First came Froakie, the one who fought the hardest, the fiercest, and with the highest efficiency.
After an entire afternoon immersed in that high-pressure environment, Froakie's level rose all the way from 8 to 13, and it also made breakthroughs with its moves.
Quick Attack, Smokescreen, and Double Team.
Learning all three at once was thanks to Clemont's invention creating such an intense battle environment, where everyone in the fight had to stay on guard against sneak attacks coming from the shadows at all times.
Because it had mastered those three moves, Froakie was hit far less often during the latter half of the training.
Ash was very happy about that, because even in high-level battles, those three moves would still be extremely useful.
On top of that, Froakie's use of Acrobatics had improved too. At this point, it could already keep its success rate at around seventy to eighty percent.
At that stage, Froakie's special training was basically entering its final phase.
From here on, all it needed was to keep improving its mastery of Acrobatics while raising its level to 15.
...
Then there was the shiny Ralts.
Its level rose from 12 to 14.
As for moves, it learned Protect and Dazzling Gleam.
Protect could let shiny Ralts avoid defeat for a short time, while Dazzling Gleam perfectly complemented its held item, the Fairy Feather, filling in its lack of Fairy-type moves.
More than that, it was a powerful spread move with a base power of 80.
With those two moves, shiny Ralts wouldn't have to worry about its move pool anytime soon.
Still, unlike Froakie, which had to evolve into Frogadier before it could learn Swords Dance, shiny Ralts could already learn a boosting move at its current stage.
And with its level already at 14, it was only one level away from the target Ash had set before training began.
Ash planned to have shiny Ralts prioritize learning Calm Mind tomorrow, the move that boosted both Special Attack and Special Defense.
Only after that would leveling up come first.
...
Last came Fletchling.
Its level rose from 15 to 16, only one step away from its evolution level of 17.
As for moves, it learned Ember.
Most likely, it had picked that up after being inspired by Fennekin.
No matter what, though, once Fletchling evolved into Fletchinder, it would be able to learn Flamethrower.
Now that it had already mastered Ember, it could start laying the groundwork early and refine its control over fire.
That way, when the time came, learning Flamethrower would not only be easier, it would also end up stronger than if it had learned Flamethrower directly from scratch.
Unfortunately, there was still one flaw.
Across all three of its evolutionary stages, Fletchling's line couldn't learn Calm Mind or Nasty Plot to boost Special Attack.
And since Talonflame's Attack was slightly higher than its Special Attack, while also being able to learn Swords Dance to raise its physical power, that more or less meant that, compared to Special Attack, Fletchling's final destination was better suited to the physical side.
Suited to it or not, that didn't change Ash's determination to turn Fletchling into a mixed attacker.
Reality wasn't a game, after all.
In the real world, effort had no upper limit. As long as you worked hard enough, there was no reason a mixed attacker couldn't be mastered.
Just look at Leon's strongest Charizard.
Its Special Attack was already incredibly strong, yet Leon still developed its physical side and taught it moves like Thunder Punch.
That wasn't just to broaden its options and expand its coverage.
More importantly, in the real world, effort had no cap. With enough dedication, a Pokémon could become powerful in every area.
Cynthia's main Pokémon and Leon's main Pokémon were both level 100, but even at the same level 100, Cynthia's ace Garchomp and Leon's ace Charizard were still vastly stronger than most other Pokémon at the same level.
When you got down to the root of it, the difference came from how much work and effort had been poured into the training.
Talonflame's two offensive stats were so close that neglecting either one would be a terrible waste.
That was why the direction Ash had set for Fletchling was clear, its physical side had to be developed, but its special side couldn't be neglected either.
Even though Fletchling's move pool wasn't enough to directly boost its Special Attack, Ash still had a way to increase the power of its flames.
Timing, terrain, and teamwork.
In Pokémon battles, weather and the battlefield were major factors that could influence the outcome.
And since Fletchling's level had already gone beyond Ash's planned target, tomorrow Ash intended to have it give up leveling completely and focus instead on learning as many moves as possible.
First, it would prioritize trying to master Sunny Day.
Second, it would take advantage of the high margin for error that came with being a flying battler and learn more team-supporting moves to help its allies.
...
Just like Ash's Pokémon, Serena's Ralts and Fennekin had improved as well.
By the time Ash had more or less finished organizing today's gains and tomorrow's training plan, the food in the pot had already started to release its delicious aroma.
After dinner, night had fully fallen.
Ash took a huge blanket out of his backpack.
After they turned off the lights, the four of them lay back on the blanket and chatted while staring up at the stars.
From left to right, it was Ash, Serena, Bonnie, and Clemont.
For most of the conversation, the other three asked questions while Ash answered them.
Without the slightest impatience, Ash told them all sorts of legendary stories from his own life, along with secrets about Legendary Pokémon that official records had never documented.
It satisfied a great deal of the curiosity and confusion the three of them had been carrying.
That continued until Bonnie fell asleep.
Then Clemont carefully picked her up and carried her back into the tent.
The first real heart-to-heart night talk of their four-person group came to an end.
It was late now, time to sleep.
Even in the Pokémon world, nighttime meant danger, especially out in the wild.
Most Pokémon active at night were highly aggressive, so before going to bed, Ash recalled Latias, who had worked hard all day, and sent out the even stronger Mewtwo to stand watch.
With Mewtwo there, in this part of Kalos, unless Yveltal and Xerneas somehow teamed up and launched a sneak attack, there was almost nothing alive that could hurt Ash's group.
About an hour later, Serena was still tossing and turning inside the tent, unable to fall asleep.
Her mind was full of the image of the kiss she had given Ash that day.
In the end, she couldn't help herself. She threw off the blanket, changed into her pajamas, and slipped out of the tent.
At the same moment, Mewtwo, floating high above in the clouds, slowly opened its eyes.
Mewtwo didn't know what had happened inside the tent, but as long as anyone stepped out, they immediately entered the range of its psychic field.
Putting on her slippers, Serena quietly walked about a hundred yards away from camp.
There, she sat down on a broad smooth rock about ten feet across.
She hugged her knees, rested her chin on them, and gazed up at the stars with dreamy eyes.
The girl's mind was filled with the scene of her主动 kissing Ash earlier that day, and a deep blush spread across her face.
Lost in her fantasies and embarrassment, she failed to notice what was moving through the grass behind her.
A black snake was quietly slithering closer.
Its lower jaw was gold, golden armor-like plates ran across its head and back, sharp red fangs jutted from its mouth, and its tail was shaped like a blade.
It was none other than Seviper, the longtime enemy of Zangoose.
High above the clouds, Mewtwo's eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint purple glow spread over Seviper's body.
Mewtwo had noticed that Seviper a long time ago.
It simply hadn't bothered with it before, since the snake had never threatened Ash or the others.
But now that it had foolishly set its sights on Serena, Mewtwo naturally planned to get rid of it.
Yet just as Mewtwo was about to act, Ash's tent moved, and Mewtwo immediately stopped.
It suddenly remembered something it had seen before.
Those human-made romance dramas.
This looked like exactly the sort of perfect chance for the hero and heroine to grow closer, so Mewtwo decided to just watch from the sidelines.
Ash, of course, had no idea what Mewtwo was thinking.
Right now, his head was full of confusion.
What the heck?
Even his Aura could sense that a juvenile Seviper was sneaking up on Serena, and Mewtwo still hadn't noticed?
That guy...
Ash clenched his fist.
Could it be that all those times he had Mewtwo stand watch before, Mewtwo had been slacking off the whole time?
Quietly adding that to Mewtwo's tab, Ash hurried toward the scene.