"Enough!"
Corona let out an impatient low growl, breaking the standoff.
He was a pure battle maniac and had zero interest in this kind of scheming.
"Time is precious, let's start training!"
With a wave of his hand, he pointed at a row of targets made of a special alloy in the distance. "Charizard, Fire Blast!"
Charizard let out a world-shaking dragon roar and took a deep breath, its chest swelling high.
In the next second, a massive fire in the shape of the character 'big' erupted from its mouth, carrying a scorching wave as it accurately struck the furthest target.
Boom!
The target was burned red-hot, and the counter on it jumped frantically, finally freezing at a staggering value.
Corona nodded with satisfaction and looked at Blaziken. "Close Combat, target: moving targets!"
As soon as he finished speaking, over a dozen moving targets simulating Pokémon shot out from the rails at the edge of the training field in an irregular pattern.
Blaziken kicked off with both legs, its body turning into a crimson afterimage as it instantly charged into the group of targets.
Fists, feet, knees, elbows—every one of its attacks was extremely fast, followed by a continuous series of dense metallic clashing sounds.
Blaze Kick, High Jump Kick, Flare Blitz!
In just over ten seconds, all the moving targets were smashed to pieces, with parts scattered all over the ground.
Pure power, pure speed.
This was Corona's style: simple, crude, and effective.
Viper gave a cold snort, seemingly wanting to regain some face through training.
She snapped her fingers and ordered her two Pokémon, "Stealth, Hunt Mode."
The figures of Drapion and Scolipede instantly became blurred, merging into the shadows of the forest like ghosts.
Immediately after, dozens of small drones rose from the ground, simulating fleeing prey.
Ariel noticed that those drones were not only incredibly fast but also released weak electromagnetic interference.
But in this environment, Viper's two Pokémon displayed astonishing hunting techniques.
Scolipede used the complex thickets as cover, approaching silently and piercing with its venomous tail.
Drapion was even more insidious; it would predict the drones' routes, setting up Toxic Spikes traps in advance, or simply using its poisonous breath for long-range snipes.
The entire process was quiet and lethal, full of the sinister craftiness unique to Poison-type Pokémon.
Dar's side was even more eerie.
He just stood there quietly, with Froslass floating in front of him.
Suddenly, Froslass pressed her palms together, and a bone-chilling cold current violently spread out with her as the center.
"Shadow Ball, Ice Shard," Dar softly uttered a few words.
A red light flashed in Froslass's eyes, and dozens of Shadow Balls appeared out of thin air; simultaneously, countless glinting Ice Shards also condensed into form.
In the next moment, the Shadow Balls and Ice Shards intertwined, forming an airtight barrage that swept toward an empty space.
The energy sensing piles in that empty space were all triggered instantly, and the sound of alarms rang out in unison.
This kind of large-scale area-of-effect control, combined with the exquisite integration of energy attributes, showed that Dar's ability to control the battlefield far exceeded that of ordinary people.
Three people, three completely different fighting styles, but all displayed the formidable strength of the heirs to the Team Rockets Special-Grade Executives.
He knew that the training everyone displayed today was merely a tacit understanding to feel each other out.
Those present were all elites selected by the Special-Grade Executives; future cooperation and competition would depend on the weight they showed today.
No one knew each other well; at this time, whoever showed the strongest strength would gain more of a say.
Whose fist was harder, whose voice would be louder—this was the unshakeable truth within Team Rockets.
Ariel felt those three scrutinizing gazes, but his heart remained calm.
This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Ariel's gaze was calm as it swept over the other three not far away.
Ariel stopped being distracted and turned all his attention back to his pokémon.
"Krookodile."
His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear in the empty training field.
"Roar!"
With a low roar, Krookodile's thick limbs slammed into the ground, and a visible wave of energy spread out from it.
Dust on the ground began to jump, and the flow of air became sluggish.
Then, yellow sand rose out of thin air, starting as a thin layer and then intensifying, finally turning into a sky-blotting Sandstorm that seemed eager to swallow the entire field.
"A weather skill?"
Corona's brow twitched, his tone carrying a trace of hard-to-detect scrutiny.
"This Krookodile is well-bred; to be able to comprehend Sandstorm at this level, its potential is very high."
His words sounded like praise, but Ariel could hear the condescending judgment.
In the eyes of these geniuses, a weather skill might just be the entry-level threshold.
Viper's gaze was more direct; she licked her dry lips, her eyes locked onto Krookodile's grim, sharp teeth and glinting claws.
She was rapidly constructing a battle model in her mind: could her ace Drapion's proud carapace withstand such savage biting?
Under the Sandstorm weather, would Drapion's poison be affected?
She repeatedly simulated every detail in her heart.
Although she was exceptionally beautiful, her looks were just a tool to deceive the outside world; when it came to fighting, she was no decorative vase.
Only Dar's focus was entirely different.
He wasn't looking at Krookodile, but at Ariel.
Although that Sandstorm was violent, its range was precisely controlled in the center of the field, without a single grain of sand crossing the invisible boundary Ariel had set.
Krookodile stood in the eye of the storm, looking composed; it was clearly comfortable with energy control.
But Dar saw clearly that the source of this exquisite control was not the pokémon's instinct, but rather the Trainer's seemingly casual gestures and glances.
This person's command over pokémon had reached a terrifying level.
Ariel ignored the varying thoughts of the three; his challenge had only just begun.
"Krookodile, feel them."
Ariel's voice pierced through the wind and sand, clearly entering Krookodile's ears.
"Feel the trajectory of every grain of sand, feel the magnetic field they form. Then, try to... separate them."
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere on the sidelines changed instantly.
The composure on Corona's face vanished, replaced by a sense of absurdity, as if he were looking at a madman.
He muttered to himself, his voice not loud, but enough for those around him to hear:
"What nonsense is he talking about? Separating a weather skill to use as an attack method? Unheard of, it's simply whimsical."
Weather is a macroscopic concept, a field that covers the entire area.
Wanting to peel off a part of it for microscopic manipulation contradicted the basic logic of the skill itself.
Viper even let out a direct sneer.
"Little Brother Ariel is really cutely stupid."
In her view, Ariel's command was not only foolish but also a waste of combat resources.
Instead of spending time on these flashy things, it would be more practical to just have Krookodile use a Crunch.
Dar still didn't speak, but his eyes, which had been squinting, were now completely open.
Under his silver-white hair, a thick interest flickered in those pupils. He wasn't sure if Ariel could do it, but his intuition told him that this man might really be able to create a miracle.