Eichi carefully compared the results and recorded Black-Patterned's data.
At that stage, Beedrill's talent hadn't yet broken through to the Outstanding grade, but its level had already reached level 24. Black-Patterned was currently only level 13. Since there was a full 11-level gap between them, such a disparity in performance was understandable.
However, Eichi felt that if both were at the same level, Beedrill would still win. Although he had no concrete evidence, his intuition told him that would be the result.
"Black-Patterned, not bad. Your speed is quite fast," Eichi said encouragingly.
Hearing Eichi's praise, Black-Patterned turned to look at Beedrill, who nodded in approval. Receiving acknowledgment from Beedrill made it feel validated; even its exhaustion seemed to lessen.
Eichi let them rest for a moment before sending Black-Patterned to fly another twenty laps. Meanwhile, Beedrill and the other two had different training tasks. He brought out the robot mannequins, placing one in each direction for each Pokémon to practice on their own.
Wimpod and Black-Patterned had separate training; Wimpod joined Black-Patterned in running laps.
After twenty laps, Black-Patterned returned looking utterly exhausted. Eichi knew that as the "Prince" of the Beedrill swarm, its pride would never allow it to slack off. Indeed, its speed was slightly faster than the first round. However, Eichi estimated that if it went for another round, its speed would definitely drop.
He took out a Pokéblock and gave it to Black-Patterned to restore its physical strength. A while later, Wimpod returned. Eichi recorded its data as well; its recent progress followed a very consistent pattern.
He let Wimpod and Black-Patterned rest nearby. Watching Beedrill, Scizor, and Heracross train was a good learning experience for them.
Black-Patterned watched from a distance as Beedrill used its twin needles to perform Twineedle, Fury Attack, and Slash on the robot mannequin. Its movements were fluid, concise, and rapid. From the sound echoing off the mannequin, one could tell how much power was behind the blows.
Besides Beedrill, Black-Patterned also observed Scizor and Heracross. They were also incredibly strong; the way the robot mannequins shook violently under their strikes revealed their terrifying power. Black-Patterned wondered how long it could last under their attacks. After a moment's thought, the answer was clear: it probably couldn't even withstand a single move.
When the time was right, Eichi sent Black-Patterned to run another twenty laps. This time, its data showed a clear decline in speed, but this was normal. Eichi let it rest.
Five minutes later, he asked Black-Patterned to demonstrate the moves it knew: Fury Attack, Focus Energy, Twineedle, Rage, Pursuit, Toxic Spikes, Pin Missile, and Agility.
It had quite a variety of moves. Eichi tested its mastery levels. After another five minutes, he found that several of its moves had reached the Skilled level, while Twineedle had reached the Mastery level. Overall, it was quite good; even without Eichi's specialized training, Black-Patterned's future strength would eventually surpass its father's.
Next, Eichi set up a robot mannequin for Black-Patterned to practice on. The morning passed quickly, and he took the Pokémon home for lunch.
At noon, Little Yu came over again. She had been coming by every day at lunchtime for the past two days. Eichi had become quite familiar with her. Every time she came to eat, she would talk about things happening at her school. Eichi wasn't impatient; he listened to her with great patience, finding her stories quite interesting.
Furthermore, he noticed that Little Yu really liked Pokémon. It wasn't that she liked Pokémon battling, but rather she enjoyed playing with them and just being in their company. Eichi also noticed that Beedrill, Scizor, Heracross, and Wimpod all seemed to like Little Yu.
He asked Beedrill about it. According to Beedrill, Little Yu felt very kind and warm, making Pokémon instinctively want to get close to her. It was similar to when Eichi released his Bug Force. He knew this was a sign of Little Yu's high affinity, which was a pleasant surprise.
After a midday nap, Eichi felt he had returned to his old routine. In the afternoon, he took the five Pokémon back to repeat the morning's training. Black-Patterned Beedrill made Eichi very satisfied; throughout the day's training, no matter how tired it got, it never slacked off.
By evening, as the sun set and the red clouds glowed across the horizon, the training session ended. Black-Patterned was drenched in sweat, and the other Pokémon were in a similar state. Everyone was tired.
Eichi recalled the five Pokémon into their Poké Balls. Under the light of the setting sun, he left behind only a solitary silhouette.
That night, in Eichi's room, after giving the five Pokémon a bath, he massaged them one by one. Black-Patterned lay motionless in its nest; it was simply too exhausted. After a full day of training, it had nearly collapsed.
Right now, it didn't want to move a single finger. For a brief moment, it wanted to go back to the swarm so it wouldn't have to train anymore. But then it thought of the swarm's status in the forest and its father's expectations. It was the hope of the entire swarm; it absolutely could not give up. Moreover, Beedrill, Scizor, Heracross, and Wimpod had all persevered. If it gave up, it would look down on itself.
After so much practice, Eichi's massage technique had become even more proficient and much faster. After finishing with the others, it was Black-Patterned's turn. The moment his hands touched its body, it almost cried out from the comfort. A good massage made it feel much better.
Once all five were finished, Eichi turned off the lights. As usual, he channeled Bug Force into them. While the others were sleeping, Black-Patterned couldn't quite drift off, its mind wandering through the day's events.
Originally, it thought the strongest among Eichi's Pokémon was Scizor, followed by Heracross, and finally Beedrill. After all, it knew that Beedrill as a species didn't naturally have many advantages.
However, during a mock battle in the afternoon, Scizor and Heracross had teamed up to attack Beedrill. In that fight, it truly witnessed Beedrill's overwhelming power. Beedrill had defeated the combined assault of both Scizor and Heracross.
Now, it truly worshipped Beedrill. It knew Beedrill must have put in countless amounts of effort to achieve such strength. It also understood why Beedrill held the "Big Brother" status among Eichi's Pokémon; no wonder Eichi let Beedrill handle all the executions. The other Pokémon respected it as the leader. This made Black-Patterned proud to be a Beedrill as well.
If Beedrill could do it, there was no reason it couldn't. Holding onto this thought, it slowly fell asleep.
Two days passed in this manner. On this day, Eichi left the house, his destination: Viridian Gym.
That's right—he had decided to challenge the Viridian Gym.