On the exclusive training beach of Dewford Town.
"Hah!"
Brawly stood shirtless, his bronze skin glowing with a healthy luster under the sun. With a low shout, the Hariyama beside him understood perfectly; its massive palm swept toward Krokorok with the whistling sound of wind.
"Evade! Use Dig!" Ariel's voice was calm and swift.
Krokorok didn't dare to be careless. Facing an opponent whose size and strength far exceeded its own, it reacted instantly. Its thick limbs dug into the sand violently, and its entire body sank underground just before the palm wind reached it.
Boom!
Hariyama's palm struck empty air, leaving a massive, sunken palm print on the beach.
"Now, use Bite on its foot!"
Before his voice had even faded, the sand beneath Hariyama's feet suddenly exploded. Krokorok opened its bloody maw, its sharp teeth accurately biting toward Hariyama's ankle.
Brawly's face remained unperturbed as he simply spoke calmly: "Sand Attack."
Hariyama didn't even look down. Its other foot stomped heavily, and a powerful force vibrated outward, kicking up a cloud of dust and sand.
Caught off guard, Krokorok's eyes were blinded by the sand, causing it to subconsciously release its Bite as its vision was blocked. Hariyama seized this momentary opportunity, striking back with a Force Palm; the impact contained in its palm slammed solidly into Krokorok's back.
"Woo—"
Krokorok let out a cry of pain and was sent flying far away, rolling several times on the sand before coming to a stop.
"How is it? Can you still stand up?" Ariel didn't step forward immediately, only asking calmly.
Krokorok shook its head on the sand, shaking off the grit. It propped itself up with its forelimbs and let out a low growl from its throat, its eyes staring fixedly at Hariyama, its fighting spirit undiminished.
The corners of Ariel's mouth curled up slightly.
Not bad; its ability to take hits and its resilience have both improved significantly.
On the other side, Sneasel's training was even more perilous. Its opponent was another of Brawly's Pokémon, an extremely fast Machoke.
Sneasel's figure turned into a streak of black lightning on the beach, its sharp claws tracing cold arcs in the air as it aimed straight for Machoke's vitals.
But Machoke's two arms seemed to construct an impenetrable wall; whether it was Ice Shard or Ice Punch, they were all accurately parried.
"Too slow!" Brawly's voice rang out. "Your Sneasel is fast, but its attack intentions are too obvious. A true assassin doesn't leak any killing intent before striking."
Ariel was lost in thought.
He knew Brawly was right.
Sneasel's fighting style was bold and filled with wild ferocity, but in front of a true expert, such straightforward attacks were easy to predict.
"Sneasel, Agility, then use Night Slash!"
Sneasel moved incredibly fast on the field, blurring into afterimages as it closed in on Machoke.
Brawly smiled. "Interesting, but not enough."
Machoke closed its eyes, its two arms spreading slightly as it felt the flow of the air.
The next second, at the moment one of the afterimages was about to get close, Machoke snapped its eyes open and one arm accurately grabbed Sneasel's true body!
"Cross Slash!"
"Not good!" Ariel's heart tightened.
The captured Sneasel had no time to react before it was hit by the power of Machoke's other two arms crossing in a slash. It let out a muffled groan and crashed to the ground.
Watching Sneasel struggle to get up, Ariel's gaze grew deeper.
With Quasi-Elite Four Level potential, it couldn't just stop at this level.
It needed more tempering until it became a true shadow blade capable of piercing through anything.
By contrast, Inkay's training seemed somewhat "comical."
Its opponent was a lean Machop.
Facing Machop's straightforward punches, Inkay's small body just swayed gently in the air, and a strange ray of light hit the opponent.
"Hypnosis!"
Machop's forward momentum suddenly stalled, a look of extreme confusion appearing on its face. Its originally powerful muscles instantly went limp, and its punch hit the sand weakly, devoid of any force.
It was stunned itself, looking down at its own fist, not understanding what had happened.
"Haha! Ariel, your Inkay's ability is truly too shameless!"
Seeing this scene, Brawly couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"It's interesting every time I see it."
Ariel also smiled.
The skill Hypnosis, if used by other Pokémon, might only have the effect of putting one to sleep.
But for a master of Hypnosis like Inkay, its utility went far beyond just sleep.
Guidance, misdirection, and even directly putting humans into a state similar to mind control.
It could be said to have brought the word 'Hypnosis' to its absolute limit!
However, what Ariel was most concerned about was Froakie.
This little guy's training could only be described as "self-torture."
Its opponent was also a mountain-like Hariyama. Of course, Brawly had specifically instructed Hariyama to use only ten percent of its strength and to only defend.
Even so, for a level ten Froakie, Hariyama's body was like an unshakeable wall.
"Froak!"
Froakie spat bubbles onto its chest, forming a layer of white foam, then used all its strength to crash into Hariyama's lower leg again and again.
With every collision, it would be bounced back by the counterforce, its small body rolling across the sand.
But it didn't stop for a moment. Even before its body had completely stopped, it would immediately scramble up, panting heavily, its eyes locked firmly on the target as it launched another charge.
Once, twice, ten times... the Frubbles on its body had long since dissipated, its small body was covered in sand, and in some places, its skin had been rubbed raw, oozing bits of blood.
Ariel just watched quietly without calling for a stop.
He could feel the urgency overflowing from this Froakie's heart.
It desperately wanted to become stronger, to catch up with its companions, and even more... to seek revenge.
Burning in those red eyes was a fire sufficient to incinerate everything.
Ariel was very satisfied.
He had personally lit this fire. Now, what he had to do was continuously add fuel to it, making it burn brighter until it became a prairie fire.
He wasn't worried that such training would cause irreversible damage to Froakie.
Because they had the most timely treatment from the Pokémon Center and a Hariyama that knew how to restrain itself, no accidents would occur.
"Alright, let's call it a day." Brawly clapped his hands, signaling the end of training.
pokémon like Hariyama and Machoke relaxed their stances, and even the Machop that had been questioning its life due to Hypnosis returned to normal.
Ariel's pokémon also gathered around tiredly; even the most active Krokorok was lying on the ground, its tongue out as it panted.
Only Froakie still tried to struggle to its feet, but Ariel pressed down on its head.
"Enough, rest." Ariel's voice was devoid of emotion, yet carried an unquestionable command.
Froakie's body stiffened, but it eventually lay down obediently, though the fire in its eyes didn't diminish in the slightest.
And so, time passed bit by bit...
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