"Woof woof~" After learning the second Move, Houndoom immediately ran toward another wooden stake.
"Woof!"
It barked as a ripple of Dark-type energy spread from its body, especially around its head, where the energy was the most concentrated.
"Woof!"
The moment it opened its eyes, Icarus felt that Houndoom looked far more spirited, and its gaze had become noticeably sharper.
"Whoosh—!"
A large fireball burst from Houndoom's mouth.
"Sizzle crackle"
The flames instantly charred the wooden stake black.
"Woof woof~"
After using the attack once, Houndoom's spirit visibly weakened, and the sharpness in its eyes faded. However, judging from its proud barking, its combat strength clearly hadn't dropped much.
"That's excellent, Houndoom. That Move was Nasty Plot, right? You just evolved, so go rest for the night. Tomorrow we'll start control training."
Icarus recognized the Move immediately. He had specifically memorized all the Moves his Pokémon could learn.
"Woof woof woof"
Houndoom nodded and returned to its usual resting spot. Having just evolved, it really did need proper rest.
"You two should rest as well. Since Houndoom is training, I'll also find something suitable for both of you to do."
After sending Houndoom off to sleep, Icarus turned to Weepinbell and Pidgeotto as well. He didn't want to show favoritism.
"Well, I need to think this through carefully. What should Weepinbell and Pidgeotto train over the next few days? What a headache."
Since Houndoom would definitely be focusing on training at home, he planned to spend the night properly organizing training plans for the other two Pokémon.
"I've got it! Weepinbell can also learn Double Team, and Pidgeotto already knows it. I'll have Pidgeotto teach WeepinbellDouble Team!
After all, Weepinbell's role is that of a tank and disruptor. With Double Team, it'll be able to last much longer in battle.
As for Pidgeotto, besides teaching Weepinbell, it also needs to teach HoundoomFire Spin. Houndoom should be able to learn it quickly enough. After all, Airi'sPoliwag managed to learn Whirlpool using the same principle. There's no reason water can do it while fire can't!"
After sitting in thought for a while, Icarus suddenly realized this arrangement was perfect. Weepinbell would learn a new Move, while Pidgeotto would stay busy acting as a teacher.
Wouldn't that give both Pokémon something meaningful to do?
"I'm a genius!"
"Chirp chirp~"
Pidgeotto, who had unknowingly just been assigned the role of teacher, suddenly shivered in its sleep, as if sensing something terrible.
"But that's still not enough. Pidgeotto should be able to explain the principle pretty quickly, right? Maybe I should arrange another Move for it to learn…"
After finalizing the basic plan, Icarus recalled the scene of Pidgeotto teaching Poliwag in the forest. It had only taken around two hours back then, which definitely wasn't enough training time.
So he sat down again, opened his Pokédex, and began searching for Moves Pidgeotto could learn quickly.
"This one won't work. No compatibility."
"This doesn't seem very useful either."
"Why is this one so expensive?!"
After searching for a while, he finally settled on a target.
"I'll go with Air Slash. I wonder if Uncle Sam's Fearow knows it? I'll call and ask. Since I have to pay anyway, I might as well let Uncle Sam earn the money and strengthen our relationship."
"Ring ring ring ring"
After deciding on the Move, Icarus took out his phone and dialed Uncle Sam's number.
"Hello~ Icarus, kid.
Calling me again tonight? Need something?
Slap slap slap~ Push harder from behind!"
The moment the call connected, Uncle Sam got straight to the point. From the sounds in the background, Icarus instantly realized Uncle Sam was once again diligently "expanding the family line."
"Ahem~ Uncle Sam, how can you say that? I just realized it's been a few days since we talked, so I called to check how you've been doing and catch up a little!"
Even though he clearly understood what was happening in the background, Icarus decisively pretended not to notice. It was always better to build rapport first anyway. Since Uncle Sam himself wasn't embarrassed, there was no reason for him to feel awkward either.
"Heh heh~ I'm doing great, enjoying life. No need for your concern, kid. Alright, if there's nothing else, I'm hanging up!
Ah~ pant~ Faster! You two, speed up!"
