponents to guard against her. One after another, they fell into her hands, making her the nightmare of many criminals.
Duplica, the Kanto Investigator who would one day become known as the "Copycat Officer", came from the Imite Family…
Since Tetsuya already knew her identity, he had to do something. The purpose of his journey was precisely to find Duplica's family. First, he wanted to learn their disguise art, and second, he wanted to find a way to make Ditto stronger.
"Ahem… my little sister doesn't know any better. Please excuse her."
After the older girl beside her finished speaking, she took Duplica by the hand and was about to leave, muttering as she went.
"Okaasan already told us there are a lot of bad people in this forest. Who told you to just start talking to strangers…?"
However, Duplica was naturally bold, hated evil with a passion, and feared neither Arceus nor Giratina, so how could she care about all that?
Duplica immediately broke free from her sister's hand and said, "You're way too timid! So what if we run into bad people? We can just capture them. One day, I'm going to rid the entire world of every bad person!"
Perhaps those were words that only a ten-year-old child could say. How could this world possibly be something a kid like her could understand? Words like those would merely earn an indulgent smile from an adult.
"Hoo~ Good, what an ambitious little girl. I never expected you to have such courage at such a young age. That's admirable." Tetsuya deliberately walked over, already making calculations in his mind.
Duplica was just about to respond when her sister pulled her back.
Tetsuya also knew that she was wary of him, so he immediately took out his Pokédex and said, "This is my ID and personal information. It'll save me the trouble of introducing myself."
Only after Duplica's sister looked over Tetsuya's information did her expression soften considerably.
The Pokédex was an "official certificate" issued by the League and could not be falsified in the slightest. Therefore, wherever one went, the Pokédex served as a Pokémon Trainer's ID.
The League would also update personal information at any time. For example, any results achieved in tournaments would be recorded, as would any accomplishments that contributed to the League.
Tetsuya's information could be considered quite extensive. Anyone who saw it would believe that Tetsuya was one of the "golden boy" of the League with a promising future.
He was the pupil of two Gym Leaders, held a bachelor's degree in Pokémon studies, and had even saved so many fellow Trainers in Sunnytown. Any one of those things alone would make it difficult to believe that Tetsuya was a bad person.
"See~? You're always so suspicious of everything!" Duplica spoke happily as though she had won a battle. "Can we have a battle now?"
"…With me?" Tetsuya asked.
"Of course! What, are you scared~? If you're even afraid of this, then what are you doing in a forest like this? You might as well go home now!" Duplica mocked.
"How could I possibly be scared? It's just that if I win, I have one request," Tetsuya said.
The sisters looked at each other and asked, "What request?"
"I've already been in the forest for many days, sleeping out in the wilderness every night. It would be nice if you two could find me somewhere sheltered from the wind and rain," Tetsuya deliberately said.
Duplica's sister smiled gently. "Even if you don't win, we'd still invite you to our home as a guest."
"Then I'll thank you in advance." After Tetsuya finished speaking, he called out to Ariados.
Ariados immediately used String Shot to stick its silk to a large tree above Tetsuya, then swung over along the silk and hung behind him.
Duplica also called out, "Ariados!"
Tetsuya knew very well that Duplica's "Ariados" was nothing more than Ditto using Transform. He was thoroughly familiar with Ditto's strengths and weaknesses, so he was fairly confident that he could counter this fake Ariados.
Every Trainer skilled at using Ditto would certainly have an extremely deep understanding of Pokémon, because they had to understand every Pokémon's moves in order to better command Ditto on how to respond.
Duplica could also be considered a "genius" Trainer. She was hardworking and highly knowledgeable.
At the very least, among all the Trainers who used Ditto that Tetsuya had encountered in his previous life, she was the strongest.