Wimpod progressed from missing its targets entirely to now being able to produce a certain amount of power with its water jets. Its speed of improvement exceeded Eichi's expectations. After a while, he let it rest before continuing its training.
Eichi then went to observe the training sessions of Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross. Beedrill was repeatedly striking a humanoid target with its twin needles, which were fitted with a specialized set of needle covers. These were not the ones he had bought back in Viridian City.
That old pair had long since been worn out by Beedrill's intensity. Eichi had purchased a superior set with a unique feature: they weighed 50kg. This provided an unparalleled effect on its training. Initially, Beedrill could only lift them for ten minutes before reaching its limit.
However, through constant exercise, it could now extend and retract them with ease during training. If anyone else had trained a Beedrill this way, its twin needles would have been ruined long ago. Only through Eichi's daily use of premium Pokéblocks, careful massages, and the healing properties of Bug Force did its needles remain intact.
The target in front of Beedrill was also new; the old one had been smashed to pieces. Eichi had gone to town to buy a better one, though he felt this one wouldn't last much longer either. Under Beedrill's strikes, the target emitted loud booms and shook violently.
Watching the training, Eichi's mind began to wander. As of now, he had four Pokémon: Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross. Among them, Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross were all Elite rank, while Wimpod was a Rookie.
Beedrill currently held the highest level at mid-stage Elite, which would be approximately Level 46 in game terms. Scizor was second at early-stage Elite, around Level 43. Heracross was also early-stage Elite, roughly Level 41.
Wimpod was in the Rookie stage. Its talent was exceptional—with Champion talent, it was nearly Level 5 at birth. After this recent period of cultivation, Wimpod had reached approximately Level 9. Eichi believed that with continued training, it would soon reach the peak of the Rookie stage.
Regarding potential, among Eichi's four Pokémon, Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross all possessed Outstanding talent, while Wimpod had Champion talent. Among the three with Outstanding potential, Beedrill's was the best, followed by Scizor, with Heracross being the lowest.
However, the differences were minor. After several months of being infused with Bug Force, their natural talents had significantly improved. Eichi's initial classification of talent had been somewhat broad.
He later discovered that the gap within the Outstanding talent grade was actually quite large—larger than the gap between Ordinary and Excellent. Consequently, he divided the Outstanding grade into three stages. For instance, when Scizor first hatched, it was at the first stage of Outstanding. After a period of infusion, it reached the second stage. Heracross was also at the first stage of Outstanding when Eichi found it after it left its leader.
Beedrill, meanwhile, had already reached the third stage. It had only achieved this a few days ago, and it still had a very long way to go before reaching Champion talent. Eichi noted that in his entire grade, only six other Pokémon besides his Beedrill possessed third-stage Outstanding talent.
These included Sato's Electivire and Charizard, Konan's Cloyster and Blaziken, Matsumoto's Magmortar, and Kelly's Gardevoir. For everyone else, the best talent was only at the second stage of Outstanding. Even Tetsu's Ampharos was only at the second stage. Eichi sensed that there were also significant gaps within the Champion talent grade, likely larger than those in the Outstanding grade, but that was a matter for later.
Furthermore, unlike others who taught their Pokémon numerous moves, Eichi hadn't used many Technical Machines on Beedrill, Scizor, or Heracross. To date, he had only used 10 TMs on Beedrill, and 6 each on Scizor and Heracross. Compared to others who used twenty or more, Eichi's count was very low.
Beedrill's current moves were: Fury Attack, Focus Energy (Mastery), Twin Needle (Mastery), Rage, Pursuit, Toxic Spikes, Pin Missile (Mastery), Agility (Mastery), Assurance, Poison Jab, Endeavor, and Fell Stinger.
TM Moves: Toxic, Venoshock, Protect, Brick Break (Mastery), Double Team (Mastery), Substitute, Swords Dance, Hidden Power, Aerial Ace, and Infestation. Six of its moves had reached the Mastery stage.
Scizor's moves were: Feint, Bullet Punch (Mastery), Quick Attack, Leer, Focus Energy (Mastery), Pursuit, False Swipe, Agility (Mastery), Metal Claw, Fury Cutter, Slash, Air Slash, Iron Defense, X-Scissor, Night Slash, Double Hit, Iron Head, and Swords Dance.
TM Moves: Hidden Power, Brick Break (Mastery), Double Team, Steel Wing, Aerial Ace, Protect, and Substitute.
Combination Move: Cross Slash. Four of its moves had reached the Mastery stage.
Heracross's moves: Arm Thrust, Bullet Seed (Mastery), Night Slash, Tackle, Leer, Horn Attack (Mastery), Endure, Fury Attack, Aerial Ace, Chip Away, Counter, Brick Break (Mastery), Take Down, Pin Missile, Close Combat, Feint, Endure, and Megahorn.
TM Moves: Hidden Power, Protect, Double Team, Substitute, Swords Dance, and Dig. Three of its moves had reached the Mastery stage.
Counting them all up, the three Pokémon knew quite a lot of moves. However, Eichi only used a few of them frequently; some hadn't even been used in battle yet. Eichi felt he was doing well since his three Pokémon had several moves at the Mastery stage.
In contrast, he had observed the Pokémon of students like Sato and Konan. They had essentially learned every possible move they could, yet a single Pokémon usually only had one or two moves trained to the Mastery stage. Some didn't even have a single move at that level. Even a Pokémon as lazy as Heracross had three moves at the Mastery stage.
Bang! Bang!
Two loud explosions rang out as Scizor frantically pummeled the target in front of it. Its twin claws glowed with white light as energy surged, creating small whirlwinds in the surrounding air. Under Scizor's assault, the humanoid target finally gave out and exploded. It fell heavily to the ground, most of its components shattering upon impact.