Uncle Sam clearly enjoyed teasing him and even deliberately added the last line just to show how "good" his current life was.
"Hey, hey~ Don't hang up yet, Uncle Sam. I really did call to catch up. I just also happened to have a small question.
Does your Fearow know Air Slash?"
Even though he knew Uncle Sam was teasing him, Icarus could only play along. Taking advantage of the moment, he quickly stated his true purpose.
Human relationships were like that. The weaker side always had to compromise a little. If you wanted to achieve your goal, you first needed to make the stronger party happy.
"Heh, I knew you wouldn't contact me for no reason, kid. Fine. Have your Pidgeotto fly over the day after tomorrow. I'll have Fearow teach it."
Uncle Sam felt rather satisfied during the conversation.
"No matter how much of a genius you are, don't you still have to cooperate with me and try to please me?"
So he agreed quite happily.
"Yes, yes! Thank you, Uncle Sam!"
"Beep beep~"
After settling the matter, Uncle Sam ignored Icarus's thanks and directly hung up, clearly returning to his activities with the newly hired maids.
In truth, Uncle Sam understood perfectly well that although their relationship appeared to be improving on the surface, the core of their connection was still just a transaction.
To put it simply:
"I invest in your future, and you borrow my present."
He believed Icarus understood this as well. Otherwise, he wouldn't keep coming over to "shear wool," taking as many benefits as he could while he still had the chance.
Of course, Uncle Sam was also willing to let himself be "sheared." Otherwise, did Icarus really think guidance from an Elite-level Trainer would only cost half the price of a TM?
"Phew~ Everything's arranged now. Tomorrow, Pidgeotto will teach Weepinbell first, then Houndoom. Houndoom's energy control still needs improvement first. Once the foundation is solid, combining new Moves will become much easier."
Lying on the bed, Icarus reviewed tomorrow's training plan in his mind before slowly falling asleep.
For the next few days, he didn't plan on calling Luna over.
He wasn't someone who couldn't distinguish priorities. His Pokémon's strength was his true foundation. If he didn't take Houndoom's training seriously, then no matter how high Houndoom's aptitude was, reaching the Elite level would still remain impossible.
Early the next morning, after a full night's rest, Icarus and his three Pokémon completed their morning exercise and breakfast before naturally gathering in the open area.
"Pidgeotto, your task today is to teach WeepinbellDouble Team this morning, then teach HoundoomFire Spin this afternoon.
Tomorrow, you'll head to Uncle Sam's place to learn Air Slash from Fearow.
This Move is actually somewhat similar to the Gust you already know. The problem is that we've always been stuck at the final step and unable to condense those smaller gusts together. If you can successfully combine them, it should become Air Slash.
I've already arranged everything for you, so you must work hard and learn it properly, understand?"
Icarus first explained Pidgeotto's training tasks since its schedule was the most complicated.
"Chirp chirp (???_??)?"
Pidgeotto quickly nodded, indicating that it would definitely work hard.
As for its former fear of Fearow, that had already disappeared after the previous training session involving Peck. It now understood that this captured Fearow was completely different from wild ones.
"Alright, next is Weepinbell.
Your task is to learn Double Team as quickly as possible. Once you master this evasive Move, your weakness of slow movement will finally have a countermeasure."
"Moo moo~"
Weepinbell nodded seriously.
It had already become aware of its weakness during the battle against Gloom. It simply couldn't keep up with Houndour's speed at all. If it hadn't possessed ranged attacks, it probably would have become a burden during that battle.
Although Double Team wouldn't directly increase its movement speed, improving its evasion ability was still extremely valuable.
"Finally, Houndoom.
This morning, you'll repeatedly use your Moves to improve proficiency while intentionally controlling your energy to familiarize yourself with your evolved body and rebuild your fundamentals.
Then this afternoon, you'll learn Fire Spin from Pidgeotto.
This Move shouldn't be difficult. The principle is basically the same as Twister. Airi'sPoliwag learned it in around two hours, so I believe you won't do worse than that."
"Woof woof! Woof woof!"
The moment it heard another Pokémon had learned it in two hours, the competitive Houndoom immediately barked proudly, indicating that it could master it in one hour.
"Alright, alright. Then you'd better train seriously."
Looking at the excited Houndoom, whose height was now nearly equal to his own, Icarus smiled helplessly.
It was still basically a child. It just happened to eat well, eat a lot, and grow quickly.
"Now listen carefully, Houndoom."
After patting its head encouragingly, Icarus continued:
"After learning Fire Spin, you should be able to notice similarities between it and your new Move, Inferno.
Here's the important part: you need to figure out a way to combine the two Moves and let them complement each other.
Either integrate Inferno's explosive burst into Fire Spin…
Or incorporate Fire Spin's control method into Inferno to maximize flame efficiency. If you can do that, this Move's accuracy should increase significantly.
Understand?"
"Woof woof? Woof woof?"
Houndoom looked utterly confused, indicating that it neither understood nor knew how to combine the Moves.
Icarus wasn't surprised at all.
After clapping his hands, he told the three Pokémon to begin training according to the plan.
After all, if Pokémon could understand and master everything by themselves, then what would they need a Trainer for?
"Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp"
The moment it heard training could begin, Pidgeotto immediately dragged Weepinbell off to the side.
Teacher Bird's little classroom had officially started.
"Whoosh~"
While explaining, Pidgeotto demonstrated Double Team once to show the effect.
"Moo moo~ moo!"
Weepinbell's eyes sparkled.
A divine Move!
"Woof! Whoosh whoosh~"
"Bang! Crackle crackle~"
Meanwhile, on the other side, Houndoom repeatedly practiced its core Moves: Ember, Inferno, Thunder Fang, and more.
"Heh ha~ bang! Heh ha!"
"Swish swish swish~"
At the same time, Icarus trained nearby as usual against a special practice target.
First came the Groundforce Fist, followed by throwing knives, then the Swiftstep Technique, and finally the Pure Origin Art.
He had discovered that when his body was exhausted and the True Qi within him was nearly depleted, cultivating the Pure Origin Art afterward became noticeably faster than normal.
That was why he now trained in this specific order.
"It's a shame Airi and Stone already went hunting with their new Pokémon. Otherwise, I could've invited them over so we could discuss the confusing parts of martial arts together."
Thinking about how both of them had been unavailable this morning, Icarus couldn't help sighing.
Even with annotations from the Pure Origin Manual, martial arts couldn't truly be mastered in complete isolation. Some passages were always vague and difficult to interpret. In situations like that, discussing things with others often allowed breakthroughs to happen instantly.
If one relied entirely on oneself, understanding could take an extremely long time.
"But it's normal. It's already been several days since they obtained their second Pokémon. By now, they should be training through real combat.
Hopefully they break through to the Ordinary level soon. Once that happens, I can probably start attempting Ordinary-level advanced missions too."
"Achoo!"
At that same moment, elsewhere in the forest, Airi suddenly sneezed right after commanding Staryu to defeat a Rattata.
"Airi, are you catching a cold? But we're Trainers now, and you're basically a Water-type superhuman already. How could you still catch a cold?"
Stone, who had just commanded two Sandshrew to stop a pair of fleeing Rattata, asked in confusion after hearing the sneeze.
"No, no, I don't know why. Let's hurry up and collect the materials, Brother Stone."
Airi quickly waved her hands while having Staryu use its psychic power to move the corpses over.
"Alright. Big Mouse, Little Mouse, go move the corpses from the other side over too."
Hearing that, Stone didn't ask further questions and instead instructed the two Sandshrew to work.
"Kuga!" "Kuga~"
The two Sandshrew nodded and immediately ran over together.
Among the pair, Little Mouse had changed significantly.
Although it still hadn't officially formed a contract with Stone, after spending so much time together, it could already understand some simple commands.
Its body had also become almost as round and well-fed as Big Mouse's, completely losing its previously skinny appearance.
At this point, even Airi could no longer tell which one was Big Mouse and which one was Little Mouse.
Only someone like Stone, who spent every day with them, could still distinguish between the two.
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